Describes the way basketball is played at playgrounds around the country, defines basketball slang terms, and demonstrates common offensive and defensive moves
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The wildly opinionated, thoroughly entertaining, and arguably definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA—from the founder of The Ringer and host of The Bill Simmons Podcast “Enough provocative arguments to fuel barstool arguments far into the future.”—The Wall Street Journal In The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major NBA debate, 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. 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 Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.
"Hoops Nation" is the result of former college-basketball player Chris Ballard's six-month quest to find the best pick-up games in the country. Entries from all 48 mainland states break down the key points of each game site, including level of play, number of hoops, playing surface, whether women play, average age of players, and whether night play is an option. Ballard also gives the entertaining low down on local basketball culture, lore, and etiquette. 93 photos. Line drawings.
A memoir by the NBA Hall of Fame player, active from 1977-1993 and widely regarded as one of the all-time great New York Knicks. NBA Hall of Famer Bernard King is one of the most dynamic scorers in basketball history. King was notoriously private as a player, and rarely spoke to the press-not about his career and never about his personal life. And even beyond his prolific scoring, King will forever be remembered for the gruesome knee injury he suffered in 1985. Doctors who told him he'd never play again were shocked when he not only became the first player to return to the NBA from a torn ACL, but returned at an All Star level. In Game Face, King finally opens up about his life on and off the court. In his book, King's basketball I.Q. is on full display as he breaks down defenses using his own unique system for taking shots from predetermined spots on the floor. King talks about matching up against some of the all-time NBA greats, from Michael Jordan, Julius Erving and Charles Barkley to Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing and many others. He also tackles issues of race and family off the court, as well as breaking a personal cycle of negativity and self-destructiveness with the help of his family. Engaging, shocking, revelatory, yet always positive and upbeat, Bernard King's memoir appeals to multiple generations of basketball fans.
Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball: Preparing to Win the Sideline Battles is both a how-to book and a guide for how to plan strategy and tactics for basketball for an entire season or an individual game. Coaches often focus on X's and O's and overlook how and when a particular offense or defense should be applied and used during a game. Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball: Preparing to Win the Sideline Battles serves as a planning guide and a master checklist for all the possible situations that a coach will face during a season. The book includes both traditional and some "out-of-the-box" strategies to the common situations that coaches face and provides both the pros and the cons of the approaches described. It is not the author's intention to tell each coach exactly what to do, but to serve as a guide in the decision making process. About the author: A 24 year veteran of the coaching profession, with twenty-two of those years spent as a varsity head coach, Coach Kevin Sivils amassed 464 wins and his teams earned berths in the state playoffs 19 out of 22 seasons with his teams advancing to the state semi-finals three times. An eight time Coach of the Year Award winner, Coach Sivils has traveled as far as the Central African Republic to conduct coaching clinics. Coach Sivils first coaching stint was as an assistant coach for his college alma mater, Greenville College, located in Greenville, Illinois. His teams were always known for their discipline, intense effort, execution of fundamentals, and team play. Coach Sivils is also the owner of KCS Basketball Enterprises, LLC, an enterprise focused on providing coaches with information to improve their knowledge of the game of basketball and their ability to coach. "If you have been looking for a rigorously thorough handbook on basketball tactics and strategy, you have found it " Coach Doug Porter - Head Women's Coach, Olivet Nazarene University National Scoring leaders: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Champions: 2000, 2005, 2007 "His thought provoking approach makes for an easy read and will definitely stimulate thought and, most likely, change the way you go about coaching " Rusty Rogers - Two time NAIA Division II Women's National Championship Coach and Two time NAIA National Coach of the Year "Coach Sivils clearly brings his experience in the game of basketball to his writing. He is a great teacher who acquired great gifts over the years and it's great he wants to share those gifts with other coaches." Bill Reidy - Long time successful high school and AAU coach
31 years after the Perfect Game &– Villanova's shocking national championship upset over Georgetown &– Nova struck again with the Perfect Shot, taking down North Carolina in one of the most thrilling finishes in sports history. The shot and second national title in school history were the culmination of 15 years of Coach Jay Wright painstakingly building the unheralded program, through ups and downs, heartbreak and triumph. In Long Shots: Jay Wright, Villanova, and College Basketball's Most Unlikely Champion, ESPN senior writer Dana O'Neil uses exclusive access to Coach Wright and Nova basketball to delve into the inner-workings of a championship program. In the spirit of A Season on the Brink, O'Neil not only explores behind-the-scenes of the historic 2015-2016 NCAA championship season but also the improbable path that the Nova program took to college basketball immortality. In overcoming a disappointing NCAA Tournament track record, the breakup of the Big East conference as we knew it, and Nova's underdog status among traditional college hoops powerhouses, Jay Wright and his team provided the blueprint for how a “have-not” can prevail over the blue bloods the right way &– the Villanova Basketball Way.
