Fouls.

It's important to remember that you have 5 fouls in a game. If you can space out your 40 minutes and give 5 fouls during that time, you see an average of every 8 minutes you can foul. So plan is to use your fouls wisely. You want to keep people from making those easy points, so make your fouls count.

You want to find the balance between an intentional foul and a valid attempt to make them think about the pain the next time they try the same thing. Never knowingly do something that could injure the opponent, but try to get the full value for your foul. You want him to be distracted, whether he is in pain, or just out for vengeance. Either way, he will not be 100% focused, and you have won the mental game.

Don't waste the foul. A wasted foul means they got an opportunity to go to the line and shoot an uncontested shot, when they weren't already about to make a good play, i.e., an assist to an open player, or an open shot. A foul out front when they were just dribbling, for example, is a wasted foul.

You also waste your fouls if you have more than one or two left over at the end of the game. You do need to save some for overtime if the game is close, but you don't need to save them if your team is behind, and you've got to make a difference.

Unless the player is "in the zone" and has been popping 3-point shots all night, never foul outside the arc. Use distraction, instead.

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Confidence.

Confidence. The most important part of any sport, basketball in particular, is confidence. If you stand at the line, if you think you can get that ball in, it will go in. If you're not confident, it will not go in. Confidence somehow makes things work. There is a way to build confidence. It comes from doing your homework. listen

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Homework.

Homework. The homework that allows you to have confidence that what you're going to do will work is called practice. If you have practiced over and over and over under the same stressful conditions that you'll see in the game, you will succeed. Confidence comes from practice, practice, practice. Practice is just the art of instilling a habit. listen

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Paying the price.

Paying the price. A lot of times players have lots of ability, but they don't want to pay the price, in order to great. They are better than everybody else just because of their ability. But they are not great, because they don't pay the price. When I was scrimmaging with people, I would have to pay the price before I'd let myself get out and play, i.e., I would have to go run a mile. When I had run my mile and paid my price, then I was able to scrimmage. In the same way, long distance running is the price that good players have to pay in order to become great. Until you can run for one hour continuously, you are not ready to run for two halves of a basketball game. Are you willing to pay the price? listen

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Stop Hitting my Hands Part 2

Stop Hitting my Hands Part 2. So, say when you as a defender keep the other person from thinking about the goal, you've have succeeded; you have a victory over him in his thoughts and when you have a victory over his thoughts you have a victory over his body as well. "The hand is part of the ball," is what the rules say; therefore, hit him on the hands continuously when he has the ball. listen

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Stop hitting my hands....

"Stop hitting my hands." This is what one young man told me when in a pick-up game, "Stop hitting my hands; stop hitting my hands; you're hurting me." Well, what was he thinking about when we were playing basketball? He was thinking about his hands; he was thinking about the pain in his hands, which means he wasn't thinking about the goal; he wasn't thinking about what he was supposed to be doing. I had scored a victory. He then started trying to get even, by fouling me. In a real game, the referee would have intervened, and his anger would have gotten the best of him and gotten him fouled out. It's tougher in a pick-up game. :) listen

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When playing basketball...

When playing basketball one must be centered on the game of basketball. Nothing else should interfere. 100% basketball. When practicing, 100% basketball. Don't waste time complaining. Don't waste time telling the other people how bad they're doing. Ask yourself, "Will what I am doing at this moment help me reach the goal of being in the championship game?" If not, stop wasting your time. listen

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NCAA Championship lost at line

The physics of foul shooting was shown in the NCAA Tournament game, this year, and lack of applying the principles cost Memphis the game. Memphis' star put one foot on the line and another foot behind him. He had, therefore, no standard for perpendicularity and he couldn't shoot a high percentage. You've got to let go of bad habits before you leave high school if you want to have consistent free throws and if you want to win against SEC opponents in the SEC. listen

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Two toes on the foul line

The NCAA tournament game was lost because one player had never learned to put two toes on the foul line.

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