San Diego State is having a historical season and has enough talent to make a deep run in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The difference between winning and losing close games along the way will come down to whether or not teams can gameplan for the Aztecs intelligently and then execute.

Offensive Strengths

San Diego State has been one of college basketball's best offensive teams in the country this, feature three double-digit scorers in Kawhi Leonard, D.J. Gay and Malcolm Thomas.

The Aztecs can play a few different ways, excelling in an up-tempo early offense and transition style, while also scoring efficiently in the halfcourt in the post and off of cuts.

Leonard is easily SDSU's best player and is their primary offensive threat, while also serving as the team's best rebounder. He does a little bit of everything on offense, which makes him difficult to completely take out of a game.

Billy White and Thomas are particularly good in transition, as is James Rahon. They will look to attack the rim, but also have a lot of confidence hitting early offense jumpers.

When the Aztecs go into the post, they rely most heavily on Thomas and he is a good scorer here. The same goes for Leonard, though he is used with far less frequency.

Because they have good athletes, SDSU is difficult to guard around the bucket. They cut with purpose and have a good general sense of spacing and more often than not will find the open man. Their bigs are capable of making excellent passes in the halfcourt if passing lanes are available.

Offensive Weaknesses

Like most teams, the Aztecs use the jump shot most frequently. While they are certainly better than most in this area, their efficiency isn't as superb as it is in the aforementioned strength department.

Rahon has been an excellent perimeter shooter, making 44.6% of his attempts. Gay is almost entirely a three-point shooter and he has made 40.2% of his tries.

Leonard has much more of an NBA-style game than we typically see from Mountain West players and has sometime struggled against smart zone defenses. He occasionally will force high degree of difficulty shots and though it is a dangerous game to get into, daring Leonard to try to do too much is an effective strategy. Obviously it is much more desirable to turn Leonard into a jump shooter, where he physical superiority is negated.

If a team eliminates White in the open floor, he becomes reliant on his post offense, which can be defended against with relative ease.

Steve Fisher's offense doesn't use the pick-and-roll and it occasionally appears as happenstance.

Defensive Strengths

The same athletic gifts SDSU uses on offense expectedly translate to the defensive end of the floor, which is why they exclusively play man-to-man.

The Aztecs do a very good job in contesting jumpers, closing out quickly and forcing tougher looks.

While not quite as good against team's in transition, San Diego State is clearly not vulnerable in this area against team's looking for quick hitters.

Furthermore, SDSU defends against the post with reasonable efficiency and doesn't allow too many second chance points.

Defensive Weaknesses

The best way to attack the Aztecs' defense is off the dribble. As previously mentioned, SDSU will only play man defense and that creates favorable pick-and-roll opportunities. Forcing San Diego State into mismatches by switching screens and rotating has been effective.

In these situations, or in general as well, a team's best isolation scorers can be effective against San Diego State in the halfcourt.

Some of San Diego State's success against the jump shot has been lucky, as they have benefited from a disproportionate number of missed open shots.