price：$14.50
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (For Magic fans and Bird fans alike) 『I grew up a Lakers fan (more so Kareem than Magic), so the book When the Game Was Ours really caught my interest. Jackie MacMullan did a decent job incorporating what appears to be information obtained from in-depth interviews with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. He made the intertwining of their stories interesting. However, it was slightly frustrating being bounced back and forth through time. Other than that, it was a very entertaining book. It was fun to read Bird and Johnson's perspectives regarding the other. It was also nice reading about several other peoples' opinions.
The Johnson/Bird rivalry epitomized friendly competition. Even if they had deep down jealousy towards the other's accolades, they also respected their foe. I have since lost interest in pro basketball because of the showboating, selfishness, and me-me-me mentality of many of the athletes, so it was refreshing to be reminded of how the game used to be.
As a Johnson fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I also believe Bird fans will like it as well. For fans of the two, there will not be much new information discovered in the book, but it is definitely an entertaining read. More details and in-depth story telling would have been appreciated, but When the Game Was Ours was very entertaining and brought back many good memories. My brother in law is a huge Celtics fan, and Larry Bird is his ultimate sports idol of all time, so I am curious to see his opinion on the book once he reads it. He was hesitant when I told him it was about Larry Bird AND Magic Johnson, but I have convinced him to give it a try after explaining some of the book to him once I finished reading it.
I believe this book will be a hit among Magic fans, Bird fans, basketball fans, sports fans, and fans of feel good stories in general. I would recommend this book to most people, but I would warn sports fanatics not to expect any great revelations. A very good read indeed.』
(One Basketball Book That Covers An Era!) 『Bird and Magic were rivals throughout their career. Their mutual respect and competition between them was something to behold. The classic Celtic-Laker playoffs were great. This books sheds some good insight into their relationship and some of the behind the scenes issues that developed. A good read!
Basketball lovers and coaches might also enjoy these two best selling DVDs by Amazon. 48 Championship Basketball Drills Driveway Basketball Drills
』
(More than just talking about basketball) 『Having grown up during the reign of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, I was delighted to see that they collaborated on the book, When the Game Was Ours.
Both my son and I read this book. My son was born just as Bird and Johnson were in their last years in the NBA so to him, this was all new stuff. For me, it was a nice trip down memory lane.
Both men are driven and ambitious who loved the game. They were also smart and savvy as well. Neither are perfect, but they are interesting and intelligent who became more than symbols of a game. They were the co-kings in an era of really good players.
My son knew he was going to enjoy the Larry Bird portion but he was surprised at how moved he was about Magic Johnson and his challenges with HIV and his friendship with the fractious and controversial Isaiah Thomas.
The narrative is easy to read. Almost conversationally as each guy gets his turn to tell his side. It isn't just about the game, but also about their lives and how they changed the game and it changed them.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Bird and Johnson. I'd also recommend it to any young person who is curious about that time. For both my son and I, it was a joy to read.』
(One of my favorite books) 『I was a little girl when these two titans took to the hardwood but I remember their fierce competition like it was yesterday. This book is a must read for basketball fans!
MacMullan skillfully sets up the rivalry and sends the reader right back into that special time when there were sooo many talented basketball players but the game wasn't seemingly as popular as baseball or football. Larry and Magic took the game to new heights with their enormous competitive spirit. They helped make the NBA what it is today! This book brought back many, many fond memories of watching these two greats. I do agree with the reviewer who mentioned how these two titans brought each other to new heights of competition and how wonderful it would have been had Michael Jordan had the same experience heavens only knows what he could have done.
I love the very end of this book..all that remains is respect.
I can't think of any negatives about this book. While everyone looking to buy this book obviously knows a bit about these two wonderful ballplayers I can assure you that you will certainly enjoy this read. And sorry, I never give out tidbits and spoilers in my reviews although some people don't seem to like that. ;)』
(For Anyone Who Was a of Basketball in the 80's) 『Many consider Michael Jordan the best of all time, but it was Ervin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird who made basketball what it is today. They are so intertwined, from their college days to competing for NBA titles all the while taking the sport from a tape delay when they entered the league, to the cultural landmark of the eighties, it makes perfect since that they would write their autobiography together (of course with a lot of help from Jackie MacMullan, it is pretty evident even though her name is smallest on the front cover, she did most, if not all the writing).
When the Game Was Ours made a big splash before its release when parts about Johnson's detraining relationship with Isaiah Thomas, and that is in there as advertised, but the book excels when Johnson and Bird stick to their relationships with each other. The book is set up by devoting certain chapters to specific dates, starting with the first meeting of the two, ironically as teammates on an international college all-star tournament.
With their first interactions together being teammates, you kind of wish that the book had ended with them as teammates again, and again for representing their country at the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, but instead get two chapters devoted to Bird's retirement and Johnson's induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. And of course all the important meetings in-between are represented: the college finals, the all star game, the NBA finals. The only thing missing is an accompanying DVD of the games mentioned in the book. And for the stat geeks, there is even an extensive look at their numbers throughout their careers at the back. 』 『From the moment these two players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most compelling rivalry in the NBA. These were the basketball epics of the 1980s--Celtics vs Lakers, East vs West, physical vs finesse, Old School vs Showtime, even white vs black. Each pushed the other to greatness--together Bird and Johnson collected 8 NBA Championships, and 6 MVP awards and helped save the floundering NBA at its most critical time. When it started they were bitter rivals, but along the way they became lifelong friends.With intimate, fly-on-the-wall detail,When the Game Was Ourstransports readers to this electric era of basketball and reveals for the first time the inner workings of two players dead set on besting one another. From the heady days of trading championships to the darker days of injury and illness, we come to understand Larry's obsessive devotion to winning and how his demons drove him on the court. We hear him talk with candor about playing through chronic pain and its truly exacting toll. In Magic we see a young, invincible star struggle with the sting of defeat, not just as a player but as a team leader. We are there the moment he learns he's contracted HIV and hear in his own words how that devastating news impacted his relationships in basketball and beyond. But always, in both cases, we see them prevail.A compelling, up-close-and-personal portrait of basketball's most inimitable duo,When the Game Was Oursis a reevaluation of three decades in counterpoint. It is also a rollicking ride through professional basketball's best times.』 『
Amazon Exclusive: Bill Walton ReviewsWhen the Game Was Ours
Bill Walton played in the NBA for 13 years, and in 1996, was named one of the top 50 players in NBA history. He's been an analyst for CBS Sports and NBC Sports, and since 2002, he's been a game analyst for ESPN NBA telecasts. Read his guest review ofWhen the Game Was Ours:
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are transcendent, iconic and timeless standard bearers of excellence who changed "The Game" forever, always bringing out the best in each other and never failing to put a smile on all our faces.
