The Smart Take from the Strong: The Basketball Philosophy of Pete Carril

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The Smart Take from the Strong: The Basketball Philosophy of Pete Carril Pub. Date: 10/28/2004 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
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The Smart Take from the Strong Pub. Date: 3/12/1997 Publisher: Simon & Schuster

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Overview

“The strong take from the weak, but the smart take from the strong.” So said Pete Carril’s father, a Spanish immigrant who worked for thirty-nine years in a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, steel mill. His son stood only five-foot-six but nonetheless became an All-State basketball player in high school, a Little All-American in college, and a highly successful coach. After twenty-nine years as Princeton University’s basketball coach, he became an assistant coach with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. In 1997 he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Coach Carril inspired his teams with his own strength of character and drive to win, and he demonstrated time and again how a smart and dedicated team could compete successfully against bigger programs and faster, stronger, more athletic players. His teams won thirteen conference championships, made eleven NCAA Tournament appearances, and led the nation in defense fourteen times.

Throughout his reflections on a lifetime spent on the basketball court and the bench, Carril demonstrates deep respect for the contest, his empathy and engagement with the players, humility with his own achievements, a pragmatic vision of discipline and fundamentals, and an enduring joy in the game.

This is an inspiring and wonderful book, even for those who never made a basket.

Editorial Reviews

John McPhee

"Pete Carril is the Stonewall Jackson of NCAA basketball-unbelievable in victory, unforgettable in defeat."

-John McPhee

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From The Critics

"Pete Carril is very clear about what he wants in basketball, and he wills things to happen."

-Senator Bill Bradley

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780803264489
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Publication date: 10/28/2004
Pages: 205
Sales rank: 534,339
Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 7.40 (h) x 0.50 (d)

Meet the Author

Dan White is an award-winning freelance writer, the author of eight books, and a contributor to the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Detroit Free Press.

Bob Knight won three NCAA titles as men's basketball coach at Indiana; he currently coaches at Texas Tech.

	Introduction	15
	Who takes from whom?	17
	The nature of a coach	17
	Pick your general	19
	The only difference	19
	What turns me on	21
	Behaving wisely	21
	How we learn	22
	The only objective standard	23
	Never say never	24
	The coach's job	25
	Knowing what to coach	26
	The kind of coach I am	27
	What to emphasize	28
	Make sure they are all listening	28
	I can teach a guy basics	29
	The truth about fast players	30
	Teaching versus coaching	31
	What to be good at	33
	What I look for in a player	35
	Modus operandi	36
	A body with no talent	37
	You cannot hide on the court	39
	Overcoming certain obstacles	40
	Emulate the great	40
	The three basics	42
	Dribbling	42
	Pass to play	47
	Two kinds of elitism	51
	Just shoot it	51
	The simple layup	54
	You never tire of making shots	56
	From close in	64
	Shooting confidence	65
	Compensation for poor shooting	65
	A limit to what you can teach	66
	Before you give up ...	67
	What losing requires	68
	Whom does the player get mad at?	68
	Motivating players	69
	What it takes to be extraordinary	71
	Satisfaction	73
	Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't	73
	Play to win	75
	Character	75
	Core toughness	76
	Growing up with courage	77
	South Bethlehem	78
	What is genuine and what is not	79
	Greed	80
	Team concept redefined	80
	Necessity is the mother of invention	81
	The socioeconomics of basketball	84
	When I played	85
	Lafayette	87
	On being 5' 6 3/4" tall	88
	Coaching taller players	89
	Coaching at reading	89
	Why practice?	91
	Defense is the heart of the game	91
	Zone versus man-to-man	97
	Defensive fundamentals	97
	Defending the pivot	102
	Legs don't lie	104
	Stern discipline	104
	Don't think it's a drill	104
	What is the value of a drill?	105
	Punctuality	106
	Locker room habits	106
	Drinking and basketball	107
	Autographs	108
	Relationship between athletics and life	108
	The challenge of coaching at Princeton	109
	Just do it	110
	Fundamentally unsound	110
	What I found at Princeton	111
	Communing to win	113
	Playing intelligently	114
	No such thing as an Ivy League player	115
	Competing against a friend	115
	Do not come to Princeton to be famous	116
	Praise exposed	117
	Every day, a new day	118
	If you insist on less, you get it	118
	Speed wins the race	119
	Lesson number one on offense	120
	Get a good shot	120
	Closing the talent gap	121
	Play without the ball (and the coach)	122
	Cut with credibility	124
	Back-door	125
	Our offense simplified	128
	Who is doing it?	129
	Good reading habits	130
	Pay attention	130
	Bounce passes on the back-door	131
	Slower fast break	132
	Small, slow shooters	132
	The three-point shot	133
	Driving is a knack	133
	Knack for rebounding	133
	Who gets the rebound?	135
	Where's the nearest railroad?	135
	Hands don't change	136
	Solving a press	136
	Inbounds passes	137
	Jump balls	138
	Cerebral basketball	139
	Make a zone run	141
	One gym versus another	142
	Turn on the fans	142
	Princeton-Penn	144
	The real stars at Princeton	147
	Winning	147
	Pick	147
	Pivoting	149
	Fakes are like lies	150
	Preseason stuff	151
	Conditioning	151
	Weight-training	153
	"And two's"	154
	In the NCAAs	154
	A coach's heart	157
	Home court	157
	Stay off your legs?	158
	Team camaraderie	159
	A bad win	159
	Nothing else but luck	160
	Rough on refs	161
	Care how you play	162
	Fame	163
	Learn any offense in thirty minutes	164
	What can youngsters learn?	164
	A good high school coach	166
	Coaching high school versus college	166
	The rat race	167
	Burglars get into homes, too	169
	Three-car-garage guys	169
	Can he pass?	170
	Character shows	170
	Lightbulbs	171
	Look beyond talent	171
	The campus tour	172
	Don't worry about tuition	173
	Admissions	174
	Yes for the shot clock	175
	Our toughest opponents	177
	You against yourself	177
	Heart	177
	The coach's role	178
	Playing catch-up	180
	Use your assets	181
	Sixth man	181
	Blowout against North Carolina	182
	Avoid the ups and downs	182
	Mop-up time	183
	Character witness	183
	Are you worthy?	184
	Jetting in, jetting out	185
	NBA draft	185
	They don't show up, but you see them	185
	Year-end review	187
	Not enough creative coaching	188
	How I get along with parents	188
	Religious question	189
	Competition is not bad	190
	Do what you are doing	191
	Prideful	191
	College sports are not exempt	192
	Coaching my way	192
	Coaching all-stars	192
	Spanish pessimism	193
	Anonymity at Princeton	193
	"The poor guy"	194
	Style versus substance	195
	What I value	195
	What kids really need	196
	All I ever wanted	196
	No middle ground	196
	The toughest coach	197
	Fame and the worms	197
	A hundred grand and nothing	198
	How players have changed	198
	Premature retirement	199
	Five hundred and twenty-five wins	200
	The final question	203
	Twenty-five little things to remember	203

