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I've never felt my job was to win basketball games - rather, that the essence of my job as a coach was to do everything I could to give my players the background necessary to succeed in life.

Bobby Knight

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Bobby Knight
Age: 84
Born: 1940
Born: October 25
Basketball Coach
Basketball Player
Coach
Massillon
Ohio
Robert Montgomery Knight
Bobby Knight
The General
Giving
Player
Background
Never
Winning
Backgrounds
Life
Games
Coaches
Rather
Players
Jobs
Basketball
Felt
Essence
Give
Necessary
Coach
Everything
Succeed
Coaching

More quotes by Bobby Knight

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Everyone wants to win, but not everyone is willing to prepare to win.
Bobby Knight
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Players must be able to carry out simple instructions from the bench to the court. If they can't, then they can't play
Bobby Knight
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Basketball may have been invented in Massachusetts, but it was made for Indiana.
Bobby Knight
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Everybody hears, but few listen.
Bobby Knight
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I have always maintained that in basketball the importance of the mental to the physical is about four to one.
Bobby Knight
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I'm not sure sports writing is an art.
Bobby Knight
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Writing was far more of an art in the sports world than it is now.
Bobby Knight
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Discipline is knowing what to do. Knowing when to do it. Doing it to the best of your abilities. Doing it that way every single time.
Bobby Knight
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Everybody wants to be on a championship team, but nobody wants to come to practice.
Bobby Knight
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I sit and wonder why no one uses the shot fake. The shot fake, when used correctly, can eliminate a defender
Bobby Knight
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A coach should never be afraid to ask questions of anyone he could learn from.
Bobby Knight
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You are never going to be driven anywhere worthwhile, but you sure as hell drive yourself to a lot of great places. It is up to you to drive yourself there.
Bobby Knight
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Al McGuire talked to me I don't know how many times about dealing with the press: You've got to be a con man. I tried that for a day or so, but it never really worked for me.
Bobby Knight
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The structure of your practice is the main reason for your success or lack of success as a coach
Bobby Knight
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When I first started coaching, one of the worst things that I think I heard was 'It will be O.K.' I would wonder, 'How the hell is it going to be O.K.?' The worst word in the English language is 'hope.'
Bobby Knight
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Son, my name isn't Knight to you, it's coach Knight or it's Mr. Knight. I don't call people by their last name and neither should you.
Bobby Knight
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I just love the game of basketball so much. The game! I don't need the 18,000 people screaming and all the peripheral things. To me, the most enjoyable part is the practice and preparation.
Bobby Knight
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I always designed my practice plans the night before and then made tweaks a few hours before practice began
Bobby Knight
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We just got our ass beat by a much better team. It happens once in a while. Does every team win every game?
Bobby Knight
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All the years I coached, we sent a card to every professor for each kid I had, and I was able to keep track on a daily basis who cut class or who was dropping a grade average. What I did was bring that kid in at 5:00 in the morning, and he would run the stairs from the bottom to the top until I told him to quit.
Bobby Knight