I coined my own definition of success in 1934, when I was teaching at a high school in South Bend, Indiana, being a little bit disappointed, and [disillusioned] perhaps, by the way parents of the youngsters in my English classes expected their youngsters to get an A or a B. They thought a C was all right for the neighbors' children, because they were all average. But they weren't satisfied when their own -- it would make the teacher feel that they had failed, or the youngster had failed. And that's not right. The good Lord in his infinite wisdom didn't create us all equal as far as intelligence is concerned, any more than we're equal for size, appearance.
Definiciju uspjeha skovao sam 1934. kao učitelj u srednjoj školi u South Bendu, u Indiani, pomalo razočaran, možda i obmanut, načinom kako su roditelji djece kojoj sam predavao engleski jezik očekivali od djece da dobiju petice ili četvorke. Smatrali su da je trojka dobra za djecu njihovih susjeda, jer su ona sva bila prosječna. No, nisu bili zadovoljni kad bi njihova djeca učitelju dala povoda da pomisli da su oni ili njihovo dijete neuspješni. A to nije dobro. Dobri i mudri Bog nije nas sve stvorio jednakima, barem što se inteligencije tiče, ništa više no što smo jednaki visinom ili izgledom.
Not everybody could earn an A or a B, and I didn't like that way of judging, and I did know how the alumni of various schools back in the '30s judged coaches and athletic teams. If you won them all, you were considered to be reasonably successful -- not completely. Because I found out -- we had a number of years at UCLA where we didn't lose a game. But it seemed that we didn't win each individual game by the margin that some of our alumni had predicted -- (Laughter) And quite frequently I really felt that they had backed up their predictions in a more materialistic manner.
Nije svatko mogao dobiti pet ili četiri, nije mi se takvo razmišljanje sviđalo. Znao sam da su bivši učenici raznih škola još u 1930-ima ocjenjivali svoje trenere i sportske ekipe. Ako ste pobijedili sve, smatrali su vas razmjerno uspješnima. Ne potpuno. Ustanovio sam da mi na UCLA-u niz godina nismo izgubili utakmicu. No, nismo svaku pojedinu utakmicu dobili razlikom kakvu su naši bivši učenici često predviđali... (Smijeh) Prilično mi se često činilo da su oni svoje prognoze poduprli na neki materijalističniji način.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
But that was true back in the 30s, so I understood that. But I didn't like it, I didn't agree with it. I wanted to come up with something I hoped could make me a better teacher, and give the youngsters under my supervision, be it in athletics or the English classroom, something to which to aspire, other than just a higher mark in the classroom, or more points in some athletic contest.
Jasno mi je da je to u 1930-ima bilo tako. Ali nije mi se sviđalo, niti sam se s time slagao. Želio sam smisliti nešto što bi me učinilo boljim učiteljem, čime bih toj svojoj mladeži, u sportu ili u engleskom jeziku, dao nešto čemu bi težili, različito od samo viših ocjena ili više osvojenih bodova na nekom sportskom natjecanju.
I thought about that for quite a spell, and I wanted to come up with my own definition. I thought that might help. And I knew how Mr. Webster defined it, as the accumulation of material possessions or the attainment of a position of power or prestige, or something of that sort, worthy accomplishments perhaps, but in my opinion, not necessarily indicative of success. So I wanted to come up with something of my own.
Dugo sam o tome razmišljao i želio smisliti neku vlastitu definiciju. Mislio sam da ću tako pomoći. Znao sam kako je to g. Webster definirao: kao nakupljanje materijalne imovine, ili zauzimanje neke moćne pozicije, prestiža, vrijednih postignuća, možda. Ali, po mome mišljenju, to nije nužno znak uspjeha. Želio sam osmisliti nešto svoje.
