courtesy of Jack Alden

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"I thought the whole game was our defense, particularly in the first half. We came out early in the second half and were awful offensively. Give their defense some credit there. It got back to a nine- or 10-point game, and then after that we settled down and got back in the groove defensively. They're a hard team to play. They're patient, they have good ball handlers, their players know their limitations, they stay away from trouble spots.... Again, I was really, really pleased with our defense in the first half. "We talked at halftime about how (Brian Wilson) had four threes, and we needed to know where he was. It wasn't just Kirk (shutting Wilson down in the second half) because the problem we got into in the first half was people would beat us off the drive, then we would help, and Brian was out there open, and he'd make the shots. Our whole emphasis defensively was to try to do a better job guarding the basketball, guarding the dribble, so they couldn't create openings by penetrating and pitching, and I think we did a better job of that. "We have either a size or a skill advantage inside in Nick and Wayne. We have two guys who can score, put the ball in the basket, and shoot a really high percentage. I think we need to go in there, and you have a chance to get fouled more often, and I thought it was really important for us when Meade and Whearty both fouled out for them. "Kirk has been politicking for Bryant to get more opportunities. He keeps telling me about all these slam dunk follows, and I've never seen any of them until this year. Three or four times in the pre-season and practices he's made those kind of moves, and that one in the first half was big for us. He can get to the boards. But I was disappointed the other night, between he and Keith, they had 43 minutes to play in one of the exhibition games, and had one offensive rebound between the two of them. We can't be a good team if we don't get more rebounding from the three spot. "Nick didn't shoot the ball very well. He hesitated a couple of times. The second possession of the second half, about eight feet out on the baseline, he hesitated a little bit and missed it. Then he took two bad ones at the end. That's one of the reasons I took him out, because I didn't like the two shots he took over a guy's hand, and he missed both of them. Nick Collison most of the time is not going to shoot six for 15. A couple of them were bad decisions. But first game jitters, you have to get by those, and Nick and Kirk are seniors who want to play the perfect game, and they want to do so much."

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