Sixers' Iguodala's basketball diary

The Sixers' Andre Iguodala is keeping an exclusive diary for the Daily News at the World Championships with Team USA.

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I THOUGHT IN (yesterday's) game (against Greece in Athens) we played really well. We got off to a good start, and our defense was really clicking. I think we held them to just one field goal in the first 6 minutes, or something like that. This was our best defensive game by far.

We have really come together as a team since we first got together in Las Vegas and have gotten a lot better, especially defensively. I think the reason is because we are getting more acclimated with each other. That is such a big part of any kind of success we're going to have when we start the championship games. I was talking to Lamar Odom about it, and he was saying that with the Lakers, he would go onto the court and for about 30 games, they didn't have to talk to each other out on the court because they were so in tune what each of them were supposed to do. I'd like for us to get close to that point, and I think it's coming.

Since we're all about the same age, we've known each other a little bit for a while. Some guys you know from playing against in the NBA, others from playing with or against them before that. It's nice to get to know people more that you might not have known much before all this. Rudy Gay and I are pretty tight and Russell Westbrook and I have connected pretty good. We left Las Vegas and went to Los Angeles for a little bit together. Chauncey Billups is cool, and Lamar. Guys on the team really gravitate toward Chauncey.

Yesterday, I went to see the Parthenon, which was spectacular. I've traveled the globe with a friend, but this was really cool. While we've been traveling, we've gone on tour trips, taken a ton of pictures. The Parthenon was unbelievable. I went with Kevin Love. He's a really cool guy. It seems like you never know what he's going to be like, but it turns out he's really cool and very funny.

We're playing well right now, and, hopefully, that will carry over into the world championships. *

(As told to Bob Cooney)