1996年のNCAAトーナメントで、プリンストン大学は前年度の優勝校UCLAを43対41で破りました。チームを率いていたのはPete Carrilさんです。身長や身体能力で劣っていても、5人が相手を見て、つながって攻めれば、強い相手と渡り合える。Pete Carrilさんはその信念を「The smart take from the strong.(賢者は強者に優る)」という言葉で残しています。
Pete Carril氏の書籍『賢者は強者に優る』原題 The Smart Take from the Strong ピート・キャリル、ダン・ホワイト 著/晃洋書房Pete Carril氏のコーチング哲学がまとめられた一冊です。
Yamato Rōkyū (大和籠球) is a way of playing basketball built from the Princeton Offense and the Japanese spirit of Wa — harmony. We visit teams in person and build their basketball together with coaches and players.
Now welcoming requests from teams outside Japan. Wherever your team plays, feel free to get in touch — in English is fine.
In the 1996 NCAA Tournament, Princeton beat defending champion UCLA, 43–41. Their coach, Pete Carril, believed that five players who read the defense and move as one can stand up to anyone, regardless of height or athleticism.
As a university student, a friend asked me: “If we only copy what other countries do, how will we ever catch up?” Years of studying the Princeton Offense led me to an answer — combine it with Wa, the Japanese idea of bringing different people together without erasing what makes each one unique.
The Smart Take from the StrongPete Carril’s book on his coaching philosophy (Japanese edition).
Princeton Offense × Wa = Yamato Rōkyū
The session
Three hours on your court.
Start from your goal. Every session begins by writing the team’s desired outcome on the whiteboard.
Front or back. Players learn to read their defender and choose: receive in front, or cut behind. The backcut is the entry point — a weapon anyone can use.
Two and three players. We teach the patterns for breaking a defense with two and three players, and how to link them into a flowing offense.
The space a backcut attacksDribble at (two players)Backcut with three playersWhiteboard, Kagoshima, Sept. 2026
Keep it going. Within a week, we send follow-up videos so the team can keep practicing.
The journey
20 prefectures so far.
Teams from U12 to U22 across Japan, and more than 390 player responses to our post-session survey. Someday, perhaps, the journey will lead across the ocean to Princeton, where Pete Carril’s philosophy was born.
“The most enjoyable time I have ever had playing basketball.”U18–U22 player, Kagoshima
“A basketball where you become free precisely because some things are decided.”U18–U22 player, Kagoshima
“That was the moment I saw our connection as a team evolve.”U15 coach, Shimane
Translated from the original Japanese.
Fees
From one 3-hour session.
In Japan, one session is ¥30,000, plus round-trip travel from Chino, Nagano, and lodging if needed. For teams outside Japan, fees, travel and schedule are arranged individually. Tell us about your team, and we will start with an online meeting.