When I was at Oklahoma, I always felt like I had to control the game because we didn't have great scorers. So, I had to figure a way to win.
I know how important I am to my team, my teammates. They tell me every day.
I just feel like whenever the team needs a bucket, I can come and get it. I feel I'm a really good scorer.
No quarterback goes out there and plays well on his own.
It's easy on teams when you have got superstars. I mean, they're really good. And you give them the ball, and you say, 'Make a play.'
You need your best players to play their best when their best is needed
Every team I played for, I pretty much been the dude on it.
When you play sports, when you're on a team with people from different walks of life, and you have to look after each other and count on each other, race and all that stuff goes out the window when you are in the locker room.
The calmness and confidence I take into matches has an effect not only on our rivals but also on my team-mates, who are counting on me.
The best players in the game want the responsibility of being the best player. The reality is the game has changed from now back to '87. It's a lot tighter checking. The players are better today. So, that makes it harder for him just in that fact. We can't rely solely on Mario [Lemieux] to carry this team. We're not relying on that.
My teammates have put me in all different kinds of positions to score goals, and I can't say it enough, and I really through and through believe it in my heart that I'm only as good as my teammates allow me to be.
I'm not really worried about my numbers now as a 36-year-old. I'm not trying to be the first, experimental case of a 36-year-older trying to maintain his numbers, especially when I'm on a team like this. Can I do the same stuff I could do when I was Amare's age? Of course not. I'm not going to even try. However, I feel that I'm the baddest 36-year-old out there.
I think as a play-caller, you have to just go out there, rely on your guys that you have that are out there, rely on the fact that they have ability. And as a quarterback, you have to go out there and just go through your reads.
I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it into Chris Mihm & Kwame Brown?
I'm not one of those one-man-gang type of players. I'm a guy who has to rely on his teammates, to play within the team structure.
I played in a basketball league until I was 40 years old. I played every Monday night and the guys would say, "You take him out, and you'll see us afterwards."
As a quarterback, you certainly don't want to hamstring your team in any way because - I know this more than anyone - you rely so heavily on those playmakers around you.
I could always score goals. I loved that feeling of having your team look to you, that feeling of leadership.
I think it's huge, especially in team sports, for players to be able to rely on each other and to really trust in each other.
When the team's not playing well offensively, it's always a problem for me because I'm not an individualistic player.
I like it when the captain comes to me and says, 'We're really desperate for a wicket, can you get us one?' or when we really need something to happen in a Test match.
There are a number of ways to define most valuable player. For me, it's the guy who means the most to his team.
I think, at the end of the game, guys gotta trust themselves more. I think sometimes - not myself, but sometimes, guys - they look to Kobe too much.
Teams expect a lot from an opening batsman. It is a lot of responsibility.
When you step on the field, you want to be a starter. You want to be the person everybody looks to and says, 'If we need a play to be made, let's go to him.'
