38 replies to this topic

[Mike B]

I still like the way Willard tries to play.  His style is aggressive and I like that.  There are a few things that concern me.

1.  He makes vague comments that seem to to voice concern or displeasure with CBB, his team and maybe the university.

The comments usually center around NIL.  Unfortunately, the university seems to be way behind other schools in regards to NIL so he needs to be part of the solution.

2.  The other issue I see is he seems to be settling for players to fill spots.  I think that is okay if it is your last scholarship, but it seems like there are more than a few lost at the end of the bench players on this years team.

[BaltBird 24]

Has enthusiasm ever been so low and apathy so high as it is right now for Maryland basketball?

Even the post championship years when Gary gave up on recruiting- excitement was still high.

Turgeon's style was pretty boring, but his teams were generally loaded with enough talent that you'd buy into the team getting hot and making a decent run in March.

[Mackus]

Didn't seem apathetic a year ago, IMO.  People were pretty excited about Willard having success in his first year.  Even through the huge beatdowns to UCLA and Michigan, the team responded.  I didn't get to any games so can't comment on the crowds.

 

Never once did any fan paying attention buy in to a Turgeon team getting hot in March, LOL.  Constant February and March chokejobs from his teams, which was a reflection on him.  We missed out on an opportunity to see that trend bucked in '19-20, but I don't have a ton of regret about it since I'd gotten so accustomed to his teams falling flat.

[Mackus]

Its really hard comparing Willard to late-stage Turgeon at this point because the NIL landscape has changed recruiting so much.  It takes way more than just the coach and staff to recruit now, so hard to assign blame to Willard for things the AD and University above him aren't doing right.  Kind of like figuring where to assign blame between Elias and Angelos.  

 

That said, this year's team is way worse than just any limitations of NIL money could excuse, and that's on Willard and the players.

[BaltBird 24]

Maybe it was. To be fair, I haven't kept up much with Maryland basketball over the past few years.

I just wish they'd get back to those late 90s/ early 00s Sunday afternoon / evening games when Cole Field House would be rocking for a Duke, UNC, NC State, UVA, etc game.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Maybe it was. To be fair, I haven't kept up much with Maryland basketball over the past few years.

I just wish they'd get back to those late 90s/ early 00s Sunday afternoon / evening games when Cole Field House would be rocking for a Duke, UNC, NC State, UVA, etc game.

Been plenty of times Xfinity has gone wild for Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, etc.

[BaltBird 24]

Been plenty of times Xfinity has gone wild for Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, etc.

The Melo years were great, especially the year they got Suliamon and Stone. Cowan, Smith, Fernando had plenty of great moments.

Maybe I'm just cynical over the extreme void of talent on this roster.

[You Play to Win the Game]

The Illinois game last year was amazing too. The crowd is fiending to jump all in.

[glenn__davis]

Has enthusiasm ever been so low and apathy so high as it is right now for Maryland basketball?

Even the post championship years when Gary gave up on recruiting- excitement was still high.

Turgeon's style was pretty boring, but his teams were generally loaded with enough talent that you'd buy into the team getting hot and making a decent run in March.

 

This year's team has been tough to watch but there was far more consistent apathy towards the end of the Turgeon era.  Last with the good start many on this board were saying MD basketball was back with Willard.  There was definitely a buzz around the program this time last year.

 

Now if this year's team continues to play like it has, and with recruiting not looking all that promising, I think there's definitely potential to go into a pretty dark period here.

[BSLMattJergensen]

I've read a lot of online posts that compare Willard to Turgeon and that just isn't fair at this point. I absolutely feel that there may be a disconnect between the AD, the program and how NIL money will be utilized. That said Willard is the head of the program and the team just isn't good enough as currently constructed and that falls on him.

 

The losses of Hart and Martinez have hurt as well as the graduation of Emilien. Chemistry on offense is not there. Reese needs more touches. As a post player the ball isn't in his hands and he needs a touch most times down the floor so he can generate more offense. The regression of Dontay Scott is infuriating.

