“In 19 years, John Stockton never once lost a suicide drill in practice. Well, there was one day. He was sick. But he still ran it. That’s the important thing. John didn’t need all the attention that comes with making All-Star teams or getting his name into headlines. He just loved to compete.”
“It doesn’t matter what the game plan is, doesn’t matter how you draw it up. People have to show up, people have to put performance on the floor.”
“No one is bigger than the team. You’re going to be on time, you’re going play hard, you’re going to know your job and you’re going to know when to pass and shoot. If you can’t do those four things you’re not getting time here and we don’t care who you are.”
“When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro.”
“This is probably what, in the old-school days, training camp was about; competing for spots, competing for minutes, and it gets no better than this right here when you have a lot of guys who can play different positions and in order to get minutes they have to be able to beat out another guy. Over the years, this is what training camp has been about, competing. This training camp will be like years ago where you have guys who have to actually compete for a spot.”
On rebounding:
“It’s not about height; a lot of people think it is. People don’t realize rebounding is a mental thing.”
“I don’t get a big charge out of being the leading scorer. The object of competing is winning. I just try to do what has to be done for us to win. That might be anything at any time – defense, rebounding, passing. I get satisfaction out of being a team player.”
“Be able to make simple plays and communicate. Be able to not be an individual. You have to play as a team. If you play it the right way, everybody is gonna get the attention.”
“The things that win basketball games are the same. Whether you go to junior high, you know, which I did coach. I coached at junior high, too. So the things you teach will be the same. But the game’s different, and the players are different. But the fundamentals stay the same.”
“You can’t control it if your shots don’t go in, but you can control your energy.”
