[BlueK]

In college basketball there is a reason that almost all teams that are really good on defense play slow on offense. Offense is when they rest. Rose's offensive style makes it harder to not let some of the fundamentals slide through the cracks. It's not impossible, but it's harder to play good defense when you're tired. I do think they played better defense down the stretch and it made a difference. Unfortunately they let it go in the WCC championship game and couldn't get it back for Mississippi. Or it could have had a lot to do with the level of competition at that point, although they played great defense in the Gonzaga game at Spokane.