Mike Krzyzewski Quotes - Page 7

When you win, sometimes it overshadows a poor performance.

First of all, what happens is, when you're good at something, you spend a lot of time with it. People identify you with that sport, so it becomes part of your identity.

That's why basketball was so good, because I didn't really need you or anyone else to play it. It would be better if we played four-on-four or five-on-five, but I could go out there alone.

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.

For a college basketball player or coach, to reach the Final Four is la-la land. You’ve achieved, you’ve got your stamp of approval. My first team to do that was in 1986. Then we did it in ’88, ’89 and ’90.

Parents can really help, but they can also really hinder the development of their youngsters.

I always wanted to teach.

Players' attention spans get less and less as they progress.

...you can't play any defense if the other team is on the foul line.

Mutual commitment helps overcome the fear of failure—especially when people are part of a team sharing and achieving goals. It also sets the stage for open dialogue and honest conversation.

Leaders have to give time for relationships. But more demands will be placed on their time as they become more successful. So if a person's success is based on developing relationships, then they have to continually find new ways of getting it done

Basketball was not my main sport in grade school, or even the first year of high school.

Actually, the Kentucky moment was better than winning the two National Championships, because it was the epitome of what I try to get from a team in a crisis situation.

The other thing I knew I had was a high level of competitiveness.

My ambition in high school was to be a high school coach and teacher, and that's still what I do: teach.

If the only reason I coached was to win basketball games, my life would be pretty shallow

I'm fortunate now that I coach at Duke University and we've won a lot. I have some kids who haven't failed that much. But when they get to college, they're going to fail some time. That's a thing that I can help them the most with.

When you cleanse yourself of a big victory, you may open yourself up to the opportunity for an even bigger victory