Cal's Call: Blue vs. Red

Blue against Red, the Bloods versus the Crips, good against evil, which shall prevail. I'm going with red. On Friday night in Syracuse, New York the Terps are going to play the Kentucky Wildcats.

The key to stopping the Cats is stopping the Prince. Tayshaun Prince is a 6'9 shooting guard who can play the 2 the 3 or even the 4. Usually Kentucky will run a three-guard offense and play him as a power forward. If they use the same tactics that they used against Tulsa and use him as a small forward then the Terps may have problems.

Although Byron Mouton had a helluva game Sunday, shutting down Wisconsin's only threat Kirk Penney, he will have trouble with the much taller Prince. The best way to shut down Prince would be to switch Chris Wilcox to small forward and let him guard Prince, taking away the height advantage. He matches us with Prince very well and what he does lack he makes up with athletic ability. If the Terps decide to keep Mouton on Prince, he might have an encore performance and bust 51.

Kentucky is a horrible shooting team and is no real threat beyond the arc. If the Terps sag in on D they should be able to shut down the post game therefore forcing the Wildcats into taking jumpers. This will be the area the Terps should have an edge. With Juan Dixon on fire his infinite range will torch the cats. Also if Mouton could produce some offense that would help.

This game will not be a blowout and could be as close a s a buzzer beater. The Terps will have to ring the A game and play like they did Sunday. The Terps have an excellent chance to be the national champions and I don't think Kentucky will hold them back.