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I only caught the second half and it was nice to see the offense be a bit more diverse and reliable so that no one player had to force shots or try to shoot out of a slump. It's gotta be hard for an opponent to try to slow down this team when Juzang, Jaime, Tyger and the rest are all playing a solid and balanced game. Agree on the defensive side though. It's getting old watching other teams make every single shot they take on us. Well, maybe it's not that bad but it sort of feels like it, and then we wonder why it's a close game as we get to crunch time. Maybe it's just a focus thing, and I get that level of intensity can be hard to maintain over an entire season, but we know they are capable of being much better on the defensive end, and so right now would be a good time to start turning that on full time.

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Regarding our interior rotations, I'm reminded of the win over Zona at Pauley when Riley was a big supporting offensive factor, especially in the 1st half, going 6-11 from the field over the course of the game, mostly from midrange/elbow jumpers which helped draw Zona's bigs out from the post to guard him - it not only diminished their ability to block shots but also helped open driving lanes for Juzang and Jaime as well as for Tyger to drive and kick - mainly to Bernard that evening... On nights when we get "Good-shooting Riley" it really opens up our offense in a way that Johnson just can't with his really limited range, even if he's a better defender. I think/wonder if Cronin is really trying to get Riley to play through his current struggles to hopefully unlock "that" Riley more consistently for March... If that is the idea, all the more important that Clark and Watson get bigger minutes to help defensively (not that's all they contribute) if there's a 2:1 Riley:Johnson minutes ratio...

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