More from media availability heading into Friday's game vs. Marquette as head coach Kevin Willard, big men Julian Reese and Derik Queen, along with second-year guard/wing DeShawn Harris-Smith talking about his offseason growth and adjustments:
Queen on how he feels challenged through first stretch of college career
“It’s just all about consistency. I just gotta stay consistent.”
Reese on the impact on the game when both teams like to press often
“I guess it's gonna be like kind of be a dog fight. Really goes down to who starts off in their press first, making the shot first. That's really when the press starting. And, like I said, just stay in the principles and staying real discipline, pressing without fouling and being aggressive without fouling.”
Queen on what Maryland’s staff has done with his shot
“The same drills that the guys be doing, just shooting. Lot of threes, lot of reps. Catch-and-shoot, off the dribble, move around.”
Queen on how the frontcourt chemistry has developed
“Obviously it's hard to guard. People don't [have] enough size to guard the both of us.”
Reese on going to the NC A&T vs. George Washington game to support Jahn Lamothe
“I feel like that's important, like showing love for you guys and just making sure you're there for him. And I feel like us being there meant the world to him, and it was just fun seeing him play and getting real comfortable with his new team.”
On playing with a legit big
Reese: “Him being so good, starting off like as a five-star coming in, he’s being a sponge at the same time, not going in one ear, coming out the other. Just being a sponge. It was kind of he was kind of easy, but teaching him, he's already, like I said, he's already such a good big so that's another way. It's easy. And just going to each other in practice like we like we've been doing. I think that makes each other better, the team better, and just overall feel good for the team.”
Queen: “It's great having him on the team. He taught me a lot. [He’s] been in college for four years. Very good player, and he just helped me get through how practices and tell me, like, what things to do, what things to not do.”
Queen on how Team Thrill developed Queen, Reese for college
“We traveled a lot and then I played against a fair amount of high level players and which they are playing as freshmen. So me just playing against him help me, prepare me for the next level.”
Queen on playing Baltimore style of basketball
Reese: “Just playing a little harder, little gritty, smash-mouth basketball just playing a little harder and more gritty.”
Queen: “A lot of people don't make it out of there. So us being at the college level and hopefully us getting to the next level it’s going to like be a big thing.”
Queen on what he picked up from his time at St. Frances
“St. Frances was like four years ago. I don’t really remember a lot.”
“I had a court like two blocks away from my house. Walked there, me and my friends, we just played outside all day. All day, definitely no school days. When we had no school days, I played all day.”
Reese on seeing other Baltimore products like Bub Carrington, Cam Whitmore progress through their careers
“I feel like it’s really inspiring seeing those guys, especially playing against them in high school, playing with them in high school. Just inspiring to see. It makes us want to do the same thing and inspire the next generation to do the same thing as well.”
Reese on his message to Queen
“Just play harder and kind of play with a chip on his shoulder. Just preparing for the Big Ten is way different from high school, way different like style of play college basketball than high school. And I feel like he adjusted well you see his first game. Just keep adding on it and keep building on that.”
Willard on how Queen and Reese have gotten acclimated to each other
“It’s been a two-way street. I think Derik's helped Ju a little bit and Ju’s definitely helped Derik. I think Ju has really helped Derik with the physicality, on getting ready for the physicality of college especially what we're going to see on Friday night. It's a different level of physicality than what we've seen so far or what Derik has seen so far. But I think Derik also, when they're out there, they talk to each other about what he sees – get here when I'm here. And Ju does the same thing. So I think they've worked really well together and I think they both helped each other out. But definitely more than anything, Ju really helped Derik be prepared for the physicality.”
Willard on the commonality between Queen and Reese
“I think the really cool thing about, although Derik went to high school – Derik got coached by one of the best high school coaches in the country – Derik lived in Baltimore all summer long, played on the same AAU teams, were in the same gyms, worked out with the same guys. I think they're very similar in the fact that they love where they come from. They appreciate where they come from. And I think it's helped that the fact that they've been around the same people, although Derik went to high school in Florida. For five months a year, he was back here, training, playing, dealing with all the same guys that Ju did.”
Queen on what sticks out about what Reese tells him in practice
“Pick my speed up. Just go hard every day.”
Reese on what’s impressed him about the team’s start
“I feel like our team is very versatile. Everybody's gonna have their night – [Queen] first night; second night, Rodney [Rice]; me, third night. So I feel like everybody's gonna have their night. We just gotta stay consistent as the team. On defense, everybody got to have their every night on defense. I feel like we do that, we would be good.”
Willard on what Jay Young has brought to the locker room
“Jay's been probably the best addition by far for me because he's just, he's got a really good way about him. He's got a smile on his face. He's a great teammate. You don't have to run anything for Jay. You don't have to worry about Jay. He comes in the gym every day, and he's just – he's really fun to coach. And in today's environment, with all the stress on these guys, and NIL and all this other stuff, Jay's a little bit like a throwback. He just wants to – he really wanted to come here and play, play at the highest level, and give himself a chance to experience it. So he's been a great addition from a leadership standpoint, from an attitude standpoint. He's been terrific.”
Reese on the addition of PG Jay Young
“He’s brought a lot of wisdom, especially being at the point guard position, being a natural leader at that position, being very vocal. In practice I feel like very selfless player, playing a lot of defense, doing a lot of things that don't show up on a statbook. And I feel like he's just great for our team, a great piece and overall, good for the system.”
Harris-Smith on adjusting his shot form, what changes he made during the offseason
“Me and coach [Kevin] Willard have been doing like a lot of one-hand shooting every morning, just so my hands getting all the way under the ball and I'm not so reliant on my guide hand. I feel like that's probably the thing that's helped my arc the most.”
