Gamesmanship Red Auerbach - Style

The Godfather of basketball loved to psych out his opponents. His followers, people named Russell and Cousy and Heinsohn, caught on to what he was doing, observed its effectiveness, and copied many of these little psych-outs, or came up with their own.

Gamesmanship can be defined as the use of aggressive, often dubious tactics, to gain an advantage over one's opponent. The purposes of these tactics can range from psychological intimidation to disruption of concentration.

In various books, magazine articles and online interviews, the following gamesmanship tactics were attributed to Red.

1. To disrupt timing and increase the aggravation factor, quick-grab an opponents shirt or shorts or do a two-hand grab at the belt line or an arm;

2. If the ball goes out of bounds and the official appears uncertain as to who was entitled to possession, run over, pick up the ball and prepare to throw it in;

3. If the official awards the out-of-bounds ball to the opposing team, throw the ball slowly to the official, not to a player on the other team;

4. If there's a high-scoring player on the other team, have your players insinuate to his teammates that the high-scoring player was taking too many shots;

5. On road games, when the visiting team can choose its basket to start the game, wait until the other team starts warming up and then ask for their basket;

6. Scout the other team's plays and signals and, when the opposing coach calls the play or signals it to his players, shout it out so your team will know;

7. Scout the referees, know their traits and tendencies..

Red was famous for making the old Boston Garden an uncomfortable place to play. Opposing players have mentioned the following outrages in mentioning the visiting locker room (somehow they found Red responsible): one bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling; no heat or hot water; no towels; toilets jammed and overflowing; clothes frozen after the game; radiators clanging and banging when the heat was turned on.

Red himself claimed complete innocence. When asked by a rookie N.Y. reporter whether he could turn up the heat in the Garden, this is what Red said: "You guys are joking. This is a joke. You guys are asking for heat? Tell that little SOB (Knicks coach Red Holzman) that if he wants hot water, come over and pay our heating bill. Tell 'im we'll be lucky if the fans are warm. Tell 'im everyone in here will be wearing overcoats like they do in New York."