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Archive for June, 2008
June 19, 2008 at 1:47 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Basketball is the most popular participatory sport in the United States. As simple as the game often seems—throwing a ball through a hoop—there are many aspects of the game that go unnoticed. But with Basketball For Dummies, Second Edition, you’ll get the inside scoop on hoops.
Whether you’re a player, a fan, or a coach, Basketball For Dummies, Second Edition will get you better acquainted to the game, so you can play it better, coach it smarter, or appreciate it more as a spectator.
Former Notre Dame head coach Digger Phelps begins with the fundamentals and quickly moves up court from there. From playing a pick-up game to watching March Madness on TV to the excitement of the NBA Playoffs, Phelps has come up with a game plan that shows you how to have fun with the game, while you become familiar with it. By the final buzzer, you’ll have pulled down pointers on how to play the game, how to look good on the court, how to coach it, how to watch it, ho w to strategize, and even how to talk trash on the playground.
Within these pages, you’ll also discover how to:
- Suit up for the court
- Get into basketball shape
- Play effective offense and defense
- Use signature moves from NBA greats
- Shoot quality free-throws
- Join fantasy leagues and get great stuff online
From the basics to the latest coaching drills and techniques, this friendly reference offers you expert advice on the plays, strategies, and moves on and off the court—from high school to college hoops, to the WNBA, and beyond.
Customer Review: A Great Read
This book has alot of very helpful info on the game and the breakdown of the rules. The diagrams on plays should be easier to understand though, because most people can not follow on how the plays or drawn out or worded. I wanted a little more information on fouls and how they work..... there is not much a definiton and explanation of a defensive foul. But alltogether it is a great book and reference for the game of basketball.
Customer Review: Great Resource
This book does a great job of breaking down basketball into some of the smallest elements that starting coaches might not remember. This would be a great resource for all elementary and middle school coaches. It is written by one of the best college coaches of all time. This book is filled with reliable tips about the game of basketball for coaches and players.
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June 18, 2008 at 8:27 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Customer Review: you have to read this
I knew of Jim Carroll, read some of his poetry and such. And then I saw the movie--and let me tell you, you have to see that one. So I finally got around to picking up the book. Carroll is unflinchingly honest (though I do suspect he took many liberties with the story) and the story is brutal. This book does not glamorize drug abuse, as it shouldn't. This is a book I'll be coming back to over and over.
Customer Review: Ugh.
Could have been interesting, but this book was so foul (language) I had difficulty staying with it. It has remained, unfinished, on my bookshelf.
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June 18, 2008 at 1:23 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Over 5,000 talented players have completed the Five-Star program and received scholarships. Distinguished alumni include Isiah Thomas, Moses Malone, Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, Mark Aguirre, John Paxson, Jim Paxson, Jeff Ruland, Darnell Valentine, and Mike O'Koren. Here, in print for the first time, is a compilation of 131 drills they practiced at the nation's premier basketball camp. The book includes the following:
- 131 of the best drills used at the Five-Star camp
- Conditioning, one, two, and three player drills for men and women
- Proven regimens from a star-studded galaxy of NCAA and NBA coaches
- Step by step instructions with pictures and diagrams to maximize your potential and practice time
"Howard Garfinkel and Will Klein are as well organized in their presentation of drills as they are in their camp. This book is a great contribution to your basketball library." -- Bob Knight
"Owning one of the most varied sports libraries in the country, I consider myself an expert on sports books. Nowhere on my shelves is there anything approaching the value of these drills for youngsters and young coaches. It's the best drill book in America." -- George Raveling
"With the advent of the three-point shot, there's now a high priority on the skill parts of the game. This book will help the dedicated user become a fundamentally sound player." -- Mike Fratello
"A must for all young players and coaches who want to learn the game the way it should be taught." -- Rick Pitino
"Five-Star has done a great job helping kids. I admire the way they've emphasized teaching the concepts and maintained the personal touch in dealing with youngsters. This book carries on that great tradition." -- Mike Krzyzewski
Customer Review: VERY GOOD BOOK
This is a very good book for all coaches. If you like to work all the basic stuff for your team, you can get some ideas from this book. I managed to work some of the exercises in my team [youths at age of 13 (boys)] and I have very good results...