And I recalled -- I was raised on a small farm in Southern Indiana, and Dad tried to teach me and my brothers that you should never try to be better than someone else. I'm sure at the time he did that, I didn't -- it didn't -- well, somewhere, I guess in the hidden recesses of the mind, it popped out years later. Never try to be better than someone else, always learn from others. Never cease trying to be the best you can be -- that's under your control. If you get too engrossed and involved and concerned in regard to the things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect the things over which you have control. Then I ran across this simple verse that said, "At God's footstool to confess, a poor soul knelt, and bowed his head. 'I failed!' he cried. The Master said, 'Thou didst thy best, that is success.'"
I prisjetio sam se... Odrastao sam na maloj farmi u južnoj Indiani; tata se trudio poučiti mene i moju braću da nikad ne pokušavamo biti bolji od drugih. Siguran sam da u doba kad je on to činio, ja nisam... ... pretpostavljam, negdje u skrivenim zakucima moga uma ukazalo se godinama kasnije: Nikad ne pokušavaj biti bolji od drugoga. Uvijek uči od drugih. Uvijek nastoj biti najbolji što možeš. Nad time imaš kontrolu. Obuzme li te, angažiraš li se ili brineš suviše o stvarima nad kojima nemaš nikakvu kontrolu, to će negativno utjecati na sve ono nad čime imaš kontrolu. Potom sam naišao na ovaj jednostavan stih koji kaže: "Pred Božje noge radi ispovijedi, nevoljno biće kleknu i pokloni se. 'Nisam uspio!' - zavapi. Gospodin reče: "Ti dade najbolje od sebe - to jest uspjeh."
From those things, and one other perhaps, I coined my own definition of success, which is: Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you're capable. I believe that's true. If you make the effort to do the best of which you're capable, trying to improve the situation that exists for you, I think that's success, and I don't think others can judge that; it's like character and reputation -- your reputation is what you're perceived to be; your character is what you really are. And I think that character is much more important than what you are perceived to be. You'd hope they'd both be good, but they won't necessarily be the same. Well, that was my idea that I was going to try to get across to the youngsters.
Iz svega toga i možda još koječega, skovao sam vlastitu definiciju uspjeha: "Duševni mir ostvaren kroz vlastito zadovoljstvo spoznajom da smo se potrudili učiniti najbolje što smo bili sposobni." Vjerujem da je to istina. Potrudite li se učiniti najbolje što ste u stanju i nastojite popraviti okolnosti u kojima se nalazite - mislim da je to uspjeh. I mislim da drugi o tome ne mogu suditi. To je poput karaktera ili ugleda: Vaš ugled proizlazi iz toga kakvima vas drugi vide; vaš karakter je tko vi uistinu jeste. A mislim da je karakter mnogo značajniji od onoga kakvima vas drugi vide. Nadate se da će oboje biti dobri, ali neće nužno biti jednaki. To je, dakle, bila zamisao koju sam nastojao prenijeti tim mladima.
I ran across other things. I love to teach, and it was mentioned by the previous speaker that I enjoy poetry, and I dabble in it a bit, and love it. There are some things that helped me, I think, be better than I would have been. I know I'm not what I ought to be, what I should be, but I think I'm better than I would have been if I hadn't run across certain things. One was just a little verse that said,
Otkrivao sam i druge stvari... Volim poučavati, a prethodni je govornik spomenuo da uživam u poeziji, brljam po njoj pomalo i volim je. Neke su mi stvari pomogle da budem bolji no što sam mogao biti. Znam da nisam tko sam trebao biti, tko bih trebao biti. Ali mislim da sam bolji no što bih bio da na ponešto nisam slučajno naišao. Jedno od njih bio je stih koji glasi:
"No written word, no spoken plea can teach our youth what they should be; nor all the books on all the shelves -- it's what the teachers are themselves."
"Nikakva pisana riječ, ni izgovorena molba naše mlade ne može poučiti što bi trebali biti. Ni sve knjige na policama, već su to učitelji."
