Shortly after coach Mark Turgeon said he likes this year’s Maryland men’s basketball team, he disputed a question from a reporter that implied he would’ve said the same thing before last season’s underwhelming performance.

“I don’t know if I said that or not last year,” Turgeon said. “We’ll have to go look back. Because I have a pretty good feel. I’m guessing I didn’t, but you can look back and see.”

If Turgeon really did see the 19-13 finish on the horizon last October, he didn’t show it. He began his opening statement at that media day with four words — “I like my team” — and said they were practicing harder than the 2016-17 group did.

After injuries and a slew of close losses led to Maryland’s lowest win total since 2013-14, however, Turgeon said he recognized the need to make changes to return to the heights of the Melo Trimble era. Now, despite seven departures leaving Turgeon with “maybe the youngest team” of his eight-year tenure, he believes it can avoid the pitfalls that sank last year’s squad.

“At this time last year, I didn’t feel as comfortable with that team as I do with this team,” Turgeon said. “Just to be perfectly honest with you.”

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And after spending last season blaming defeats on injuries to the frontcourt, Turgeon admitted Tuesday that the problems began far before then.

“Even when we were healthy,” Turgeon said, “we weren’t playing great.”

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Maryland was still adjusting to life without Trimble at that time, but it also had two 2018 NBA draft picks and was adding only a couple of newcomers into the rotation. While guard Anthony Cowan returns to lead the Terps this season, he no longer has Kevin Huerter alongside him in the backcourt and will have at least three freshmen figuring prominently around him.

Throughout the spring, seeing a significant rebuild in his future, Turgeon emphasized team-building activities. Maryland toured the campus challenging — and losing to — various club teams in their respective sports. It led to an improved cohesiveness that has combined with motivation from last year’s disappointment to create a completely different tenor around the program, the team said.

“We were disappointed in last season. It didn’t go the way we wanted,” Turgeon said. “Since that season ended, we’ve done everything we can do to get back to the way we were the three years before that, which were terrific years.”

Yet some of the problems that plagued the 2017-18 squad still loom this year. Despite Turgeon calling the schedule “tremendous,” the nonconference slate is again filled with games Maryland can expect to be blowout wins.

Even with the arrival of five-star forward Jalen Smith and the emergency, late-summer addition of forward Ricky Lindo, a lack of depth in the frontcourt leaves Maryland vulnerable should one of its big men suffer from injuries or foul trouble.

And as always, Turgeon’s ability to turn talented recruits into results will be under scrutiny from uneasy fans, with Smith and four-star guards Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins highlighting a six-man freshman class that joins a team with just two scholarship upperclassmen.

For now, Turgeon said he isn’t worried about any of that.

“We’re excited about the year,” Turgeon said. “Really looking forward to coaching this team. Should be a lot of fun.”

But he felt the same way last year — even if the next four months wiped that from his memory.