Phil Jackson Win Quotations

People think I would never take on a team that has no legitimate chance to win a championship, This is one of the major misconceptions about me. Success can be measured in many different ways. . . . Either way, I would find the challenge invigorating.

Coaching is salesmanship. Coaching is winning players over and convincing them they have to play together. It takes a team conviction to play together to make things work.

I thrive on challenges, and there is no more imposing challenge for someone in my profession than winning an NBA title.

I probably would have no capability of absorbing a 60-defeat season as a coach. It would be a foreign experience. My whole career, even as a player, has been on winning basketball clubs and it just seems to have been a part of the make-up of what’s been given me. That’s what I’ve been given and that’s what I’ve had to deal with. Some people can make fun of it or some people can have a good time with it, or some people can resent it. It’s just what it is.

I played hockey in North Dakota growing up and watch a lot of that.

The ideal way to win a championship is step by step.

And yet as a coach, I know that being fixated on winning (or more likely, not losing) is counterproductive, especially when it causes you to lose control of your emotions. What’s more, obsessing about winning is a loser’s game: The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome. The ride is a lot more fun that way.

He could have been the heir apparent to (Michael Jordan) and maybe won as many championships. He may still win a championship or two, but the boyish hero image has been replaced by that of a callous gun for hire.

The team played well enough to win it, but they didn't finish. When you're on the road, you have to do some things to win, because it's a bit extra special.

It's not exactly the way you want to have a team win a game, but when you have to win a game, it's great to have that weapon to be able to do that.

It takes a number of critical factors to win an NBA championship, including the right mix of talent, creativity, intelligence, toughness, and of course, luck. But if a team doesn’t have the most essential ingredient - love - none of those other factors matter.

Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing.

No one plays this or any game perfectly. It's the guy who recovers from his mistakes who wins.

The win wasn't important for me, it was important for the team, ... But getting the win is twice as nice.

It was a big win for us. We caused a lot of turnovers and stepped up the tempo knowing they played last night.

It was a nice win for us, a game that we shot the ball well. They just kept coming back and found a way to get back in the game with various plays. It was a great game to watch as a fan.

We played about as well as we played all season. They had back-to-back games like we did, but you could see their legs getting tired. I had a suspicion that we could win this game tonight, but they played above my expectations.

I've seen some remarkable games but I've never seen anything like that before. It's just a personal challenge for him to attack the whole team. It was not exactly the way you want to win a game, but when you have to win a game, it's great to have that weapon to be able to do it. We rode the hot the hand.

He's at the end of the bench. Right now, we have to win games. That's our No. 1 priority.

You're talking about a different standard when a team wins 60 games.

They're all big (games) for us. We have 10 home games, three road games and we feel like we have to win really a high majority of those games to finish where we have to finish if we want to go forward to gain momentum for the playoffs.

Kareem met these guys at the door and he said, 'That effort wins on Wednesday (in Game 2).' He was very supportive. I think they heard that -- that if they give that kind of effort again, they can win.

I will say that I had a number of teams there with Chicago and the Lakers that had over 45 wins or close to that at the All-Star break and the last third of the season is much more difficult. It's really tough.

We couldn't stop their second chance points down the stretch. I thought we had a good shot at winning the game. It was well fought.

It's 1-1. We haven't done anything yet. Now it's time to come home and see if we can't win on our court and get the actual lead in the series.

You get in that pressure situation where you feel like you have to win at home.

They knew how intensely they had to play. They knew that there had to be a win. We just said that we're going to win this game regardless. I'm going to play the players that have to play to win the game. They buckled down and did the job they had to do.

I thought we had a good defensive first half. We capitalized off the steals and turnovers. I don't think we finished well, but the win tonight was good for our confidence.

This is about Phoenix going back to their home court, trying to rally. One win puts things right at the edge again, and we'd have to come back and hold home court, which is a single-game situation. So we know there's a lot of work to be done before we're finished with this thing.

You learn about winning at a different level. College is a much different level than the professional game. It's exciting and it's high energy. But as we know, there's very few that come and play in this game.