Buzz Williams on loss vs. Illinois, Senior Day, status of Pharrell Payne

Ahmed Ghafir
11 hours ago
8 min read

Everything that head coach Buzz Williams said after Maryland men's basketball's regular season finale loss vs. Illinois:

On Andre Mills' encouraging performance in the regular season finale

“I think all of our guys, in some sort of way, have continued to find ways to get better. I think there's been somewhat of a crescendo in how Dre's played. He's got to continue to play with a low turnover rate. I think the more that he gets fouled, the more it helps. He's working at understanding the game more and understanding where the help is coming from. Obviously, his position on the scouting report, I think has probably changed. Relative to how the opponents are guarding him, even today, I think [Kylan Boswell] is an elite defender. We just got to continue to play with a low turnover rate as a team, including Dre. And the more that he can help us on the glass, the more effective it is for our team, both on the offensive glass and the defensive glass.”

On being outscored in the paint, Illinois three point shooting

“They're number one in the country and offensive efficiency for a variety of reasons. They're number one in the Big Ten in offensive rebound percentage. They're number one and not giving the ball to the opponent. They get fouled at a medium rate. They shoot more threes than any team. And so you do have to pick kind of what you're going to do. I think offensively, they do an unbelievable job of hunting the advantage, whatever they deem to be their best versus your worst. And then they make decisions based on your decision in that. They shoot high value shots at any point in the clock. They rebound any of those misses higher than any team in the league. And when they get the ball back, they shoot another high value shot. And so the thing that we struggled with there, I think they scored 20 points from the free throw line. And today, they scored 21 points from the free throw line. I think at Illinois, I think they scored 15 points from three, some of those coming off offensive rebounds. So we limited their volume somewhat in our plan today. Our contests were much better and we did a better job on the offensive glass. The problem was I think they scored five free throws at halftime and never got to the bonus. And then were in the bonus with, I don't know, 8:48, and so if you score 16 points in a half in one way or another, particularly if the clock's not stopping, it's just hard. We did better. We just have to defend without fouling, particularly any team, but particularly a team that's as potent offensively as they are.”

On the Andre Mills three-point attempt with 30 seconds left

“That wasn't the three play design. That's my fault. I was trying to - the three over there, the possession before was a draw up for Elijah. The three over there in the opposite corner for [Isaiah] Watts, both of those were draw ups. The out of bounds that you're speaking of. I think there was nine and a half seconds left. We were down four. That was a draw up. The shot with Watts, the shot with Elijah, the same look with Diggy in the same spot as watts, and the possession that you're talking about were all draw ups. That's probably a little bit too much for our team in regards to the ability to execute. I just thought when Watts got that ball, I think we were down two. I know when Elijah caught the ball over there at the bottom part of our bench, we were down two. I was trying to go for the win then instead of waiting until the end. I think the shot that you're talking about that Dre shot, it was a play designed for Dre to get a three, but there was a previous - we were going to get another look based on what I thought they were going to do out of bounds defensively. I think we were down four at that point.”

On Solomon Washington fouling out, the message when he checked out

“Thanks.”

On playing without Solomon Washington

“I think our whole team was in foul trouble. If you shoot 21 free throws in a half, you probably have multiple people in foul trouble. If you're playing seven guys, you probably have more than one in foul trouble. We started the half fouling, according to the officials, and we kept fouling. Solo helps us defensively. He's our best defender. He's our best athlete. He's our best switchable. At times, he does some things that you can't coach that are not necessarily a play. Had a couple of rim shots that he made, so sure we want as many options in the last three minutes of any game as possible. All of this is somewhat emotional for every player when you get to the last game, whether they've spent a long time with you or just a little bit of time with you, and so you want to honor their experience. You want to honor their heart, honor their life. I've known Solo and all of his family for a long time, and we've moved halfway across the world, and I'm just thankful. And I don't want my love to change based on the score of a game and I understand the public exposure that comes with a flagrant one appeal on a three. And so as I was telling him, everybody's watching you, and so I'm standing next to you, so they'll talk about me. So just handle this the right way and know that I care about you and love you and will never betray our relationship.”

On the Big Ten Tournament

“I was really encouraged by the competitive character of our group. I'm very thankful for the support of the students from beginning to end the season at Xfinity [Center]. Really thankful for the loyalty of the longtime season ticket holders. The notes that I've received, the messages that I've gotten despite the volatility and lack of success. I've been very encouraged by - I thought our staff has and was incredible in their plan against a team that's, according to the numbers that matter, they're fifth in the country. That put a lot of pressure on you. And I thought we played, from an execution standpoint to that better than we have on both ends of the floor from start to finish, maybe since Minnesota, at Minnesota. And so I wasn't sure who we were playing until I was doing the radio interview. They said Oregon. So I just told the kids, when I finish this, we'll figure it out as a staff and start diagnosing what's transpired over the last eight weeks with Oregon. And then we're going to get together tomorrow for what we call two day before, even though it's not two day before, and just begin to give context to Oregon, to their roster, to their style of play, maybe some of those cobwebs will come to life. And then when we get to Chicago tomorrow evening, we'll count that kind of as one day before and just kind of double up our prep tomorrow, just mentally getting back to where we need to be. They told me that we play at four o'clock Central Tuesday, and if we win, we play at 11 AM central the next day. So as a staff, we got a lot of work to do over the next to your point, whatever time it is, until four o'clock central time on Tuesday.”

On the timeout prior to Andre Mills’ missed three in the final minute

“Didn't we get an offensive rebound that led to the timeout. Is that right? So, yeah, so I think we were playing in the open floor. I didn't - we call it Van Alstyne. That's the little farming community that I'm from. Van Alstyne means I'll make the decision, you keep playing. So it might have been a free throw or a missed shot, and I was saying Van Alstyne. And then they know that that means do what I'm asking you to do, keep playing, but I have the right to make the decision on if I call a timeout. And I think that we did do that. And then - I don't know how many times, this could be wrong. This says that we took the ball out of bounds five times. I don't think that that's right. I think it was more than that. Nearly every possession in the first half they were in zone, and then they changed it. And so the draw up out of the timeout was whether they're in man, whether they're in zone, this is what we're going to do. And so Solo had fouled out. So that's Collin [Metcalf] at the five. That was [Elijah] at the four, I had DA as the catcher, Diggy as the inbounder, which is not necessarily what we had been doing up until that point. They're the tallest team in the country, he's the shortest player in the game. But I did think that Diggy could get a shot. And so it was to enter to DA on if you're looking at the basket, I guess the left wing Diggy was coming off a double zipper, and then Dre who was the fifth player, as DA threw it to Diggy. Is this what you're asking me to do? As DA threw it to Diggy? I wanted Elijah to set what we call an Iverson screen for DA on an empty side. And I wanted Elijah and Collin to come together and set a gate for Dre, but I thought that there was a chance in man or zone, because I knew that [Kylan Boswell] would be on Dre if they were in man, and if they were in zone, it was going to be an easy catch for Diggy and then the gate would still work for Dre. If they were in man, I like that Diggy would have a look with direct DA coming off the Iverson to an empty side, and then the gate for Dre. And Dre went two and a half seconds too early, but that's okay. I think Dre, in some ways, probably helped us get to that point where it was still a game. So all of that was good. Diggy's last home game. DA and Dre's first last home game of their freshman year, Collin’s last home game. And that was Elijah, he was the fifth kid in. So I told Elijah, out of the whenever the challenge or appeal or whatever that was on the free throw, ‘Elijah, we're going to run this for you to shoot the three to put us up one. If we get a stop, they'll have to foul. We'll win the game, and then that draw was out of the time out.’ Does that answer your question?”

On Pharrel Payne

“I think we were the first Power Four school. It might have been Power Five at that time, when [Pharrel Payne] was coming out of high school. We saw him play an auxiliary gym D at like eight o'clock in the morning for a non-shoe company sponsored team. That coach was really good. Gochi was just big, but you could tell he had great agility. He had really soft hands. He went to Minnesota, which was about 12 minutes from his home. His family has been tremendous. We talked to him the first day that he went in the portal. He's an unbelievable person. We didn't honor him for senior day, not because he's done anything wrong, and not because we're trying to hide anything. As you guys know, I tried to be transparent and somewhat protective in an industry where there's so much exposure when it comes to players injuries. But as you know, anytime there's going to be anything medical that can't come from the coach, that can't come from the trainer, that all has to be medically driven before the NCAA or any conference can approve anything. I know it's become very common, but just being respectful to his family, who I have great respect for. No decision has been final because it has nothing to do with me, and honestly, it has nothing to do with the University of Maryland.”

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