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Film review: Breaking down Michal Cekovsky and Damonte Dodd at power forward

Mark Turgeon wants to use Michal Cekovsky and Damonte Dodd at the power forward position this year.

Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

It was unknown in the early stages how special Maryland's 2014-15 basketball team would be, but an early upset win against No. 13-ranked Iowa State, in what appeared to be an away game on a neutral court in Kansas City, was the first showing of what the team could do.

The Cyclones, who finished the season with the 11th-best adjusted offense per KenPom, were held to 29.7 percent shooting from the field. The emphasis on held being that it wasn't just unlucky bounces that kept Iowa State off the scoreboard.

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon played 7'1 then-freshman Michal Cekovsky a career-high 28 minutes in an effort to keep the opposition off the boards, and affect attempts around the rim. Cekovsky blocked a pair of shots, hauled in 8 rebounds –including three offensively – and altered the shots of any player who dared to approach the paint.

Unique to this game was Turgeon's insertion of another near 7-foot big to accompany Cekovsky on the court in Damonte Dodd. With Iowa State playing no one taller than 6'8 Georges Niang, Maryland went anti-modern day basketball, going big at the four spot. The twin-tower defense proved effective, holding the Cyclones' leading scorer, Niang, to 10 points on 28.6 percent shooting, nearly 20 percent below his career average.

This season Turgeon adds another 7-footer to his arsenal in five-star center Diamond Stone, and the coach have plenty of options to mimic the rotations used in the upset victory from a year ago.

Testudo Times was able to speak to both Turgeon and Dodd about the power of one of the most desirable frontcourts in college basketball.

Here's our review of Stone, too: