NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 30, 2001

Steve Blake

Juan Dixon

STEVE BLAKE: I think I've done a good job. I think it's great team defense. I mean, guys do a great job of helping me out when I get beat and just try to make him take tough shots.

STEVE BLAKE: After we lost those games, we kind of, you know, dedicated ourselves to be a better team, working harder, playing more loose, and just go out there and playing our game, instead of, you know, thinking too much. Kind of just let things happen. Things just kind of turned around.

JUAN DIXON: I think everybody wasn't on the same page then. After we lost that Duke game, a lot of guys lost confidence, you know, but through that stretch I think we stayed strong. We still played hard and gave our maximum effort, and we were still losing games. After we lost that Florida State game, we knew we had to pick it up or we weren't going to be able to be at the NCAA Tournament. We got that win at Wake Forest, and ever since then we've been playing great basketball.

STEVE BLAKE: Yeah, I mean it's anybody's tournament right now. Everyone's playing really well, and for us, I think we just got to play our game. I think we have a lot of great players. Our bench is real big for us. We have big guys coming off the bench that can really play. When they come in, they contribute the way they do, that gives us an edge over other teams, I think.

JUAN DIXON: I think after I lost my parents, it taught me how to be strong, you know, taught me how to survive, you know. You know, basically I've been on my own. I mean, I had my extended family out there to help me go the right way, but it's basically all my decisions. I just stayed strong throughout the whole deal. Things are working out for me right now.

JUAN DIXON: What?

JUAN DIXON: Whoa. I would have to say just how competitive it was out there. It was three great, hard-fought games. I mean, we won once and they won twice and each team had to work extremely hard for those victories, and, you know, last game we didn't play particularly well but we fought hard and we almost came up with the victory. Duke's a great team. I think it's going to be a great matchup tomorrow night.

JUAN DIXON: I guess you just have to take the three-point line. We've been working all week long. You have to extend your defense. You have to play out forever. You're checking Jason Williams or Shane Battier or the rest of the guys, you have to be ready to move your feet and be ready to contest every shot. I think our team defense has to be clicking tomorrow in order for us to win the game.

STEVE BLAKE: Everyone's really excited right now. For us, it's great to be a part of something for the University of Maryland for the first time. We're just real excited. All the hard work that everyone's put into it, from the coaches, the staff, the students with their support, and, you know, we're just real happy and everyone's excited.

JUAN DIXON: Well, I think, you know, a lot of great players have gone through Maryland. Those guys didn't get the opportunity to make the Final Four. You just want to go out there, just have fun. We're just going out and playing for the guys that are in the locker room. We were able to get to the Final Four and represent the whole school and the history of the school. I'm glad we were able to get it done.

JUAN DIXON: I think we are very familiar with one another. I think the team that goes out there and works hard and executes better on both ends of the floor will be the team to win the game. We know their offense, they know our offense. I think the team that will execute better at both ends of the floor will be the team to win the game.

STEVE BLAKE: I don't think all the hoopla and stuff is going to change the game. They're going to play the way they've been playing all year. We're going to play the way we've been playing, so it's going to be a great matchup.

JUAN DIXON: I wouldn't say that. I mean, we're a program on the rise. Those two teams have been there for years. They won a national championship in the '80s. So, you know, we're a program on the rise. It would be great to win a national championship. We have to take one game at a time. We have to go through a great team in Duke. Hopefully, we can get it done but we have years to come. We have great players that are young, that are gonna have the chance to do this again.

STEVE BLAKE: As far as the game being hyped up, I mean, this is what everyone wanted to see. Everyone wanted to see Maryland versus Duke with the great games we've played already. We weren't worried about who we were going to play. We just wanted to come out, make it here, concentrate on whoever we played, if it was Duke or someone else. We just wanted to play whoever.

JUAN DIXON: I think, like Blake says, it's been three great games. We look forward to playing one another. It's two teams out there, just going out there and having fun and competing for 40 minutes. I think it's a great matchup. We're looking forward to it. I'm sure a lot of other people are looking forward to it. We're just going to go out there, have fun and hopefully we can get the victory.

JUAN DIXON: Coach has done a great job with the program in twelve years. There's a lot of other great coaches out there who never had the opportunity to make the Final Four. I'm glad Coach has been to five or six Sweet 16s. Finally this year we got past the Sweet 16 and moved on to the Final Four. Hopefully we'll go out there, continue to have fun. I think Coach right now is having a lot of fun, the players are. Hopefully we'll just keep on competing and hopefully we'll keep on winning.

STEVE BLAKE: What I try to do is stay in front of him. Once he does go up to take a shot, I get a hand up, make him see that I'm there, no open looks. What makes him a tough player, he's got a good all-around game, he can go left, right, pull up, shoot threes. He's a strong point guard. He just has a good all-around game.

JUAN DIXON: Well, I'm really getting tired of it right now. We've been talking about it for years now, for a couple years. Hopefully, everybody that wanted the story got it done. I just try to stay strong throughout the whole deal. It was a tough time for me and it's getting a lot of attention. Hopefully I can just stay focused and keep on playing basketball and not worry about everything that's around me.

JUAN DIXON: Basketball was definitely an escape for me to get away from what happened with my parents. When I was on the court I really didn't think about it. I wasn't around my family members. I think it gave me an opportunity just to think about something else. Me and my brother just went to the court and we played, if it was in the summertime, we played all day long and all night long. Just another way for me to keep my mind off it.

STEVE BLAKE: I think we're very happy to be here. But from the very beginning since we got here, we knew we had to concentrate. We're not totally satisfied with getting here; we want to win the national championship. There's nothing wrong with being happy and satisfied in getting here, but we still have a goal and that's not completed yet.