Nellie came down to the Virgin Islands to see how we prepare for the season,

He's been fantastic through the end of the season and through the playoffs. We would not be here without him.

Both teams predicate what they do on defense. They (both) are pretty demanding in that sense.

If Karl calls us, I'll talk to him. But I'm not going to go recruiting. We're going to respect Karl's space and his time and let him make some decisions. If we're part of his decision, I'll be real happy with that.

We're very pleased that they've taken on a defensive personality and realize that making stops and rebounding are going to be real important to our success. They're really sharing the ball, turning from an All-Star team into a basketball team, and that's been [Brown's] emphasis -- turning them into a team that realizes on the right and on the left is another guy who's as good or better.

It was a typical preseason game, where everybody wants to get the thing (exhibitions) over with and you hope nobody gets hurt.