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"We caught A&M on a night when the moon just wasn’t right for them. They shoot the ball much better than that. Some of the shots that they missed early, they make a lot. But at the same time, I was pleased with our defense. I usually write three things up on the board before every game that I want us to focus on. Tonight I just wrote one. I said, ’Let our defense control the game.’ That’s the first time this year I’ve said that to this team, and I think they took it to heart, because we were very active. Probably the best thing about it is that in the first half when we were getting the turnovers, we were converting them into points on the other end. It’s not like we were getting turnovers and not being able to convert. I was disappointed with our assists-to-errors ratio. I was disappointed with the turnovers we had in the first half. But if you take that away, I think we were really good. Offensively we took good shots, made shots, were able to get the ball away from them and run the ball down the court on the break. But I’ll still say it was not a good night for them, and a lot of shots they normally would make they didn’t make tonight. "Kirk Hinrich never gets enough credit for his defense. I hear people on TV all the time talking about great defenders, but I’m not so sure that Kirk is not the most complete defensive guard I’ve ever coached. We’ve had some doggone good guards on the defensive end. Jacque Vaughn, Steve Woodberry, Jerod Hasse. But Kirk can guard a bigger guy, a smaller guy, he’s got great feet, he has great instincts, he can get around screens, through screens, get in the passing lanes. I’m not saying it’s all Kirk’s defense (holding Bernard King to 2-9 FG shooting), but he did a nice job. And Bernard, again, some shots he normally makes he didn’t make tonight. "Yesterday at practice, Aaron didn’t miss a single jump shot, I don’t think. We did a lot of time-and-score situations, and he made shots. Tonight he’s 4-8, 10 assists, 10 points. One of the turnovers was just a careless turnover. He lost it on the dribble. But I thought Aaron did some good things. Kirk and Keith did the scoring part. Nick Collison and Bryant Nash on the backboards. It’s a shame to lose Wayne like that again, and it’s something we’re concerned about right now, but the guys out on the court did some nice things. "We’d like for (the crowd) to be more excited, but it was tough for our team to stay focused and get excited (following Simien's injury). We’ve been using the word ‘tweak,’ but Wayne doesn’t like the word ‘tweak.’ Dr. McGee gave him 15 synonyms to let him choose which one he wanted to use to replace it. He hasn’t told me which one he wants to use, so I’ll say it’s the most serious ‘tweak’ that he’s had since this happened. Every day at practice I worry about him every single play. Every game I worry about him every single play. But the fact of the matter is, if you put him in the infirmary and keep him there under watch and give him bread and water, that’s the only way you’re going to be able to make sure he doesn’t hurt it. He wants to play. He’s helped us a great deal. He’s gotten a great deal of admiration from everybody because of how tough he is. I just finished talking to the doctors, and again, it’s probably the most serious ‘tweak’ that he’s had. But two weeks ago Monday night I thought he was finished for sure. He did it just reaching for a pass. Nobody hit him; no contact whatsoever, and I thought he was finished for the year. The next day he came in the office smiling and said it felt fine. So we’re just going to wait a little while and see what happens, and we won’t have any decision until we see. "The decision Wayne has made first, and we’ve gone along with, is that he’s decided to play hurt. The only other choice is to not play. He’s not going to hurt his shoulder any more. He’s not going to do any more damage. We had three doctors back there with him tonight. Two of the specialists we’ve talked to said he’s not hurting it any more by playing, and he’s chosen to try to play. If it’s 20 minutes a game, five minutes a game, he’s been pretty doggone impressive when he has played. "It’ll be tough this Saturday (Senior Day). One of the toughest ones I’ve ever had to go through. I’m pretty dadgum emotional anyway. But it’s amazing how quickly four years goes. For Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich to be playing their last game in the field house.... I don’t care what else happens on Saturday, that crowd better not ever sit down. I’ve been one of the luckiest guys in the world for doing exactly what I want to do with my life, and coaching those two kids, I’m an awfully lucky guy.”