There are really only two plays: Romeo and Juliet, and put the darn ball in the basket.

Abe Lemons, known for his plainspoken humor as a college basketball coach, used this line in the context of talking about offensive simplicity. The quip contrasts the perceived complexity of playbooks with the basic objective of the sport—scoring—suggesting that coaches and players can overcomplicate what ultimately comes down to execution. It is typically cited as a locker-room or coaching aphorism rather than a line from a formal publication, and it circulates widely in sports-quote collections attributed to Lemons.

In this quip, Lemons—known for plainspoken humor and a no-nonsense coaching style—reduces basketball strategy to its essentials. By contrasting Shakespeare’s archetypal drama ("Romeo and Juliet") with the blunt directive to score, he mocks overcomplication: elaborate playbooks, jargon, and schematic obsession can distract from the game’s primary objective. The line also works as a coaching philosophy: execution and fundamentals matter more than clever design. It implies that, whatever the set or system, success ultimately depends on players making shots and converting opportunities, not on the aesthetic complexity of the plan.