Mike Krzyzewski Basketball Quotations

The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits.

Imagination has a great deal to do with winning.

Each group and each youngster is different. As a leader or coach, you get to know what they need.

Everybody wants to take responsibility when you win, but when you fail, all these fingers are pointing.

Even though we want huge individual egos, our collective ego is unbelievable.

To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless.

That's what I do now: I lead and I teach. If we win basketball games from doing that, then that's great, but I lead and teach. Those are the two things I concentrate on.

In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure.

A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand. If you can get them all together, you have a fist. That's how I want you to play.

I think you're not a human being unless you have doubts and fears.

When you win, sometimes it overshadows a poor performance.

I always won in my imagination. I always hit the game-winning shot, or I hit the free throw. Or if I missed, there was a lane violation, and I was given another one.

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.

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

With me and basketball, it became part of me.

I've tried to handle winning well, so that maybe we'll win again, but I've also tried to handle failure well. If those serve as good examples for teachers and kids, then I hope that would be a contribution I have made to sport. Not just basketball, but to sport.

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.

If you just focus on J.J. and just watched him, you'd be shocked at the maze of things that he has to get through usually to get a shot. I think he's just evolved each year as a better basketball player, and the last two years he's made a year-round commitment to being in exceptional shape.

In developing teams, I don't believe in rules. I believe in standards. Rules don't promote teamwork, standards do

Defense is one man guarding the ball and four others helping him

I love practice. It is when a coach exercises the most control over the improvement of his or her team.

We lost, and that's the main thing that went wrong,

Good sound habits are more important than rules - use concepts.

When you are speaking to your team after a game, never talk about the kid who was the star of the game. Talk about what your other players did to help the team win. Be sure to spread the wealth... Then have individual meetings with one to three players to praise and reinforce. Make sure you touch them.

Why do you play a game? I play a game to see how good we can be.

We travel in Duke stuff... They can have a hat, but it must be a Duke hat.

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

The best teams are team in any sport that lose themselves in the team. The individuals lose their identity. And their identities come about as a result of being in the team first.

Believe that the loose ball that you are chasing has your name wirtten on it.

I believe a big part of leadership is about winning the moment.

Leaders have to search for the heart on a team, because the person who has it can bring out the best in everybody else.

When I had troubles, I'd go out with basketball - you can do it by yourself, too. So you'd go out and shoot, and you'd fantasize.

I have a plan of action, but the game is a game of adjustments.

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.

People want to be on a team. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be in a situation where they feel that they are doing something for the greater good.

Confidence shared is better than confidence only in yourself.

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.

A leader's responsibility to his team is paramount. It overshadows even his own personal feelings at any given time.

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.

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

Footwork is one of the primary prerequisites to becoming a great player

A team is a fist-not five fingers.

I didn't miss any games, but Coach Knight came out and spent three days with my family in Chicago when my dad passed away. I came back and played and it was good therapy for me. Having a basketball family and a coach who understood and actually became like a father figure for that time was comforting to me, and I'm sure that will be comforting to Coleman.

I was very pleased with the entire selection process. The manner in which it was conducted included all parts of United States' basketball, from the professional level to the colleges and high schools. Everyone was considered.

The worst thing we can do is put the (other) team in a one-and-one.

Leadership is an ever-evolving position.

Effort is fully replenishable. There is no need to save any of it. Leave every bit you have on the playing field

Courage gives a leader the ability to stand straight and not sway, no matter which way the wind blows.

I don't think we surprise people. We try to out-execute them.

Don't do anything as an individual that will make you stand out from your teammates.

Goals should be realistic, attainable, and shared among all members of the team

I think leadership is never singular. In a good organization, it's plural.

Confrontation simply means meeting the truth head-on.

Whatever a leader does now sets up what he does later. And there's always a later.

Don't worry about losing. Think about winning.

Play and practice like you are trying to make the team.

If you have talent with teamwork, you've got a chance to be a championship team.

Our goal is not to win. It's to play together and play hard. Then, winning takes care of itself.

I always wanted to teach.

If a team cannot perform with excellence at a moment's notice, they probably will fail in the long run.

You can't defer if you're the person who's in the leadership position.

With accomplishments comes confidence and with confidence comes belief. It has to be in that order.

Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits.

I'm looking for players who make their teammates better. You do that with enthusiasm and passion.

I don't look at myself as a basketball coach. I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach basketball.

When you are passionate, you always have your destination in sight and you are not distracted by obstacles. Because you love what you are pursuing, things like rejection and setbacks will not hinder you in your pursuit. You believe that nothing can stop you!

You don't just be a team. You become a team. Through tough games you find that you need each other