Chris Knoche wants to see "way more consistency" from Maryland men's basketball, talks Darius Adams

Ahmed Ghafir
24 hours ago
4 min read

Maryland men’s basketball got back in the win column with a 20-point win over Alcorn State on Tuesday night, giving head coach Buzz Williams his first win inside the Xfinity Center through three games. It’s also given Buzz and his staff a chance to begin gelling together on the floor, but the biggest question for Maryland is the team’s health heading into the second critical non-conference matchup this season.

For Maryland basketball color analyst Chris Knoche, he recognized the need for the new Maryland staff to fill 11 roster spots, given the four A&M transfers were expected to follow Buzz Williams to College Park once the hire was announced. Now it’s about when all four will be available on the floor.

“They expect to get a really key guy back, Solomon Washington, here in the next couple of weeks,” Washington said on 105.7 on Wednesday. “I think he's really going to help, but they're just very much a work in progress.”

Former five-star freshman Darius Adams finished in double figures scoring for the second time in three games, but it was also the second time that he shot under 30% from the floor. Adams is also just 2-of-14 from three early in his college career as he's been part of the solution at point guard when both Diggy Coit and Myles Rice were inactive. Whether the freshman can find his rhythm off the ball once Rice returns is a question mark for Adams, who Knoche noted is trying to get comfortable.

“I think that he's got some guys who will take some of that off his plate. Myles Rice really showed against Georgetown that he can really play. Need to get him back and healthy, and in the mix for every game,” Knoche added.

“Darius is a talented kid. The only - the biggest issue I have is that to a degree, college basketball has gotten older. It's a great, great year for freshmen across the high levels of division one. Darius just isn't there yet like some of the other guys are, you know, Caleb Wilson from North Carolina or some of these other guys who have really burst onto the scene. He's got to grow a little bit mentally and physically. He also - I think this is sort of what you get with young guys. Sometimes it looks like he gets really down on himself, sometimes you need to see the ball go in the basket a little bit. Finally happened for him last night. He scored ten points pretty much in a row at one point in time during the second half and I think that's important. A lot of these guys sort of ID themselves as scorers. Cheerleaders date scorers. They don't date defenders. So I think they like to see themselves get numbers. I think Darius is the same way.”

The biggest question is whether Maryland can muster the on-court effort to secure a signature non-conference win before Big Ten play picks up in January. Maryland will open Big Ten play at Iowa on Dec. 6 before hosting Michigan for a 'Red Out' exactly one week later, but with a road game this weekend against Marquette and both UNLV and Gonzaga awaiting them in the Players Era Tournament during Thanksgiving week, Knoche wants to see “way more consistency” out of Maryland.

“That's sort of every coach is after the Holy Grail, and that is just 40 minutes of consistent effort. You probably never get it, and yet you can always seek it. And this team really needs to play much more even keeled basketball. Last night, first ten minutes, they were they were great and then they started to play with their food a little bit in the last ten minutes of the first half. It's just not what you do in division one basketball. You have a chance to put somebody away, you put them away. And so yeah, I think the consistency. Fortunately, we're playing a kit team that doesn't have Kam Jones anymore. He tore up the Terps last year at Xfinity. It's a young team this. Shaka and his staff only recruit freshmen. They don't do the portal thing. So, yes, an opportunity. An opportunity to get better, get a more key win if you're good enough. And you know, let's play.”

But there’s one trait that Knoche noticed about the team: complete buy-in. It’s not a surprising characteristic given Buzz Williams is known to maintain his staff regardless of where he coaches, while he’s implemented processes for his team and staff to write ‘Thank You’ letters during road trips. But with a brand-new roster, the alignment inside the program is clear.

“I got to tell you, those guys, the guys on the team really buy in. I mean, you can watch them practice, and you could feel it in the gym. There's nobody on the fence about Buzz on that team and I think that's important, particularly as you're trying to build something and create a culture now.”

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