Emeka Okafor

I try to dissect it, I try to cut it up, I try to analyze I don't know. I busted my butt this summer, but I'm not getting the results I thought I'd get. Not at all.

At times they were playing so long out there. Ostertag (7-foot and 280 pounds) is just hard to move. Once you run around him, he's already got the ball in his hands.

It seemed almost surreal. I'd envisioned myself in this position a million times, and yet it didn't feel like it was really happening.

The things Hakeem does, you can't just watch a tape and pick up the move. This was the first time he taught it, and it's hard to teach someone else something you did so naturally. The problem was, if you do something minutely off -- even the way you spin or the way your arm might come out -- he'd have to say, 'No, that's not the move. The move is this.' And you have to do it precisely.

I think I stepped on somebody's foot. I'm not in too much pain, but I really can't move (the ankle).

My back is fine. I've been working out in Los Angeles, and there's no pain at all.

It was eating me up inside. My first time in the Final Four, I didn't want to miss a minute. I was going to miss 16.

I think he understands what great talent we have, but he's doing a good job keeping us grounded. The ranking is not going to carry us to the championship game on April 5. We have to live up to it.

If that's the way he feels, so be it. I have thick skin. My feelings are not going to be hurt. He's got to make the best decision for him.

I've never really had a solid, legitimate post game where I felt comfortable with my back to the basket. I could fake it, but my confidence wasn't that high. Now I'm getting it because I have something to work with.

If you don't think you can make the playoffs, then what's the point of even stepping on the court to begin with Will we make the playoffs Who knows But that's our mentality.

After that first day I questioned whether or not basketball was for me.

I think it's just a testament to how good of a coach and person he is. He can't make us run suicides or punish us for not being here. We wanted to do this. We wanted to be here to show our appreciation. He's a great guy and a great coach and everybody's here to show love for him.