I was one of the lucky ones. I had the incredible good fortune to have witnessed firsthand the Bird/Magic rivalry. It was an intense and constant thing for us all. But even I didn't realize how powerful their connection was until I readWhen the Game Was Ours, a riveting and page-turning masterpiece that could only be written with the help of someone like Jackie MacMullan, who was there every step of the way and who sensed there was a whole lot more to their story than what happened on the court or got played over and over again on the highlight reels. In this book, Larry and Magic tell stories like they never have before. I was enthralled, page after page. Theirs was a unique relationship. They were polar opposites, but in ways few of us realized they were very much the same. They both wanted the same thing, day in and day out--to win. And did they know how to win.When the Game Was Oursperfectly captures the defining moments of their lives from the very beginning of their fiercest of rivalries through their constantly evolving historical relationship and friendship right up to the present. This epic tome is the capstone of their landmark careers. It is also so much more than anyone could ever dream for.When the Game Was Oursbrilliantly explains why "The Game" will always belong to Larry and Magic.--Bill Walton
Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
Amazon.com:It was interesting to learn that a fast break during an exhibition game sparked the start of your long friendship. Talk about that play and how it set the stage for future Bird vs. Magic battles.Larry Bird:What I remember about that play was we had the defender spinning around like a top because we moved the ball so quickly. I had never played with anyone who could pass the ball like Magic. I was blown away by the things he was doing on the court. But once we were done as teammates on that All-Star team, I moved on. And, a year later, when we played against each other for the NCAA championship, I treated him like he was just another guy. I wasn't too big on being friendly with people I was trying to beat. I think that upset him, but I didn't care. I was always taught, "Don't talk to the enemy."Earvin "Magic" Johnson:I already knew about Larry before we played in the World Invitational Tournament. I was dying to meet this guy who went to Indiana, quit school, worked on a garbage truck, then came back and started putting up really big numbers for Indiana State. We played on the second team together during those exhibitions, and the way we moved the ball, we were better than the starters! That one play was so fast, so amazing, those Russian players had no idea what hit them. We didn't spend a whole lot of time together off the court, because Larry kept to himself, but I was real excited the following spring when I realized our Michigan State team was going to play his Indiana State team for the NCAA championship. I went over to say hello to him at the press conference a day or two before the game, and he totally blew me off. I couldn't believe it. I left thinking, "That Larry Bird, he's kind of a jerk." And the rivalry was on.Amazon.com:Where did you each develop your love for the game?Bird:My two older brothers, Mike and Mark, played basketball all day long. They were bigger and stronger than me, so they were better in the beginning. But I loved the way it felt when the ball dropped through the strings, so I was out there all the time, day and night, working on my game. I wasn't going to stop until I could beat my brothers. And by the time that happened, I was hooked on the game. I couldn't live without it.Johnson:I honestly can't remember a time when basketball wasn't a part of my life. I grew up in a big family, so we played all kinds of sports, including basketball. I loved the way the ball felt in my hands. I took my ball with me everywhere--to school, to the store, to the school dances. People in Lansing, Michigan, got used to seeing me walking down the street dribbling my ball. I wasn't going to stop until I was in the NBA.Amazon.com:If you could each replay one game from the past, which would it be and why?Bird:I'd like to go back to the 1987 Finals, to the game when Magic sunk his junior junior hook. It was down to the final seconds, and Magic had Kevin McHale isolated out on the wing, and when he drove past him to the basket, our center, Robert Parish, came over to help, and I came over from the weak side, but probably a second too late. I never expected Magic to shoot a hook. I had never seen him do anything like that before. People forget that even after that basket, we still had a chance to pull it out. I got a great look from the baseline in the final seconds, but the shot rolled off. If I could go back and replay that game, maybe we would have won it, and possibly the series as well.Johnson:That's easy. I'd go back to Game 2 of the 1984 Finals, when we were in Boston and about to take a 2–0 lead in the series, and instead I called a time-out in the final seconds. If I hadn't called it, we would have run out the clock and taken total command of the series. Instead, because of the time-out, the Celtics were able to set their defense, and James Worthy's pass was intercepted by Gerald Henderson. That was one of the most disappointing losses of my career, and I've never forgotten it.Amazon.com:One of the most powerful moments in the book surrounds November 7, 1991--the day Magic announced he was HIV positive. Magic, why was it so important to you to contact Larry before the news hit?Johnson:You've got to understand that by this point, we're like Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Nobody talked about one of us without mentioning the other. We were that connected. I knew the minute the news hit, people would be flocking to get a reaction from both Larry and Michael Jordan, so I felt I had to give them some warning. Also, by then, Larry and I had developed a bit of a relationship. In spite of all our battles, I felt a real affection for him. He needed to know, and he needed to know from me.Amazon.com:Larry, what do you remember most about that day?Bird:The feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. It was a horrible, awful feeling. I just remember lying in my room, trying to take a nap, and all I could think about was that Magic would be dead soon. At that time, we didn't know much about HIV. We all just assumed he had been given a death sentence, and that was really shocking to think about.Amazon.com:How did winning a gold medal with the 1992 Dream Team compare to winning an NBA