Emeka Okafor Quotes
As far as them believing in me, it makes me feel good.
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.
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.
He told me, `I`m giving you the whole package,`
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.
It made me feel real special, all warm inside,
To be at the point I am right now is just crazy to me,
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.
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.
