Moses!

I had the opportunity to play against the great Moses Malone in a high school All-Star game. He was a 6'11" high school phenom who went on to become the first player to go directly from high school into professional basketball. He started out in the ABA, then moved into the NBA where he became one of the greatest players ever.
Moses was known for his rebounding prowess, and I was able to watch him up close and personal as we went through practice sessions and scrimmages in preparation for the game. He wasn't loud or demonstrative, in fact, he rarely said a word. He didn't have a great "build" and he wasn't extremely explosive as a jumper. Yet, he was a rebounding machine. How did he manage to outrebound more athletic players?
He worked constantly to gain inside position. He had a tremendous "knack" for anticipating where the ball would come off of the rim. He had great footwork and vision. He assumed that every shot would be a miss.
I learned a lot watching Moses at work. He had 30+ points and 20 rebounds in the national All-Star game that I played in, beating my team by 1 point with a dunk at the buzzer. He was a man among boys that evening. Today's players would do well to watch some video of Moses at work, quietly dominating the boards. They might want to get quiet and get busy.

Be Quick But Don't Hurry

One of the greatest basketball quotes ever is Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden's classic, "Be quick but don't hurry." He managed to say so much with so few words. Many young players try to play too fast. They rush around the court, thinking that they are going to "out quick" their opponents, only to manage to make more mistakes in a shorter time frame.

Steve Nash had a very insightful observation about Chris Paul after playing against him during his rookie season. Nash noted that Paul didn't try to play too fast. Nash was impressed that Paul knew how to use his quickness without trying to play fast the entire game. Basketball is a game of quick movements and quick reactions, however, a smart player has to slow down enough to make the correct read and thus the correct decision. Be quick but don't hurry.