Rebounding & defending take commitment, not there tonight
And yet we've won 6 games in the conference without doing either. And we won't do either consistently until next year, probably. We are who we are. The game plan is to win by outscoring the other team, your defense is supposed to be turnovers and blocks, that isn't happening tonight against a disciplined well-coached team.
My suspicion is that you will never see a huge commitment to defense and rebounding from a Mullin team, though it's too early to tell for sure. I don't think that grind-it-out in your face defense and dirty work is how he wants to play or to win.
We're going to win or lose playing the way we play.