My first thought? You can't write it. I'm focused on seven games. I'm focused on leaving this one behind. |
My style is I'm not a guy who needs a whole lot of games. When I was a backup, I played one game a month or two games a month. You have to be ready. That's kind of how I always approached it. I learned to adjust to that. |
Pressure isn't a bad word. It's a great word. It gives you tunnel vision and let's you focus on the task at hand. |
That happens sometimes. You get in a groove. I was in a groove and felt really good. |
That whole country knows they have the best player in the world. They know he couldn't miss the Olympics without at least trying. I just hope he waits until after they play us. |
That's in the past. I don't really want to talk about that. |
The good thing for me is I have more to offer. As an athlete, you are always trying to get better. You always strive to do that. I have elevated my game. |
There are some young players in here who are going to carry the team in the future. I think it would be pretty unfair to judge them right now. |
There's a real sense of focus on this team. We flew off the handle [last time] and we went in a different direction tonight. |
These guys are really gifted. These guys' upper body strength ... you see these guys take off, they are unbelievable. |
They always say the biggest hurdle is making sure that injury is battle-tested, putting yourself in a position where you are going to strain it. I've really pushed myself this week. If something fluky happens tomorrow, that's the way it is. I've been pushing and pushing and pushing to see how far I can push this injury to make sure it's good. |
They told me it would be four to five months, ... and they ruled out the World Cup. I didn't want to miss the opportunity, so I rushed it. I would have never done that if I didn't have the World Cup. |
They've got everything working for them right now. They are really clicking. |
Things are going to flip around. There's going to be games that I'm winning. There's going to be games that he's winning. It's going to be a revolving door until somebody jumps all over it and runs with it. |
This has been a difficult building for us. This was a step in the right direction, especially if they are our first-round (opponent). |