Quotes on Coaching

Conditioning is essential to success in basketball.

I continually stress to my players that all I expect from them at practice and in the games is their maximum effort.

Hold it more important to have the players' confidence than their affection.

Regardless of what you do put in, every game boils down to doing the things you do best and doing them over and over again.

To me, the big thing in being a successful team is repetition of what you're doing, either by word of mouth, blackboard, or specifically by work on the field. You repeat, repeat, repeat as a unit.

Offensively, you do what you do best and you do it again and again. Defensively, you attack your opponent's strength.

Play and practice like you are trying to make the team.

I think leadership is never singular. In a good organization, it's plural.

When you are speaking to your team after a game, never talk about the kid who was the star of the game. Talk about what your other players did to help the team win. Be sure to spread the wealth... Then have individual meetings with one to three players to praise and reinforce. Make sure you touch them.

Everyone wants to win, but not everyone is willing to prepare to win.

I think that to stop an offense, you must go to the heart of that offense. If it is a particular move, a screen, the break, an outstanding scorer, whatever it is that they like to do and rely on, you have to work in your plans on taking that completely or as much as possible away from them.

They said you have to use your five best players but I found you win with the five who fit together the best.

It's not what you tell your players that counts. It's what they hear.

And the trouble with me is that my ego just can't accept a loss. I suppose that if I were more perfectly adjusted, I would toss off defeat, but my name is on this ball club. Thirty-six men publicly reflect me and reflect on me, and it's a matter of my pride.

About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure.

Either love your players or get out of coaching.

You haven't taught until they've learned.

I tell young players who want to be coaches, who think they can put up with all the headaches and heartaches, can you live without it? If you can live without it, don't get in it.

The biggest mistake coaches make is taking borderline cases and trying to save them. I'm not talking about grades now, I'm talking about character. I want to know before a boy enrolls about his home life, and what his parents want him to be.

Good coaching is about leadership and instilling respect in your players. Dictators lead through fear - good coaches do not.

Learning is an active process. We learn by doing.. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.