That made an impression on me in the 1930s. And I tried to use that more or less in my teaching, whether it be in sports, or whether it be in the English classroom. I love poetry and always had an interest in that somehow. Maybe it's because Dad used to read to us at night, by coal oil lamp -- we didn't have electricity in our farm home. And Dad would read poetry to us. So I always liked it. And about the same time I ran across this one verse, I ran across another one. Someone asked a lady teacher why she taught, and after some time, she said she wanted to think about that. Then she came up and said,
To me se dojmilo tada, 1930-ih. I nastojao sam to koristiti u svom poučavanju, bilo to na sportskom terenu, ili u učionici, na satu engleskog. Volim poeziju i oduvijek me pomalo zanimala. Možda je to zato što nam je tata običavao noću čitati, uz petrolejku... Na našoj farmi nismo imali struje. Tata bi nam čitao poeziju. I tako sam je zavolio. Otprilike u isto doba kad sam naišao na taj stih, naišao sam i na još jedan. Netko je pitao učiteljicu zašto poučava. Zamislila se i rekla da bi o tome voljela razmisliti. Potom je ustala i rekla:
"They ask me why I teach, and I reply, 'Where could I find such splendid company?' There sits a statesman, strong, unbiased, wise; another Daniel Webster, silver-tongued. A doctor sits beside him, whose quick, steady hand may mend a bone, or stem the life-blood's flow. And there a builder; upward rise the arch of a church he builds, wherein that minister may speak the word of God, and lead a stumbling soul to touch the Christ. And all about, a gathering of teachers, farmers, merchants, laborers -- those who work and vote and build and plan and pray into a great tomorrow. And I may say, I may not see the church, or hear the word, or eat the food their hands may grow, but yet again I may; And later I may say, I knew him once, and he was weak, or strong, or bold or proud or gay. I knew him once, but then he was a boy. They ask me why I teach and I reply, 'Where could I find such splendid company?'"
"Pitaju me zašto poučavam, a ja odgovaram: 'A gdje bih mogla naći takvo sjajno društvo?' Sjedi ondje državnik - snažan, nepristran, mudar; drugi Daniel Webster, slatkorječiv. Uz njega sjedi liječnik čija brza, staložena ruka može zakrpati kost, ili zaustaviti otjecanje krvi. A ondje graditelj... Uvis izdiže se luk crkve koju gradi, da bi svećenik ondje izgovarao riječ Božju i vodio posrnulu dušu do dodira Kristova. I sve to, okupljanje učitelja, poljodjelaca, trgovaca, radnika; onih što rade, glasuju, grade, planiraju i mole za veliko sutra. I mogla bih reći: Mogu i ne vidjeti crkvu ili čuti riječ, ili jesti hranu koju njihove ruke uzgajaju. A opet - mogla bih. I kasnije bih mogla reći: Poznavala sam ga, bio je slab, ili snažan, ili hrabar, ili ponosit, ili živahan. Poznavala sam ga nekoć, al' on tad bješe dječak. Pitaju me zašto poučavam, a ja im odgovaram: 'Gdje bih mogla naći takvo sjajno društvo?'"
And I believe the teaching profession -- it's true, you have so many youngsters, and I've got to think of my youngsters at UCLA -- 30-some attorneys, 11 dentists and doctors, many, many teachers and other professions. And that gives you a great deal of pleasure, to see them go on. I always tried to make the youngsters feel that they're there to get an education, number one; basketball was second, because it was paying their way, and they do need a little time for social activities, but you let social activities take a little precedence over the other two, and you're not going to have any very long. So that was the idea that I tried to get across to the youngsters under my supervision.
Vjerujem da učiteljsko zanimanje... istina je, toliko je mnogo mladih. Moram misliti na svoje mladiće s UCLA-a - 30-ak odvjetnika, 11 zubara i liječnika, nebrojeno mnogo učitelja i drugih profesionalaca. Silan je užitak vidjeti ih kako napreduju. Oduvijek sam nastojao da mladi shvate da su ovdje radi obrazovanja; najprije edukacija, a onda košarka jer ih je ona hranila, a trebat će im vremena i za druženje. Ali, dopustite li društvenim aktivnostima da prevladaju nad ostalima dvjema, ubrzo neće biti ni obrazovanja, ni košarke. Te sam ideje nastojao prenijeti mladima koje sam ja pratio.
