quotations about basketball
We talk to these players a lot about a 4-count or a beat that you're playing this game at. It's just a 4-4 beat. And if you've got that ball in your hands longer than two seconds, you're holding up your team.
PHIL JACKSON
attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball
I was all about resurrecting the lost art of the midrange jumper, but then one day I was shooting free throws--just standing at the foul line at the North Central gym shooting from a rack of balls. All at once, I couldn't figure out why I was methodically tossing a spherical object through a toroidal object. It seemed like the stupidest thing I could possibly be doing. I started thinking about little kids putting a cylindrical peg through a circular hole, and how they do it over and over again for months when they figure it out, and how basketball was basically just a slightly more aerobic version of the same exercise. Anyway, for the longest time, I just kept sinking free throws. I hit eighty in a row, my all-time best, but as I kept going, I felt more and more like a two-year-old.
JOHN GREEN
The Fault in Our Stars
I decided one day early on in high school that I wanted to be great at basketball, not just a good basketball player. I would go to the elementary school by my house and shoot thousands of shots all day, every day.
GILBERT ARENAS
Daily Texan, Mar. 29, 2001
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.
BOB KNIGHT
attributed, Coach Yourself: A Motivational Guide for Coaches and Leaders
I always thought the whole idea of being paid to play pro basketball is ridiculous. I mean, think about it. You are taking that ball, running down the court, and you've got somebody on you. You've got four guys out there on your team, and five from the other team, and some people on the bench, and you look up and the place is packed, and all you are trying to do is make that ball go through the hole. It's just crazy to me. After all these years, it still doesn't make sense.
LARRY BIRD
Bird Watching
The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play "Drop the Handkerchief."
JAMES NAISMITH
attributed, The Best Things Anybody Ever Said about Sports, Management and Marketing
Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning. Losing forces you to reexamine.
PAT SUMMITT
Reach for the Summit
She played the game the way that it was meant to be played--as if her life depended on it. And she seemed driven by some need, or struggle, or fundamental resolve, that preceded the basketball and made it possible.
NINA REVOYR
The Necessary Hunger
You learn quickly that basketball is a team game. You must be unselfish and accept the role that helps the team the most.
TOM CREAM
foreword, Winning Basketball: Techniques and Drills for Playing Better Offensive Basketball
Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.
SCOTTIE PIPPEN
attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball