Taj Gibson on Coach Thibodeau:
“If you want to be coached
& pushed, he’s the coach for you. If you don’t want to get better, this
isn’t the team for you.”
***
“You want to be a
championship team, there’s a price to pay. And that’s what you have to do. There
are no shortcuts. You can’t shortcut your way to success. I’m going to give
everything I have each and every day, and I have no regrets.”
***
‘‘On the first day of camp,
if you went to all 30 teams, everyone would say, ‘Yeah, we want to win a
championship.’ Very few teams are willing to make that commitment over a long
period of time in putting the necessary work into it each and every day. It’s
easy to say it; it’s harder to do it.
***
“We’re asking everyone to
sacrifice and put the team first, so we have quality depth. Some night’s
guys will play a little more than others, but they’re all sharing and they’re
all going to have to sacrifice, and that’s what’s important for our
team. As you wind down, it’s situational. A lot of it is what’s going on
in the game: Do you have a lead? Are you trying to protect the lead? Do you
need more scoring? Hopefully you have that answer on the bench. The big
thing is everyone is sacrificing for the team. You have to put the team first.
Whatever gives us our best chance of winning, that’s what we’re going to do.”
***
“You have a pretty good idea
of who you’re going to finish with. But that can change if guys are performing
well. The big thing is it’s not an individual thing. It’s how the group is
performing. We look at everything.”
***
“Trust is work. That’s how
you build trust. You got to know what you’re doing. You have to be tied
together. You have to work at it. Where you get trust is from the work. The
magic is in the work. It’s working together. It’s timing. It’s being tied
together. One guy being off is going to hurt. You need everyone working
together. And it doesn’t end. You’re not going to have it figured out in three
days. You’re trying to do something great. Nothing great was ever achieved
without great work and great ethic. It’s really that simple.’’
***
"People always talk
about going on offensive runs. But you can go on defensive runs too."
***
“I’m watching San Antonio,
and they’re going after it. Parker, Duncan, they’re playing huge minutes right
off the start. I think it’s a strong message what they’re saying right now.
They’re preparing themselves to defend their championship. And so in order to
get that way from them, you’re going to have to wrestle it away from them.
They’re not just going to give it away. Your mind-set has to be right.’’
***
“Your mindset has to be
right. They say Duncan never leaves the gym. When you look at great players,
when you read about guys who have achieved something great, it’s usually them
getting past adversity, them making great effort – their readiness to accept a
challenge. I think you need a great commitment from your team if you want to do
something special. That commitment has to start at the beginning, and it has to
remain throughout.”
***
“Whatever it is that you’re
facing, you’ve got to be ready to accept that challenge and be ready to play.”
