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Football Quotes by Nick Nurse

43 Football quotes by Nick Nurse

All Football quotes Nick Nurse’s page

Nick Nurse treats every regular‑season game as a test to see where his team stands. He talks about building defensive chemistry, keeping positive energy across an 82‑game schedule, and staying aggressive even when the league feels like a bubble. He also mentions hiring friends like Adrian Griffin and watching how teams copy successful ideas.

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I like to play aggressive, in general.

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I'm gonna back my players.

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Phil Handy played for me in England and has obviously risen to stardom in his area of what he does.

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Esthetically, let's move the ball. Let's guard people. Let's fight.

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At some point in your life, you try to self-reflect and ask yourself, 'Why do I want to win so bad?'

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It's really an organizational job with a football team to watch them go through their day.

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In a game, I'm locked in. I maybe notice three rows in the stands the arena over, and that's it.

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One of the things I like to do is let the players play and the coaches coach.

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When I started coaching, I wanted to find out quickly if I could do it.

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I think we're always chasing a win once the ball goes up.

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You look at any roster and you say, 'Geez, he's pretty good. He's pretty good. He's talented. He comes off the bench?'…

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I didn't think reaching the NBA was a possibility when I coached Derby in 1990. I was right out of college when…

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My goal early in becoming a head coach so young was to find out if I could do it. I just wanted…

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I call Kawhi the best team player in the league. He really does everything: he defends. He scores. He has been grabbing…

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In the regular season, they all only count for one win or one loss. But for a team or coaching staff, these…

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When I came back to England after my stint with Derby in 1995, I really wanted more time to study coaching.

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Sometimes, I don't enjoy the wins, and I don't enjoy the losses, but I'm here just to get the result and get…

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That's your worry as a head coach: Are you going to go in there, give them everything you've got, and are they…

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I was in love with the triangle because it was so different to what everybody was doing in the NBA. Everybody else…

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I just want to keep getting better. People used to ask me - when I was winning in the D-League - why…

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The Energy job was probably the key. It kind of transitioned me back into the States. It gave me a link to…

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People asked me, 'Why aren't you doing something more important?' When I was doing well in the D-League, they were like, 'Why…

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I think a lot of personnel decisions come down to who's the best player today, like if we had to throw 'em…

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I think it's really important that we get an experienced staff. Guys that have been a head coach, to me, at some…

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Fifty-nine or 54 or 52 or 49 wins isn't going to mean a whole lot. What's going to mean a whole lot…

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It's about what the players are doing. My job is facilitate that. My job is to put them in positions to succeed.…

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You're really in a bubble if you're not watching the league.

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I've had a lot of really good preparation. I've coached a lot of games around the world.

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You've got to coach with what you have and who's available.

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I believe in getting the ball up the floor and trying to take advantage of transition opportunities.

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I think I jumped the gun a bit on head coaching. I got named a head coach at 23, and I really…

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Chemistry kind of builds all season. It's not like we say, 'OK, it's game one, and now we've got our chemistry.' I…

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As an assistant, you are grinding it out and churning out work like there are not enough hours in the day, really.…

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I think there's some certain attitudes and certain guys that can feed some positive energy, and that keeps you going through an…

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I said it when I got hired. I said, for five years, I had a 1,000 people telling me I was going…

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Football is a pretty complex numbering system most of the time: run the three back through the four hole, things like that.…

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I know, when I'm walking out on the court before for the game, it's like, man, if you wanna compete, here it…

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I know the 'big spending club v. smaller club' theme is popular in the Premier League. I don't think about it -…

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I've known Adrian Griffin for quite awhile now and always had him as my 'when I get a job, I want to…

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I place a lot of value on pace of the game, going after people... always be the aggressor and forcing the issue…

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More by Nick Nurse

Predictability can eventually be defended.

I still say, to this day, I could not guard Nigel Lloyd.

In the regular season, they all only count for one win or one loss. But for a team or coaching staff, these are tests,…

I'm gonna back my players.

I think if you're going to be a little bit innovative or risk-taking, sometimes you're going to be wrong, and it's going to look…

As an assistant, when you wake up in the morning, you're opening your laptop and watching film. Then the game starts, and you're watching…

I've known Adrian Griffin for quite awhile now and always had him as my 'when I get a job, I want to hire him…

I think there's some certain attitudes and certain guys that can feed some positive energy, and that keeps you going through an 82-game schedule.

I've got way more attention than I ever needed or wanted.

I think there's always enough right in front of me worrying about who's playing the minutes tomorrow, but you've always got to have an…

People talk about offensive chemistry all the time, but defensive chemistry is something you have to build, too, and there's a lot of that…

An entrepreneur will do whatever they have to do to make sure things get done. Our coaches will be that way; our players will…

We've got to be innovative. We've got to think about what's coming next.

I like to have an attacking style on both ends.

You're really in a bubble if you're not watching the league.