"The day I stopped worrying about my stats is the day I started winning"
-Shaquille O'Neal
Team Chemistry More than an attitude
"But chemistry is not just attitude. It likely begins there. And can end there."
"He talks about it all the time," guard Rafer Alston said. "Chemistry to him is not just guys getting along in the locker room and on and off the court. Chemistry is guys sacrificing their games for each other, doing all the things for the good of the team. We have a lot of guys that come over here averaging 16, 17 points and will end up averaging seven or eight points. Are they willing to do all the little things to help the team win?"
Still, Artest said he's disappointed that more of his league peers don't have his work ethic.
"It definitely does insult me that some guys don't work harder on their game," he said. "Some guys just don't work. So I look for guys to push me, with what they do, how good they are. Kobe pushes me. LeBron pushes me. But most of the veteran guys out there don't push me. You're always looking for that something to push you." He pushes himself the most.
"Red's greatest asset was that he got his teams ready to play," Russell says. "And you can't treat everybody the same. ... There's no such thing as one size fits all."
"He was certainly one of the most outstanding coaches, general managers and, for that matter, characters that came the NBA's way," said Tom "Satch" Sanders, who played on eight championship teams with the Celtics and later coached them. "It was his ability to be so far ahead of the game that set him apart. He went after players who could play other parts of the game, rebound, defend. That put him years ahead of everybody else."
Bill Russell says. "For example, Red always consulted with us. He never gave us orders. He negotiated everything."
"When I first got there, at the start of the games, he'd talk to the captains and say, ' What do you think?' And he'd ask all the players, especially the starters, what they thought. Then he'd make coaching decisions based on that information. ... That's why it worked so well. Red just wanted to create an atmosphere where every guy could do his best."
George Mason and the run to the final four has turned into a financial boon for the school.
Admission applications to GMU were up 400% over the previous year.
Gifts and financial pledges were up 25%.
The school sold $625,000 in merchandise during the entire 2004/05 season.......but sold $876,000 of merchandise in MARCH 2006 alone.
$50,000,000 - Estimated cost an advertising/PR campaign would have run to produce as many media mentions as the school received during the NCAA tournament.
2 new major sponsors in Chevrolet & Remax.
