Melo Trimble appears on ESPN’s college basketball podcast
By Chris Bengel
Guard Melo Trimble joined ESPN’s College Basketball podcast and discussed his experiences at the Pan-American Games and his expectations for the season.
Trimble is coming off a season in which he averaged 16.2 points-per-game to go along with 3.9 rebounds-per-game and 3.0 assists-per-game.
Here’s a transcript of the interviews that Trimble did with ESPN analysts Seth Greenberg and Andy Katz:
On his experience at the recent Pan-American Games: “It was a great experience. I got to work out with some of the veteran guys that have been in the NBA and also overseas. I took a lot of things from them and learned. I think that going out there has taught me a lot and I can bring it back to the University of Maryland.”
On this year being different with new players: “Last year, we really relied on our guards to do a lot of the work. This year, bringing Rob (Carter) in and Diamond (Stone), even the players that were here last year as far as Damonte Dodd and (Michal Cekovsky), they’re trying to get better too just like them. I think having them there on the team is going to be a big thing.”
On creating contact and getting to the free-throw line: “It’s about just getting a feel for where your defender is at and being patient. Coach (Mark) Turgeon teaches about being patient. When I’m playing, I always want the defender to be on their toes. Being patient and dictating what I want to do always helps me draw contact and get the foul call.”
On handling the increased expectations: “Going into last year, we had the mindset that we wanted to gain respect and we have that same mindset this year. People are talking about us really highly and saying that we’re going to do good, but I think with the group of guys we have now we’re just going to be mature about it and continue to get better and not worry about what people are saying about us. Even if people want to go at us like the No. 1 target, we’re still going to be effective because we’re going to be mature about the situation and just look at every game like it’s our last game.”
On the differences between the ACC & the Big Ten: “I think playing in the Big Ten is physical. The pace of the game is the same. I think that the level of competition is about the same and everybody brings their best and so do we.”
Judging by Trimble’s comments, Maryland is very focused on the upcoming season and aren’t letting the huge expectations get the best of them. Despite being somewhat of a young team last season, the Terps played like a veteran group at times.
With the Pan-American Games experience, Trimble got a chance to go up against some great competition and learned from professional players who have the experience and can teach young players something.
Trimble should continue to improve in his sophomore season and is a phenomenal face for the Maryland program.