I had three rules, pretty much, that I stuck with practically all the time. I'd learned these prior to coming to UCLA, and I decided they were very important. One was "Never be late." Later on I said certain things -- the players, if we were leaving for somewhere, had to be neat and clean. There was a time when I made them wear jackets and shirts and ties. Then I saw our chancellor coming to school in denims and turtlenecks, and thought, it's not right for me to keep this other [rule] so I let them just -- they had to be neat and clean. I had one of my greatest players that you probably heard of, Bill Walton. He came to catch the bus; we were leaving for somewhere to play. And he wasn't clean and neat, so I wouldn't let him go. He couldn't get on the bus, he had to go home and get cleaned up to get to the airport. So I was a stickler for that. I believed in that. I believe in time; very important. I believe you should be on time, but I felt at practice, for example -- we start on time, we close on time. The youngsters didn't have to feel that we were going to keep them over.
Imao sam tri pravila kojih sam se pridržavao praktično sve vrijeme. Usvojio sam ih prije dolaska na UCLA i držao ih vrlo važnima. Jedno je bilo: "Nikad ne kasni." Kasnije sam znao reći: Idemo li bilo kamo, igrači moraju biti uredni i čisti. Ponekad sam ih tjerao da nose sakoe, košulje i kravate. Onda sam vidio našeg upravitelja u trapericama i u dolčeviti i pomislio sam kako mi to moje drugo pravilo i nije u redu. Trebali su samo biti uredni i čisti. Čuli ste za jednog od mojih najvećih igrača - Billa Waltona. Kasnio je na autobus. Išli smo na neku utakmicu. Nije bio čist i uredan i nisam mu dao da pođe s nama. Nije smio ući u autobus. Morao se vratiti kući i dovesti se u red da bi stigao u zračnu luku. Gnjavio sam oko takvih stvari. Vjerovao sam u to. Vjerujem u vrijeme. Ono je vrlo važno. Vjerujem da trebate biti točni. Primjerice, na treninzima sam uvidio -- počinjemo na vrijeme, završavamo na vrijeme. Mladi nisu trebali osjetiti da bismo ih mogli predugo zadržati.
When I speak at coaching clinics, I often tell young coaches -- and at coaching clinics, more or less, they'll be the younger coaches getting in the profession. Most of them are young, you know, and probably newly-married. And I tell them, "Don't run practices late, because you'll go home in a bad mood, and that's not good, for a young married man to go home in a bad mood. When you get older, it doesn't make any difference, but --"
Na trenerskim seminarima često govorim mladim trenerima, a na takvim su seminarima uglavnom mlađi treneri koji tek ulaze u profesiju. Većinom su mladi, vjerojatno tek oženjeni. Kažem im: "Ne održavajte kasne treninge, jer ćete kući ići loše raspoloženi, a za mladog oženjenog muškarca nije dobro da takav dolazi kući. Kad ostarite, svejedno je..."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
So I did believe: on time.
Vjerovao sam u točnost.
I believe starting on time, and I believe closing on time. And another one I had was, not one word of profanity. One word of profanity, and you are out of here for the day. If I see it in a game, you're going to come out and sit on the bench. And the third one was, never criticize a teammate. I didn't want that. I used to tell them I was paid to do that. That's my job. I'm paid to do it. Pitifully poor, but I am paid to do it. Not like the coaches today, for gracious sakes, no. It's a little different than it was in my day. Those were three things that I stuck with pretty closely all the time. And those actually came from my dad. That's what he tried to teach me and my brothers at one time.
