"You are never really playing an opponent.
You are playing yourself, your own highest
standards, and when you reach your limits,
that is real joy."

Arthur Ashe

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The following is a collection of some of our favorite basketball quotes listed alphabetically by the person quoted.

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    Basketball Quotes

    • Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem "Michael Jordan, Magic, and myself all learned how to play the game in college in programs that emphasized the team."

    • Armstrong, Lance "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."

    • Auerbach, Red "Some say you have to use your five best players, but I found out you win with the five that fit together best as a team.

    • Bailey, Dan "Champions have no off-season."

    • Bannister, Roger "The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."

    • Bennett, Dick We cannot accept in victory what we would not accept in defeat." quoted in the book A Season With Coach Dick Bennettamazon by Eric Ferris

    • Bennett, Dick “I concluded some time ago that a major part of success of a team, or of an individual, has a great deal to do with the intangible qualities possessed.  The real key is how a person sees himself [humility], how he feels about what he does [passion], how he works with others [unity], how he makes others betters [servanthood], and how he deals with frustration and success, truly learning from each situation [thankfulness], I believe those concepts are the essence of a good player, team, coach, or individual in any capacity
      in life.” quoted in " A Season With Coach Dick Bennett"amazon by Eric Ferris

    • Bird, Larry "Leadership is diving for a loose ball...It's abut being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way your going to get respect from other players."

    • Blair, Gary Ryan "Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile."

    • Burns, Laing Jr ."Possession of the ball is the key to winning in football, basketball, and the game of life."



      Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list! As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players, but we feel that they are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful.

     

     


    Basketball Quotes (We feel that our quotes are all great resources for basketball coaching and for life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful!)

    • Carnegie, Andrew "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do."

    • Carrill, Pete "Winning takes character. Workers get the most out of themselves. When a body has limited talent, it must muster all its resources of character to overcome adversity."

    • Chamberlain, Wilt "This is a team game and one man doesn't win and one man doesn't lose. In the end, the best team usually wins."

    • Cooper, David "The pro is the person who has all the hassles, obstacles, and disappointing frustrations that everyone else has. yet continues to persist, does the job, and makes it look easy."

    • Dempsey, Jack "A champion is one who gets up even when he can't."

    • Dierdorf, Dan "I don't pay attention to what others are doing. I feel strongly that if I have correct goals and the determination to keep pursuing them the best way I know how, everything else falls into line."

    • Disney, Walt "You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

      As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players. Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!

       

       

       

       

       


       

       

     


Basketball Quotes (Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!)

  • Edwards, Tyron "People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher and better than themselves."

  • Fitzsimmons, Cotton "I have a basic philosophy that I've tried to follow during my coaching career. Whether you're winning or losing, it is important to always be yourself. You can't change because of the circumstances around you."

  • Foster, Bill "Negative thoughts are contagious and they get passed around like a disease. I inoculate myself against the fear of failure."

We believe that these quotes are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basketball Quotes

  • Gibbs, Joe "People who enjoy what they do, invariably do it well."

  • Graf, Steffi "You can't measure success if you have never failed. My father has taught me that if you really do want to reach your goals, you can't spend any time worrying about whether you're going to win or lose. Focus only on getting better."

  • Hamilton, Brutus "It is one of the strange ironies of this strange life that those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest."

  • Harrell, Keith "Whether you realize it or not, you are a role model for the people in your life. Your every action is being watched. Someone is looking to you for inspiration, support and leadership."
  • Havlicek, John "We win because we play together as a team."
  • Holtz, Lou "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it."
  • Hopper, Grace "You manage things, you lead people."

Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list! As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players, but we feel that they are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful.

 

 

 

Basketball Quotes (We feel that our quotes are all great resources for basketball coaching and for life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful!)

  • Iacocca, Lee "Don't just stand there, make it happen."

    As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players. Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!

