It’s happened to all of us in a pick-up game on the neighborhood court – the guy or gal we’re supposed to stick is a chest and a head taller than us and twice, maybe three times as wide.

And they’ll knock us around and out-rebound us until it’s time to meet our buddies at TJ Quill’s.

The only reason they score 30+ points on us is because they had up to two or three … well, five chances under the bucket because we couldn’t box them out for the board, right?

No more, says Wolfpack star post-man Mario Faranda.

At 6-foot-4, he both owned UNO’s Ben Elias (6-foot-10) with 19 points and 11 rebounds and also hauled down seven rebounds with 12 points on Tulane’s 7-footer Quincy Davis last year.

How to Own the Paint like Super Mario

1 (not pictured) – Find your man on the floor and body up on him. Seventy percent of long jump shots fall on the far side of the rim, so get your position there.

2 – Step in to him with either your left or right foot. If he’s going to his right, step into him with your left. If he’s going to his left, step into him with your right.

3 – When you face the goal to box him out, keep your stance low so he doesn’t move you around. Get wide so he doesn’t get in front of you. Stay wide and low and tense your body so that he can’t move you from the position.

4 – When the ball rims out, release out of the stance with your calves, hamstrings and abs. That is, tighten all of them when you jump. Stretch your arms out high toward the ball.

5 – Grab the ball and put it almost on your chin. Open your elbows so no one takes it from you or knocks it out of your grasp.

-Ramon Vargas

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