I wrote a story for today on Cal coach Mike Montgomery and his Golden Bears. It strikes me that the Bears and Maryland have the same issue -- a lack of inside presence -- and compensate for it in different ways. Cal shoots threes. Maryland traps, presses and penetrates.
It's worked out fine for both teams. But at one point Montgomery asked himself whether Maryland wouldn't mind having a rugged, 6-10 center.
Montgomery answered his own question.
"Probably," he said.
Here are some Montgomery quotes that aren't in the story:
*On why Maryland's loss to Morgan State wasn't as bad it might have seemed:
"Morgan State is in the NCAA (tournament) so that's just a name problem for you. The last 10 games…they (the Terps) have been pretty doggone good."
*On Greivis Vasquez:
"Vasquez, he's a wild card. He's capable of making everybody better."
*On why guard play is so critical in the NCAA tournament:
"It's really hard to score in the low post in the tournament because there's not much called. So it puts the ball in the guards' hands. You just don't see big guys have monster games because it's hard to score in the paint in the NCAAs."