Početi na vrijeme i završiti na vrijeme. Još jedno od mojih pravila bilo je: Ni "p" od psovke. Jedna psovka i za danas smo gotovi. Dogodi li ti se to na utakmici, ideš na klupu. I treće je pravilo bilo: nikad ne kritiziraj suigrača. To nisam trpio. Rekao bih im da sam ja za to plaćen. To je posao za koji sam plaćen. Sirotinjski, ali za to sam plaćen. Ne poput današnjih trenera, za Boga miloga, ne! Malo je drugačije nego u moje vrijeme. Tih sam se triju stvari poprilično držao sve vrijeme. Njih mi je, zapravo, prenio moj tata. Tome je nastojao poučiti mene i moju braću.
I came up with a pyramid eventually, that I don't have the time to go on that. But that helped me, I think, become a better teacher. It's something like this: And I had blocks in the pyramid, and the cornerstones being industriousness and enthusiasm, working hard and enjoying what you're doing, coming up to the apex, according to my definition of success. And right at the top, faith and patience.
Na koncu, osmislio sam i Piramidu, ali nemamo sad za nju vremena. Ali, mislim da mi je to pomoglo da postanem bolji učitelj. Ovako nekako to ide: Piramida se sastoji od blokova, radišnost i entuzijazam kao potporni stupovi, ustrajnost i uživanje u onome što radite i tako postupno do vrha, u skladu s mojom definicijom uspjeha. A na samom vrhu - vjera i strpljivost.
And I say to you, in whatever you're doing, you must be patient. You have to have patience to -- we want things to happen. We talk about our youth being impatient a lot, and they are. They want to change everything. They think all change is progress. And we get a little older -- we sort of let things go. And we forget there is no progress without change. So you must have patience, and I believe that we must have faith. I believe that we must believe, truly believe. Not just give it word service, believe that things will work out as they should, providing we do what we should. I think our tendency is to hope things will turn out the way we want them to much of the time, but we don't do the things that are necessary to make those things become reality. I worked on this for some 14 years, and I think it helped me become a better teacher. But it all revolved around that original definition of success.
Kažem vam, u svemu što radite morate biti strpljivi. Moramo biti strpljivi; prečesto želimo sve odmah i sada. Govorimo da su naši mladi nestrpljivi. I jesu. Žele sve promijeniti. Vjeruju da je to napredak. Kako starimo, tako "popuštamo". I zaboravljamo da bez promjene nema napretka. Morate biti strpljivi, a vjerujem i da moramo vjerovati. Vjerujem da moramo vjerovati, istinski vjerovati. Ne samo govoriti o vjeri, nego vjerovati da će se stvari odviti onako kako trebaju, pod pretpostavkom da učinimo što trebamo učiniti. Mislim da smo skloni nadati se da će se stvari odviti onako kako želimo najveći dio vremena, ali ne činimo ono što je nužno da bi se obistinilo to što priželjkujemo. Radio sam na tome 14 godina i mislim da mi je pomoglo da postanem bolji učitelj. No, sve se vrtjelo oko izvorne definicije uspjeha.
You know, a number of years ago, there was a Major League Baseball umpire by the name of George Moriarty. He spelled Moriarty with only one 'i'. I'd never seen that before, but he did. Big league baseball players -- they're very perceptive about those things, and they noticed he had only one 'i' in his name. You'd be surprised how many also told him that that was one more than he had in his head at various times.