championship?Johnson:That whole experience in Barcelona was amazing, fantastic. At that point, I was technically retired from the NBA because of my HIV illness, and I missed basketball so much. To be out there playing for my country, not to mention alongside Larry and Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing, was one of the biggest thrills of my life. I savored every single moment of it.Bird:It was a little harder for me because my back was in such bad shape, and sometimes it was hard for me to enjoy it because of the pain. I just wanted to get into a game and make a contribution and be able to say I did it, that I was part of an Olympic team. And once I did that, I was happy. My goals were pretty realistic in Barcelona. Still, I didn't realize how amazing it would feel to be up on that medal stand, alongside Magic, John Stockton, Patrick, and all the guys, with that gold medal around my neck. That is one special memory.Amazon.com:Who carries the NBA torch today?Johnson:There's some great young talent out there, but I've got to choose the Laker, Kobe Bryant. I think he proved in the 2009 NBA championship that he learned how to balance his own individual skills with those of his teammates. That was a big step forward for him. What I liked best about Kobe was watching him enjoy himself. The game is supposed to be fun. Larry and I never lost sight of that.Bird:You certainly couldn't go wrong choosing Kobe, but I'm a LeBron James man. He is so strong. He's also fearless, and he's convinced he can do anything. That's what stands out to me. He still has some steps to take, like bringing the same effort defensively every night that he brings on the offensive end, but he has all the tools to accomplish that. He's going to have a long, successful career that will include some championships of his own.Amazon.com:If you both laced 'em up right now, who would win one-on-one in H-O-R-S-E?Bird:Nobody beats me in H-O-R-S-E. Besides, Magic can't shoot.Johnson:Larry, you'd have no chance against me one-on-one. I've got too many ways to beat you. Plus, as slow as I am, I'm still faster than you.
price：$17.50
ESPN
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Great Insights from a Passionate Fan) 『I have been a fan of Bill Simmons' online Sports Guy columns for several years and I liked his first book on the Boston Red Sox. His latest offering is a fascinating look at the history of the NBA through the eyes of an avid, Boston Celtics loving fan. Simmons' love of the game is evident, and it comes through in his writing. I found his rankings of the top players of all time to be interesting and his re-imagining of the Hall of Fame to be intriguing. However, as one previous reviewer mentioned, I was surprised by the lack of a separate section on referees, despite Simmons' frequent mention and criticism of them in his other writings. I was also surprised that there was not a separate section on the greatest and worst coaches, once again despite Simmons' previous material. Considering that this book ended up being over 700 pages long, perhaps Simmons felt that he could not do justice to these subjects without adding significant length to an already hefty volume. Maybe Simmons will include sections on referees and coaches in the second edition, which will supposedly arrive in 2016 when he needs a quick influx of cash (as humorously mentioned a couple times in this book). Some reviewers have expressed their dislike of the numerous footnotes, but I laughed out loud at a few of them and found myself nodding in agreement as I read many others. While reading the epilogue, I wondered why Simmons and/or his publisher didn't wait until the 2009 NBA season had concluded before putting the book out so that the most current information and statistics could be used. As much as I enjoyed this book, I felt compelled to only give it 4 stars out of 5 due to the numerous typos and other mistakes spread throughout. Those are the sorts of things that should be rectified in the editing process, and I hope that either Simmons' editor does a better job on his next book or is replaced by a better one.』
(Everything you wanted to know by a real sports fan) 『There is a reason this book is over 700 pages, and it's not just so it could stop a bullet. Simmons goes into such depth explaining the history of basketball and creating a tier system to rate the greatest players over the test of time and constantly changing statistics and amount of games played per year.
Despite all this information over the aforementioned 700 pages, Simmons constantly uses funny stories and antidotes to bolster his facts and in some cases amuse his readers and himself. These stories keep the book flowing and also gives the reader the option to put the book down and come back whenever!
This book is the history of basket ball told through one if it's biggest fans and not some historian or crazy stat jockey... Simmons shows us the way to the game of basketball not just by the level of play or talent, but the heart of teamwork and personal sacrifice.』
(A book of NBA arguments) 『This book is wildly entertaining, chalk full of footnotes showcasing The Sports Guy's usual sense of humor, and is a great way to brush up on NBA history, especially if you came to the NBA late as I did. Like his columns, this book is a blend of pop culture and sports, contains his unique opinions and insights as well as the research which he used to arrive at them, and it can be read in multiple installments without sacrificing the overall experience.』
(Player Rankings Need Some Serious Re-Working) 『In this book, among other things, Simmons ranks the 96 greatest players in NBA History and the 20 or so greatest teams. He also has a chapter on who was better Wilt or Bill Russell. He has many other Chapters wherein he opines on a variety of topics that would be good fodder for discussion in a bar.
Over half of the book revolves around his ranking of the 96 greatest players in NBA history. For me, this is the central core of the book and the part of the book that disappointed me the most. Although I realize that any ranking of the 96 best players is bound to include some players that are controversial, one would expect that the players selected would be very close to the Top 96. For me, the inclusion of Robert Horry as all-time player #85 is an unforgiveable joke and the notion that Dennis Rodman is the 69th best player of all-time leaves me speechless. At no time was Dennis Rodman any better than the 3rd best player on his team and he is the 69th best player of all-time? Give me a break.
