Quotes & Sayings About Playing Defense

I think there's a lot of different things that factor into playing good defense, and you just can't say, "All right, if we just hold on to the ball long enough, we're going to play good defense." — Chip Kelly

Sometimes I relax on defense and not understand I can't do that. Night in and night out, you're playing some of the best point guards in the world. That's something I'm continuing to work on and continue to develop my lower body, get quicker and more explosive. — Trey Burke

Basketball also helps you learn to move your feet by playing defense and guarding guys, and that all carries over to playing football with staying square and having good footwork. — Calvin Pryor

Firearms manufacturers usually find themselves playing defense. — Bob Barr

I'm not a "conservative" because I see precious little left in this world worth conserving. Playing defense, it seems to me, can only forestall an inevitable slide into tyranny. — Joseph Farah

Damn. Totally forgot. Guess I just got my man card yanked for not realizing football season had started. In my defense, I am a college fan (Go Longhorns!) and they don't follow the same schedule as the NFL. I'm from the South, what can I say? It's all about the college ball down here. I glanced up at the TV to see the Cowboys were indeed playing, and shook my head. Not a fan. Nope. — C.J. Pinard

Well, first of all, hello, I'm Lance Jennings and I'm an actor," he explained to the judge, sounding like he was doing a public service announcement. "I was hired to do promotional work for the Bucket O' Chicken restaurant. I was not informed that I might be verbally abused and attacked in the street!"

"Objection. Nonresponsive," Braden interrupted.

"Get to the point, Mr. Jennings!" Judge Channing admonished.

"I was simply playing my role out on the sidewalk when a cretin with dreadlocks began calling me a murderer. Like I killed the damned chickens myself! I don't even like chicken!"

"He called you a 'murderer'. Did he threaten you in any way?" I asked with a glimmer of hope. Maybe I could at least build a record to support a defense for trial.

"Yes! He asked me how I would like it if someone lopped off my leg and served it with gravy! I was in fear for my life!" There went the glimmer. The chicken was a ham. — N.M. Silber

We've been playing ugly. Without all of our bodies, we've been kicking it all over the shop, but fortunately we've been able to make the big buckets and rely on our defense for once. — Steve Nash

If you're not talking, you're not playing defense — Doc Rivers

Matthew 11:12? "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." Are you playing offense in your marriage? Or are you playing a prevent defense that leaves romance on the sidelines? — Mark Batterson

He knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason: He was not going to die crouching here like a child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemort's feet ... he was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defense was possible ... — J.K. Rowling

Maybe we need to quit playing defense and start playing offense. Maybe we need to quit letting our circumstances get between us and God and let God get between us and our circumstances. Maybe we need to stop talking to God about our problem and start talking to our problem about God. — Mark Batterson

There are always things to improve on. I want to improve on my defense, and you can never be a perfect hitter. I want to focus on just playing more and being able to improve on all parts of my game. — Mark Teixeira

Ask yourself a simple question. Do you want to keep playing, offence and defense included, for the rest of your life? Is this what you are marrying for? If answer is no, then stay away from Sporting Demons. If somehow the answer is yes or you, yourself, are a sporting demon then go ahead ... But don't come complaining if the game goes too far or too crappier to handle. — Gracia Hunter

You can't be happy, taking away something I've worked on all my life to do and help my teammates and help my defense, ... It's just part of me, playing the puck. So, definitely, you can't be happy. — Martin Brodeur

Last year they came in and won the game; that's how I would define it. Revenge is never on our mind. What's on our mind is playing defense, rebounding, taking care of the ball, and running our transition game. — Karl Hobbs

I want each and every West Virginian to have bragging rights. I want to stop playing defense and start playing offense. So, together, let us grab the reins of history. — Joe Manchin

I think Barcelona and the Spanish national team have been good for soccer because there are a lot of teams that come up playing from the back: with the goalie, the defense, moving up a defender to midfield, playing attacking soccer. I think fans want to see that. They want to see beautiful soccer, a spectacle, and Barcelona does that. — Xavi

In middle school, I played quarterback. I was at a tiny school, so you played offense and defense - I played linebacker, and in high school I stopped playing around my sophomore year because of my acting stuff. — Jesse Plemons

I blame Riley for my broken thumb, not Matt Geiger. That ain't defense Miami is playing. That's just chopping. I have no idea how his team gets away with it. I guess when you've been in the league 30 years you can do it. Respect, he gets it - he's like John Gotti. — Shaquille O'Neal

