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Maryland basketball: Kevin Willard on rocky start, Donta Scott's play, a player he was really excited about – 247Sports
Maryland men’s basketball Kevin Willard spoke Tuesday for the first time since his team lost Sunday against UAB at the Asheville Championship.
On the “Maryland Basketball Radio Show,” Willard and Johnny Holliday talked about all things Terps, from their struggles to Friday’s game against Villanova.
“No, I mean, everyone’s gonna go through it. I mean, Michigan State lost. I’m looking around everywhere, I mean, they lost a home opener. Everyone’s going to take a tough loss this time of year because with the transfer portal, no one’s going to be smooth and perfect. And so, we lost we lost four guys to the portal. We brought in four guys with three really good freshmen. But freshmen need some time,” he said.
(Catch up on more of Willard’s comments here.)
“They need to practice. They need to watch film. And then you have to, you have to incorporate your transfers into something that – like Jordan [Geronimo] is going to be great, but like Jordan still kind of, he goes back to do what he’s doing at Indiana for three years. So all the sudden you’re sitting there, and you’re like, why is Jordan there? And then you realize that game slippage is real. And it’s just going to take him, it’s going to take him five, six, seven games, and it’s going to take him watching film and then going back and practicing what we watch on film.”
Willard repeated his dislike for this year’s early-season schedule, mostly the tournament that was scheduled by Mark Turgeon.
“We just haven’t had that chance yet. And that’s an unfortunate thing about this tournament was, as good of a tournament as it was, it’s just, it’s terrible timing.”
More below from Willard on the performance of a few players, the Villanova game and one guy he’s really excited about:
“No, I mean, I knew we’d struggle offensively early. I did, because you have a lot of guys trying to figure out – well, Hakim [Hart is] not here anymore. Don [Carey is] not here anymore. There’s some scoring and there’s some opportunities, ‘I’m going to take my opportunities.’ And I think not having time to kind of figure out what everyone’s role is. I knew we were going to struggle a little bit. So no, I mean, the biggest thing is, we competed defensively. We got down 12 twice, came back and tied it twice. So we did some things really well defensively. Just offensively, we just turned the ball over and gave it – we would have gave up 18 points in the first half if we didn’t have four straight turnovers. So I don’t care who you’re playing. You only give up 18 points on a day and a half rest, you’re doing something right defensively. It’s just offensively, we just really, really hurt ourselves with guys – we have a lot of guys taking shots that probably shouldn’t have been taking shots. And we had the ball not touching Juju’s hands, not touching Donta’s hands, not in Jahmir’s hands enough, not in DeShawn’s hands enough. So I just think guys have to figure out their roles just a little bit better, and we’re not there yet.”
“Especially for freshmen, it’s definitely a new thing. But also, for me, we hadn’t [Caelum Swanton-Rodger] had been hurt for a month man. Mady [Traore has] been hurt the whole preseason. Braden [Pierce] was hurt for two weeks. So we hadn’t – I really, I struggle with lineups, I got caught a couple of time with some really bad lineups just because I was trying to sub and trying to get guys in there, and we got caught at the end of the first half against Davidson and the end of the first half against UAB with some weird, with a weird lineup. It just didn’t make much sense when I went back and looked at it. So for me, I have a much better feel for what our what our rotation is going to look like going forward, what our lineup needs to look like going forward. But it’s hard to do that when you can’t go back and really spend some time studying it. So, like I said, it’s disappointing, but we’ll learn from it and we’ll get over it.”
“Cal played great. He’s, from a week of practice – he had a great summer and then obviously got hurt and missed the whole preseason. But Cal was really, really good. I love the fact he played really physical on both ends of the floor. The Davidson game was a tough matchup for him because when they subbed out their big guy, they went small with [No.] 15 [Sean Logan]. It was more of like a pick-and-pop four-man, so. But he played really well, I was really excited about the way Cal played.”
“Yeah … well, I mean, they didn’t really play up tempo, besides us giving them the ball and throwing them dunks. They really slowed it down on us, and I was a little surprised they hadn’t played any 2-3 zone in their first couple games. And Andy [Kennedy] has never really played 2-3 zone. He usually goes a 1-3-1 back into like a little bit of a matchup. And that’s what they did against Clemson, and they had Clemson beat. Clemson got a bailout call with four seconds to go to give them, to win the game. So I was really impressed with their zone. But, again, we’re only shooting 22% from three. And so we had some shots in the first game against Davidson. We had nine open looks for the total game that we missed, open looks that at this level, you have to make at least three of those because if not, you’re putting too much pressure on your defense, is what happened. And against UAB, against their zone, we just – we play a little bit of a matchup zone, it really kind of took us out of our rhythm and they used up clock and ate up a lot of clock. So I thought they did a good job of just kind of keeping us off balance in that second game.”
