People have asked me a lot about Marcus and even Rudy this season. I have said that Rudy is emerging every day and we're watching something beautiful. And with Marcus, I said recently he is the best passer I've ever coached. I think he took offense because now he's had back-to-back 20-point games.

People have questioned Rudy and I have said simply that Rudy is emerging every day. You are watching something wonderful before you.

Marcus made a mistake, like every other student on this campus. I don't feel there's any question that Marcus has profited. Some people miss shots and continue to miss shots because they don't learn. Marcus has learned a great deal.

Marcus is not the scorer, but he is the runner of the team. He gets the ball to the right people in the right time at the right spots.

We'll tire ourselves out where we need more people in the game. But anytime your eight goes against our eight, we think we have a great advantage.

The problem is trying to encapsulate 38 years of your life, of everything that has happened, the ups, the downs, the people involved,

We knew the schedule put before us was a little different than normal. Nevertheless, we passed every test. We'll get a much better look when we play people who are as big, strong and talented as we are.

With Rudy, we'll evaluate things at the end of the season. We'll sit down and talk things over with his family. We'll talk to the NBA people and see what they're saying about him. But to say he's leaving or staying, at this point in this season, it doesn't make sense.

Everyone's talking about how many we'll send, let's see if we can get out of the league first. People who are good are going to rack up a lot of losses. ... I'm afraid we will beat each other up so much that records won't be truly indicative of how good a team is.

I see nothing but greatness ahead for him and therefore it made sense for all of us. There's no question that Rudy will fulfill the promise of those people who draft him. He's got every attribute. He's bright, he's a wonderful person, incredibly well raised and he's just a tremendously, tremendously talented young guy.

People had the misconception that if you have three 6-10 kids, all of a sudden you have a good basketball team. The game takes instinct.

That's how I ask people to do things.

There were no barbs coming from this program. Miserable people write things when they don't have anything else to do. I said something in jest. I guess I shouldn't have.

This is the time for a tremendously talented guy to take advantage of a tremendous opportunity. I see nothing but greatness ahead for him. There's no question that Rudy will fulfill the promise that those people who draft him have in him.

I'll be honest with you that on Sunday all I'll look at is the bracket and see if it's a good bracket. But I'd rather go West. I think New York City is not good for us. There's too much family around. I like having control and not have other people thinking about the wrong thing.

I like the way they attack. I like (Will Brown) saying he expects to win. If he said anything else, I'd be disappointed. Someone said, isn't that bulletin board stuff? No, it's not. It's what a man does or a woman does when they're passionate about something. They truly believe they can do it. I like people who want to win. Obviously, they're coming off a great streak. We're not coming off exactly a disaster. We're 27-3.

He's the best natural scorer of all the big kids. He's not the biggest by any stretch, but at any time he can take up space, he can move people without pushing, just by using his body, and you can't move him. He's a very difficult kid to move, especially with his hard work and passion for the game.

He said something remarkable to me that I still remember to this day, ... He said, ?The people you?re hanging around now and go out with at night -- and I know you?re doing it out of frustration but nevertheless -- those people don?t want you to leave, because if you leave, you?re being successful and they are struggling with their own agenda and success.?

He can get people the ball from 90 feet to two feet. I've never seen anybody get to the rim, and as a big guy comes over, at the last second put the ball in the hands of a big guy and have the guy dunk. He reminds me of Jason Kidd in that he could get that double-figure rebound game, he could get steals, assists, he certainly can shoot the basketball.