Feb. 7, 2012
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Quotes from Maryland coach Mark Turgeon in advance on Tuesday's game at Clemson.
On simplifying things for Alex Len:
"Sometimes when he catches the ball he looks like the whole world is moving too fast for him so we've tried to simplify that. He made the jump shot the other day, he got confident and they tried to crowd him and he drove it. He's got all the tools, it's just relaxing and getting it done that he has to work on."
On the extra work they have been doing with him:
"First half he went in there and was trying to do what we wanted him to do on one move but still got a little confused so simplifying things will help as we move forward. With him it's just toughening him up. I think the word is getting around that this kid is a good shot blocker, he's got good timing. I think people are getting used to roughing him and that's helping him."
On how Len might spend the summer:
"He'll be here the whole time. I don't think he will go home. I'm 99.9 percent sure on that. He will be in summer school both sessions, he'll be working out. It would be really good for us to be able to work with them in the summer but I think you will see his body change a lot because he will be in the weight room."
On having a more challenging non-conference schedule:
"I think when our program is ready for it we'll challenge it. We won't do as much as we normally do as the league is going to 18 games, that's two less games. I don't think you will see many teams really challenging themselves outside of those games. We'll do that. We had a hard schedule in the league so it might not be like that every year; it's just how things work. But we will challenge ourselves."
On what he's telling the team:
"Stay positive. I keep telling the kids they should still be full of confidence even though we're not winning because they're playing better. They're competing, they're playing on a much higher level and if we keep that same approach good things will eventually happen for us. We're laying a great foundation for the future. There's a fine line between winning and losing and right now we're on the bottom of that line but some day we're going to be above it and it will be a lot of fun."
On Clemson:
"They have good players. They have a lot of guys with a lot of experience and they also have a lot of young guys, it shows in the way they play. They play great for five minutes and then they're a lot like us. But they're pretty good at home. We're looking forward to playing Clemson."
"I just think they're really well-coached defensively. I think they do a lot of good things to get their best players the ball. I'm not an expert on them but that's what I've seen. They have a really good defense."
