Everything Kevin Willard, players said after 103-76 win vs. Rider

Maryland got back over .500 on the 2023 season after defeating Rider, 103-76, for their third consecutive win. Everything that head coach Kevin Willard, along with Jahmir Young, Julian Reese and Jordan Geronimo said following the win.

Willard on what sticks out from win vs. Rider

“17 assists, six turnovers. I think we’re trending in the right direction that way. If you look at two of our losses early, turnovers killed us in both games. So I think these guys understanding, taking care of the basketball and getting a shot up every time and not giving the other team easy buckets and making guys work.”

Young on improved ball security vs. Rider

“We just make an emphasis on that, making sure that we’re taking care of ball. We’ve been careless in the past, but going forward, just making sure that we’re sure with every pass. We’re setting our teammates up for success and really just sure with our passes and making sure we value every possession so we get a shot down every time.”

On Willard’s sense of direction of the team heading into Big Ten play

“I kind of knew this is this is how the season was going to go, to be honest with you. I really want to take advantage of these ten days of practice…I knew we were going to struggle early. These guys have put in a great amount of work and practice and so I feel good. I don’t think we’re there yet. I think we still have a lot of work to do, but they’re trending in the right direction.”

Geronimo on team’s focus heading into Big Ten play and returning to face Indiana

“The coaches are drawing up the game plan for us as we speak so once we get over there tomorrow, we’re gonna have something for us to work on. So, we’re just waiting for that. But, you know, obviously I’m going back to Indiana. It’s exciting to go back, but it’s business. It’s still basketball. We gotta do what we’ve gotta do.”

On Willard’s message to the team at halftime with a big lead already built

“I think that’s a good thing about having a guy like Jahmir Young. Jahmir’s the ultimate professional. He’s gonna go out there and he’s gonna make sure that not only is he playing the right way, but the team’s playing the right way. So I just have a lot of confidence in a guy like Jahmir that he’s gonna do the right thing.”

On whether Willard has seen a team draw 32 free throws in the first half

“I mean, I’ve never been in a game where we only had four guys score, so I guess it’s a first for everything.”

On Willard’s strategy attacking the zone

“We knew they were going to play a zone. We’ve worked a lot and we watched film and saw what we did wrong against South Alabama’s zone. We did a lot of good things against South Alabama’s zone. I thought we did a really good job early just getting the ball to the high post and we got two bounce passes for dunks. Jordan got a dunk, Juju got a dunk, and I think that just helped relax everybody to go against the zone. And you know, Jamie came in, hit a couple of threes. And I just think it opened it up for us.”

Willard on encouraging seeing three-point shots begin to drop

“I wasn’t as worried about the three-point percentage because I knew Jahmir’s going to make his threes. He had a tough night the other night. I think it was 2-for-9 or 2-for-11 or whatever it was from three, so I know he’s going to probably get a high majority of our threes.

He’s going to be a 40% three-point shooter. I knew Jamie and Noah eventually gonna start making shots as they get a little bit more comfortable, as they get a little bit used to the game speed. So I wasn’t as concerned with the three-point shot as everybody else.”

Willard on what sparked Maryland’s defensive efforts

“I think Jordan Geronimo was playing with tremendous energy. He’s exactly what I thought he would be for us. He’s doing some really good things on the defensive end. He’s protecting a lot of guys. We’re able to switch with him. He plays 23 minutes and he’s plus-32. That just tells you how hard he’s playing and how much energy he’s playing with.”

Geronimo on his growing confidence on the offensive end

“It feels good to be able to put up those numbers, but I’m just out there just trying to play hard and do the best I can to help us win. My teammates did a great job finding me so, I feel like all that together was able to help me with those numbers.”

Willard on whether he’s seeing his freshmen become more comfortable

“Yeah, they’re getting there.”

Willard on the impact on Jamie Kaiser Jr.’s confidence after finishing 2-for-3 from three

“I’m sure it’s huge for his confidence but again, I never lost confidence in Jamie, so. I don’t think he ever lost confidence because I keep telling him to shoot him. We came in, me, him and DeShawn came in yesterday morning at 8 AM and we put a good hour in just shooting the basketball and watching the ball go in. And when you shoot with Jamie, you don’t even need a rebounder, to be honest with you. He’ll go 48 out of 50 from three. It’s just a matter of him just getting a little bit more comfortable and understanding he’s a freshman. He’s going to struggle a little bit every once in a while. I have great confidence in his shooting ability.”

Willard on Julian Reese’s production in the win

“We continue to put a lot of work in it. It’s something me and him have been, we’ve been grinding since May. His mid-range shot has gotten really good. He doesn’t get very many opportunities in the games just because he’s such a force down low, but his mid-range, he shoots a lot of them in practice. His mid-range has gotten really good, and I think because his mid range being so good, it’s just, that’s kind of gotten to the free throw line, too. But he works at it, man. That didn’t happen, that’s been since May 2^nd I think we started working on his shot this year. That’s him putting it in the whole summer, every morning, 8 AM with me. It’s not a whole lot of fun being with me.”

Reese on his production from the free-throw line

“That was definitely a great feeling. I gotta thank the coach a lot, him getting in there with me early in the morning, taking time out of his morning just to work on the things and build that confidence for the line. Just to see it work off is just amazing.”

Willard on whether Willard noticed a difference in the quality of shots

“I thought in the first half, I thought our defense just gave us a lot of opportunities, fast break points. And so, you turn them over nine times, we had 22 deflections in the first half. I thought our defense would have led to us getting some easy points. And again, being at home, we had two really good days of practice this week going into this game. So, I just think everyone’s starting to get a little bit more comfortable with each other out there. I think, especially that starting, that starting unit has really, really, it’s one of the most productive units in the country right now. So I think they’re getting used to what their role is and what they’re doing.”

Geronimo on the defensive focus vs. Rider

“We just went out there with the goal to get after it. We play with a lot of energy and so playing with energy allows us to get easy defensive stops and easy buckets. So, that was kind of the main goal, just go out there, play defense, get stops and it’s going to create offense for us, so.”

Young on what led to Maryland drawing 45 free throw attempts

“Yeah, just moving the ball side to side, just making sure we limit them to one shot and then just getting out in transition. Being unselfish and really just attacking the basket. We got in the bonus early on, really just trying to knock down our free throws, focus on that but making sure we just get out in transition and try to get easy ones and just play from defense to offense.”

Young on the team finding its rhythm heading into conference play

“Just finding our rhythm and we’re all good shooters. Just stepping in, confidence in ourselves. It was good to get the ceiling off the rim. It’s been a rough couple games in the past, but we’re confident those are behind us and we’re ready to go knock down some shots on the road.”

Young on the importance of ten days back in College Park

“It definitely means a lot just coming off three wins, just going on the road with a mentality that we’re just trying to build on those wins and really just catch our rhythm. I feel like we’re doing that now. So being able to go on the road, we just got to execute and really just go out there and play as hard as we can.”

Reese on adjusting to how teams guard him

“It’s definitely been an adjustment, especially being one of the first options on our team as like the scorer in our offense and it just comes with reps as the season goes on. I don’t know if you’ve seen Davison early in the season, they played me a different way and I had to adjust and I was kind of struggling the next game against UAB because they had that 1-3-1 defense. It’s really just, I’m really just learning as I go and stepping into that world as one of the key scorers for our team so it’s just an adjustment I’m continuing to learn.”

Everything Kevin Willard, players said after 103-76 win vs. Rider

Ahmed Ghafir