JustinYoung

Key Players:
PG Steve Blake Senior 8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 7.9 rpg
PF/C Ryan Randle Senior 3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 52.4% FG
PF/C Tahj Holden Senior 5.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg
SG Drew Nicholas Senior 7.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.4 apg
SF Jamar Smith Junior JUCO Transfer from local Allegany CC
SF Nik Caner-Medley Freshman
PF Travis Garrison Freshman

Strengths: Anytime a team is crowned the National Champions, there is an intimidation factor. But seeing four of the five starters from last year’s team moving on to play professionally, Maryland will have to work twice as hard to put the fear back into the minds of their competitors.

“Even though we won the ACC regular season last year, we’ll be a different team this year,” Head coach Gary Williams said. “We’ll have to earn that respect again. We’re not going to be the team picked to win the league title, probably. We’re going to have to earn the right to be thought of in that regard again. But that’s o.k. I don’t mind that. I like that. It’s a different type of pressure, trying to find out how good you are, not just trying to defend how good you are.”

Led by seniors in last year’s National Championship run, the Terps will be once again have fourth year players at the helm. Leading the way is point guard Steve Blake.

Known primarily as a great floor leader, Blake will be asked to assume more of a scoring responsibility in his senior campaign. However, his ability to see the floor is his best quality.

Blake ranks ninth in ACC history with 751 assists. He’s been the ACC assist leader the past two seasons including a Maryland record of 7.9 per game during last year’s championship year. He was also named an Honorable mention All American and 3rd team All-ACC in 2001-2.

“He’s played against all of the great point guards that have played in the last three years. I don’t think any point guard has done more for his team than Steve has done for our team,” Williams said of Blake. “I think he is a definite All-America candidate for his senior year.”

Also returning is senior shooting guard Drew Nicholas. He’ll be the new full time starter in the backcourt replacing the great Juan Dixon. Nicholas was a key bench player for the Terps last season. He proved that he could be counted on in clutch situations. Many people are expecting a double digit scoring average from him this season.

Gone are Lonny Baxter and Chris Wilcox. But Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle should do a respectable job of filling the starting positions. All of Maryland’s frontcourt players are good shooters from outside. Randle is “very dependable” according to Williams.

“This is a big year for Ryan. When you come in as a junior college player, you want to make sure you have that senior year that really pays off. I think Ryan has the potential to play after college, so this will be a big year for him to polish his game.”
The main polishing that he’ll need is being more aggressive in the post. Wilcox and Baxter fought hard for position, hopefully Randle learned from them in daily practices.

Randle has always played at a high level of basketball. His high school team in Duncanville, Texas was nationally ranked when he played there with Chris Owens, former Texas Longhorn, and current UT post player Brian Boddicker.

Holden is a player that can deceive defenders. Blessed with a big body, he can handle the rigors of playing in the post. His outside touch is his secret weapon. If he gets left open, he’ll burn the opposition with his range.

The X factor for the Terps is junior college transfer Jamar Smith, the 6-9 combo forward. People close the program have called Smith the best athlete on the roster. With a nice mix of both perimeter skills and crafty post play, he is certainly intriguing. Smith will be asked to be versatile on the floor and in the rotation.

While at Allegany College in nearby Cumberland, Maryland, Smith averaged 17.9 points and 12.8 rebounds as he helped the Trojans to a 32-4 record. His production on the court earned him JUCO All-Region honors.

If there is one player to really watch it is Caner-Medley. Coming from Maine, he never really got the attention that his on court production deserved. With a gaping hole at the small forward spot, there are plenty of opportunities for immediate growth. He will be a household name by the time he leaves the Maryland program. He may even be looking at starter’s minutes by the end of the year.

Weaknesses: There are no secrets about how different this team will be. It’s almost impossible to replace the heart of Dixon, the work ethic of Baxter, the intensity of Mouton and the highlight reels of Wilcox. But Gary Williams is a great coach and still has good talent to work with.

In order for them to really compete, the Terps will need scoring from their backcourt. Blake must look to shoot more than he likes and Nicholas will have to score at least ten points a game…The frontcourt still has depth but they don’t have the same type of intensity and aggressiveness that Baxter and Wilcox did. All parties involved have to show more passion for the little things.