A "must have" book!!!
Customer Review: Great info
This book offers a plethora of drills and advice for parents who want to coach their kid's team. The diagrams and explanations are thorough and the drills can be adapted for children ages 11 and up.
Alan Safani
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June 17, 2008 at 6:41 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The Duke University men's basketball team has served as the gold standard in college athletics for well over two decades - and that's all because of the extraordinary impact of Mike Krzyzewski, the highly-respected coach of the Duke squad.
Coach K's reputation as a teacher of young men has transcended his extraordinary success as a coach. The Duke team is always ranked at the top of the college game, year in and year out, but what's truly remarkable about Coach K are his players and the legacy they leave behind: Grant Hill, Shane Battier, Elton Brand, Bobby Hurley, and on and on -- these are not just great basketball players, but individuals who have become true leaders in American society, all thanks in large part to Coach K's leadership.
So how does Coach K do it? In this new book, he reveals his tips, advice, and time-tested guidance on how he coaches and educates his players about life beyond the basketball court.
Customer Review: Another Great Book by a Great Human Being,
Coach Krzyzewski and his Daughter write a wonderfully inspiring book that is so true. Write-on Krzyzewski's!
Customer Review: Far Beyond Basketball
Coach K scores a 3 pointer with this book. Words indeed have power to lift up or to tear down. The coach lifts us up to new levels with his short chapters on important words to anyone who aspires to greatness. This is a well written and inspirational book that encourages us all to look at the words that shape a well lived life.
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June 16, 2008 at 9:43 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The 1984 NBA draft is most remembered as the one where Michael Jordan slipped to third behind number-one pick Hakeem Olajuwon...and the immortal Sam Bowie. You could understand the Houston Rockets choosing Olajuwon, but how on earth could the Portland Trailblazers pass up Jordan for the injury-prone Bowie? For the first time, Filip Bondy pieces together the entire backstory of the draft: from Michael Jordan’s indecision over whether he should declare himself eligible for the NBA draft after his junior year...to Charles Barkley’s calculated attempt to avoid being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers and to improve his position at the Olympic trials...to the trades that were considered but fatefully never made.
Customer Review: A must read for any NBA junkie
I really enjoyed this book. It was a very fast read for me. The author focuses on several of the top picks from this draft: Olajuwon, Bowie, Jordan, Barkley, Stockton, and Perkins. He spends a lot of time on each of these players and gets very in-depth, and that alone made the book a worthwhile read to me.
Also, the author talks about some of the fall out from this draft: The NBA draft lottery, salary cap changes, and the globalization of the league. I enjoyed the author's style, lots of quotes from major players at the time and reflecting on the time later. The bibliography is quite extensive. So I felt like the author pulled a lot of info from lots of different articles and books I might have read separately anyway. I felt he did a nice job sorting through the material.
Again, I really enjoyed the book. If you love the NBA and love this particular era, I think you'll enjoy the book.
Customer Review: No, The '84 Draft Didnt Change the NBA But ....
overall, this was a pretty decent book, especially for someone who's stopped following basketball in the past 20 years. It contains alot of biographical info on Stockton, Jordan, Olajuwon, Perkins, etc. and every once in a while, it's nice to learn that kind of stuff - maybe it should have been titled "The Awesome 1984 NBA Draft," since it introduced alot of prominent players into the league. I remember wondering why Sam Bowie was the second overall pick that year, too, and this book sheds some insight into Stu Inman's thinking and how no one expected Jordan to become the player he eventually did, due to Dean Smith's system at UNC. The book is well worth it at the price it's at now.