I got the impression that selections like Horry and Rodman were supposed to add some spice to this book. It simply caused me to question the credibility of the author. Simmons' list excludes many players. I'll mention five- Marques Johnson, Maurice Lucas, Bob Love, Chet Walker and Alonzo Mourning. I would find it astounding that someone who watched basketball in the 70's and 80's would take Bobby Dandridge (Player 79) over Johnson, Lucas, Love or Walker. I would find it silly that someone would take Horry and/or Rodman over the aforementioned players.
I will acknowledge that Simmons' wrote a lengthy book and that he was not afraid to express strong opinions on the players. I'll also acknowledge that he did provide some good insights. A very significant portion of his player rankings was a function of how they "meshed" with the other players not only in terms of their game but also in terms of their attitudes, personalities, etc. Frankly, this was a "spin" that I think he handled pretty well. However, my assessment of this type of book will ultimately be a function of my assessment of Simmons' support for his decisions as to which players were included in the list (as well as their ranking on the list) and which were excluded. For me, Simmons' rankings are so poor that it causes me to question the value of his insights.』
(Great Basketball For NBA Gym Rats!) 『As a life long Knicks fan, some of the material (Celtics) is hard to digest. However, Bill Simmons does a more than credible job.
These two basketball products were also reviewed by this person. 48 Championship Basketball Drills Driveway Basketball Drills』 『There is only one writer on the planet who possesses enough basketball knowledge and passion to write the definitive book on the NBA.* Bill Simmons, the from-the-womb hoops addict known to millions as ESPN.com’s Sports Guy, is that writer. AndThe Book of Basketballis that book.
Nowhere in the roundball universe will you find another single volume that covers as much in such depth as this wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining look at the past, present, and future of pro basketball.
From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens–and then closes, once and for all–every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind,five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball.
Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters),The Book of Basketballoffers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.
* More to the point, he’s the only one crazy enough to try to pull it off. 』 『Amazon Best of the Month, October 2009:The Book of Basketballis a 700-page work of hoops genius that would make Dr. James Naismith beam proudly– and probably blush. Author Bill Simmons, best known as ESPN.com's "The Sports Guy," explores the NBA with hilarious insight, brilliant analysis, and a bevy of irreverent footnotes. Simmons is a fan first – a fact best explained in an entertaining foreword by Malcolm Gladwell – and writes from the stands, not the press room. His knowledge and passion for the game provide him with few peers, yet his voice represents those who stick by their teams through thick and thin. As a result,The Book of Basketballis not just a tribute to hardwood heroes, but also a celebration of yelling at TV sets, revering lucky jerseys, and holding our breath until the final buzzer sounds. Throw in pages of nearly-insane statistical breakdowns (including a projected boxscore from the movieTeen Wolf), and it's easy to see why fans of all levels should clear shelf space for this instant classic. --Dave Callanan』
price：$10.37
Algonquin Books
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Hard Work) 『Basketball fans will love this biography of a dirt poor son of an alcoholic father who is not really gifted at anything but gets ahead with "hard work" the title. UNC fans will love it and everyone will appreciate the rags to riches story of a coaching "legend in his own time".』 『Coach Roy Williams, one of the most respected, successful, and dominant basketball coaches in the nation, had an unlikely rise to the Hall of Fame and a career that boasts the highest winning percentage among all active college coaches. Now, for the first time, Williams tells the story of his life that few people know, from his turbulent family life as a child to the North Carolina Tar Heels' National Championship victory in 2009. He speaks candidly of his past, his passions, his inspirations, and the coaching philosphy behind one of college basketball's most successful programs. And he recounts the determination that took him from a small home in the mountains of North Carolina to the very pinacle of coaching success.』
price：$9.16
Penguin Press HC, The
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (LeBron has used basketball as a good thing) 『I live in a pro basketbal town so thought I would enjoy this book but I read part of it only just couldn't finish. My thirty-something year old son saw it and took it home to read. This is his review:
I thought the book was ok at best, I am a basketball fan but not necessarily a Lebron fan. I think his young fan's (14-20 yrs old) would enjoy this book and use it to inspire their own sports goals. I had high hopes for this book when I first started reading about his and his friend's early years and the different backgrounds they came from. I also like his honesty about the love he has for the people that helped raise him when his mother struggled to do so herself, especially Coach Dru. At times it became a little far fetched with his take on the dreams of middle school basketball players inspiring to be the best. I thought Lebron was overstating his and his friends maturity at a young age while at the same time using youth as an excuse for mistakes or character flaws. The book went quickly but with not much substance other than highlights of ball games and kids being kids. Towards the end of the book it became more about Lebron defending himself using some bad judgment and letting the reader know who the people were that were against him succeeding. Quick read but not inspirational like a sports story should be.』
(Great product) 『Product was as advertised ; in great condition. Delivery was slow but not fault of seller, he communicated well with me!!!!』
(A good book) 『I'm very interested in LeBron James, and I would recommend reading this book. It mostly covers his high school years, which I was not very familiar with, and the storytelling and writing is not bad at all. Good read.』
(print too small for the elderly; but is a good book) 『LeBron's book is too good to be spoiled by the 'f' word in the prologue
Since young children will be reading this, and since he saw the need for the word, he could have used&^%$#@』
(Shooting Stars) 『Pulitzer Prize-winner Buzz Bissinger has teamed with LeBron James to produce a delightful book about James' years as a high school star basketball players. With the typical depth, sensitivity and style that Bissinger always offers, the reader gets unique insights into what it was like for a teenager who because he was blessed with incredible athletic talent found himself confronting and dealing with pressures most adults never encounter. A good story, a quick read. Enjoy!!』 『From the ultimate team—basketball superstar LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August—a poignant, thrilling tale of the power of teamwork to transform young lives, including James’s own
The Shooting Stars were a bunch of kids—LeBron James and his best friends—from Akron, Ohio, who first met on a youth basketball team of the same name when they were ten and eleven years old. United by their love of the game and their yearning for companionship, they quickly forged a bond that would carry them through thick and thin (a lot of thin) and, at last, to a national championship in their senior year of high school.