If the seniors don’t produce, the only options are talented freshmen. Caner-Medley will have the best shot of playing right away…Local product Travis Garrison will see time at three positions. He still needs to bulk up in order to handle the ACC…Blake has a super backup in exciting John Gilchrist…Chris McCray will log time behind Nicholas and may see time in a three guard rotation at times.

Now that the Terps have officially left Cole Field House, they must adapt to the new surroundings of the Comcast Center…The Terps have won 84 straight non-conference home games…That is the longest streak in the country…Florida may upset them in December, thus breaking the streak.

Key Games:
12/3/02 Indiana (@ Indianapolis)
12/7/02 Notre Dame (@ MCI Center)
12/8/02 Texas (*or George Washington; both @ MCI Center)
12/14/02 Florida
12/29/02 Georgia Tech
1/15/03 @Wake Forest
1/18/03 Duke
1/22/03 @UNC
1/30/03 NC State
2/6/03 Virginia
2/9/03 @Georgia Tech
2/16/03 Wake Forest
2/19/03 @Duke
2/22/03 UNC
3/2/03 @NC State
3/9/03 @Virginia

2003 Recruiting commitments:
SG D.J. Strawberry 6-3, 175 Santa Ana, CA
SG Michael Jones 6-4, 180 Braintree, MA
C Will Bowers 6-11, 230 Severn, MD

iverson3

great post Justin. u hit everything rite on the money with Maryland. also i wanted to add that the 2003 recruit D.J. Strawberry is gonna be a great one. He plays at Mater Dei HS, and i played against him when he was a sophmore. (i live in So Cal). I was a freshman at the time and i was playing against Mater Dei when they had Bozeman, Sampson, Washington (going to Cal next year), and Strawberry. The guy has mad game. We got killed that nite lol but it was awesome playing against them.

__________________
Mike Tirico: "Shawn Bradley wins the opening tip and we are underway here in Dallas"
Bill Walton: "My god, Shawn Bradley has taken over the game!"

Bill Walton: "If you discredit his 0 for 11 start to the game, Dirk Nowitzki is having a shooting night of historic proportions."

TerpBurp

iverson3, you played against DJ? That's cool man. Did you actually match up against him?

__________________
Maryland - 2002 NCAA Champs

iverson3

nah i never got the chance to match up against him, we played a zone nearly the entire game to try and contain Bozeman, who was the star of the team. I did manage to rip Washington a few times and hit a smooth jumper in his face. lol. Strawberry was known for being a "druggy" so every time he got the ball our fans started yelling DRUGGY DRUGGY!! it was pretty funny. It was a fun game, although it woulda been even better to see Sampson play. Sampson was really lazy and whenever he didnt want to play he would just tell the coach to sit him out. It was defintily the most talented team i have ever played against. I did manage 11 points and 6 dimes in the game YAY!!

__________________
Mike Tirico: "Shawn Bradley wins the opening tip and we are underway here in Dallas"
Bill Walton: "My god, Shawn Bradley has taken over the game!"

Bill Walton: "If you discredit his 0 for 11 start to the game, Dirk Nowitzki is having a shooting night of historic proportions."

TerpBurp

Damn, man, that's tight. I would be happy to get 11 points and 6 dimes in a lameass pickup game. lol.

__________________
Maryland - 2002 NCAA Champs

JustinYoung

I appricate that but I must disagree with you on this. Strawberry isn't Maryland good. I watched him play quite a bit this summer and he looked like every other guard out there trying to get some attention. I can think of 25 other guards better than him.

With Michael Jones already committed to the Terps, I'd be very surprised to see where DJ plays. Jones is a Dixon like guard, Strawberry is maybe comparable to Nicholas. So if that is good, then okay. But Nicholas doesn't do much for me in all honesty.

On a side note, I find it pretty funny that all of the different mediums (ESPN, Fox, CNNSI, CBS, TSN, etc) reported DJ committment to Maryland over the hundreds of others. Is it that big of a story? He's not even that good of a player.

