Some games don't go the way you want them to go, but you still have to find a way to win.
If that's my job to lead and if that's my job to go out there and play defense, take charges, dive into the stands, then that's what I'm going to do if that's what it takes to win basketball games.
When Jim Irsay called me five years ago, he told me, 'I want you to be our coach and help us win the Super Bowl.' He told me, 'We are going win it the right way. We are going to win it with great guys; win it with class and dignity. We are going to win it in a way that will make Indianapolis proud.'
You have to be unique in your own ways and the ways that you play to find a way to win. You can't always go with the trend that's going on. Sometimes you have to create the trend yourself and be confident in it.
When it comes down to it, you win a bunch of games or maybe things don't go the way that you plan - those relationships that you build with the guys around you last a lifetime. To me, that's meaningful.
I was always pushed to do that much more, and in the long run that made me more of an MMA fighter. My mom always told me that if I let it go to the judges, I'd lost. There was no way I was going to win a decision, so I had to find ways to finish the fight fast.
Find a way and make it happen: I've always been the type of person who couldn't rest until I found a way to make something happen. If I couldn't go around the rock, I'd find a way to go over it or under it or through it.
You can't afford to lose games. It is always possible that you will not win, but it is the way you play the game.
You make other team think you going one way and you got to sell the move going that way and you've got to really make them think that you're going that way and they're going the other way. When it ends up ultimately being a perfect crossover is when you shake them so bad that they can't even get back into the play to play defense. You're already gone. That's what I think the perfect one is to where a teammate of his has to stop you from scoring.
He reminds me of Michael Jordan. "You look and they have similar games where they want to lead their team to victory, no matter if they have to shoot the ball every time or if they have to rebound or pass, they're going to find a way to win." I've always said that Kobe Bryant is the best scorer in our game today and he's definitely proving himself.
When I come to the rink each day, in my heart and my mind, I'm going to expect to win, because that's the way I think. It's going to be way different than it has in the past for me, in some ways, coming here.
If we play defense the way we're supposed to and we play defense the way we do here in practice, we should have no problems against most of the teams in the league, and other teams, it'll be a great fight.
I always try to find better ways to do things. Whether it's a game plan, a practice, a meeting, an interview, whatever it is. I'm going to find a way to find a way to analyze it and find a better way to do it. That's my mindset. I've never been satisfied with anything. That's just my mindset. I'm always trying to find a better way to do things.
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You'll be as famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV. Except when they don't Because, sometimes they won't. I'm afraid that some times you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you.
People always use the word 'obsession' in a negative way, which I'm always amazed by. We are not obsessed in the way that, if we don't win it, we'll just go and shoot ourselves. That's not the case. We are obsessed with the Champions League because this is a great competition to win. In a positive way, we try to search for the victory.
I couldn't change if I wanted to. I can't not go hard through screens and I can't not play on defense hard. It's just the way that I'm built and the way that I play.