They were a motley group who faced challenges all too typical of inner-city America. LeBron grew up without a father and had moved with his mother more than a dozen times by the age of ten. Willie McGee, the quiet one, had left both his parents behind in Chicago to be raised by his older brother in Akron. Dru Joyce was outspoken, and his dad was ever present; he would end up coaching all five of the boys in high school. Sian Cotton, who also played football, was the happy-go-lucky enforcer, while Romeo Travis was unhappy, bitter, even surly, until he finally opened himself up to the bond his teammates offered him.
In the summer after seventh grade, the Shooting Stars tasted glory when they qualified for a national championship tournament in Memphis. But they lost their focus and had to go home early. They promised one another they would stay together and do whatever it took to win a national title.
They had no idea how hard it would be to fulfill that promise. In the years that followed, they would endure jealousy, hostility, exploitation, resentment from the black community (because they went to a“white” high school), and the consequences of their own overconfidence. Not least, they would all have to wrestle with LeBron’s outsize success, which brought too much attention and even a whiff of scandal their way. But together these five boys became men, and together they claimed the prizethey had fought for all those years—a national championship.
Shooting Stars is a stirring depiction of the challenges that face America’s youth today and a gorgeous evocation of the transcendent impact of teamwork.
price：$6.95
Running Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (fun book!) 『Lotsa fun and interesting tidbits....this is so well researched. I am not huge NCAA basketball fan so this was such good fun to read!』 『
When hearts start thumping in March throughout America, it’s not because it’s spring, but because it’s time once again to crown a victor among the elite college basketball teams. College b-ball has finally netted the prestige of other sports by hosting a tournament every bit as exhilarating to behold as the run-up and playing of the Super Bowl. We all know it’s a spectator event with a huge audience-nearly 142 million viewers watched the games in 2005. What’s completely unknown are the many stories, anecdotes, and trivia collected here by Allan Zullo, the king of sports facts and author of over 80 books. Only someone with Allan’s access could bring home all the funny, sad, and poignant drama that’s unfolded both on and off the court during the annual spectacular. The book also features unique profiles of the game’s most courageous as well as its zaniest characters. From his insider’s vantage point, Allan has created a unique compendium that will launch a million office trivia events and delight sports fans everywhere.
price：$20.74
ESPN
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (A must for every hardcore college basketball fan) 『Well I'll just start off by saying that I don't agree with the program ratings at all! I expected my school, which shall remain nameless, to have been ranked higher (is it a non-bcs school thing? geographic thing? who knows). So I compared some of the tournament statistics they gave with other schools that were ranked above, and this only added to my confusion as to what criteria they used to rank the programs. With that said, given this is a review of the book, and not my personal opinion or disappointment with the rankings, I found this to be a great collection of facts and statistics. It even lists Top 25 rankings throughout each season. I've been a huge college baskeball fan since I was in my early teens so it was nice to flash back to the past. Overall, it's a pretty complete book and if you're a true fan of the game, you'll really enjoy this book.』
(Massive and entertaining book on college basketball history) 『The new college basketball season is about to start a month from now, and just in time for that, ESPN has published this massive (and I mean massive) coffee-table book on the history of men's college baskteball.
"ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game" (1,213 pages) is a delight for any fan of men's college basketball. This massive (and did I say massive?) coffee-table book is in fact several books into one. The first 50 pages or so bring various essays about the men's college basketball history, including a nice one from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on how blacks made it into the game. There is also an irrevent look on some totally unexpected Sweet 16 teams, just fun to read. The next 500 pages or so bring a team-by-team review of the top 250 programs in the country (each getting 2 pages). The next 600 pages or so bring a review of the NCAA tournaments from the first days until last year's and again it is a delight to flip through and read whatever strikes your fancy.
The book also brings a rating of the all-time best programs (UK is rated No. 1, ahead of UCLA), as well as a rating decade-by-decade. As a fan of the Xavier Musketeers (the small Jesuit school here in Cincinnati), I was quite pleased to see the program rated No. 24 in the most recent decade. That aside, this book has a treasure of information for any college basketball fan. Can't wait to get the new season started!』
price：$8.84
Schuster
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Interesting, but a little disappointing) 『When I read the wonderful title and subtitle I was immediately intrigued. Something for the "thinking fan"! Ballard has some good insights and good exposure to top players for interviews, but the book is a little too breezy to me.
The best chapter of the book was excerpted in its entirely in Sports Illustrated recently ("The Hoops Whisperer" about a unique personal trainer of NBA players), leading me to believe more, more, more was coming when I cracked the pages. When you compare this book to something like Dan Coyle's "The Talent Code", there is a clear separation in quality and depth of the writing. Ballard says that this project came about from three years of work; Coyle similarly says he spent a couple years traveling the globe seeking out talent pockets and studying them. Coyle took that raw data and fashioned a detailed philosophical theory about how talent is developed. Ballard's book felt like a bunch of Sports Illustrated articles thrown together without a tremendous amount of extra value added from the author.
Think about it - the NBA is "Where Amazing Happens", athletes like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are among the most popular public figures in the world, and the thinking fan definitely deserves a fantastic presentation of in-depth analysis of what makes these guys tick on and off the court. This book fell short for reasons I can't quite put my finger on except to contrast it with some like Coyle's Talent Code or Lance Armstrong's War. For example, things like lame metaphors dropped in here and there or the haughty writer penchant for serving up little digs in print about people he is interviewing are not a huge deal, but they are a bit lazy, disruptive and serve no means to advance the story.
