• “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

•  “Your decisions reveal your priorities” – Jeff Van Gundy

 

• “Never give up. Failure and rejection are just the first steps to succeeding” – Jim Valvano

 

• “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and only 5 minutes to ruin one.” – Warren Buffett

 

• “The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control” – John Wooden

 

• “Let me give so much time to the improvement of myself that I shall have no time to criticize others” – John Wooden

 

• “The best competition I have is against myself to become better” – John Wooden

 

• “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes” – John Wooden

 

• “Leaders are interested in finding the best way rather than having their own way” – John Wooden

 

• “I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results” – Michael Jordan

 

• “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare” – John Wooden

 

• “Remember this, the choices you make in life, make you” – John Wooden

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• “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” – Jerry Rice

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• “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.” – Jerry West

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• “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.”– Ted Williams

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• “Success isn’t owned, it’s leased. And rent is due every day.“ – J.J. Watt

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• “Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.” – Bethany Hamilton

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• “There are only two options regarding commitment… you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between” – Pat Riley

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• “Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered” – Bill Russell

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QUOTES FOR BASKETBALL

 

• “What do you do to help us win when you’re not scoring baskets?” – John Calipari

 

•  “The best teams play for each other, not with each other” – Jeff Van Gundy

 

• “It doesn’t matter who scores the points. It’s who gets the ball to the scorer” – Larry Bird

 

•  “My philosophy of defense is to keep the pressure on an opponent until you get to his emotions” – John Wooden

 

• “The quality of the pass leads directly to the quality of the shot” – Pete Carril

 

• “The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

 

• “It’s OK to make mistakes. That’s how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar​

 

• “There are many times when you are better off practicing than playing; but most people just don’t understand that” – Larry Bird

 

• “All the successful teams I’ve ever seen have 3 characteristics: They play unselfish, they play together, and they play hard” – Larry Brown

 

• “Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise” – Michael Jordan

 

• “Heart is what separates the good from the great” – Michael Jordan

 

• “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them” – Michael Jordan

 

• “Defense is one man guarding the ball and four others helping him” – Mike Krzyzewski

 

• “I’m looking for players who make their teammates better. You do that with enthusiasm and passion” – Mike Krzyzewski

 

• “Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits” – Mike Krzyzewski

 

• “There are 5 fundamental qualities that make every team great: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring, and pride” – Mike Krzyzewski​

 

• “Great players and great teams want to be driven. They want to be pushed to the edge. They don’t want to be cheated. Ordinary players and average teams want it to be easy” – Pat Riley

 

• “It’s what you get from games you lose that is extremely important” – Pat Riley

 

• “You can’t always be the most talented person in the room. But you can be the most competitive” – Pat Summitt

 

• “The two ingredients for success in basketball are playing hard and playing intelligently” – Pete Carril

 

• “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

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• “I don’t believe in statistics. There are too many factors that can’t be measured. You can’t measure a ballplayer’s heart” – Red Auerbach

 

• “If you want to have a lot of success, you need to have a lot of failure” – Rick Majerus

 

• “People always talk about going on offensive runs. But you can go on defensive runs too” – Tom Thibodeau

 

• “You learn from everybody. You learn from the players. You learn from great coaches. You learn from great teams” – Tom Thibodeau

 

• “Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute” – Bill Russell

 

• “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory” – Bill Russell

 

• “The most important thing to me is the friends that I’ve made” – Bill Russell

 

• “The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play” – Bill Russell

 

• “Practice gotta be harder than the games and it never is unless you want it to be as a player. The coach can’t drive that” – John Calipari

 

• “Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you’ve got him” – Bill Russell

 

•  “Discipline is doing what has to be done, when it has to be done, as well as it can be done, and doing it that way all the time” – Bob Knight

 

• “Coaches shouldn’t have to push you to work hard, you should push yourself to work hard because you want to be a great player” – Bob Knight

 

•  “A quick way for any player to make himself better is to think about what he himself doesn’t like to play against” – Bob Knight

 

• “Defense is all about helping. No one can guard a good dribbler, You have to walk kids through how to help and then how to help the helper” – Bob Knight

 

• “The key is to maintain an evenness. Try to play one possession at a time, regardless of what happened on the last possession” – Brad Stevens

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• “There is a lot of basketball beyond our control, but a player should never let anyone try harder than he does” – Dean Smith

 

• “The highest level of achievement is attained by the teams with the best conditioned players” – Dr. Jack Ramsay

 

• “A key basketball skill is imagery. The best players “see” situations before they happen so they can be prepared” – Dr. Jack Ramsay

 

• “Winning is more related to good defense than good offense” – Dr. Jack Ramsay

 

• “‘Play the right way’ means play unselfishly, respect each other’s achievements, play hard, fulfill your role” – Gregg Popovich

 

• “Don’t worry about being cool. Worry about being the best” – Jeff Van Gundy

 

•  “There is a direct correlation between the number of ball reversals and defensive breakdowns” – Kevin Eastman