quotations about basketball
We have a practical rule in our game: when you stop the basketball, when it resides in your presence and you hold it for longer than two counts, you've destroyed our rhythm. When the ball is in your hands, you become the focal point. And when you become the focus, our system breaks down. It's that simple. Suddenly the defense can catch up, and the spacing is destroyed. So it's the unselfish players--players who are more interested in reading what's happening and keeping the flow going on the floor--who are the most valuable players that you have.
PHIL JACKSON
attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball
You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go. Don't ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
attributed, You Vs You: Sports Psychology for Life
We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors.
WELDON DREW
The Michigan Journal, 1987
More games are lost by dumb than are won by smart.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
Defense should be played with your feet and your brain, not your hands.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
The best basketball announcer is one who allows you to close your eyes.
LARRY BIRD
Esquire, Sep. 2008
The goal is to make practice more difficult, physically and mentally, than anything your players will face during a game.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
On a good team there are no superstars. There are great players who show they are great players by being able to play with others as a team.
RED HOLZMAN
attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball
There is nothing better than being out there when the game is on the line.
LARRY BIRD
The Sacramento Bee, February 3, 1998
Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball.
PHIL JACKSON
Sacred Hoops
Failure is good. It's fertilizer. Everything I've learned about coaching, I've learned from making mistakes.
RICK PITINO
attributed, Teamthink
The single most important aspect of coaching is running effective practices.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
Basketball is a team game. But that doesn't mean all five players should take the same amount of shots.
DEAN SMITH
attributed, "501 Awesome Basketball Quotes", Basketball for Coaches
In basketball -- as in life -- true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way.
PHIL JACKSON
Sacred Hoops
The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.
JERRY TARKANIAN
attributed, Winning Words
Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up.
BILL VAUGHN
attributed, 20,000 Quips & Quotes
I just love the game of basketball so much. The game! I don't need the 18,000 people screaming and all the peripheral things. To me, the most enjoyable part is the practice and preparation.
BOB KNIGHT
attributed, Coach Yourself: A Motivational Guide for Coaches and Leaders
Don't complicate winning.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
Coaching is easy. Winning is the hard part.
ELGIN BAYLOR
The Sporting News, 1977
The real secret behind top athlete's genius, then, may be as esoteric and obvious and dull and profound as silence itself. The real, many-veiled answer to the question of just what goes through a great player's mind as he stands at the center of hostile crowd-noise and lines up at the free-throw that will decide the game might well be: nothing at all.
DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
"How Tracy Austin broke my heart"