Last year’s bid to the tournament was not good enough for coach John Tillman. Tillman had watched his team struggled with regular season play, but played good enough to get into the tournament. This year will be different.
Maryland has talent all over the field; they had brought in more experience and more depth to add to the offensive style that they have always played.
Last year, the Terrapins led the nation with the fewest turnovers per game.(11.8)
Maryland had also improved with their shot percentage. They had shot over 31.8 percent. That was their highest shooting percentage since 1998.
In recent years, we have seen the Terrapins shooting average go up tremendous
2012: 31.8%
2011: 31.7%
That is an advantage that Maryland has had over quality opponents. They do not turn the ball over often and they shot at a high percentage; thus making them hard to beat.
Kevin Conry is Maryland’s new defensive coordinator. Previous, Conry spent five seasons with Fairfield. As Conry stated,” We’re not going to go out and chase and check people for four quarters,”
Tillman says. With Conry, “we’re not going to change too, too much of what we do. … Our challenge is, how strong will we be collectively over the long haul of the year. We’re talented but we need to be more consistent.”
Maryland just needs to be more consistent and stick to their slow pace style. Senior Jesse Bernhardt needs to step up his defense, and be the player that most teams watch out for. Other than inconsistency, Maryland will step up their game and become an elite team in their conference.