That said, the book offers stuff you can't get elsewhere, some memorable tips for athletes and some excitement and levity too. I would certainly spend the money on it again, but I am compelled to clarify that it falls short of a masterpiece that it had the potential to be thanks to the subject matter.』
(Fun, informative read) 『It's fashionable to say that pro athletes don't have anything interesting to say. Maybe that's because they're not being asked the right questions. Chris Ballard, who covers the NBA for Sports Illustrated, asks the right questions. Namely, he gets players to talk at length on what they're most passionate about -- the intricacies of the sport that is their life's work. These men are justifiably proud of their tricks of their trade, and they'd much rather describe how best to challenge a shooter without fouling him or block a shot from the weak side than answer the umpteenth question on where they might sign their next contract. It helps, too, that Ballard is a former college player and lifelong gym rat who can convince the players that he speaks their language, even if it turns out (SPOILER ALERT!) he may or may not be able to beat Steve Kerr in a 3-point shootout.
Perhaps best of all, Ballard relates all this insider scoop as if he was one of your buddies sharing a beer. That's presuming that one of your pals is able to get face time with Kobe, LeBron, Yao and company and report back not just with the hard facts but the juicy nuggets and gossip that make a night at the bar so sublime. That's what this book is: the ideal virtual drinking companion for the NBA fan. Bottoms up.』
(I really liked it. Eye-opening&funny) 『I've always thought that NBA players rely pretty much on god-given athleticism to go out and score 20. But this book shows just how insanely dedicated the best ballplayers are about mastering skills like shot-blocking, boxing out or shooting a trey. I mean, they really study the stuff. Each of the profiles - Kobe, Yao Ming, Reggie Miller, etc. - could be titled, "Here's exactly what I'm thinking when I'm on the court. Glad you asked." Players actually love talking about the six different foot drills they do each day, the angle they hold their hands when they push off a screen, etc. And when they open up about that stuff, you start to get a sense about who they really are as people. Well, at least a far better sense than with most of the stuff I read or see about the NBA.
The author, who played college hoops, also engages players on and off the court for some pretty funny personal anecdotes - his story about meeting Shaq on his big, bad motorcycle is priceless. There's just tons of great details in the book about locker room rituals, player rivalries, etc, too. Call it a cliche, but I don't think I'll watch an NBA game the same way again.』 『InThe Art of a Beautiful Game, Chris Ballard, the award-winningSports Illustratedwriter who has covered the NBA for the past decade, goes behind the scenes to examine basketball in ways that will surprise even die-hard fans. An inveterate hoops junkie who played some college ball, Ballard sits down with the NBA's most passionate, cerebral players to find out their tricks of the trade and to learn what drives them, taking readers away from the usual sports talk radio fodder and deep into the heart of the game.
Ballard talks to Dwight Howard, a prolific shot-blocker, about the enervating feeling of meeting another man at the height of his leap; challenges Steve Kerr to a game of H-O-R-S-E to understand the mentality of a pure shooter; reveals the roots of Kobe Bryant's unmatched killer instinct; and spends time with LeBron James to better understand both his mental game and his seemingly unlimited physical skills. He tracks down renowned dunkers from Dominique to Shaq to explore the impact of the dunk on the modern game, shadows Shane Battier during his preparations to defend LeBron, takes lessons from a freethrow shooting guru who once hit 2,750 in a row, and attends an elite NBA training camp to feel the pain that turns a prospect into a pro.
Packed with lively characters and basketball history, and grounded in superb writing and the reportage that is the hallmark ofSports Illustrated,The Art of a Beautiful Gameis an often witty, always insightful look at the men like Steve Nash, Yao Ming, and Alonzo Mourning who devote themselves to this elegant and complicated sport. It ultimately provides basketball fans what they all want: an inside read on the game they love.』
price：$5.10
Human Kinetics
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Be forewarned - this is for YOUTH basketball - not middle school or high school players!) 『As the title of my review suggests, this book is for coaches who coach youth leagues for young players grades K-4 or K-5. It is NOT for middle school or high school coaches.
My lone criticism is that information is not included in the title, cover scribing or somehow conveyed in the promotional information.
Having said that, this is an excellent book for coaches who have stepped up to take on the difficult, and different, task of coaching and teaching a youth league basketball team. Coaching a 1st grader is very different from coaching a senior in high school.
The book is really well organized using a organizational model that I wish books written for higher level of play would use. There is a drill matrix that helps coaches organize and pick drills, skills lists, etc.
It covers the essential basics of the game and other key information to help the volunteer coach "survive" dealing with his or her youthful charges.
Kevin Sivils - author of Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball Game Strategies and Tactics for Basketball: Bench Coaching for Success』
(Warning!!!! - for kids ages 5-10) 『I'm giving it a 4 because frankly I haven't read the book yet (don't want to slam it). I'm about to coach in a 13-14 league and when I received the book yesterday I find out it's targeted to 5-10 year old kids. I wish the Amazon product description pointed that out and I would have ordered a different book. While I'm sure there's some good info I can use, I'm disappointed in not getting what I thought.』
(Nothing Special!) 『I bought this as a gift for my husband and after looking at it, I didn't think it was very good at all. I know it is called "Survival Guide for Coaching Youth Basketball" but I assumed when buying it that it would be targeted towards middle school or high school aged kids. It seems more for young elementary school aged kids. I was really disappointed. I think it would be good if he were couching elementary school aged kids but this isn't going to be helpful.』
(Great book for parents and coaches!) 『We have two boys that are playing basketball (grades 7 and 3)and this book really helped us understand the basic skills. Both offensive and defensive skills are shown clearly. If you are a parent thinking about coaching youth basketball this is the book for you! If you are just a parent that wants to understand grade school basketball this is the book for you too! After getting this book we now know what is happening on the court when our boys play, and it makes the game so much more enjoyable. The coaches like that we understand the game better and are not "coaching" from the bleachers too! Buy this book if you are at all interested in youth basketball...you will not be sorry that you did.』
(Wonderful Book) 『Fantastic book full of great information that can come in handy with the younger kids. Gave me lots of great ideas and ways to work with the younger team mates.』 『You volunteered to coach the basketball team, but are you really ready? How will you teach the fundamental skills, run effective practices, and harness the energy of your young team? Fear not:Survival Guide for Coaching Youth Basketballhas the answers.
