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

by Pete Carril (Author), Dan White (Author), Bob Knight (Introduction by)

"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.

Back Jacket

On March 14, 1996, before a national television audience, Pete Carril's Princeton University Tigers defeated the heavily favored defending national champion UCLA Bruins, 43-41, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. To the casual observer, it was a shocking upset. But to those in the basketball world, Princeton's triumph was no surprise. For twenty-nine years, Pete Carril had led his teams to more than 500 victories and thirteen Ivy League championships. After the victory over UCLA, Carril announced his retirement from the ranks of college ball, but not before penning this witty, memorable, and insightful collection of vignettes espousing his philosophy of the game. In this era of basketball as raw athleticism, size, and power, how was Pete Carril able to maintain such a level of success throughout his career? In The Smart Take from the Strong, Carril lays bare his philosophy for basketball success. A great teacher and a terrific motivator, Carril has shown that practice, hard work, and determination help shape a winning basketball squad; Carril's teams have demonstrated that even in an age of skywalkers and long-range bombers, there is still merit in discipline, intelligence, and the ageless patterns of the game.

Author Biography

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.