WEAPON OF CHOICE: Terps vs. UNC

After the Terrapin men's basketball team gave up 59 second-half points Tuesday night, a reporter asked coach Gary Williams about his team's defense.

"Pick your poison," Williams responded, referring to the opponents' offense. "They have a good combination. They have good 3-point shooters, and they have good inside scorers, so it's tough to defend."

And he was only talking about the inside-out tandem of No. 13 Clemson. Saturday against No. 3 North Carolina, the Terps will have to decide which toxic force to focus on from the following choices:

1.) Tyler Hansbrough, the incumbent national player of the year.

2.) Ty Lawson, one of the nation's most efficient point guards.

3.) Wayne Ellington, who burned the Terps with 34 points earlier this month.

4.) Danny Green, a do-it-all small forward capable of being a go-to guy.

5.) Deon Thompson, a fifth double-figure scorer in the starting lineup.

Pick your poison.

When the Terps visited the Tar Heels on Feb. 3, Williams directed his defense's attention to Hansbrough, who Terrapin forward Dave Neal understandably needed some assistance in guarding.

Tar Heel perimeter players Lawson, Ellington and Green quickly and frequently hammered the Terps for making that choice. The trio combined for 15 3-pointers on 20 attempts. Even Hansbrough got in on the action, hitting his fifth 3-pointer of the season in the second half.

"We couldn't stop them from the 3-point line," guard Greivis Vasquez said that night. "I thought Ellington, [Lawson] and Green played a great game from the 3-point line. It was going to be hard for us to beat them the way they shot the ball."

Williams and the players admitted the Terps weren't aggressive enough defensively that night, allowing the Tar Heels to get more open looks than they should have garnered.

Some of the Terps' woes that night have to be attributed to bad luck. Even if a player is alone in a gym, seldom will he make 3-pointers with the regularity that the Tar Heels made them.

"It feels like teams get hot against us," Neal said. "We played Duke; [Clemson] hit some big shots; North Carolina hit a ton. I guess with us, we can't make excuses anymore. We've gotta take them off their shot at the 3-point line."

The Terps have the worst 3-point field goal defense in the conference, opponents making 35.6 percent of their shots beyond the arc. In the past five games, the Terps have surrendered 53 long balls. Making matters worse, North Carolina has the best 3-point field-goal percentage in the conference.

"We know we have Carolina coming in - the way they shot the three against us last game, we've got to really defend the three this time," Neal said. "We've got to make them penetrate, help on the drive and take away our post game too."

That all sounds easier than it will be to apply. Trying to stop Hansbrough one-on-one throughout the game isn't viable, given the Terps' lack of interior size. And the Terps learned last time that doubling him can open up a host of other options.

Against Clemson, Williams summoned 6-foot-9 forward Jerome Burney for the first time since December. He might see minutes again, given the Terps' need for bulk against a bigger squad like North Carolina.

Williams spoke about employing a larger rotation against Clemson because the Tigers play so fast. He may have to do the same against the up-tempo Tar Heels as well.

Either way, he'll need to find a new method in stopping the Tar Heels, who scored 108 points against the Terps in their last meeting.

That, or hope that North Carolina shoots a bit colder from outside this time around.

Pick your poison.

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