InSurvival Guide for Coaching Youth Basketball, longtime coaches Keith Miniscalco and Greg Kot share their experience and provide advice you can rely on from first practice to final shot. From evaluating players' skills and establishing realistic goals to in-game coaching tips, it's all here--the drills, the plays, the fun.
Develop your team's dribbling, passing, shooting, and rebounding skills with theSurvival Guide'scollection of the game's best youth drills. For plays and sets that young teams can actually run, flip to theSurvival Guide'soffensive and defensive playbook. And to get the most out of every practice, follow the ready-to-use practice plans.
Survival Guide for Coaching Youth Basketballhas everything you need for a rewarding and productive season.』
price：$9.59
Hyperion
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Another Halberstam Classic) 『David Halberstam was one of the most astute observers of American culture of the past century. His skill as a reporter was not only in his meticulous accumulation of facts and his canny ability to piece them together into a coherent historical perspective. His true genius was the realization that history is driven by people, not events, and his consumate skill in making individuals come alive on the printed page. Whether he dealt with Korean war figures, Viet Nam era politicians or famous professional athletes, the reader was made to understand how and why these men behaved as they did in times of duress. I had overlooked this book for some reason despite being an aficionado of both Mr Halberstam and basketball. It proved to be a history of the changing face of American sports and the metamorphasis of the sport of basketball from one era into another. Along the way we are introduced to and come to understand and care about characters as disparate as Jack Ramsay the Trailblazers driven coach, Bill Walton, his flawed superstar, Larry Weinberg, Portland's Jewish businessman owner, and Billy Ray Bates, a black sharecroppers's son. My only mild criticism is that Halberstam tended to become so enamored of peripheral characters in the basketball world in which he traveled that he wandered down long circuitous pathways which contributed little to the overall premise of his book. But, oh, what interesting pathways, and what an astute guide for the fortunate reader.』
(Defining NBA book... STILL) 『It's amazing how a book written three decades ago captures the heart of the NBA and how free agency and more lucrative contracts dramatically changed the way teams are assembled. It is still relevant today. It's funny how petty and cut-throat the players became for FAR LESS money than what players are making today. It just goes to show you that competitiveness and greed can deteriorate the fabric of a professional sports team.』
(The best basketball book I've ever read) 『The Breaks of the Game is a great sports book.
The difference between good books on sports and great books on sports is that the great books aren't really about sports. Ok, ok, that's not quite fair. The Breaks of the Game expertly chronicles the 79-80 Trailblazers and captures the ebbs and flows of an NBA season: the injuries, the mastery of the coach, the skill of the players, the relief of NBA victory and the very real (for Jack Ramsey, especially) pain of defeat. This is a book very much about sports and its heroes.
But, more than that, The Breaks of the Game is about the growing pains of the NBA as it entered its golden age--the age of Magic and Bird--and the way those pains were felt. What makes this book so incredible is the way that Halberstam blends objective observation with his keen knowledge of the game, its history, and his great capacity to see the humanity in everyone. When all of his considerable skills are dedicated to painting a portrait of Maurice Lucas, for instance, the player becomes the man, vibrantly portrayed and filled with conflicting instincts and emotions. Halberstam deftly works into his analysis of the players, the team, and the league as a whole the seminal aspects of money, respect, and race. The ideas and observations fueling the book are fantastic, and Halberstam's subtle, lyrical prose makes them all the more powerful. Ultimately, this is a book about people: who they are, why they play, what they need, how they interact.
In short, this is the best book on basketball--and one of the best books, period--that I've ever read. It is thorough, fiercely intelligent, and captures a moment in time when the NBA was in flux between the white, poor league it was and the black, rich league it has become.』
(Fascinating book.) 『This book is phenomenal. I am a fan of Bill Simmons on ESPN.com, and he recommended this book. It is his favorite, and it lived up to his opinion. If you know anything about the NBA or have any interest in its history, you will enjoy reading Breaks of the Game. Halberstam goes into a ton of detail and has nuggets of information that you never hear about today's athletes.』
(Captures a time and place in a way that speaks to all of life) 『As a writer, Halberstam is a master portraitist. There isn't any part of life you might be curious about that you wouldn't want him to shed light on for you.
From each of the people involved with the '80 Blazers, to the team itself, to the NBA, to modern sports, to America at that time: he captures it all.
I've been caught in a phase of reading half a book before moving onto the next one, but this one I read all the way through and quickly at that.』 『
"One of the best books I've ever read about American sports!" --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt,The New York Times
Available for the first time in years, David Halberstam'sThe Breaks of the Gamefocuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been National Basketball Association champions.
As Halberstam follows this collection of men through the months, through the losing streaks and occasional victories, the endless trips and the brutal schedules, we come to know them and their world--the other players, coaches, and owners; the competition, drafts, trades, and traditions; the wives, the fans, the media connections--a world of grand dreams, impossible expectations, and bracing realities.
