Quotes from Nick Nurse

I read a couple books on democratic coaching.

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

I want to see given extra effort, pulling for your teammates: those are the kinds of things we're shooting for and we're going for because that's what we need.

I think I'm always a little bit under construction. I'm a project that I'm trying to improve upon.

One of my favorite things about the D-League was going on the road and losing and not having to talk to anyone after the game.

The Energy job was probably the key. It kind of transitioned me back into the States. It gave me a link to the NBA. And I got to make some contacts and meet some players and get players set up and learn the NBA game and terminology and coaching those type of players. It was certainly a huge, huge key to getting to the NBA.

In the regular season, they all only count for one win or one loss. But for a team or coaching staff, these are tests, and you want to see where you're at.

Obviously, things evolve; teams see you play a little bit and start try to do things, and the one thing that'll happen is if one team has success in something, you can bet the next three teams are doing some similar things, too.

I know the 'big spending club v. smaller club' theme is popular in the Premier League. I don't think about it - we are 30 teams trying to win the championship, and you do what you need to do.

It's about what the players are doing. My job is facilitate that. My job is to put them in positions to succeed. My job is to listen to their ideas, take them if they're good, quietly push them to the side if they're not. My job is to help them grow.

I'm a guy that, when there's something rolling out there, the predetermined rotations might go right in the garbage can.

I just want to keep getting better. People used to ask me - when I was winning in the D-League - why I wasn't in the NBA, and I'd tell them, 'I just want to learn and get better.' I figured it'd happen one day, and if it didn't, I really enjoyed my time coaching anyways.

I've always been like that: after a loss, I go home and pass out and don't give it another thought. When I'm winning, I'm too excited.

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 to me, our organization, and our fans is how we perform in the playoffs and how deep a run we can make, and that's what we're setting our sights on.

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 moving.

I didn't think reaching the NBA was a possibility when I coached Derby in 1990. I was right out of college when I went there and was more concerned about playing a bit and getting that out of my system.

I call Kawhi the best team player in the league. He really does everything: he defends. He scores. He has been grabbing huge rebounds. He is a leader. His competitive spirit to win rubs off on everybody.

I've coached a lot of teams and moved up gradually and tried to succeed and tried to have success at every level. When that happens, you just continue to wonder if you can keep doing it one more level.

I started at Grand View and all the England stuff. I just wanted to learn and get better, and that's kind of what the experiences were.

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

The gym in Milton Keynes or wooden backboards at Chester - maybe it didn't feel that glamorous at the time, but it was fun.

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

As an assistant, you are grinding it out and churning out work like there are not enough hours in the day, really. As a head coach, you are doing similar.

Hindsight is, of course, 20/20. Any time you go back, and you look at something, and now you've got the result of something, you say, 'Yeah, maybe it wasn't the right idea.'