Defense has been our strength this season, and it saved us tonight.

We were working hard on defense, trapping and pressing, and that allowed us to get a lot of fast breaks. We didn't even have to go to a set offense in the first half, because our transition game was working good for us tonight.

If our secondary can develop, I believe the defense can be a real strength for us.

We played great defense tonight, which has been our strength the whole season. We get into passing lanes and pressure the point guard to force turnovers and deflect passes.

The defense is young and fast, plus they have a lot of options down low. The strength of this team is going to be how hard they play. With Christian, Jesse and Dan and a good returning core at midfield, we should be OK.

They talk about his defense, but what I saw offensively was not a weak shortstop. He's got more strength than I was led to believe. Anybody can do the drills when the ball is coming at you at 50 miles an hour (in batting practice), but I like what I see early.