Nick Nurse Quotes

During the season, I'm always locked in one gear, ready to play basketball, always keeping my guard up.

I have no doubt in my abilities that I can beat any of the top ten guys. Once I'm focused I know I can beat them.

As long as I have that support from my team, and I have that confidence in myself that I train really hard, I think there's no one out there who can defeat me in my weight class.

When you reach that elite level, 90 percent is mental and 10 percent is physical. You are competing against yourself. Not against the other athlete.

People expect you to play your best, so I go through a routine to prepare myself so that I know I'm physically and mentally ready - prepared for the game.

Before the decathlon I'm constantly trying to convince myself that I want to do this, that I want to take myself to that place where it's going to hurt and things are going to be tough. But that's like anything - you want to give your best.

I know if I want to have a chance to beat the top players, I need to be mentally ready for that.

The calmest part of my day is right before a match.

When I set my eyes on the gold at the world championships, I was able to maintain that focus that whole day. That's what I aim to do in Rio - my focus is gold, so I can keep in that good state; I can't get too complacent. I can't relax; I can't be content. I need to be 100 per cent switched on.

I have never been ready 100% even when I was racing in my gold times.

It is important to start winning international tournaments early and get that mentality into you. Then, hopefully, you can take it on to the world stage.

I can't be getting off my game. I need to be getting teams off their games.

I need to continue to be wise, be efficient and prepared for every game that I play leading up to the Olympics.

Obviously, teams start wearing down. But that's kind of when you thrive, when the other team starts to get tired.

The last few weeks are always the hardest during any fight camp.

From a mental standpoint, you can't play this game unless you mentally are clocked in and that's, 'I'm willing to do everything to my body, my mind to put myself so that I can win.'

The more mental strength you have, the better. If you look at some of the best players that we have seen over the years and that I have been playing with, mentally they are the best competitors as well, something I have worked hard on.

When you look back from your Olympic experience, you never want to question whether you could have done more. The one thing you can control is your off-ice preparation.

When I come into a tournament, I'm expecting to win. That's my philosophy. I can't go to a tournament thinking, 'I'm going to get my ass kicked today, so I might as well leave.'

There's a confidence and a mental toughness that comes from the very highest level of competition, whatever the sport is. Whether it's boxing or wrestling, or whatever.

If you go in the ring and box and you're angry, you're gonna lose the match.

Psychologically, when I sit down at noon, I'm it. I'm the only thing on. Nobody else does what I do. Nobody else has the opportunity. That's the psychological mindset. It's not an ego thing; it's just the way I've always approached it.

I'm sure Bobby won't want them to be losing the match before winning it.

Whenever you hear somebody else is auditioning for something, you sort of assume they're going to get it. You should try to just ignore it. I don't find it very helpful to know who else is going up for stuff, generally.

Every day I wrote in my journal: "How am I going to win today?" So that when the guys are talking about water-boarding I'm telling them they haven't even got the right towels.