 

Simply put the Terps need to shoot better. They missed a ton of open shots and there's no magic play or offense that will get them more looks. They are getting them and missing. Law of averages say that they should shoot better by default soon.

 

Still they are playing hard and defending but the body language issue mentioned earlier is a bit of concern to me.

 

B10 play gets rolling. Very interested in tomorrow against the Gophers.

[You Play to Win the Game]

It’s a lost year and next year is going to be much worse. Maryland Basketball is on life support IMO. I know it’s hard to see and acknowledge that in the beginning, but with the direction major college athletics are heading in full steam, the season they’ve had, the quality of the recruits from KW and looking forward another year or two, I think there’s a significant chance the Terps are headed in a severely bad direction.

[BaltBird 24]

Good thing about college basketball, unlike football, is things can turn around in a hurry.

His first real recruiting class, on paper, looked good. DHS, Kaiser, Lamothe looked promising.

His first transfer portal with Young, Emilien, and Long produced.

He'll definitely have to go hard in the portal this year as the HS class doesn't look promising.

[BaltBird 24]

I just can't imagine Maryland is the only school throwing up their hands to NIL. Are there any other notable programs in similar situations? I don't follow college sports enough to know if Maryland is an anomaly or not. Does seem like they've invested a decent bit into football, where they're likely mid in their best seasons.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Maryland suffers the double-whammy of mediocre revenue sports teams and a fickle fan base. Those are tough headwinds to fight when you need the fans to not only invest by buying tickets and showing up to cheer on the teams, but also pay what amounts to a tax on top of that into an NIL collective in order to lure the best players.

[BSLZackKiesel]

I just can't imagine Maryland is the only school throwing up their hands to NIL. Are there any other notable programs in similar situations? I don't follow college sports enough to know if Maryland is an anomaly or not. Does seem like they've invested a decent bit into football, where they're likely mid in their best seasons.

I mean, I don’t think Virginia has any sort of robust system in place. Hard to get a good read at a high level, since it’s hard to get any data on NIL.

The NIL investments for the football team are almost entirely a credit to Locksley. His decades of relationships in the DMV have served him well getting enough money into the program to retain enough talent to remain at least somewhat competitive. He’s still stringing together Top-35 recruiting classes, despite it all.

[Ravens2006]

Evans does a segment with Haynie every week, and at least twice in the last month has hit on the NIL issue. A combination of promising that UMD gets it and is working on it to compete, and also seemingly subtly lamenting lack of donors stepping up.

[BaltBird 24]

Sucks that Maryland's wealthy alumni don't seem too interested in the overall state of their athletic programs.

[Mike B]

Sucks that Maryland's wealthy alumni don't seem too interested in the overall state of their athletic programs.

I wonder if Maryland has gone to the well too many times in getting the boosters to pony up for new buildings, that the well has in part run dry.

[CantonJester]

Sucks that Maryland's wealthy alumni don't seem too interested in the overall state of their athletic programs.

 

Maryland used to be a CBB powerhouse. Cole Fieldhouse was a #itch to come and play against the Terps. The fans knew it and responded accordingly. Comcast had a couple good years, but they’ve been a collective pile of meh bordering on 20 years. It’s gone. Don’t tell me Turgeon this or that. It’s still gone. IMO, that’s why Maryland’s wealthy alumni may seem disinterested in Maryland athletics. 

 

From what I see re: the Terps this year? That 6th ranked defense is a mirage, because they’re just not pushing the ball up the floor. They’re not creating shots. They’re not really doing much of anything on offense. If you’re a lousy shooting team, the answer is not to shoot less shots. It’s to create more opportunities. If they did that, they’d no longer be the 6th ranked defense, because they would actually be expelling energy on the offensive side of the ball. As it stands now, they’re a painful team to watch.