Exploring what it means to be a school, a coach, and a player in college basketball's Final Four, Feinstein exposes the driving forces behind one of the most revered events in American sports. Readers will also find dramatic stories from the officials and referees to the scouts and ticket-scalpers.
Eighth-grader Theo Rollins' growth spurt has Coach Mandrake trying to transform him into a basketball star, but training time is hurting the science club's chances of winning the "Aca-lympics," and being accused of stealing could mean Theo is off both teams.
A New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick “A novel of huge heart and fierce intelligence. It has restored my faith in pretty much everything.” —Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth “[An] electric debut novel…Reader, beware: Spending time with Lucy is unapologetic fun, and heartbreak, and awe as well.” —Chloe Malle, The New York Times Book Review In this “frank, bittersweet coming-of-age story that crackles with raw adolescent energy, fresh-cut prose, and a kinetic sense of place” (Entertainment Weekly), a teenaged tomboy explores love, growing up, and New York City in the early 1990s. New York, 1993. Street-smart seventeen-year-old Lucy Adler is often the only girl on the public basketball courts. Lucy’s inner life is a contradiction. She’s by turns quixotic and cynical, insecure and self-possessed, and, despite herself, is in unrequited love with her best friend and pickup teammate, Percy, the rebellious son of a prominent New York family. As Lucy begins to question accepted notions of success, bristling against her own hunger for male approval, she is drawn into the world of a pair of provocative feminist artists living in what remains of New York’s bohemia. Told with wit and pathos, The Falconer is at once a novel of ideas, a portrait of a time and place, and an ode to the obsessions of youth. In her critically acclaimed debut, Dana Czapnik captures the voice of an unforgettable modern literary heroine, a young woman in the first flush of freedom.
The WMBA All-Star shares the inspiring story of her singular life as an athlete and activist in this “searing and ultimately liberating memoir” (New York Times Book Review). Brittney Griner is a once-in-a-generation basketball player. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and a six-time WNBA All-Star, she has been hailed by Sports Illustrated as “the sport’s most transformative figure.” But she is equally famous for speaking out on a range of social issues, as well as for surviving a wrongful detention in Russia that became a geopolitical flashpoint. Now Griner shares her coming-of-age story, revealing how she found her strength to overcome bullies and embrace her authentic self. At 6’8”, with an 88-inch wingspan and a size 17 shoe (men’s), the Phoenix Mercury star has heard every vicious insult in the book, enduring years of taunting that began in middle school and continues to this day. Through the highs and lows, Griner has learned to remain true to herself, rising above the haters trying to take her down. In her heartfelt memoir, she reflects on painful episodes in her life and describes how she came to celebrate what makes her unique—inspiring lessons she now shares. Filled with all the humor and personality Griner has become known for, In My Skin is more than a glimpse into one of the most original personalities in sports; it’s also a powerful call to readers to be true to themselves, to love who they are on the inside and out. With eight pages of photos.