This is it my friend. Today is the last day of your transformation process. For the past week, we have talked about all the aspects that make basketball one of the greatest sports around.
We talked about confidence in shooting, defense and the heart of the lion, the “I” in responsibility, practice and the mouse that never sleeps, the winning failure, and believing as a coach even when your team does not.
When people ask me, what is the ultimate basketball success guide, it’s hard to necessarily point to one book or document. I’ve always found that basketball is something that cannot be defined to just one book. Many great coaches, reporters, former players or even fans, have written great books about basketball and succeeding in the game.
As for me, I gathered my inspiration from basketball greats and coaching legends, as well as garner my own opinion from the game and my personal experiences.
I would like to start the ultimate basketball success guide with some quotes from legendary men in the game of basketball…
“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals.” – James Naismith
“Boards, Boards, Boards.” – Knute Rockne
“When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro.” – Larry Bird
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” – Tim Duncan
“Basketball is like photography, if you don’t focus, all you have is the negative.” – Dan Frisby
“They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds.” – Wilt Chamberlain
“If the NBA was on channel 5 and a bunch of frogs making love were on channel 4, I’d watch the frogs, even if they were coming in fuzzy.” – Bobby Knight
“Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up.” – Bill Vaughn
“If you meet the Buddha in the lane, feed him the ball.” – Phil Jackson
“We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors.” – Weldon Drew
“Sometimes a player’s greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.” – Scottie Pippen
The above quotes range from inspirational and informative, to humorous and absurd. A few quotes I would like to discuss further include the comments made by Larry Bird, Weldon Drew, and Scottie Pippen.
Here is a guy who will end up as one of the all-time greats in basketball and he did it with little talent. Bird was different from most NBA stars in the fact that he was not born with natural talent. Sure he was blessed with height, but the athleticism and talent did not come natural. Bird worked his tail off and I highly recommend his auto-biography to anyone with a great passion and love for the game. His words truly are inspirational.
Weldon Drew’s comment about all his outside shooters, but the unfortunate fact that they play their games indoors is hilarious.So very true though. I think in the era of the three-point line, us shooters (like myself) have fallen in love with the shot.
Some old school tough cookies like Bobby Knight even think the three-point line ruined the game. Whatever your opinion on the matter, I think it’s truly special to find a player or team that still utilizes the mid-range shot and attacks the rim. The three-point line truly can become a life or death situation in any given game.
Scottie Pippen’s remark about a player’s toughest challenge on a team is simply accepting his role is very true. Take it from the guy who said it. Scottie Pippen was an extraordinarily talent and great winner. Unfortunately a lot of his personal accomplishments and success are overshadowed due to the fact he played in the shadow of Michael Jordan all those years in Chicago.
Pippen knows well that sometimes you have to sacrifice your play to fit a particular role on the team. Pippen’s acceptance of his Robin instead of Batman role helped the Bulls win six world titles. Not bad if you ask me.
I could go on and on about basketball, the winning, and the losing but for the sake of time and space here, I cannot. My best advice at the end of the day is to stick to the fundamentals, practice hard,never quit, rise above the failures, accept your role on the team, play with respect and responsibility, and play for the love of the game. Listen to those with knowledge and wisdom of the game, study and read about the greats, and post one of the quotes listed above on your bathroom mirror. Read it everyday and appreciate the time you spend playing ball (it doesn’t last forever ya know?).
Hey, I wanna thank you for sharing your time with me on this transformation process. I feel as if I’ve gotten to know you, even though we’ve never met. I’d love to hear your feedback on this. Any suggestion or critic you have, is more than welcomed.
Thank you again and I wish you all the success in the world.
Trajko
www.best-basketball-tips.com
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