Prije dosta godina, George Moriarty bio je sudac profesionalne bejzbol lige. Sricao je"Moriarty" sa samo jednim "i". Nisam to nikad prije vidio. Igrači prve bejzbolske lige vrlo su osjetljivi na te stvari i primijetili su da u svome imenu ima samo jedno "i". Iznenadili biste se i koliki su mu rekli da je to jedno više no što je u svojoj glavi ponekad imao.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
But he wrote something where I think he did what I tried to do in this pyramid. He called it "The Road Ahead, or the Road Behind." He said, "Sometimes I think the Fates must grin as we denounce them and insist the only reason we can't win, is the Fates themselves have missed. Yet there lives on the ancient claim: we win or lose within ourselves. The shining trophies on our shelves can never win tomorrow's game. You and I know deeper down, there's always a chance to win the crown. But when we fail to give our best, we simply haven't met the test, of giving all and saving none until the game is really won; of showing what is meant by grit; of playing through when others quit; of playing through, not letting up. It's bearing down that wins the cup. Of dreaming there's a goal ahead; of hoping when our dreams are dead; of praying when our hopes have fled; yet losing, not afraid to fall, if, bravely, we have given all. For who can ask more of a man than giving all within his span. Giving all, it seems to me, is not so far from victory. And so the Fates are seldom wrong, no matter how they twist and wind. It's you and I who make our fates -- we open up or close the gates on the road ahead or the road behind."
Ali, on je napisao nešto čime je učinio ono što sam i ja pokušao s Piramidom. Nazvao je to: "Staza prema naprijed ili prema unatrag." Rekao je: "Mislim da nam se Sudbina naceri kad je optužimo inzistirajući da je jedini razlog našem porazu činjenica da je Sudbina podbacila. No, i dalje živi drevna izreka: pobjeđujemo ili gubimo unutar nas samih. Sjajni pokali na našim policama ne mogu dobiti sutrašnju utakmicu. I vi i ja u dubini duše znamo da prilika za titulu uvijek postoji. Ali kad propustimo dati sve od sebe, jednostavno nismo položili test davanja cijelog sebe ne štedivši se, sve dok ne dobijemo utakmicu; pokazivanja što znači borbenost, igranja i kad se ostali predaju; igranja do kraja, bez odustajanja. Teškim se radom osvajaju pokali. Snivanje o cilju pred nama; nadanje i kad snove prekrije tama; molitve kad nade više nema; pa i gubljenje, bez straha od pada; ako smo hrabro dali sve od sebe. Jer tko od čovjeka može tražiti više nego što on od sebe može više dati. Dati sve je, čini mi se, ne toliko daleko od pobjede. I tako su sudbine rijetko u krivu, bez obzira koliko prevrtljive bile. Vi i ja smo ti koji kreiramo svoje sudbine... otvaramo ili zatvaramo vrata na putu prema naprijed ili unatrag.
Reminds me of another set of threes that my dad tried to get across to us: Don't whine. Don't complain. Don't make excuses. Just get out there, and whatever you're doing, do it to the best of your ability. And no one can do more than that. I tried to get across, too, that -- my opponents will tell you -- you never heard me mention winning. Never mention winning. My idea is that you can lose when you outscore somebody in a game, and you can win when you're outscored. I've felt that way on certain occasions, at various times. And I just wanted them to be able to hold their head up after a game. I used to say that when a game is over, and you see somebody that didn't know the outcome, I hope they couldn't tell by your actions whether you outscored an opponent or the opponent outscored you.
Podsjeća me to na još jedan trolist mudrosti kojima nas je otac podučavao: Ne cvilite. Ne prigovarajte. Ne nalazite izlike. Jednostavno izađite i što god radili, činite to najbolje što znate. Nitko ne može učiniti više od toga. Nastojao sam i da ... moji će vam suparnici potvrditi - nikad ne spominjem pobjedu. Nikad ne spominji pobjeđivanje. Mislim da možete izgubiti kad postignete više zgoditaka od suparnika, a možete pobijediti i kad on postigne više. Osjećao sam se tako u nekim situacijama. Jedino sam želio da mogu uzdignute glave otići s utakmice. Obično bih im rekao: "Kad utakmica završi i sretnete nekoga tko ne zna kako je utakmica završila, nadam se da neće na vama vidjeti jeste li utakmicu dobili ili izgubili."
