To the average basketball fan or recreational player, trash talking seems like an elementary concept. I say, “you can’t shoot,” then you tell me “my momma can’t shoot,” and we continue this conversation until one team prevails.
But in college basketball trash talking has become a complex component of the game. First, there is much debate over the effectiveness of trash talking. Second, there is confusion over the prominence of trash talking—some say they don’t notice it, while others say it surrounds them.
“That’s what makes basketball so competitive,” freshman DeMarcus Nelson said of trash talking. “I just play the game, I usually don’t talk. Sometimes when opponents start talking I will start, but for the most part I just play the game.”
Some players acquire temporary amnesia when discussing who talks the most smack. When asked to recall a specific instance in which a teammate or opponent talked trash, Nelson drew a blank—only seconds after remarking about the abundance of trash talkers in college basketball.
“There’s been a few times when there’s been heated discussions on the court,” Nelson said. “But that’s just the nature of the game—the other team is trying to win, and that’s how we communicate out there.”
Senior co-captain Daniel Ewing was a little more open than his younger teammate about which specific players talk trash.
“On our team, I think J.J. [Redick] is really the biggest trash talker—when it comes to practice,” he said.
Ewing still hesitated to say that Redick talks trash during games. This should come as a surprise to the fans, particularly those who remember Redick’s freshman and sophomore seasons, when the sharpshooter’s lips would accelerate into motion following many a three-point field goal.
“This year I’ve tried to really tone down,” Redick said. “My first two years I probably talked a lot more on the court to the other team. Honestly, I’m more in tune with what we’re doing and what’s going on with our team and trying to help the other guys. It’s almost like I’ve been the peacemaker this year as opposed to the instigator.”
Redick still occasionally capitalizes on a prime trash-talking opportunity, as he did March 3 after knocking down a three-pointer over Miami’s Robert Hite.
“He didn’t come out on me, so I just reversed it to Ewing and he reversed it back to me, and [Hite] still wasn’t out on me,” Redick said. “So I pulled it and as I was coming back down court, I told him he needed to come out, but it was friendly banter.”
Redick’s self-imposed restriction on trash talking, in conjunction with his finest season yet, brings into question the effectiveness of trash talking.
“It can go both ways,” Nelson said. “Some players don’t play well when they are trash talking, and some players perform their best when they trash talk. A prime example of that is a friend of mine, [Boston Celtic] Gary Payton. He’s known for his trash talking, and that motivates him to play.
“But a quieter person, like myself, I won’t trash talk unless the guy starts trash talking to me, and then we’re just going to roll ’em up and we’re gonna go at it.”
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski, when asked about Redick’s trash-talking tendencies, claimed to be oblivious to his expert marksman’s trash talking.
“He does it quietly then,” Krzyzewski said. “J.J.’s been one of the great players in America this year, and I think his actions talk trash more so than him. He may do something in a practice to get somebody going, but I don’t really hear him.”
As the nation gears up for the do-or-die atmosphere of postseason college basketball, many might wonder how heated the trash talking will become. Contrary to what some might think, the high intensity often leads to less talk.
“I think it will decrease a little,” forward Patrick Johnson said of the quantity of trash talking. “Once you get to the postseason, guys are focused more on just the details of winning the game, and there’s less emotion from the crowd so I think it gets toned down.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.