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June 15, 2008 at 3:15 am · Filed under Uncategorized
It ought to be just a game, but basketball on the playgrounds of Coney Island is much more than that — for many young men it represents their only hope of escape from a life of crime, poverty, and despair. In The Last Shot, Darcy Frey chronicles the aspirations of four of the neighborhood's most promising players. What they have going for them is athletic talent, grace, and years of dedication. But working against them are woefully inadequate schooling, family circumstances that are often desperate, and the slick, brutal world of college athletic recruitment. Incisively and compassionately written, The Last Shot introduces us to unforgettable characters and takes us into their world with an intimacy seldom seen in contemporary journalism. The result is a startling and poignant expose of inner-city life and the big business of college basketball.
Customer Review: Last Shot makes you know what C.I. is like...
Coney Island the basketball playground of America is the setting for the Last Shot: City Streets and Basketball Dreams. 4 stories of H.S. basketball players who goto Abraham Lincoln H.S. and play for the might basketball team the Railsplitters (What a cool name). I mainly bought this book because Stephon Marbury is featured as one of the four people in it. I myself grew up in Brighton Beach one town away from Coney Island so I know how life is... This book is true and real and I recommend this book to any sports fan or anyone who is looking for a real treat.
Customer Review: Coney Island B-Ball
A classic piece of sports writing, but for everyone. The author is a writer for the New York Times Magazine. In this book he writes about the lives of some high school basketball players/high school students (in that order).
Like the other posters have noted, it's not just for basketball freaks. It's a well written story about some kids in the 90's who live in the projects in Brooklyn, Coney Island for the most part, and how much basketball means to them. In the book it seems like basketball is their only path to success. But they are up against the recruiters, hustlers and the SATS (which they need to get a 700 on but that's just out of reach for most).
You get to meet the student athletes, Russell, Corey, Tchak, and Stephon, their parents, coaches, recruiters, local prophets, etc, and the author treats them all with a level of respect the New York Times Magazine accords the suit wearing sharks.
If you get this book, you won't have to read long before you're committed to reading the whole thing. It's a very rare book indeed that leaves me wanting more. I would have loved to read a sequel. Alas, we only get an afterward, but the story had to end somewhere and the afterward was, well, quite the shock.
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June 14, 2008 at 10:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized
STUFF Good Players Should Know may very well be the best book ever written for basketball players and fans. It is conversational and easy to understand, yet filled with subtle insights into the game of basketball. STUFF is page after page of creative concepts, common sense, and special tips that can not be found anywhere else.
Customer Review: One of the best
I'm a basketball fanatic, I love every aspect of the game. I watch it as a spectator, I coach, I ref, I organize, I do whatever to help the game advance. I also read a lot. I bought this book few years back and read it, I loved every minute of it. Every page had something interesting, some piece of advice. I knew most of it, I got a different perspective on a lot of things and a lot of ideas. Unfortunately, I forgot about this book in my bookshelf. I came across last week and started reading it again, it's still as good as it was the first, second and third time I read it. It's something I will likely come back to every now and then, just like some other excellent basketball books. Highly recommended for everyone who loves basketball.
Customer Review: Best How To Basketball Book Ever
This new version of the late Dick DeVenzio's classic book of basketball 'tips' has been re-typeset and is much easier to read thanks to his Point Guard College protege Dena Evans. Every player and coach should have a copy of this book. Amazon's price is great on this hardcover edition. I bought the original in 1995 when I broke my foot and was unable to play ball for two years. Now I have bought copies for my son and his high school coaches along with DeVenzio's Runnin' the Show.
The things covered in Stuff are not found in any other basketball book I have read-- things many coaches surely know, but don't remember to teach and reinforce- or things they have forgotten and never really put into words. If you are a player or coach or know one, buy this book.
