Good Basketball Quotes

How good can we expect to be if our best player is not our best teammate

When it's played the way is supposed to be played, basketball happens in the air; flying, floating, elevated above the floor, levitating the way oppressed peoples of this earth imagine themselves in their dreams.

I keep both eyes on my man. The basket hasn't moved on me yet.

I haven't been able to slam-dunk the basketball for the past five years. Or, for the thirty-eight years before that, either.

This team is one execution away from being a very good basketball team.

Tim Thomas is about excuses. It's always somebody else's fault. He said I was jealous? He should thank me for helping him get that contract. He said I didn't show? They traded me, they traded Ray, they traded Big Dog [Robinson] and Tim Thomas still wasn't the man on that team. Michael Redd became the man there. I think I'm doing quite well for myself here. Right now, he needs to focus on his game. Right now, he's not a good basketball player. And I like Tim Thomas. He just has too many damn excuses.

Once you become a good person, then you have a chance of becoming a good basketball player.

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.

I think I started learning lessons about being a good person long before I ever knew what basketball was. And that starts in the home, it starts with the parental influence.

The only difference between a good shot and a bad shot is if it goes in or not.

You always have to give 100%,because if you don't someone, somewhere will give 100% and they will beat you when you meet.

It's not how big you are, it's how big you play.

The two ingredients in success in basketball are playing hard and playing intelligently.

You never make any of the shots you never take. 87% of the ones you do take, you'll miss too. I make 110% of my shots.

Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.

Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath.

Basketball is a full court game, so every drill must be done full court.

You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.

When I dunk, I put something on it. I want the ball to hit the floor before I do.

I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing.

Systems win! Believe in your system, and then sell it to your players.

It's what you get from games you lose that is extremely important.

In all the research you do as a coach, studying other coaches and championship-type situations, you find that all those teams combined talent with great defense. You've got to stop other teams to win.

Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball.

Basketball doesn't build character it reveals it.

The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.

Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.

Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals.

To do the right thing at the right season is a great art.

Coaching is easy. Winning is the hard part.

What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.

The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.

If you make every game a life and death proposition, you're going to have problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot.

When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro.

We try to stress the little things because little things lead to big things.

A guy who gives you less than what he has to give is, one, telling you what he thinks of you, and two, telling you what he thinks of himself.

You don't play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball.

You play with your soul as well as your body.

I know I'm never as good or bad as one single performance. I've never believed in my critics or my worshippers, and I've always been able to leave the game at the arena.

I've never been afraid of big moments. I get butterflies.. I get nervous and anxious, but I think those are all good signs that I'm ready for the moment.

When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team.

Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.

If you are afraid of failure, you don't deserve success.

It is foolish to expect a young man to follow your advice and to ignore your example.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Simplify the game as much as possible. When you add, you must subtract.

Adam [Sandler] is a good basketball player, so he is a natural athlete, he worked with Sean Salisbury to make his footwork and delivery smooth, and he did a great job.

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.