You would think that, after playing 12 games in the first 31 days of the college basketball season, we would all have good handle on who the Maryland Terrapins are and what their prospects are as the Big Ten season gets underway in just a few days.

Are they the team that trailed a bad American U team in their home opener by six with just six minutes to play? Those same Terps are the ones who snoozed through most of the Towson Univeristy game and went brain dead in the last eight minutes against St. Peters.

Or are they the complete carnival ride of a team that rode on the shoulders of an All-American caliber point guard and three better-than-expected freshmen through heart-stopping wins on the road at Georgetown, then again against Richmond and Kansas State in New York City and, finally at home against Oklahoma State-all by a combined nine points?

The answer is that they are probably both.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

And with that answer we have to come to the realization that, as tough as some of the first month was to watch at times, the Big Ten season is sure to have some serious Maalox moments. This team definitely has some flaws – pretty much like every team in D1 not named Duke or Kentucky. They need to rebound better. The three point shooting – abysmal in the first 7-8 games- has come around and the same team that shot 25% in their win at Georgetown has shot 30-65 over the last three games – 46%. The defense can always get better and it should. Right now Terp opponents are shooting under 40% from the field and 31% from three but some of that has to do with the quality of the opponents. In the apples to apples games against Pitt, Kansas State and Georgetown each of those teams were up above 46%.

The one thing that is undeniable at this point is that these guys know how to win. 11-1 is 11-1. They’ve won in pretty much every conceivable fashion in the first month and that is huge. Winning is a habit. The best teams expect to win every single game. Trust me, plenty do not. Their continued success in close games has –at least for now – forged them into something that could be formidable in the league.

A big reason (and I mean big) for optimism moving forward is the play of Michal Cekovsky. He’s still not perfect but he has improved with the large doses of playing time that injuries to Damonte Dodd have afforded him. That improvement is enormous with conference play looming. While there is no question that Dodd remains the better defender and rim protector, Ceko’s offensive output should really help. Once the Big Ten starts we will be playing against opponents that know us a hell of a lot better than any in the first month. Guys like Tom Izzo are not gonna just let Melo abuse his guys on the high pick and roll time after time. Trimble will be doubled. And tripled. This new and improved Ceko gives you a better option to simply catch and finish around the basket. You NEVER get enough easy baskets in a game.

The team also has to solve their propensity for coming out slowly at the start of games. Conference games will not be so forgiving. Freshman Justin Jackson appears to be a microcosm of the team in that sense. With the exception of the Georgetown game he seems to take some time to find the flow and rhythm of the game. As an observation, he seems to always be significantly better after he gets subbed in for the first time. Given his skill set, the world is his oyster. He was born at the right time and is tailor-made for the stretch-4 world of college hoops. He also becomes even more valuable when Maryland ratchets up full court pressure as it has in several games recently. He doesn’t appear to have Jake Layman’s uncanny ability at the top of the zone press to deflect and steal but he isn’t far behind and will only get better the more time he plays there.

The bench has to be better. Moreover, it has to be more consistent. Dodd’s return will help out greatly. You have to admire what Jaylen Brantley has done this season. He was an afterthought on a guard heavy team when the fall rolled around. Now he’s the kind of savvy, crafty, multi-skilled combo guard that every coach wants off his bench. Ivan Bender, while never spectacular has been steady and solid off the bench. It will be interesting to see what Turge does with Jared Nickens and Dion Wiley in conference play. Wiley earned another shot after his performance against Jacksonville State. Nickens has no such performance on his resume. He and LG Gill (assuming Dodd returns) may see very limited PT.

So the non-conference portion of the schedule mercifully ends on Tuesday in Baltimore. The Terps begin conference play with two games in the friendly confines of Xfinity before reality sets in. Beginning January 7th they have a hellacious four game stretch where they play at Michigan, Illinois and Iowa – all places where the Terps have not won since joining the league- and at home against a badass Indiana team that beat Kansas and North Carolina. Thank God we don’t have to see Yogi Ferrell again…the game this year will be hard enough.

11-1 is 11-1. Until it isn’t. We shall see. In the meantime, keep the Maalox close by. Oh, and maybe a good bottle of bourbon.

Chris Knoche
Chris Knoche

Terps Analyst

A fixture in the Washington sports scene since his days as a player and a coach, Chris Knoche has accumulated a diverse resume as a media presence in town for more than two decades. That resume has earned him opportunities on both national and local stages and made him a Washington DC staple on radio, television and in digital media.

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