By Jay Bilas
NAL Trade
288 pages
(ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas, an attorney, was a four-year starter at Duke from 1982 to 1986.)
“When you beat a team when you are ranked number one, you know you have beaten your opponent at its very best. And that is especially true when playing on the road as a number one-ranked team. Nobody ‘mails it in’ against number one on their home turf.
"Being ranked number one comes with a responsibility to be prepared for that special effort against you. If you do not go after your opponent with vigor from the opening tip, it emboldens your opponent, giving them a belief they can win, and makes them even harder to play against and beat. That is where mental toughness comes in. When toughness and competitiveness meet, the truly great teams and players excel."
