Interesting quote from Deniz Kilicli after the Dec. 10 home win against Miami. When asked about a conversation he had with Bob Huggins after one poor series of possession in the first half, Kilicli answered that he didn’t remember … and that that isn’t unusual.

“It comes to a point that I know what I’m doing most of the time and I know I screwed up,” he said. “So I mute it because the stuff that’s going to come out, I don’t take it very well.”

And that was that. I understood what he was saying … and honestly, having watched those two through the years, I often wondered if it was like that at times. Didn’t touch it otherwise because I was writing something else. I filed it away and figured I might one day use it in the future.

But, oh, was it used last week …

Kilicli was, by his coach’s evaluation, “awful” in Saturday’s first half. So, too, were some others. So Huggins yanked Kilicli and sat him on the bench and then began a pretty interesting conversation with his junior power forward who is truthfully playing as well right now as he ever has before.

“He was furious,” Kilicli said. “What happened after I messed up in the first half is he said, ‘Oh, you don’t listen? OK, cool. Sit there.’ “

Kilicli was puzzled and wasn’t sure what his coach was talking about, but he watched the team struggle throughout the rest of the half. The two spoke during halftime. Kilicli said Huggins told him what he meant and said he’d read it in the newspaper. Kilicli said he tried to explain that what Huggins identified wasn’t what Kilicli meant.

After the game, Kilicli said he doesn’t ignore Huggins, but instead filters out the harsh parts and focuses on the most constructive elements.

“What I meant by that was I don’t listen to the censored part,” he said. “I get the point and then I move on. I don’t really think about why he’s yelling at me or anything. I get the point he wants me to get. I listen to that. The other stuff I cut out.”

Huggins, in his own way, agreed with Kilicli’s assessment.

“Deniz acts like we have this language barrier and we really don’t,” Huggins said. “Deniz understands exactly what I’m saying.”

During a timeout early in the second half, the two had another long conversation and Kilicli said the issue was put to rest.

“I said, ‘I don’t care about this game right now. I care about what you think about me,’ ” Kilicli said. “I care about Huggs more than anything, more than the game. I wanted to play, but I wasn’t worried about that.”

Kilicli returned to the game, went 3-for-3 with a dunk and four rebounds. At the end of the game, he’s managed to improve all of his season statistics. After shooting 10-for-28 in the first three games, he’s gone 30-for-48 in the past six and has shot better than 50 percent in each. Kilicli also has scored in double figures in every game this season, a personal-best streak, as he’s built career-high scoring (12.2), rebounding (6.8) and shooting averages (52.6).