We've been down that much in the past, but not this year. But I told the guys, it's a full game and you have to keep playing defense and stay true to it and the shots will fall.

Our guys had some lapses, but we held it together, held our poise and that's what you've got to do. We took care of the ball at the end when we spread the floor at the end.

It's been a real special bond with those two guys. They told me after we won it last year that this was going to be my going-away present. There were a few times we wondered about it, but we did persevere.

I've told these guys, we're a good team. We don't have great players like we did last year.

Last year, I don't know if it was an aberration or not, but you had 19 or 20 guys we rated as solid corners who went on the first day of the draft. I watch how many guys at each position go. Generally speaking, you would see in the first day 12 to 15 corners go.

This is the way it?s going to be every game. I told the guys to embrace it, not fight it, then go out and have fun playing the game.