The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed. It's about the influence of big media, the fans and the hype they subsist on, the clash of ethics, the terrible physical demands of modern sports (from drugs to body size), the unreal salaries, the conflicts of race and class, and the consequences of sport converted into mass entertainment and athletes transformed into superstars--all presented in a way that puts the reader in the room and on the court, andThe Breaks of the Gamein a league of its own.
』 『The Breaks of the Gameis sports reporting at its finest--basketball's equivalent to Roger Kahn'sThe Boys of Summer. Join David Halberstam on his yearlong journey with the 1979 Portland Trail Blazers and witness professional basketball from the inside, where front-office egos, big-money contracts, and the colorful personalities of coaches and players collide, and winners and losers emerge. This insightful account is evidence of how much basketball has--and hasn't--changed since 1979, before the moneyreallystarted rolling in.』
price：$10.18
Princeton University Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (The Mathematics and Statistics Behind Sports) 『Should a basketball team down by two with seconds to go try to tie the game with a two-pointer or attempt to win it with a three? Are football teams too conservative when deciding whether to go for it on fourth down? How efficacious are sacrifice bunts in baseball when there is a man on first and no one out?
In "Mathletics", Wayne Winston uses mathematics to examine these and many, many more situations in baseball, football, and basketball. The author comes to many conclusions that are against current sports conventional wisdom. Some of the other more interesting questions Winston addresses are whether Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak is the all-time greatest sports record, whether college basketball games are fixed, whether the NFL or NBA has greater parity, which sports collapses are the greatest, and whether another system to determine a college football champion would be better than the current BCS.
Some of the math in the book is too advanced even for someone who took college algebra, but someone who did well in college algebra and is familiar with some concepts in statistics such as standard deviation will be able to understand much of the math the author uses to reach his conclusions. Any serious sports fan, however, would enjoy reading the book just to see the conclusions the author arrives at concerning three of America's most popular sports.』
(Very good survey) 『The articles here present a good survey of a number of techniques for analyzing player and team performance. I only read the baseball section, because that's the only sport I'm interested in, and I found the articles to be excellent, thought-provoking summaries of a number of key areas: the Pythagorean theorem, runs created metrics, VORP, platoons, historical analyses and comparisons, and so on.
The fielding analysis seemed to be just a bit spare, but that may be all that the state of the public art permits. I feel it may have underestimated the impact of poor fielding, for example by not accounting for plays (or double plays) not even attempted when the first-baseman is sub-par; or not accounting for the impact on a pitcher of a key late-inning error.
But there are very good references, and the book itself collects a lot of really useful and interesting data together in fun, well-written essays.』
(Interesting read for math geek sports fans) 『Wayne Winston addresses a myriad of topics in baseball, basketball and football via a statistics-heavy approach. There are 50 different "bites" spread out over 350 pages. There are many familiar topics for quantitative sports fans - Pythagorean theorem, platoon effects, player evaluations in different sports, and power rankings to name but a few.
The entire book is moderately math heavy - over half of it is devoted to quantitative solutions using algebra, statistics and Excel worksheets (which you can find online via included addresses). If you do not enjoy the mathematical side of sports, you'll find most of the book unreadable. If you do enjoy math, stats or using quantitative approaches to gambling, this book is a nice review of most of the interesting approaches out there. The bibliography of cited books reads like a "who's who" of credible quantitative sports texts.
A vast majority of the "bites" are already discussed extensively in other sources. The advantage of this book for most readers is that you can get such a diverse taste of different topics under one cover. If you are a sports modeler, the wide array of topics and approaches could help stir your own creativity. On more than one topic, I found myself saying "this assumption isn't valid!" But my making these assumptions and challenging them yourself, his approach opens up many unintended doors for the reader. For example, one bite addresses and argues that teams should pass more and run less than they do. To support this hypothesis, the book looks at a payoff chart for the yardage gained from a pass attempt versus a run attempt. The payoff chart does not consider volatility (rushing for 3 yards EVERY play is better than passing for 20 yards 1/4th of the time). It also doesn't look at the "disaster side" of passing - interceptions, quarterback fumble distribution, or greater offensive issues in a 2d and 10. Each article does make you think, which is its own payoff.
My only criticism is that the writing style seemed a little clunky. If you are not fluent in math, the combination of writing style and the amount of non-math quantity may turn you off. 』 『
Mathleticsis a remarkably entertaining book that shows readers how to use simple mathematics to analyze a range of statistical and probability-related questions in professional baseball, basketball, and football, and in sports gambling. How does professional baseball evaluate hitters? Is a singles hitter like Wade Boggs more valuable than a power hitter like David Ortiz? Should NFL teams pass or run more often on first downs? Could professional basketball have used statistics to expose the crooked referee Tim Donaghy? Does money buy performance in professional sports?
InMathletics, Wayne Winston describes the mathematical methods that top coaches and managers use to evaluate players and improve team performance, and gives math enthusiasts the practical tools they need to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of their favorite sports--and maybe even gain the outside edge to winning bets.Mathleticsblends fun math problems with sports stories of actual games, teams, and players, along with personal anecdotes from Winston's work as a sports consultant. Winston uses easy-to-read tables and illustrations to illuminate the techniques and ideas he presents, and all the necessary math concepts--such as arithmetic, basic statistics and probability, and Monte Carlo simulations--are fully explained in the examples.
After readingMathletics, you will understand why baseball teams should almost never bunt, why football overtime systems are unfair, why points, rebounds, and assists aren't enough to determine who's the NBA's best player--and much, much more.
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Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are transcendent, iconic and timeless standard bearers of excellence who changed "The Game" forever, always bringing out the best in each other and never failing to put a smile on all our faces.
