He gave me an opportunity when everybody turned their back on me. He gave me a chance to come to school. He accepted me into his family. It was a great experience for me at UConn and I am grateful to him for that. I wouldn't miss this for anything.

When we arrived in Cleveland (Monday) we were in the back of the bus and we said we know Gilbert is going to come out and have a big game, so it's on us. We didn't play well in the first game.

We've got to have it. Anyway, anyhow. We're going to win this basketball game.

Defense can help you get on some magnificent runs and put teams away. That's what we're looking forward to because we know we can score. We have a lot of offensive-minded guys that can fill it up so, if we get stops, we'll have no problems on the other end.

That has been our focus all year and now we're starting to feel comfortable playing defense. We have to keep turning it up. I think the difference is that we're trusting each other more than we did at the beginning of the season.

If that's where they need me to play to win basketball games, then so be it. I'm still a starter in my own mind. I'm just going to produce and get it done.