Basketball Quotes

  • Jackson, Phil "Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We."
  • James, Lebron “I don't need too much. Glamour and all that stuff don't excite me. I am just glad I have the game of basketball in my life.”
  • Jenner, Bruce "I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win. If you don't you won't."
  • Johnson, Earvin "Magic" "I never think that there's something I can't do, whether it's beating my opponent one on one or practicing another hour because something about my game is just not right."
  • Johnson, Earvin "Magic" My father is my idol, so I always did everything like him.
  • Johnson, Kyle "You have to play so hard that it hurts!"
  • Michael S. Josephson “A good coach improves your game. A great coach improves your life.”
  • Joyner-Kersee, Jackie "Achieving success and personal glory in athletics has less to do with wins and losses than it does with learning how to prepare yourself so that at the end of the day, whether on the track or in the office, you know that there was nothing more you could have done to reach your ultimate goal."


    Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list! As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players, but we feel that they are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful.

Basketball Quotes (Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!)

  • Knight, Bob "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."
  • Knight, Bob "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."
  • Mike Krzyzewski"A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on"x's and o's" as compared to time spent learning about people."

    We believe that these quotes are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players.

Basketball Quotes (We feel that our quotes are all great resources for basketball coaching and for life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful!)

  • Larson, Jonathan "Forget regret, or life is yours to miss…"
  • Lincoln, Abraham "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."
  • Lincoln, Abraham "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
  • Lombardi, Vince "Confidence is contagious."
  • Lombardi, Vince "The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."

    As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players. Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!

Basketball Quotes

Basketball Quotes (Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!)

  • Nightingale, Earl "Successful people form the habit of doing what failures don't like to do. They like the results they get by doing what they don't necessarily enjoy. "
  • Noble, Charles C. "You must have long-term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures."
  • Norman, Greg "Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is in setting them at the right level -- neither too low nor too high. A good goal should be lofty enough to inspire hard work, yet realistic enough to provide solid hope of attainment."
  • Nyad, Diana "I am willing to put myself through anything; temporary pain or discomfort means nothing to me as long as I can see that the experience will take me to a new level. I am interested in the unknown, and the only path to the unknown is through breaking barriers, an often painful process."

    We believe that these quotes are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players.

Basketball Quotes (We feel that our quotes are all great resources for basketball coaching and for life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful!)

  • Owens, Jesse: "Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust."

    As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players. Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!

Basketball Quotes

  • Pele Enthusiasm is everything. It must be as taut and vibrating as a guitar string."
  • Phelps, Michael "I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it
    and put the work and time into it."
  • Phillips, Bum "I'd rather have preparation than motivation. Everyone likes to play, but no one likes to practice."
  • Pierce, Ricky "Legends are not born~they are created."

    Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list! As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players, but we feel that they are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful.

Basketball Quotes (We feel that our quotes are all great resources for basketball coaching and for life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful!)

  • Riis, Jacob "When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it - but all that had gone before."
  • Rivers, Glenn "Doc" "Mental toughness, mental toughness, mental toughness!"
  • Robinson, David "You're always going to face criticism, you're always going to face challenges, but those things are there to make you stronger and more committed."
  • Robinson, Frank "Whether you're trying to excel in athletics or in any other field, always practice. Look, listen, learn -- and practice, practice, practice. There is no substitute for work, no shortcut to the top."
  • Jim Rohn Leaders must learn to discipline their disappointments. It's not what happens to us, it is what we choose to do about what happens that makes the difference in how our lives turn out. "
  • Roosevelt, Theodore"We cannot do great deeds unless we're willing to do the small things that make up the sum of greatness."
  • Roosevelt Theodore "In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."
  • Ruth, Babe "It's hard to beat a person who never gives up."

    As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players. Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!

Basketball Quotes

  • Schweitzer, Albert "Let your life be your argument."
  • Sheets, Jeromy "Coaching is about development and relationships."
  • Shula, Don "Some clubs want to win so much they'll do anything to get it. Our approach has been just the opposite. We've tried to do things the right way. And the right way is [abiding by] the rules and regulations .. . I may not like all of them, but once they are [official], we play by them.
  • Summitt, Pat: "The ultimate goal of discipline is to teach self discipline."

    Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list! As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players, but we feel that they are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful.

Basketball Quotes (Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!)