TerpBurp

JustinYoung, you're right on the target. Gary recruited DJ to be Mike Jones's "Drew Nicholas." There're a lot of reasons for Gary to take DJ. He's a solid top 100 4-year player who's versatile enough to play all 3 guard positions. Second, it opens the pipe to recruits in California. We may get Ibweke as a result of this. Third, like it or not, his dad is still a big name in the business and it gives the school more publicity, hence all the media reports. Finally, it's Juan Dixon who told Gary to sign him. Gary liked what he saw during DJ's visit and offered him on the spot. DJ took the money and ran.
BTW, Drew Nicholas will surprise a lot of people this year.

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Maryland - 2002 NCAA Champs

ihatespn

LMAO...another iverson3 post, bites the dust..who would have thunk?

__________________
Country Garden Potpourri..is there anything better?

JustinYoung

Good point. The California pipeline is always nice to have but is that what Maryland really wants? I'm just wondering if that same type of, or even better, talent can be found from Florida to Mass out here in the East. But I do understand your point though. It does help matters for the future.

Also, I don't know if Ibweke (or as I like to call him Imweake ) will be a Terp. He's not physical enough to handle the ACC or even fill the role as a Wilcox, Baxter, Holden and Randle. I heard someone over the summer call him the next Terrance Morris if that means anything.

Without question. Nicholas is going to put up some good numbers because of: 1. Blake is a great distributor. He knows how to get his backcourt mate the ball. 2. Nicholas can really shoot. And he's a very smart player. He knows the system.

He could be an All ACC selection (2nd team, 3rd team, HM), without question.

iverson3

my post "bites the dust" because i played against a top recruit who has been profiled on leading sports websites and tv shows? im sorry that u havent had a chance to play against top level players ihatespn, but since u never did play against and with top level players u wouldnt understand. Just cuz DJ Strawberyy is "projected" to become a star player, doesnt mean that he wont become one, i mean who ever said that Juan Dixon would become a star? So ihatespn, keep searching all over this site to critisize my posts cuz thats all u seem to wanna do.

__________________
Mike Tirico: "Shawn Bradley wins the opening tip and we are underway here in Dallas"
Bill Walton: "My god, Shawn Bradley has taken over the game!"

Bill Walton: "If you discredit his 0 for 11 start to the game, Dirk Nowitzki is having a shooting night of historic proportions."

bones

I'm surprised that there isn't more talk about Nik Caner-Medley. I had the opportunity to play against him in high school and have seen him play numerous times. He is for real. He is a big strong left hander with great range, and is also extremely athletic. If he were from any other state besides Maine he would get much more respect. There are many great players in Maine right now who get little or no publicity. In the past 10 years, only 4 players, including Nik, played in a major D1 conference. Hopefully Nik will prove that there is some serious talent up here.

ihatespn

LoL Iverson..first off I just enjoy poking fun at you, I'll stop after this post, I dont believe you played against Strawberry but I dont care enough to make anything of it.
Taker easy.

__________________
Country Garden Potpourri..is there anything better?

JustinYoung

This was in my original post: If there is one player to really watch it is Caner-Medley. Coming from Maine, he never really got the attention that his on court production deserved. With a gaping hole at the small forward spot, there are plenty of opportunities for immediate growth. He will be a household name by the time he leaves the Maryland program. He may even be looking at starter’s minutes by the end of the year.

Caner-Medley can flat out ball. He's an amazing leaper. He can shoot, score, rebound, slash, etc. Ask any Maryland player and they will tell you that he will be an impact player this season.

I think you said it best. Because he is from Maine, he isn't getting the attention that he deserves, thus leaving most people in the dark regarding Caner-Medley.

Jaybird

Another Terence Morris type player at Maryland wouldn't be bad at all. Although he was denigrated a bit for his lack of intensity and ascertiveness on offense, he managed to have a very solid carear at Maryland and put up very respectable numbers on the whole. Another capable light 4 can succede in the ACC pretty well. Guys like Battier, Morris and Dunleavy had considerable success in that role.

I think that's why the Terps continue to work on Ibekwe and Terence Roberts, even though they may save their 5th scholarship for next year so they can use 3 rather than only 2.