Scott Rich

This that's what this team is facing for us to have this performance, to be able to put the team away so that we don't run Cam Boozer into the ground in game one.

That's something that could pay dividends on Saturday when we go a little ways away and play Stanford.

The other intangible that I think we'd be remiss if we didn't mention was Isaiah Evans' defense.

I think a big part of why this game plan worked was Dame Saar made Dede Ames' life miserable, and then Isaiah Evans came in and said, oh, I'm also 6'6 with a big winging span, and you're just 6'1.

I'm not Dame Saar, but...

I can be a pretty good, you know, replacement for him.

Isaiah Evans played great D and maintained that pressure on Dede Ames when Dame Sarri went out.

Isaiah Evans had three blocks in this game, right?

You don't see that for a perimeter player very often.

And this is, you know, the second or third time he's done that.

Isaiah Evans has defensive chops.

He's shown that this year.

He's shown how much he's improved on that end of the floor from where he was last year.

And I think that's something that all too easily falls under the radar when we talk about him because of how flashy and splashy of an offensive player he was.

But he was very, very solid defensively.

He was a very nice complement for Dame Saar.

And John Shire's game plan was able to work

somewhat continuously because Isaiah Evans was able to do a Dame-Star impression when Dame wasn't on the floor and continue to put that pressure on Cal's engine.

That's something that we should not overlook when we talk about a great, great game for Slim.

I mean, this is why you build a team defense first, because defense travels.