I've never seen anything like the roll our guys got on last night, making 20 in a row in the third quarter against Denver.
It was amazing. And it was fun to really see Mike (Dunleavy) start to get his groove back. He's been struggling with his shot in games and practices. It was good to see someone like Mike get it going because you're really pulling for him.
When I got the opportunity to go into the game, I just wanted to enjoy the same feeling those guys that were blowing them out were feeling.
Brandon Rush came back last night and played really well. I'm not really sure how his return is going to affect my playing time. I'm going to continue to work hard and try to sustain some minutes in the rotation.
With Brandon being back, he's a good guard. He's definitely somebody I have to compete with but I'm up for the challenge.
Overall, my confidence level is going up by the game and I'm starting to get more aggressive offensively and defensively.
Really, defense has been getting me going. I find that's my time. When that first sub comes in at the wing, which has been me lately, I'm finding myself being that energy guy and a guy that digs in defensively. It's really been getting me going. I feel like it's been making me flow better on offense, as well.
Starting off early on it was difficult to find and adapt to where my shots were going to be. But now I feel like I know where my shots are going to be within the game. Within this offense, there's still room to improve as far as spacing and cutting and knowing where guys are going to be. If I can get to that level of knowing my teammates, that's what I've been trying to work on the most.
I had major butterflies before the home opener and I don't think they'll ever really go away. I've been told "you don't have a love for the game if you don't have butterflies." They come with the game. But it was a whole other magnitude for the home opener. There still will be butterflies when big teams come in such as Denver.
One of the great things about being in the NBA is just to have the chance to go up against a guy like Carmelo, to get a glimpse of what he's about. There already have been a few moments like that for me.
I remember the first game of the regular season in San Antonio, playing against Manu Ginobili, that's a player I looked up to because he's such a great shooting guard. Getting the chance to go up against him and compete, it's totally different watching on TV as opposed to guarding him. His tricks are so quick and he's got so much game, it's tough to defend him.
My shot is starting to fall. It really has been a matter of getting into a flow. Danny has helped me with that.
We've been playing one-on-one after practice and that really helps me out because Danny's a pretty good defender. So now I'm starting to get the rhythm down of a defender guarding me, of getting up shots and getting by defenders and shooting. It's something that I asked him to do just to get me comfortable.
I really wasn't worried about shooting coming in, it was more defense. Now that my shot is falling it's helping me on both ends of the floor.
Something else I'm starting to learn about is all the chaos with the fans, coming off planes and buses. I still don't understand how they know our travel schedule. It's kind of crazy to me. I think I've signed more autographs in the last few weeks than I did in four years of college but it's something I enjoy doing.