Willard on what changes are done to change reshape shooting form
“It really just depends on the guy. It really does. Shooting is such a – by the time they get to you, you're talking about an ingrained pattern that they've probably been shooting the same way since they were in grade school, believe it or not. So you have to be really, really careful for what you do and how you try to make changes with each individual guy because the shooting forms are so drastically different. You can have a guy like Reggie Miller, who had some of the worst form but was one of the greatest shooters, and you have Steph Curry, who was probably has the most purest form of shooting as a greatest shooter. So it really is an individual basis. I try to not do crazy overhaul changes because it's just, it's an ingrained pattern that they've been doing for so long.”
Harris-Smith on the process of getting comfortable to a new shooting motion
“I mean even now, sometimes, like I've seen in the game right now, like I got to be kind of mindful of it because if I'm just like shooting the ball, I'm going to go back to my old ways. And I feel like that's why they haven't dropped right now. I just got to keep repping. I mean, I'm still doing it every single morning. Eight o'clock coach Willard [will] be here sticking with me throughout how many misses or makes, he’ll be here every morning with me the next day. So, I mean, I just got to stick with it and just more and more reps just want to be more like second nature song so I don’t have to think about in the game.”
Harris-Smith on what drills the team does to improve shooting motion
“I feel like coach Willard he be promoting the one hand shooting a lot. I just feel like because it help your form the most and just making sure you're not relying on your guide hand. Because a lot of people [have] like a thumb flick or relying on their guide hand. So, I mean, I know me and [Julian] [have] been working on that all summer, but I feel like every guy got to do different things to help them fix her own jump shot.”
Harris-Smith on what’s been most encouraging about the three-game start
“I just feel like, like [Julian] said earlier, like every game is just someone else’s night. So just seeing how stacked our team is and how talented we are. And then I feel like we are almost like one of the deepest teams in the country, just like with experience and like the level of talent that we have. So I feel like that's been the most encouraging thing for me.”
Harris-Smith on his role when other guys get going on offense
“When I see guys going out there, scoring all the points and stuff, getting all the offensive rebounds, I feel like my only job is to play defense and try to do all the little things that maybe that they're not doing. And I feel like that's just something that, like, takes no skill. Like I can hang my coat on that every single day. I'm gonna go out there and play hard, take charges, play as hard as I can on defense because that takes no skill. That's just all effort, energy.”
Willard on DeShawn Harris-Smith’s growth in year two
“I think the fact that he can guard really four positions is really what makes him valuable. He's got the toughness to, if we switch him on a four and they roll four in there, he can battle that way. He'll win rebounding wars against bigger guys. And he's got the smarts and the quickness to defend little guys when we switch on to them.”
Willard on Harris-Smith’s role
“This is a team still trying to figure out their roles a little bit. And then the one thing that I know DeShawn always understands is that he can, he's going to bring extreme value on the defensive end.”
Willard on the most encouraging thing through three games
“I definitely think our bench play has been really – I thought it would be a strength, but I've been really happy with what our bench has done. From a tempo on the defensive side, from a steadiness on the offensive side, they've come in and I think they've done a great job every one of them of giving us something different off the bench.”
Willard on Rodney Rice’s emergence to begin the season
“I think it was a combination of things. Sometimes, I mean, injuries are really tough when you're a player and he had some serious injuries at Virginia Tech. And I think him coming home and having his family support to try to get him back to where they wanted him to get was huge. He's got a great family. They're 30 minutes away. So I think having that support, fighting through injury and getting back was huge. And I think the other thing was one reason he really wanted to come here is he knew (A) he would have some freedom on the offensive end but also that we were going to be patient with him and work with him to get him back. He really liked that aspect of this program that we were going to spend a lot of time and just not put any pressure on him to be a guy that's unreasonable. So I think he's played great. I think he's going to continue to get better as he as he gains more confidence because he's put a lot of hard work in.”
Willard on still wearing a suit on the sideline
“Well, we all wore suits until COVID and I really didn't like COVID. I thought that whole year and a half that we were acting crazy. So when we came back to pretty much normal, I wanted to get back to normal. And for me, normal was when coach [Gary] Williams coached here, he wore a suit. When my dad coached, he wore a suit. When Rick Pitino coached, he wore a suit. When Dean Smith coached, he wore a suit. It seemed like everyone before me respected the game and respected their institution so for me, it was more about respecting the game and respecting the people that I had worked for. And so that's why we still wear suits.”
“My father and coach Pitino. I think my father is one of the best coaches that I've ever coached. From the high school level to the college level, he wore a suit, even though as he got older he wore a turtle neck and a suit, which was kind of weird but he's not the most normal guy. And then coach Pitino, I mean, if you had your shirt untucked the wrong way he'd let you know about it. So I just think there's a level of respect. My President wears a suit. My AD wears a suit when he goes to places. I just think there's a level of respect that we should have. And a lot of guys disagree with me, and I'm fine with that, but that's my feeling on it.”
Willard on whether he’s talked to other coaches about wearing suits
“I [couldn’t] care less with other and they could care less what I do. They have their own issues. Matt Painter wore, I think he wore a polo all year. I’d take his year over me wearing a suit anytime. So different birds, different animals, man.”
Willard on his relationship with Mick Cronin
“Mick worked for Coach Pitino, too. And again, I think Mick is the head coach at UCLA. I'm the head coach at the University of Maryland. Those are big jobs. I think that he understands there's a level of respect. I mean, John Wooden coached there. I didn’t see John Wooden coaching in a sweatshirt. So I think there's a level of respect that you have to have for tradition and history. I think Mick understands that as much as I do.”
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