That's what really matters: if you make an effort to do the best you can regularly, the results will be about what they should be. Not necessarily what you'd want them to be but they'll be about what they should; only you will know whether you can do that. And that's what I wanted from them more than anything else. And as time went by, and I learned more about other things, I think it worked a little better, as far as the results. But I wanted the score of a game to be the byproduct of these other things, and not the end itself. I believe it was one great philosopher who said -- no, no -- Cervantes. Cervantes said, "The journey is better than the end." And I like that. I think that it is -- it's getting there. Sometimes when you get there, there's almost a let down. But it's the getting there that's the fun. As a basketball coach at UCLA, I liked our practices to be the journey, and the game would be the end, the end result. I liked to go up and sit in the stands and watch the players play, and see whether I'd done a decent job during the week. There again, it's getting the players to get that self-satisfaction, in knowing that they'd made the effort to do the best of which they are capable.
To je uistinu bitno: Ako redovito nastojite biti najbolji što možete, rezultati će biti otprilike kakvi bi i trebali biti. Ne nužno onakvi kakve biste željeli, već onakvi kakvi trebaju biti; samo ćete vi znati možete li to učiniti. To je ono što sam od njih želio, više od svega. S vremenom, kako sam i ja učio o drugim stvarima, mislim da je to i bolje funkcioniralo, barem što se rezultata tiče. Želio sam da ishod utakmice bude nusprodukt tih drugih stvari, a ne cilj sam po sebi. Mislim da je jedan veliki filozof rekao... Ne, ne... Cervantes. Cervantes je rekao: "Bolje je putovati nego stići." I to mi se sviđa. U tome je stvar. U putovanju je smisao. Ponekad se i razočarate kada stignete nekamo. Ali, samo putovanje je zabavno. Kao košarkaškom treneru na UCLA-u, želio sam da naši treninzi budu putovanja, dok bi utakmica bila cilj, krajnje odredište. Volio sam se popeti na tribinu, promatrati igrače dok igraju i vidjeti jesam li što dobro napravio tijekom tjedna. Prema tome, opet se tu radi o tome da igrači budu zadovoljni sobom, znajući da su pokušali biti najbolji što uopće mogu biti.
Sometimes I'm asked who was the best player I had, or the best teams. I can never answer that. As far as the individuals are concerned -- I was asked one time about that, and they said, "Suppose that you, in some way, could make the perfect player. What would you want?" And I said, "Well, I'd want one that knew why he was at UCLA: to get an education, he was a good student, really knew why he was there in the first place. But I'd want one that could play, too. I'd want one to realize that defense usually wins championships, and who would work hard on defense. But I'd want one who would play offense, too. I'd want him to be unselfish, and look for the pass first and not shoot all the time. And I'd want one that could pass and would pass.
Katkad me pitaju tko je bio moj najbolji igrač, ili najbolja momčad. Ne mogu na to odgovoriti. Što se pojedinaca tiče... Jednom su me pitali u vezi s time... Rekli su mi: "Pretpostavite li da možete stvoriti savršenog igrača, što biste željeli?" Rekao sam im: "Želio bih jednoga koji zna zašto je na UCLA-u: da se obrazuje, da bude dobar student, da doista zna zašto je ondje, prije svega. Ali, želio bih i da zna igrati. Želio bih jednoga koji je svjestan da se obranom osvajaju prvenstva; koji bi uporno radio na svojoj obrani. Ali, želio bih i da zna napadati. Želio bih da bude nesebičan i najprije nastoji dodati, a ne pucati kad god može. Želio bih i da može i da zna dodati loptu.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
I've had some that could and wouldn't, and I've had some that would and could.
Neki su mogli, ali nisu htjeli, a neki su i htjeli i mogli.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
So, yeah, I'd want that.
Dakle, takvoga bih želio.
And I wanted them to be able to shoot from the outside. I wanted them to be good inside too.
Želio bih i da ima dobar šut izvana. Kao i da je dobar u unutrašnjoj igri.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
I'd want them to be able to rebound well at both ends, too. Why not just take someone like Keith Wilkes and let it go at that. He had the qualifications. Not the only one, but he was one that I used in that particular category, because I think he made the effort to become the best. There was a couple.
