As a freshman point guard at Memphis in 2007, coach John Calipari would shout out Derrick Rose's errors.

"If it was a play in practice and I wasn't aggressive, he'd stop practice, curse me out, then start practice up again," Rose said. "You get tired of it."

As exhausting as Calipari's derision was, Rose said being held to such high standards made him a better player, one who many believe will win the NBA's most valuable player award.

"He always wanted me to be great," Rose said. "When I was going to college, I wasn't aggressive. In (Simeon) high school, I probably averaged 14-16 points. He just makes you aggressive the whole time. He makes you play hard the whole time.

"With his offense, you need a great point guard and the last couple of years that's what he has been doing," Rose said. "Everyone thought because they were young (this season) they weren't going to make it. They stuck together. He always puts it in your head, 'It's us against the world.'"