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June 13, 2008 at 6:58 am · Filed under Uncategorized
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June 11, 2008 at 9:53 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Continuing Sports Illustrated's tradition of producing best-selling coffee-table books for the holiday season, SI presents The Basketball Book, a lavish celebration of the athleticism and pageantry of both the college and professional game. With the same kind of unforgettable photographs and award-winning writing that propelled The Baseball Book, The Football Book and The Anniversary Book to The New York Times best-seller list over the past three years, this volume brings to life the legendary players, the classic action and the great rivalries of the court. In 294 oversized pages, The Basketball Book commemorates the epic teams and characters, the personalities and performances and artifacts that have created legions of passionate fans since Dr. James Naismith nailed up a peach basket and devised the Original 13 Rules of the game more than 100 years ago.
Customer Review: Wonderful Coffee Table Book!
This is a great coffee table book. I purchased this for my husband's birthday and he really enjoys it. I am not a sports fan but the beautiful high quality artistic photos are very appealing to me.
Customer Review: Sposts Illustrated " The basketball Book " scores again !
I bought the SI Basketball book because I had already bought the baseball and football books, and was very pleased with them.. I expected the basketball book to be of the same quality of writing and photos of the other two. I was not diapointed. The book is full of great articles by quality writers, and with many photos by the famed photo staff at SI. If you want a good quaility book, and are a basketball fan, this book is worth the more then fair asking price. The origins of the game to the present day game is covered as well as profiles on the superstars of each decade, is excellent. This is an exceptional book, buy it, it is worth it.
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June 11, 2008 at 3:59 am · Filed under Uncategorized
He’s been called a journeyman. Even Paul wouldn’t dispute that classification. Regardless, Bill Simmons, ESPN.com’s “The Sports Guy,” has said of Paul Shirley, “We could finally have an answer to the question ‘What would it be like if one of our friends was an NBA player?”
There’s no denying that Paul Shirley is the closest thing pro basketball’s got to Odysseus. In Homeric fashion, he has logged time practically everywhere in the roundball universe, from six NBA cities to pro leagues in Spain and Greece to North America’s pro ball Siberia, the minor leagues. Hell, he’s even played in the real Siberia. And in Can I Keep My Jersey?, Shirley finally puts down roots long enough to deliver one of the great locker-room chronicles of the modern age.
With sharp elbows and an even sharper wit, Shirley–whose writings have been described as “wildly entertaining” by The Wall Street Journal–drops hilarious commentary, revealing which teams have the best cheerleaders (he’s spent many a time-out watching them ply their trade), why Christ is rapidly becoming every team’s “sixth man,” and even the best ways to get bloodstains out of your game uniform, using only an ordinary bar of soap and a hotel bathroom sink.
From sharing the court with Kobe and Shaq to perusing the food court at some mall in a bush-league burg; from taking pregame layups to getting laid out by a stray knee from an NBA power forward; from hopping a limo to the team’s charter jet to dashing to catch the van home from a B-league game in Tijuana, Shirley dishes on what it’s like to try to make it as a professional athlete. Can I Keep My Jersey? is a rollicking, thoughtful, even thought-provoking insider’s look at a pro baller’s life on the fringe. Like Jim Bouton’s Ball Four or John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink, Shirley’s odyssey deserves to find a home on every sports fan’s bookshelf.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Review: cheered me up
I was sick and looking for something to take my mind off it when I picked up Can I keep My Jersey. It's the story of Paul Shirley, a basketball player who's really, really good. He's never gonna be a NBA star but he keeps trying and between NBA stints and his experiences with the CBA, the ABA and the European leagues this is a funny book. It has a few flaws of course, Shirley is a horrible snob and there were times when I found myself wishing that somebody when give him a good smack in the mouth but then all would be forgiven when he'd tell another story about the ridiculous aspects of life on the edge of the NBA.
The chapter on his nightmare trip to Russia--horrible place--- is worth the price of the book alone. It's not the greatest sports memoir ever written but it's amusing and I found myself hoping that eventually Shirley gives up chasing the impossible dream and either starts a writing career or falls back on that engineering degree of his.
Customer Review: Hilarious
Paul Shirley is one funny guy. He's got that dry sense of humor that I love. This book is about his first few years playing pro basketball...in the NBA and over sea. I loved the book and I would recommend it to any basketball fan.
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