Želio bih da je dobar i u napadačkom i u obrambenom skoku. Recimo, netko poput Keitha Wilkesa. On je zadovoljavao ove uvjete. Nije bio jedini, ali bio je onaj kojega bih isticao u ovoj kategoriji, jer vjerujem da se istinski trudio postati najbolji. Bilo ih je nekoliko.
I mention in my book, "They Call Me Coach," two players that gave me great satisfaction, that came as close as I think anyone I ever had to reach their full potential: one was Conrad Burke, and one was Doug McIntosh. When I saw them as freshmen, on our freshmen team -- freshmen couldn't play varsity when I taught. I thought, "Oh gracious, if these two players, either one of them" -- they were different years, but I thought about each one at the time he was there -- "Oh, if he ever makes the varsity, our varsity must be pretty miserable, if he's good enough to make it." And you know, one of them was a starting player for a season and a half. The other one, his next year, played 32 minutes in a national championship game, Did a tremendous job for us. The next year, he was a starting player on the national championship team, and here I thought he'd never play a minute, when he was -- so those are the things that give you great joy, and great satisfaction to see.
U knjizi "Zovu me trenerom" spominjem dvojicu igrača koji su mi pružili silno zadovoljstvo, koji su se najviše od svih približili ostvarenju svojih punih potencijala: Conrad Burke i Doug McIntosh. Kad sam ih vidio kao brucoše, u našoj brucoškoj momčadi - brucoši nisu u to doba mogli igrati u prvoj momčadi - pomislio sam: "O Bože, budu li ova dvojica..." - bili su na različitim godinama, ali za obojicu sam to mislio - "... ako ovaj ikad dospije do prve momčadi, naša je prva momčad prilično jadna ako ovaj uspije ući." A znate, jedan od njih bio je u prvoj postavi tijekom sezone i pol. Sljedeće godine, drugi je igrao 32 minute u prvenstvenoj utakmici. Silno nam je pomogao. Godinu kasnije, bio je u prvoj postavi nacionalnog prvenstva. A ja sam ovdje mislio da neće igrati ni minute dok je još bio... To su stvari koje vas raduju i pružaju veliko zadovoljstvo.
Neither one of those youngsters could shoot very well. But they had outstanding shooting percentages, because they didn't force it. And neither one could jump very well, but they kept good position, and so they did well rebounding. They remembered that every shot that's taken, they assumed would be missed. I've had too many stand around and wait to see if it's missed, then they go and it's too late, somebody else is in there ahead of them. They weren't very quick, but they played good position, kept in good balance. And so they played pretty good defense for us. So they had qualities that -- they came close to -- as close to reaching possibly their full potential as any players I ever had. So I consider them to be as successful as Lewis Alcindor or Bill Walton, or many of the others that we had; there were some outstanding players.
Nijedan od tih mladića nije imao naročit šut. Ali imali su izniman prosjek šuteva, jer nisu forsirali. Niti jedan nije bio osobit skakač, ali držali su dobru poziciju i zato su imali puno skokova. Nisu zaboravljali pretpostaviti da bi svaki šut mogao biti promašaj. Mnogi su stajali i čekali da vide hoće li biti promašaj, a kad bi skočili bilo bi prekasno, jer bi ih netko već preduhitrio. Nisu bili osobito brzi, ali su se dobro postavljali, uvijek u ravnoteži. I tako su za nas odigrali prilično dobru obranu. Dakle, imali su kvalitete potrebne da dosegnu vjerojatno svoj puni potencijal, od svih igrača koje sam imao. Stoga ih smatram uspješnima poput Lewisa Alcindora ili Billa Waltona i mnogih drugih koje smo imali; a bilo je iznimnih igrača.
Have I rambled enough? I was told that when he makes his appearance, I was supposed to shut up.
Jesam li dovoljno brbljao? Rekli su mi da prestanem kad se on pojavi.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
(Applause)
(Pljesak)