John Wooden Ask Quotations

I also wanted my basketball players to know that I really cared about them. Forget basketball; as a person, I cared, I cared about their family.

Generally speaking, individual performances don't win basketball games

It takes 10 hands to score a basket

As a leader, you will receive a large amount of praise and criticism and you should not unduly affected by either.

I am not a strategic coach; I am a practice coach.

Conditioning is essential to success in basketball.

We may not be the best conditioned team in the country, but our players think they are.

Do passing drills that come from your offense.

The greatest ally you have to get things working well and the players performing as a team is the bench. Don't be afraid to use it, either for the star player or anyone else.

Intensity makes you stronger. Emotionalism makes you weaker.

It isn't about what you do, but how you do it

It is most difficult, in my mind, to separate any success, whether it be in your profession, your family, or as in my case, in basketball, from religion.

When the legs go, the heart soon follows

My philosophy of defense is to keep the pressure on an opponent until you get to his emotions

I found the bench to be the greatest ally when I had to make individuals comply with what was best for the team

Push yourself to keep improving or you'll stay as close to the bottom as you are to the top

The best competition I have is against myself to become better

Ability may get you to the top, nut it takes chracter to keep you there - mental, moral, and physical.

I always tried to make clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere.

Our titles would not have been possible without the unselfishness displayed by all our teams, the team wins, not the individuals

Each of us has a huge capacity to learn and to achieve. Being ever alert makes the task of becoming all we are capable of becoming so much easier.

I discovered early on that the player who learned the fundamentals of basketball is going to have a much better chance of succeeding and rising through the levels of competition than the player who was content to do things his own way. A player should be interested in learning why things are done a certain way. The reasons behind the teaching often go a long way to helping develop the skill.

If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.

Once you become a good person, then you have a chance of becoming a good basketball player.

I always stress condition with my basketball players. I don’t mean physical condition only. You cannot attain and maintain physical condition unless you are morally and mentally conditioned.

If you let social activities take precedence over your academic activities, then you will soon lose your basketball activities.

Make friendship a fine art.

You must have respect, which is a part of love, for those under your supervision. Then they will do what you ask and more.

No matter how you total success in the coaching profession it all comes down to a single factor - talent. There may be a hundred great coaches of whom you have never heard in basketball, football, or any sport who will probably never receive the acclaim they deserve simply because they have not been blessed with the talent. Although not every coach can win consistently with talent, no coach can win without it.

Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings everyday.

Teamwork is not a preference, it is a requirement.

Loyalty is a cohesive force that forges individuals into a team.

In 1948, I began coaching basketball at UCLA. Each hour of practice we worked very hard. Each day we worked very hard. Each week we worked very hard. Each season we worked very hard. Four fourteen years we worked very hard and didn't win a national championship. However, a national championship was won in the fifteenth year. Another in the sixteenth. And eight more in the following ten years.

Drink deeply from good books.

Build shelter against a rainy day.

It's important to keep trying to do what you think is right no matter how hard it is or how often you fail. Never stop trying

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.

Losing is only temporary and not encompassing. You must simply study it, learn from it, and try hard not to lose the same way again. Then you must have the self-control to forget about it.

It's not what you teach, it's what you emphasize.

I believe it’s impossible to claim you have taught, when there are students who have not learned. With that commitment, from my first year as an English teacher until my last as UCLA basketball teacher/coach, I was determined to make the effort to become the best teacher I could possibly be, not for my sake, but for all those who were placed under my supervision.

Good players can take coaching; great players can take coaching and learn.

I never let our players get satisfied, I never let our Coaches get satisfied, I was never satisfied. We can always do it better.

I continually stress to my players that all I expect from them at practice and in the games is their maximum effort.

I do not judge success based on championships; rather, I judge it on how close we came to realizing our potential

Be quick without hurrying.

I do not want players who do not have a keen desire to win and do not play hard and aggressively to accomplish that objective.

Although I wanted my players to work to win, I tried to convince them they had always won when they had done their best.

A Coach must never forget that he is a leader and not merely a person with authority.

It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.

You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit trouble to press on you.

We can have no progress without change, whether it be basketball or anything else.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

When people ask me now if I miss coaching UCLA basketball games, the national championships, the attention, the trophies, and everything that goes with them, I tell them this: I miss the practices.

I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it. Everything was planned out each day

The true athlete should have character, not be a character

The goal in life is the same as in basketball: make the effort to do the best you are capable of doing--in marriage, at your job, in the community, for your country. Make the effort to contribute in whatever way you can. You may do it materially or with time, ideas, or work. Making the effort to contribute is what counts. The effort is what counts in everything.

Promise yourself that you will talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible.

Reverse the ball one time for a good shot, two times for a great shot, three times for a layup.

Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.

Never mistake activity for achievement.

Promise yourself to make all your friends know there is something in them that is special and that you value.

Remember this, the choices you make in life, make you.

It's not how big you are, it's how big you play

Discipline yourself, and others won't need to.

Promise to wear a cheerful appearance at all times and give every person you meet a smile.

You'd like to see your team reasonably happy, but that's not your job. Gain their respect and get them to accept their roles

Team spirit means you are willing to sacrifice personal considerations for the welfare of all. That defines a team player.

Happiness begins where selfishness ends.

The better conditioned team will probably win in the long run.

The more concerned we become over the things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.

The team is the star, never an individual player.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Somebody asked me - you know, how come it took you so long to win a national championship? And I said, 'I'm a slow learner; but you notice when I learn something, I have it down pretty good.'

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.

1. Be on time. 2. Never criticize a teammate. 3. Never use profanity.

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you.

Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.

Doing the best you are capable of doing is victory in itself, and less than that is defeat.

Young people need models, not critics.

Make every day your masterpiece.

Being selected for the McDonald's All American Games is one of the greatest accomplishments in a basketball player's career. Not only will these youth contribute to the list of the best basketball players of all-time, but they will aid in raising money for a very important cause.

What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.