53 Insightful Quotes By Dean Smith That Will Keep You Focused

Good people are happy when something good happens to someone else.

Dean Smith  

If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you'll die a lot of times.

You Life

Dean Smith  

Basketball is a team game. But that doesn't mean all five players should have the same amount of shots.

Dean Smith  

I'd never get elected if people in North Carolina realized how liberal I am.

Never I

Dean Smith  

There is a point in every contest when sitting on the sidelines is not an option.

Dean Smith  

I always mean what I say, but I don't always say what I'm thinking.

I

Dean Smith  

I think the real free person in society is one that's disciplined. It's the one that can choose; that is the free one.

Think I

Dean Smith  

Given the fact that we are in a capitalist society, we still do not want to overlook not only what a corporation produces and its profitability but also how it impacts the environment, touches human life and whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person.

Life

Dean Smith  

I do believe in praising that which deserves to be praised.

Believe I

Dean Smith  

The presidents of colleges have to have some courage to step forward. You can't limit alcohol in college sports, you have to get rid of it.

You

Dean Smith  

I know a lawyer who'd love to retire and be an assistant coach. I mean, it's fun.

Love I

Dean Smith  

The best way to stop the problem of agents would be for the NCAA to come down hard and suspend a school for two years if it finds players with agents on campus.

Dean Smith  

I'd like to see the high schools put in a rule that limits recruitable athletes from playing on teams outside a 100-mile radius from their home or school.

Like

Dean Smith  

You should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do it.

You Never

Dean Smith  

I just think we shouldn't get into counting coaches' records. I've never been for that... but I know that's just American society.

Think Never I

Dean Smith  

Our teachers at the public school level are the most underpaid for the importance of their job in America.

Dean Smith  

I enjoy basketball. I enjoy coaching basketball. It's the out-of-season stuff I didn't handle well.

I

Dean Smith  

As soon as you try to describe a close friendship, it loses something.

You Trying

Dean Smith  

Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat.

Dean Smith  

What do do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.

Dean Smith  

A leader's job is to develop committed followers. Bad leaders destroy their followers' sense of commitment.

Dean Smith  

I only use statistics to reinforce what I already think, or if it's something unusual.

Think I

Dean Smith  

Play hard. Play smart. Play together.

Together

Dean Smith  

If you make every game a life-and-death thing, you’re going to have problems. You’ll be dead a lot.

You Life

Dean Smith  

If you do what we ask you to do, the victories will belong to you, and the losses to me.

You Me Will

Dean Smith  

I wasn't as critical during games as I was at practice. Players needed confidence during games more than criticism.

I

Dean Smith  

You should just do the right thing.

You

Dean Smith  

The coach's job is to be part servant in helping each player reach his goals within the team concept.

Dean Smith  

Michael, if you can't pass, you can't play.

You

Dean Smith  

The truly free person in society is a disciplined person.

Dean Smith  

Basketball, more than any other sport, is a team game...about the thousands of small, unselfish acts, the sacrifices on the part of the players that result in team building.

Dean Smith  

Always have your players go and pick-up the guy who draws the charge.

Dean Smith  

Only praise behavior that you want to be repeated. Never use false praise.

You Never

Dean Smith  

Motor cut. Forced landing. Hit cow. Cow died. Scared me.

Me

Dean Smith  

A lion never roars after a kill.

Never

Dean Smith  

There is a lot of basketball beyond our control, but a player should never let anyone try harder than he does

Never

Dean Smith  

The best way to build team chemistry is the way Rupp used to substitute, when they fouled out.

Dean Smith  

The death penalty makes us all murderers.

Dean Smith  

The focus should be on the players. I'm here a long time. You can call me in the summer. Our seniors will be gone.

You Me Time Will

Dean Smith  

The most important thing is team morale.

Dean Smith  

The real issue is not if a crossing is put in, but when. It would be negligent on the part of Union Pacific and the California Public Utilities Commission to not address the problem.

Dean Smith  

Praise behaviour that you want repeated

You

Dean Smith  

The most important thing in good leadership is truly caring.

Dean Smith  

Any old coach will say the game was meant for finesse. It's a beautiful game, especially on television.

Will

Dean Smith  

Everyone on the bench stands for the man coming out of the game.

Dean Smith  

The key statistic is still to get to the foul line.

Dean Smith  

I've always believed in quickness over strength and size.

Dean Smith  

Over coaching is the worst thing you can do to a player.

You

Dean Smith  

I would never recruit a player who yells at his teammates, disrespected his high school coach, or scores 33 points a game and his team goes 10-10.

Never I

Dean Smith  

You can't teach court savvy

You

Dean Smith  

You should sub a player out when you see a player not going full-speed or playing selfish basketball.

You

Dean Smith  

One player's selfish attitude can poison a locker room and make it hard, if not impossible, to establish team work

Dean Smith  

The flash of rain, the shining rainbow riding completely around the plane, the lift over mountain ridges, the steady, pure air at dawn take-offs. ... It was so alive and rich a life that any other conceivable choice seemed dull, prosaic, and humdrum.

Life

Dean Smith