How To Beat Maryland

"Transition is their biggest weapon," says an assistant whose team lost to the Terps in the NCAAs. "[Point guard] Steve Blake and [guard] Juan Dixon make good decisions, and [power forward] Chris Wilcox and [center] Lonny Baxter can really run. They don't have many weaknesses, and they're very good on the offensive glass. Dixon is the key. He's the guy that's going to make plays for them, and they run a lot of offense for him. All these different sets they've got, probably a third of them are for him. Blake you have to play straight up and make him go east and west. Don't let him go north and south. If he gets near the basket, that's a problem because he has guys who can finish. You have to guard Drew Nicholas. He's their best three-point shooter. If you say we're going to play horse, he's the guy. Swingman Byron Mouton is streaky. He's a guy you can play off of and help contain Blake and have your stopper on Dixon. So Mouton will get your weakest defender.

"They're not great defenders. I think they're a little susceptible off the dribble. I also think you can screen them. They don't switch a lot. You can spread them out a little bit and dribble by them. Pound it inside as much as possible because their big guys, Baxter in particular, are foul prone. Just don't get in a running-up-and-down-the-floor kind of game."