53 Insightful Quotes By Dean Smith That Will Keep You Focused

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

Life

  

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

  

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

Never

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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.

  

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

  

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.

  

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

  

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.

Never , Think

  

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

  

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

Never

  

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

  

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

Trying

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

Think

  

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

Life

  

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

Me

  

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

  

Play hard. Play smart. Play together.

Together

  

You should just do the right thing.

  

The truly free person in society is a disciplined person.

  

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

Me

  

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

  

A lion never roars after a kill.

Never

  

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

Never

  

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

  

The death penalty makes us all murderers.

  

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.

Me , Time

  

The most important thing is team morale.

  

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.

  

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.

  

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

  

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

Never

  

Praise behaviour that you want repeated

  

The most important thing in good leadership is truly caring.

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

You can't teach court savvy

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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