Basketball Quotes - Page 21

I really did not think a thing about playing five black players to start the game; they were our best players and deserved to start. But if I knew all the misery it was going to cause me in the weeks following the game, I'd have thought long and hard about it. The players from Kentucky were gracious about it, but many of their fans and people from other parts of the country did not want to see it.

I've never felt my job was to win basketball games - rather, that the essence of my job as a coach was to do everything I could to give my players the background necessary to succeed in life.

Set higher standards for your own performance than anyone else around you, and your only competition will be with yourself

Coaches win practices, players win games

A reporter started off: "I know a lot of this is kind of speculation." Popovich interupting: "You're going to ask me anyway." Reporter: "And you're going to shoot it down." Popovich replied: "Next question."

You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.

Nobody should expect more of you than you expect of yourself.

I also tell them that your education can take you way farther than a football, baseball, track, or basketball will - that's just the bottom line.

They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

We want men here, not just players. Players are a dime a dozen

We were excited to win, staying undefeated is just the icing.

I am a huge believer in giving back and helping out in the community and the world. Think globally, act locally I suppose. I believe that the measure of a person's life is the affect they have on others.

The Big Cactus. I will stick you.

If you get tough mentally, you can get tough physically and overcome fatigue.

If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.

It's hard to play well, but it's easy to work hard.

There's no other state, none, that's as connected to their basketball program as this one. Because those other states have other programs. Michigan has Michigan State, California has UCLA, North Carolina has Duke. It's Kentucky throughout this whole state, and that's what makes us unique.

The greatest compliment to any player is he is a great teammate. We can't all be great players, but we can all be great teammates

Encourage 'random' picks on the ball because they cannot be scouted

After I played him for the first time, I said 'Let's see. He's four or five inches taller. He's 40 or 50 pounds heavier. His vertical leap is at least as good as mine. He can get up and down the floor as well as I can. And he's smart. The real problem with all this is I have to show up.

I really get motivated when I have doubters.

I don't know how it is for you earthlings, but where I'm from, strength is mental.

The only person who can really motivate you is you.

I don't believe in statistics. There are too many factors that can't be measured. You can't measure a ballplayer's heart.