Toughness Defined by Jay Bilas

If you have not yet read Toughness: Developing True Strength On and Off the Court by Jay Bilas, I highly recommend you do. It is one of the best books I have ever read. So good in fact that it gave me the idea to share all of my favorites quotes and moments from the book. Below you will find that each Chapter and Section is marked to give you a reference of the topic the “quote” came from. Anything not in quotations is a direct remark from Jay Bilas himself.

I hope you enjoy what I have shared. It is only about 1% of what the book brings to life, but hopefully it is enough to convince you to read it in entirely.

Toughness is Defined

Toughness isn’t physical. It has nothing to do with size, physical strength or athleticism. It’s an intangible, an attitude, a philosophy…I believe that true toughness is a skill that can be developed and improved in everyone.

Toughness is a descriptor of how much energy a material can absorb before breaking. Being tough is being Unbreakable!

Coaching Mental Toughness

“Toughness is doing what it takes to make a difference.” – Tom Izzo

IU Shooting Drill

If you watched Friday’s Midnight Madness on Indiana Basketball you probably saw this drill. I love what this drill teaches, making the extra pass! This shooting drill will allow your team to get a ton of shots up from all over the floor in a small amount of time.

Start with 3 players under the rim with balls. 1st player passes to 1st player in corner corner. The corner line then passes to the shooter line on the wing. Shooter rebounds ball and stays under rim to become passes. Corner line moves to shooter line.

Shoot for time or number of makes.

Repeat at your specified shooting spots. Whether it is 5 or 7 spot shooting.