These kids fight, and they have fought hard all season. They are in a constant battle to prove they belong.

The kids are playing hard defensively. They really seem to enjoy playing with each other. There is a camaraderie amongst the kids that wasn't there last year.

I knew what type of player Willie was. So I had to let him go, I had to give him the freedom for us to have been successful. I knew that he would be out of position at times, but then he would turn around and make a key play, and everything would be alright.

They came out and matched our quickness. That surprised me.

It's been a natural progression. Nothing more. We have maturity and we have confidence. I feel good about this team. We can accomplish some things this year.

We were the men tonight. Our kids played big and played like we were outsized, but they also played with an extremely big amount of heart.

We were all out of sync tonight, we never really could get anything going. But a lot of credit has to go to Atlantic. They did a great job defensively tonight. They shot the ball well from the perimeter, and they made their free throws.

We played some great teams early in the season. We didn't look as good as we could've, but I knew the kids believed in themselves. We knew we were eventually going to get better.

Willie Smith is just a superb athlete. It's unreal what he does on the court. It amazes me the more I see him play. He does so many things for us. He's just a great kid and we were very fortunate.

I wish I could coach 100 Willies. Coaching Willie has been a pleasure. I admit that I was a little nervous when he made those comments about being player of the year, but I love how he backed them up. He's been a joy.