Jimmy Buckitts: Coach Reina, that was not the start you were looking for in that first quarter.
Pio Reina: It was not a good start at all, but I wanted to give the team a chance to find their sea legs. Give Dallas some credit; their home opener, and they were amped up in the first quarter. The first 6 minutes of the game were brutal for us.
JB: What did you take away from the first quarter?
PR: I didn’t like our effort on the boards. Too many fouls. We’re better than that, but I give credit to Dallas for attacking. We also didn’t take care of the basketball. I didn’t worry about the shooting so much. We didn’t do a good job of controlling what we can control. And losing Furka hurt us.
JB: How bad was the loss of Furka, and how did that affect things?
PR: We missed his ability to defend the perimeter and interior, his rebounding, and his shot blocking.
JB: Is there an update on his condition?
PR: He was kept out for precautionary reasons bu is full go for Tuesday.
JB: The bench rotations were shorter than usually tonight.
PR: Don’t read anything into that. There’s nothing there.
JB: Walt Colenbrander was big tonight.
PR: Walt was huge for us tonight. Onrubia was big when needed. Hairigyan and Gareca showed up on the boards, but we’re going to need them both to be better. I’m sure they will be.
JB: What were your takeaways for the night?
PR: We’re not as bad as we shot the ball tonight. We’re not as good as we shot from outside. Our defense and rebounding have to be better, and we have absolutely got to take better care of the basketball, and make free throws.
JB: Thank you for your time, coach, and congratulations on the win.
PR: Thanks, Jimmy.
JB: We’ll throw it back to the studio with Happy and the crew.
Happy Ourer: Thanks, Jimmy. Joshua, what did you see out there tonight?
Joshua Doe: I saw a team that, on defense, wasn’t used to playing zone. Offensively, it seemed that the only player able to get in rhythm was Colenbrander. Credit to the Dallas defense for that. Dallas made the game ugly, and kept it close. That gave them a chance. Linndale has a lot to clean up.
Sam Dunkley: We saw this last season. This team has a knack for playing under expectations; they need to start playing up to them. I expect to see them do exactly that moving forward.
HO: And what do you see moving forward to the home opener?
JD: A loss.
SD: I see it the way Joshua does. Linndale is going to need a complete team effort, and I just don’t see the team getting that at the moment.
JD: Happy, depth is a good thing to have, but Great Lakes has some serious horses. I don’t know that Linndale has the talent to matchup with their big guns. Can the depth hold it’s own? Absolutely. Will they? That’s an entirely different question.
HO: We’re out of time, folks! We’ll see you Tuesday night at the home opener!