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EricAngevine

Posted May 7, 2009

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An Entertaining Basketball Mind

This book took a while to warm up to. At least, it did for me.

The Smart Take from the Strong is a collection of legendary Princeton coach Pete Carril's thoughts on the game. As the title might suggest, Coach Carril views success in an entirely different light than someone like Rick Pitino would. Princeton's athletes bring one advantage to the court every game, and it's the same advantage they bring to the classroom - they're ambitious and smart as hell.

So, it falls to an Ivy League coach to fill those brains with perceptive strategies and tactics that can even the playing field against taller, stronger, faster, more athletic teams. Carril not only did that, but gave his Tiger teams the emotional toughness to hang in to the final buzzer. It was a combo that led to a 65% win percentage, 13 Ivy titles, 11 NCAA bids, and an NIT championship. Pete ended his career on a high note, upsetting the defending national champs of UCLA in the 1996 tourney in his last collegiate game as head coach.

So, the guy has a lot to say. And the only reason I took a while to warm up to it is because I went in looking for something specific. My interest was more tactical, and the first seventy or so pages of the book were general observations, like this one: "Wherever fast players go, they get there faster than slow players". Funny, but not particularly enlightening.

But I'm happy to report that there's something for everyone in this slim paperback. Around page 90, I began to read sections with titles like "Zone vs. Man-to-Man" and "Defending the Pivot". Yeah. That was more like it.

What I found most interesting was the fact that Carril made a 29-year college career out of dredging as much as he could out of smart and unathletic players, and then turned around and did the opposite. He joined the NBA and taught his Princeton system to players who had all the natural talent in the world, but more often than not, were not Mensa candidates. Talk about being adaptable.

It helps, while reading this book, to go back to the front cover and look at Carril; imagine him saying everything you're reading. Here's an irascible, tough, 5'6" garden gnome in a bow tie telling you how it's going to be on a basketball court. I strongly suspect I could sit and listen to ol' Pete talk for hours if ever given the chance. It has to be a hoot. Case in point: discussing one of his hot-shooting players, Carril says "We called him 'Molasses', because he wasn't the fastest guy around. That was a nickname we used for a lot of players at Princeton." Ha!

Short story long: this book has no narrative structure. It can be set on the bedside table and read in small chunks without a deep time investment. For anyone who wants to understand the mind that gave us the Princeton offense, or find reality-based inspiration for facing overwhelming odds, this book has it all. It's right around 200 pages, so it's an easy read. And, if you find yourself in need of an even quicker fix than that, Pete ends the book with his list of Twenty-five Things to Remember.

Put it on your summer reading list, Einstein.
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The Smart Take from the Strong: The Basketball Philosophy of Pete Carril

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Overview

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Editorial Reviews

John McPhee

From The Critics

Product Details

Meet the Author

Table of Contents

Rating Distribution

An Entertaining Basketball Mind