Postgame Quotes: Maryland 86, San Francisco State 52
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Postgame quotes following Maryland's 86-52 win over San Francisco State Saturday.
Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon
On Dez Wells:“Dez had led us in assists the first three weeks of practice, we track them weekly, and all three weeks he led us in assists. We put him position in that zone to be the facilitator and he did a great job. We have a lot more guys to break down the defense besides Dez, so that really helped us. He made some nice plays today. He did a great job sharing the ball and sharing the minutes.”
On the ball movement:
“I think we missed some opportunities to move the ball quickly. We dribbled a little too much sometimes, but that’s just me being a coach. We have some really good passers and we were able to space the floor. Eighteen assists is pretty good, it could have been a little bit better, but our guys have a good feel for the game.”
On Melo Trimble:
“He just had a lot of composure out there. He’s such a better defender than I thought I recruited. He really made some nice plays defensively. He’s just got a lot of game. He’s a real good player.”
On how practice translated to the game:
“I think for the most part across the board our guys played like they did in practice. Everybody played pretty well. It was hard for the big guys, Damonte (Dodd), Michal (Cekovsky), to get involved offensively. I thought Damonte was a much bigger part of our defense in the second half. Pretty much everyone translated, Michal didn’t really get the opportunities he had in practice, but he made some nice passes against the zone. Understand we put in press offense Thursday morning, we put in zone offense on Thursday morning.”
On the big men performance:
“I thought Jon Graham really gave us great energy like he does. I thought he was the only guy out there getting rebounds for a while. We were obviously a better offensive team with a small lineup, so that kind of cut into their minutes. Damonte has improved greatly since last season and Michal is just going to get better every day, and Jon Graham just gives you everything he’s got every day.”
Maryland Senior Guard Richaud Pack
On if he was surprised with being in the starting lineup:“I knew it was a possibility if we went small that I’d get the start but I didn’t know if we’d go big or small. I was happy to start but I just want to contribute. Whether I come off the bench or start, it really doesn’t matter to me.”
On playing with freshman guard Melo Trimble:
“It’s really fun playing with Melo. He takes pressure off of you because he can score so well but he also makes you so much better because he can create shots for you both by his ability to score and his ability to pass. I love playing with him.”
On the team’s ball movement:
“It was pretty good. It could’ve been better. We need to cut down on turnovers. We probably have to move it just as much but smarter.”
Maryland Junior Guard Jake Layman
On performance of new team members:
“They played great tonight. They said they were nervous, but it didn’t look like it. It’s going to be an adjustment for them moving forward playing against better teams.”
On team chemistry:
“On offense, it was more of the veterans letting the new guys know where to be and where the certain spots were to get shots. It was working pretty well.”
Maryland Freshman Guard Dion Wiley
On goals for his performance today:
“I wanted to play defense. I know we play defense in practice, but I wanted to show coach Turgeon that I can play defense in practice and in games. I also wanted to just play my role on the team.”
On playing first opponent of the season:
“We trained so hard, we practiced so hard, so we were ready for anything.”
Maryland Freshman Guard Melo Trimble
On how he felt before his first game as a Terp:“I was nervous. I woke up pretty early, put my jersey on, and just went out there and started shooting early.”
On how he thought he played today:
“I thought I played pretty well. I had three turnovers and I know that I have to get better at that. But I did have five assists to go along with that, so I thought overall I played pretty good.”
On the ball movement today:
“All we want to do is continue to move the ball and find the open man by moving the ball from one side of the court to the other and that’s what we did out there today.”
San Francisco State Head Coach Paul Trevor
On his team’s performance:
“I was proud of my guys. I thought they played pretty hard. We competed together. We’re just really, really young and inexperienced. Maryland is going to be a very good team this year. They’re young also. I think they have a little more experience at this level than we have. I think it kind of wore on us throughout the game. Our execution got sloppy and we had too many turnovers in the second half; their pressure really wore on us. Overall, I’m really proud of my guys.
On the team’s trip to Maryland and Washington D.C.:
“It’s been amazing. Amazing, it’s been a great trip. Great experience for my team and great experience for me personally. It’s just been really, really nice.”
