Our league has had an incredible season from top to bottom and start to finish. The league is at its all-time best. |
Our players had faced those guys in the summer so there was not a huge fear factor. We hope that will hold true this time. |
Our players have opened up the eyes of many people that you don't have to have 7-footers on your team or be the biggest and strongest team to have a great team. There are a lot of great coaches out there who aren't totally appreciated because they couldn't get to the Final Four. We're especially proud to represent all those mid-majors who aspire to get here. |
Quite frankly, there is a lot of parity in the country now. |
Right now, I don't think they're afraid of Michigan State, but I don't know how they feel about playing on national TV and on CBS and knowing all that surrounds the NCAA Tournament. This is biggest sporting event in the world. |
That helped us being in D.C. with so many fans here. The whole metro area has sort of adopted this team. |
That's going to be the big question. I'm not sure where we are mentally right now. This is not a a team that is tournament-tested. It's been five years, so none of these guys have had that experience. That's a major factor. |
The chemistry last year was fantastic. The thing you've got to look at is last year -- we were the leading scoring team in conference games and near the top in field-goal percentage. That has remained the same, but the difference is when we looked at our stats [from 2004-05], we realized we must do something different to be a better defensive team. |
The Elite Eight. That sounds awfully good. |
The entire nation embraced this team. It became so much fun to win a game and have everybody feel great -- not just us -- but everybody around us. That enthusiasm, it defies words. ... It was a magic-carpet ride. |
The first time I saw Lamar play [at Oxon Hill High School], he lit it up from the 3-point line. I went and watched him in a Charlie Webber event over at the University of Maryland. He had 36 points, and he only took like 12 shots. They were all 3s, and he made them all, or at least it seemed that way to me. |
The high majors are often the younger teams in the tournament. Even though they may be more talented, they are playing against teams that are not intimidated by them or uncomfortable competing with them on the court. |
The league itself has so many good players on every team that the quality of basketball that?s being played on a consistent basis, I believe, is at an all-time best. It?s certainly the best in my nine years in the league. |
The players were dancing in the aisles. The kids were screaming 'George' ... 'Mason.' The pep band was playing. If you can't get excited for this, what can you? It was great. You live for this. |
The sea of lights and cameras covering us, it's been an absolutely fantastic magic carpet ride. |