The greatest ally you have to get things working well and the players performing as a team is the bench. Don’t be afraid to use it, either for the star player or anyone else.
Do passing drills that come from your offense.
When you see a successful individual, a champion, you can be very sure that you are looking at an individual who pays great attention to the perfection of minor details.
Be slow to correct and quick to commend.
Whatever you’re doing, you must have patience.
When you get to be 95, travel doesn’t come as easily.
Cervantes said the journey’s better than the end. Practices, to me, were the journey.
A knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every little detail.
Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it.
When I am through learning, I am through.
Nothing can give you greater joy than doing something for another.
I am not a strategic coach; I am a practice coach.
What you do in practice is going to determine your level of success. I used to tell my players, ‘You have to give 100 percent every day. Whatever you don’t give, you can’t make up for tomorrow. If you give only 75 percent today, you can’t give 125 percent tomorrow to make up for it.’
Passion is temporary. It doesn’t last long. Love is enduring. And that’s the important thing. If we all had love in our lives to the degree that we should, it would be much happier.
Conditioning is essential to success in basketball.
We may not be the best conditioned team in the country, but our players think they are.
Without organization and leadership toward a realistic goal, there is no chance of realizing more than a small percentage of your potential.
The best competition I have is against myself to become better.
I constantly caution our teams: ‘Play your game, just play your game. Eventually, if you play your game, stick to your style, class will tell in the end.’ This does not mean that we will always outscore our opponent, but it does insure that we will not beat ourselves.
When everyone has good players, teaching will be a telling difference.