I knew from the first time I started playing this game, when my dad taught me to be a defensive player, that defense is not something as glorified. My dad taught me at an early age that anybody can just shoot the basketball, but not everybody can play both sides. |
I saw him throw the elbow the first time, so I tried to go in a little closer to see if he'd do it again. He did it again. |
I think I am going to be getting more extended minutes coming up this weekend, I am starting to feel better, |
I think I am going to be getting more extended minutes coming up this weekend, I am starting to feel better. It's very physical over here. It took me by surprise, but I think we have responded well to a team that is coming at us like that. |
I think I've evolved because I'm more than just a shot blocker. I've been involved in those plays where I'm not just the last line of defense. I can also go in and get steals and play perimeter defense. |
I think we responded well. We came out here as a mature team. |
I thought it was an unnecessary foul, and that's why I kind of jumped back up like that. But that's part of the game, and you've got to fight through stuff like that. |
I wanted to come out here and make a point and kind of redeem myself. I set the tone early. Having our shooters go out there and shooting 3s kind of opened up the middle for me. |
I'm more comfortable in the post now, ... Plenty of times last season I'd try to do moves without even thinking about what the defense was giving me. Now I'm slowing down, making moves off of the double team instead of just trying to bulldog my way through the defense. |
I'm my biggest critic. I knew I hadn't played well in the last game. I wanted to make a point and redeem myself. That's one thing I did. I set the tone early and my teammates responded to that and we all played well together. |
If I see my teammates getting beat, they can trust that I'm there for a last line of defense. Being there to help them out is a great feeling. |
It was a long, dog-fight game, and it was just a battle the whole 45 minutes. |
It was fun out there at times. |
It wasn't serious basketball. We just put on a show for the fans. |
It's a great disappointment the way we lost. |