“Yeah, Jahmir has been one of those guys that when you take over a program, you always look for that one guy that’s going to set the tone. And I think more than anything, Jahmir, obviously his numbers are fantastic, but I just think his work ethic, his leadership, not only on the court, but how great he is in the community off the court. He’s always out doing stuff and doing clinics, going back to DeMatha, talking to the kids. He really is a special young man that has a great attitude. And I think has been just an absolute blessing for this program.”
“Yeah, I mean, I think that’s a unique thing about the basketball community, especially in this area. As I think you have a lot of great teachers in this area. And these kids are taught at a very young age to respect the game, to respect the coaches. And I think that filters in through the community and what they do in the community. And I think Jahmir is one of those young men that has worked really, really hard on his game to get to the point to where he’s at. But I think he’s worked really, really hard off the court to get a great education, to graduate, and now to be a role model to a very, very younger generation I think that needs a lot of role models.”
“Donta’s been great. I think, again, I think a lot of not only this fan base, but I think the Big Ten and coaches around just kind of take for, take what he does for granted. He brings it every night. He’s our leading plus-minus guy so far this year. He’s been a huge difference. There’s a huge difference for us when he’s on the court and when he’s off the court. Some of his struggles offensively earlier are my fault because I tried to be cute and put him at three spot and the four spot. But he’s just one of those guys that just, I think in five to six, seven, eight years when he’s gone and come back, people are going to look at what his numbers are, what he did, what he won, and really respect the heck out of Donta.”
“Yeah, I think, again, it’s early in the season. So when I look at who everyone else has played, and I look at who we’ve played, his numbers are going to be a little skewed because he played against two two teams that are probably a little bit more advanced than some of the teams that you get to play at home. Last year’s schedule we played four home games in a row to get in a good rhythm. I think Ju’s in a really good rhythm. He’s worked hard on his shot, he’s made some 15-footers. His free throws are getting better, he’s three for four in the second game against UAB. I think the biggest thing for Ju is, again, part of the problem we’ve struggled shooting the basketball, he’s done a great job of passing out of the post of double teams. He has one assist, eight turnovers. He’s going to be a guy, for us to be good, who’s going to have to be a plus, a positive assist-turnover ratio guy. Because we use him, we’re using him in the high post, we’re using outside in our five-out action. And again, he’s one of those guys that you feel very comfortable with that anytime you need a bucket you’re gonna throw it down into him.”
“Yeah, I mean that’s kind of where we’re at with, when you bring a transfer in, you can practice with them all you want. And then you get to see how he reacts in games and get to see where he’s nervous, where he’s comfortable. And I’m starting to get a good feel for when Jordan needs to be on the court, and I think Jordan is getting a good feel for what we need for him to be on the court. And he’s been great defensively, he really has. He’s been active. He’s everything that I thought he would be defensively. He needs to rebound the basketball a little bit better. But offensively, that will come as he gets more comfortable.”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s impressive, to be honest with you. To see his effort and how he has sustained it so far early in the year. And I think again, if you look at – he scores, I think he scored 12 points in the first game, he’s one of only five freshmen in history that scored double digits at this university. He’s a special young player. He’s gonna get more and more comfortable. He’s gonna, his shot’s gonna start falling once he kind of gets used to playing as hard as he has to play. And then transition in the offense. We’re gonna start using a little bit more pick and rolls and give Jahmir a little bit of a break at times. So again, as everyone kind of gets a little bit of feel what we’re, everyone’s trying to do on the offensive end, you’re gonna see his numbers just keep going up and up.”
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“Michigan looked great last night. The backcourt, Michigan’s backcourt is – Dug [McDaniel] has gotten a year older. The transfer they brought in is really high level. They, I mea, they were up 26 at St. John’s in the second half. They played really well. The ball was really popping. Wisconsin, I think they’re struggling at Providence right now. I think they’ve always been a little bit of a slow start. But I’m really looking forward to getting home and watching that Marquette-Illinois game because I think Illinois playing so much smaller than they have in the past is playing super fast … So I think that should be a really good game.”
