He is the most effective, not when he's scoring, but when he gets other people involved. He demands a double-team every night. He did a great job of reading the situation and either going to the rim or passing it off. He's a superstar.

When we arrived in Cleveland (Monday) we were in the back of the bus and we said we know Gilbert is going to come out and have a big game, so it's on us. We didn't play well in the first game.

When you go through adversity, either you are going to bail out or you come together. This team came together and got closer. I think that's why we're being so successful right now because we're so tight. I just think the chemistry is coming together slowly but surely. It is coming together more and more.

He's been the sparkplug, hitting big shots when we need them. Like I told him, I hope that he makes the All-Star team. That would be big for him and for this organization. But if not, he's an All-Star in our minds. He's hitting the glass hard and making other guys better.

What an event like this in any community accomplishes is bringing people together for goodness,'' said Leito, who was an assistant at Connecticut when Butler played there.

One thing that's overlooked is even [when] they were not scoring, they were defending.