I had begun to see a new map of the world, one that was frightening in its simplicity, suffocating in its implications. We were always playing on the white man's court, Ray had told me, by the white man's rules. If the principal, or the coach, or a teacher, or Kurt, wanted to spit in your face, he could, because he had power and you didn't. If he decided not to, if he treated you like a man or came to your defense, it was because he knew that the words you spoke, the clothes you wore, the books you read, your ambitions and desires, were already his. Whatever he decided to do, it was his decision to make, not yours, and because of that fundamental power he held over you, because it preceded and would outlast his individual motives and inclinations, any distinction between good and bad whites held negligible meaning. — Barack Obama

You have to close quickly, you have to eliminate time and space and you have to try to deny them the puck. When you're playing with it, it forces them out of their rhythm and forces them to play defense, which they obviously don't want to do. — Chris Pronger

One thing in my defense, not that it matters: I know something Carter never knew, or Helene, or maybe you. I know what "nothing" means, and keep on playing. — Joan Didion

Goals have never defined me as a player. What has defined me is my impact on the team. If that means passing or playing defense to win, I'll do it. — Mia Hamm

It's a game of making great pitches at the right time, being opportunistic by getting a run at the right time and playing good defense. — Mike Candrea

Defense to me is the key to playing baseball. — Willie Mays

I feel more comfortable with the ball in my hands, playing the point guard. But I like playing the 2, too. I think I bring tough defense and the ability to score and also get my teammates the ball to score. — Willie Green

I don't ever want it to be a question whether I'm a Pro Bowl-caliber player, I believe I'm the best at what I do, and it's my responsibility to play like I'm capable of playing and help this defense as much as possible. — Derrick Thomas

I get a lot more confidence winning games playing defense than winning the run-and-gun game. — Chauncey Billups

If we don't start playing better on defense, it's going to be hard. We can't just sit there and win shootouts. — William Thomas

Coaching staff: I know there's days you look at that film and you want to kill me. I'm not playing defense, taking bad shots, getting too many techs. But you always believe that I can be the guy. Through the tough times, you guys never left my side ... That's something that I really appreciate and I never want to take you guys for granted. I thank you so much for being part of my life. And not just on the basketball court, but giving me talks about growing as a man first, and a basketball player next. — Kevin Durant

You have to be intelligent. You have to know what other guys are doing because you're in the back end and you see everything, so you have to alert others what to be ready for, and that makes it easier on everyone. It's just like playing offense, but now you're the quarterback of the defense, and you need to be vocal and take on that leadership responsibility. If you do, everything else becomes easier. — Calvin Pryor

American baseball, by luck, trial, and error, and since the famous playing rules council of 1889, had struck on an almost perfect balance between offense and defense, and it was that balance, in fact, that and the accountability - the beauty of the records system which found a place to keep forever each least action - that had led Henry to baseball as his final great project. — Robert Coover

He finessed his way through it all, playing the "I don't recall" game. He played the same game when asked about how Betty and UD officers had inserted Betty's name on their official visitors' log when it was Monica who actually visited, so as not to betray the president. It was yet another obvious lie on his part. I knew that game. Everyone with eyes could see it. He never recalled how she came to him with letters or papers. There was a back-and-forth on how the Clintons had garnered a lawyer for Monica so she could obfuscate matters and not implicate the president in his defense in Paula Jones's civil sexual harassment case. They discussed how unethical that was, and that's when the president had the nerve to blame the debacle on the information's getting leaked, not that it actually happened. Finally it came down to blaming Monica. — Gary J. Byrne

It would have been a great story if Brooks had went out there and scored 21 points, ... That would have been great theater. But the reality of that is very difficult, as we know, in this league for any QB when defense is playing good. And the Ravens played well. — Herman Edwards

Scouting is important. You just want to know whom you are playing against and how to play them well within the team's defense. — Terry Rozier

I should add, in Amy's defense, that she'd asked me twice if I wanted to talk, if I was sure I wanted to do this. I sometimes leave out details like that. It's more convenient for me. In truth, I wanted her to read my mind so I didn't have to stoop to the womanly art of articulation. I was sometimes as guilty of playing the figure-me-out game as Amy was. I've left that bit of information out, too. — Gillian Flynn

Defense usually doesn't make many headlines, but it goes a long way towards winning baseball games. There are a number of ways to make an impact during the course of a game, and playing solid, sound defense is one of them. — Derek Jeter

They better not put me in the All -Star Game. I won't shoot, but I'll dominate that easy game. I'll be playing hard defense. I'll be foulin'. I'll be flagrant fouling. Everyone will be like, 'What are you doing?' — Metta World Peace