(Providence beat Wisconsin, 72-59; Marquette beat Illinois, 71-64)
On Iowa-Creighton – “If I was a betting man, which I’m not, I would bet the over.”
(Creighton won 92-84, which went over the projected scoring total of 166.5 points)
“We mostly played at Wells Fargo. I don’t know why we’re playing in the little gym, but it’s it’s a great student section. They have a big, they have a wall, kind of like ours and obviously not as big as ours. But,Villanova, Kyle [Neptune has] done a really, really good job with this team. Obviously, Hakim is there now. Justin Moore is, I think Justin’s in his sixth year of college. They’re a very experienced basketball team. Eric Dixon is very experienced. It’s a very, very good basketball team, shoots a lot of threes. Defensively, they make it very difficult on you. They switch one through five ball screens, no matter what. They’ll front the post, they try to make you throw it over there. So we’re going to need a really good defensive effort again, and I think offensively we just got to make sure we take care of the basketball. I mean, that’s our biggest, the biggest thing we’ve talked about the last two days is really just making sure we take care of the basketball, make sure we get a shot up every time. Or if we turn it over, throw it in the stands or make sure that teams just can’t get easy buckets. Because we’re making teams work. We’re making teams use clock, we’re making teams take bad shots, but when you hand the ball over, I think we gave up 14 points on turnovers. It’s hard to beat any team when you’re giving teams easy buckets.”
“Well, they’re running the same offense and the same stuff. I mean, Kyle worked for him … Kyle had been there forever. So they’re actually, they’re pretty much exactly the same. They’re a little bit different on defense. Jay used to play a little bit more zone, believe it or not. Jay would sprinkle in about 25% zone during the game. Kyle doesn’t really play that much zone at all. And that’s really the biggest difference between them is that Jay would always sprinkle in, especially after this, it was always after the second timeout in the first half, the under-12 of the first half. And he knew you’re gonna see zone, and he knew you’re gonna see it, but he would do it just to see if it worked and throw you off and make you work on something. And if it works, he’d stick with it. And if it didn’t work, he;d give it to one or two possessions and he’d go right back to his man-to-man.”
On Holliday saying he beat Villanova quite a few times – “They beat be more … Jay beat everybody, let’s just put it that way.”
“Jay was one of those guys. When the Big East change and went to the new Big East with the 10 teams and no football. Jay was really the guy that kind of kept the league together believe it or not. He called all coaches in, we met down at the Final Four when it was all happening because everybody was freaking out. And Jay called all the coaches in, we flew into Houston, I think it was. And we sat down for two days and had meetings as coaches and Jay was like, ‘This is how we’re going to do it. We’re not going to recruit against each other. We’re not going to badmouth each other. We’re going to try to make this work.’ We had a new TV partner, FOX, who’s turned out to be a great TV partner for the Big Ten.”
“And Jay at the time coming off, he was in the Final Four in ‘06, had been to a Sweet 16 two years earlier than that, but had a really, really good team. And, but Jay was the guy that kind of, in my opinion, saved the Big East because he really understood the importance that we had to make the TV contract work. I mean, that was our TV contract. We were with FOX, it was FS1, they had just taken off. Me and Jay had been there the longest and, in the Big East, and so I always say Jay, obviously winning two national championships. His ‘16 team was probably – that was the year we beat them in the Big East championship. That was probably the best college basketball team I’d seen in a while because they had such a dominant inside-out presence. He’s a Hall of Fame coach for a reason. I think college basketball really misses him.”
“No, I mean, Jay, I think Jay – I mean, he looks he’s 42, but Jay’s 62 … He’s got salt-peppery hair, you (Holliday) have just gray hair, I have no hair … I always thought – Jay’s smart. Jay, I think saw kind of where the college landscape was going. I think he saw where the transfer portal. I think he got to sniff what NIL is all about. And I think he just won a national championship. He had won a gold medal with the Olympic team as an assistant coach … And I just think he’s a great ambassador for Villanova. He still goes out there, he helps Kyle, he fundraises for him. [He’s] very much what Coach [Gary] Williams is for the University of Maryland. He’s an unbelievable supporter, He’s an unbelievable ambassador. And, but I do think college basketball misses him because he was a he was a hell of a coach.”
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