John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Woodenwas an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood," as head coach at UCLA he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period, including a record seven in a row. No other team has won more than two in a row. Within this period, his teams won a men's basketball-record 88 consecutive games. Wooden was named national coach of the year six times...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth14 October 1910
CountryUnited States of America
Lead, don't drive. And give credit. Don't blame. If an officer on your team suggested something and it worked well, give them credit. If it doesn't work well, you take the blame because you made the decision.
You can't make good decisions that are going to be meaningful, productive, when you lose control, and you have to maintain mental control, emotional control and to be able to perform physically up to your own particular level of competency; you have to keep your emotions under control.
Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it.
Decisions are more apt to be accepted when you've listened to suggestions first. I wanted them to see the reason behind what I asked of them, not to do things just because I said so.
Make a decision! Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all.
Having the courage to make decisions and take action. Never be afraid to fail. You have nothing to fear if you have prepared to the best of your ability.
I liked quickness very much and Pete had it. And I really liked his acceptance of the role he had. He didn't get to play nearly as much as he expected to when he came, but he accepted it.
Not only was he fundamentally sound, but I liked his attitude. He was competitive, yet a gentleman in his play. I thought they played just wonderful basketball.
Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but what you should have accomplished with your ability.
Better than any person my age has a right to,
Ben has really embraced the tradition of the program, and growing up in Southern California, he understands what it really means. To see him teaching those same principles to his players just gives me a lot of pride.
Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others thinkyou are.
Bill, I know what the other schools say. If you come to UCLA, I can't promise you'll make our team,