The buzzer sounded at Comcast Center about twice every minute during a 12-minute period in the Terrapins men’s basketball team’s open scrimmage Saturday afternoon, and that caused coach Mark Turgeon to grow more and more frustrated.
There were 22 total fouls in one of the period, and the constant stoppage of play kept the Terps from getting into a flow. Plus, even when the Terps could sustain possession, Turgeon wasn’t too impressed with the play.
“I didn’t like a lot,” Turgeon said. “That was really sloppy. I think the second scrimmage had 22 foul calls in 12 minutes, so there was no flow to it.”
Though Turgeon on the whole was disappointed with his team’s performance in front off several hundred scattered fans in Comcast Center, the third-year coach mentioned continued progress from forward Jake Layman and consistent leadership from forward Dez Wells as bright spots.
The first name Turgeon mentioned, however, was Charles Mitchell, who is battling Shaquille Cleare to be the Terps starting center.
“Charles got a little tired, but he’s dropped about eight pounds in the last two weeks,” Turgeon said. “He looks great, and he’s practicing well. He was good early in the scrimmage.”
While Mitchell is fighting for playing time down low, guard Roddy Peters also impressed in his quest for minutes on the perimeter. The freshman point guard committed a few turnovers early in the scrimmage but appeared to settle in as time wore on.
Peters had several sharp crossovers and often got into the lane, drew defenders and dropped off passes to teammates for easy dunks.
“Roddy played well today,” Turgeon said. “That was Roddy’s best day and it was good for him. He needed it for confidence because he hadn’t been practicing great.”
Despite the positive signs, though, Turgeon left the gym Saturday a bit peeved. He thought his team could have performed better, but he has two more weeks until the team’s season opener against Connecticut in Brooklyn to straighten out any issues.
“We have some pretty good talent, but today was a little bit of a step back,” Turgeon said. “But we’ll learn from it and hopefully get better.”