  • Thomas, Kurt "I feel that the most important step in any major accomplishment is setting a specific goal. This enables you to keep your mind focused on your goal and off the many obstacles that will arise while you're striving to do your best."
  • Tomlinson, H. M. "We see things not as they are, but as we are."
  • Tracy, Brian "There's only one direction you can coast."

    We believe that these quotes are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players.

Basketball Quotes (We feel that our quotes are all great resources for basketball coaching and for life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful!)

  • Unseld, Wes "I didn't do anything very pretty. My contributions were in the intangibles. But, they were the type of things that help lead a team.."

    As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players. Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!

Basketball Quotes

  • Vermeil, Dick"If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt you very much and winning is not very exciting."

Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list! As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players, but we feel that they are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful.

Basketball Quotes (Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!)

  • Ward, William Arthur "Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records."
  • Ward, William Arthur "Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character.
  • Ward, William Arthur "It is wise to direct your anger towards problems - not people; to focus your energies on answers - not excuses.
  • West, Jerry When time is running out and the score is close, most players are thinking, I don't want to be the one to lose the game, but I'm thinking, What do I have to do to win?"
  • Westphal, Paul "Have fun doing whatever it is that you desire to accomplish. Learn it one step at a time, emphasizing the fundamentals, and do it because you love it, not because it's work."
  • Whittier, John Greenleaf "For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been' "
  • Wilksinson, Bud "Remember, 'Rome was not built in a day.' Instant success is never possible. Competence results only from sustained, consistent, self-disciplined effort over an extended period of time."
  • Williams, Serena "I always believe I can beat the best, achieve the best. I always see myself in the top position." 
  • Winfield, Dave "A winner is one who is not afraid of the challenge, who rebounds from his setbacks, and who is flexible enough to make adjustments in order to succeed the next time."
  • Wooden, John "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
  • Wooden, John "Be quick, but don’t hurry."
  • Wooden, John "Never mistake activity for achievement."

    We believe that these quotes are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players.

Basketball Quotes

  • Yoda: "There is do and do not, there is no try."

    Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list! As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players, but we feel that they are all useful resources for basketball coaching and to life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful.
    Basketball Quotes (We feel that our quotes are all great resources for basketball coaching and for life in general. We hope that you will find them to be useful!)

  • "We are judged by what we finish, not what we start." Unknown
  • Advice for dealing with extremely difficult people, "Don't wrestle with the pigs. You both get mud on you, and the pigs like it." Unknown
  • Your toughest competition in life is anyone who is willing to work harder than you." Unknown
  • "I judge a person's worth by the kind of person he is in life -- by the way he treats his fellow man, by the way he wants to be treated, and by the way he respects people around him." Unknown
  • A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. " Unknown

    As you can see, not all of our basketball quotes came from basketball coaches or basketball players. Send us some of your favorite basketball quotes, and we will include them in our list!

Welcome to our collections of Basketball Poems. We hope that you can find something that will serve as inspiration for you and your team.

"I'd Rather See a Sermon"--author unknown

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

"Man (or Lady) on the bench"--author unknown is a tribute to the basketball players who do not get much playing time, but who are faithful and indispendable to the team.

"The Man in the Glass"--author unknown

If you have any suggestions that would be good additions to our basketball poems collection and could be useful in basketball coaching, please e-mail us your contribution.

    • t's our job, it’s their game. Even the most dedicated players will never take is as seriously as coaches do.
    • It’s not what you teach it is what you emphasize that they will remember.
    • Players want discipline, direction, and purpose.
    • Repetition with variety leads to proper habits.  Re-teach if necessary.
    • There will always be problems—It is our number one job as coaches to solve them and to manage each crisis.
    • Wins and losses do not determine success.
    • Are you spending your basketball practice time and individual development workout time on the things that make the biggest difference in games?
    • Your team will play their games almost exactly like the basketball practices you run.
    • Good teams and players give first and second efforts, great teams and players give third and fourth efforts.
    • Coach K builds a culture at Duke rather than a program.
    • Becoming fundamentally sound will make you a consistent player.

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