A college basketball game is 40 minutes long. University of Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson applied a pressure defense that he called “40 minutes of hell” (or “forty minutes of hell”). The term “40 minutes of hell” was cited in print on March 14, 1990, when Richardson’s team would reach the NCAA Final Four. The term became popularized a few years later, when Richardson’s Arkansas team won the 1994 Division I Basketball National Championship.
 
Nolan Richardson was quoted on March 31, 1990:
   
“I read Vince Lombardi’s quotation that fatigue makes cowards of us all. Then, growing up and playing for Don Haskins (at Texas-El Paso), I can remember how hard we worked practicing for hours, and how the teams we played got tired playing against our style.
   
“I’ve adopted that kind of philosophy. Play 94 feet, and see if I can make fatigue part of our game plan.”
 
The term “40 minutes of hell” has also been used by other college basketball teams that play a pressure defense.
   
     
Wikipedia: Nolan Richardson
Nolan Richardson (born December 27, 1941) is an American basketball head coach, who was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. He has coached teams to winning a Division I Basketball National Championship, an NIT championship, and a Junior College National Championship. Richardson is the only coach to win all three championships. He previously coached college basketball at the University of Tulsa and the University of Arkansas where he led the Razorbacks to the NCAA title in 1994. Richardson coached the Arkansas team to a second-place finish in the NCAA Tournament in 1995. Nolan Richardson’s teams during his 22 seasons of coaching in NCAA Division I, made a post season tournament appearance 20 times (16 NCAA, 4 NIT).
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His teams typically played an up tempo game with intense pressure defense - a style that was known as “40 Minutes of Hell.” In 2012 his coaching philosophy was featured in the documentary “40 Minutes of Hell” on ESPN as part of the network’s SEC Storied series. He is the winningest Basketball coach in Arkansas history, compiling a 389-169 (.697) record in 17 seasons.
 
14 March 1990, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “Will Tar Heels regroups in NCAAs?” by Associated Press, pg. 2C, col. 4:
Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson is well aware of what almost happened when Georgetown escaped with 50-49 victory over Princeton in an opening-round game.
 
“It will be their patience against our greed,” said Richardson, whose team presses full court in what he calls “40 minutes of hell.”
 
14 March 1990, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), pg. 4-E, col. 6:
Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson is tough on his players in practice.
 
When asks why he stomps up and down, screaming at them, he replied:
 
“I always believe we will take our practices to games with us. I make practices 40 minutes of hell. I’ve always said I want my players to be savage dogs with rabies when they play.”
—From wire reports
 
31 March 1990, The Advocate (Stamford, CT), “Arkansas’ pressure will put Duke’s Hurley on the spot” by Skip Myslenski (Chicago Tribune), pg. C1, col. 1:
DENVER—“Forty minutes of hell.” That is what Arkansas calls its style of basketball. It is 40 minutes of speed and pressure, pressing and trapping, 40 minutes of withering intensity aimed at leaving its opponent an empty husk.
 
“Many years ago,” explains Razorback coach Nolan Richardson, “I read Vince Lombardi’s quotation that fatigue makes cowards of us all. Then, growing up and playing for Don Haskins (at Texas-El Paso), I can remember how hard we worked practicing for hours, and how the teams we played got tired playing against our style.
 
“I’ve adopted that kind of philosophy. Play 94 feet, and see if I can make fatigue part of our game plan.”
 
31 March 1990, State-Times (Baton Rouge, LA), pg. 2-C, col. 2:
Hog’s ‘40 Minutes of Hell’ press
not making Blue Devils sweat yet
By The Associated Press
DENVER—Forty Minutes of Hell? Just a different name for an old game to Duke’s Blue Devils.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
40 minutes of Hell : a celebration of the 1994 Razorbacks
Author: Joseph Layden; Ernie Wood
Publisher: Dallas : Taylor Pub. Co., ©1994.
Edition/Format:   Book : Biography : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
40 minutes of hell
Author: Mike Anderson; Championship Productions.
Publisher: Ames, IA : Championship Productions, ©2007.
Series: ; Championship basketball clinics.’”>“On the Court” demonstration series.; Championship basketball clinics.
Edition/Format:   DVD video : English
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
“Hard play and pressure defense are the backbone of Coach Anderson’s teams. Stance, hands, balance and closeness to the offensive player are very important principles to Anderson. Using an overhead, Anderson diagrams his defensive system. Ball pressure, anticipation, rotation and trapping are key terms in this system”—Container.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Forty minutes of hell : the extraordinary life of Nolan Richardson
Author: Rus Bradburd
Publisher: New York : Amistad, ©2010.
Edition/Format:   Book : Biography : English : 1st ed
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
“An exploration of the politics of race and sports in elite college basketball programs, from the Jim Crow era until today, witnessed through the life of African-American basketball coach and NCAA Title Winner, Nolan Richardson, who took the University of Arkansas to back to back Final Four appearances in the 1990s”—Provided by publisher.
 
Twitter
johnnypittman
‏@johnnypittman
@NKYCat33 @tsnmike ...from Richardson’s ‘40 minutes of Hell’ to Tarkanian’s ‘Amoeba D’ and full court style. It was a game I loved to watch.
Kentucky, USA
4:03 PM - 11 Feb 2015
 
Twitter
Coach Sal Armato
‏@dadhoops15
Sad day as we lose Jerry Tarkanian.  The real creator of 40 minutes of hell!  Rest easy Tark!
4:32 PM - 11 Feb 2015
 
Twitter
Tyler Godush
‏@TylerGodush
40 minutes of hell. Fastest 40. Whatever you call it. It’s back. And the wait has been well worth #WPS
10:08 PM - 14 Feb 2015