After a successful debut that was called "insistently readable" and "consistently eye-opening" by FreeDarko, the Pro Basketball Prospectus series returns for 2010-11. Basketball Prospectus has been at the cutting edge of the NBA's statistical revolution, exploring how teams win and why as well as integrating plenty of old-fashioned tape and first-hand observation to analyze players and teams.

George Cella was a fine all-round athlete at his native Hack-ensack, New Jersey, High School and, at Springfield College, where he excelled in basketball and baseball. After graduation, his batting power and great throwing arm won him a Red Sox baseball contract. Despite an excellent minor league record, he had to relinquish his baseball career due to a knee injury, and turn to the teaching and coaching profession. Coach Cella's book on basketball techniques is sound, workable, and based on actual success. His book makes good reading for anyone interested in basketball.

The history of basketball spans more than a century, from its humble origin as a simple diversion during the harsh winters in America to today's perennial, rim-rattling show of international renown. Throughout the last 60 years, Pennsylvania has been at the forefront of the sport's evolution, supplying the world with a steady stream of stars, from Wilt Chamberlain to Kobe Bryant, who have proven to be some of the best to ever play the game.

In "Heads of State: Pennsylvania's Greatest High School Basketball Players of the Modern Era," sportswriter Mark Hostutler sizes up the commonwealth to rank its 500 most-accomplished scholastic players from 1950-2010. With input from Sonny Vaccaro, Howard Garfinkel, and other hoops cognoscenti, the author canvassed the Keystone State, conducting hundreds of hours of research and interviews to assemble a list that is sure to stir passionate debate within an already buzzing community of roundball fans.

Hostutler's unique compilation highlights the exploits of Billy Owens, Tom McMillen, Gene Banks, Tyreke Evans, Donyell Marshall, Jameer Nelson, Geoff Petrie, and several others, as they reminisce about their achievements as teenagers on the hardwood. Wonderfully crafted and jam-packed with information, the book is perfect for hard-core fans, stat junkies, or anyone in search of a good read.

Paul T. Owens takes a moving and fun look at sports, fans, athletes and athletic organizations in this new compilation of his writings. This book is written for people who find fun at play, those who must have games and teams to follow, and those who believe that athletic motion is what keeps the earth moving through space.

Tony Hinkle was the man who shaped Butler University's athletic tradition. He served the institution for nearly half a century as a teacher, coach, and athletic administrator. A Hoosier legend, Hinkle worked from 1934 to 1970 as Butler's head coach of basketball, baseball, and football. But it was for basketball that he gained the most fame, creating the Hinkle System a disciplined, high motion offense which countless other coaches have emulated. Hinkle s 560 career wins rank him among the NCAA's all-time winningest basketball coaches and his 41 years of coaching service rank sixth on the NCAA's all-time list behind legendary greats such as Phog Allen of Kansas, Ed Diddle of Western Kentucky, and Ray Meyer of DePaul. Based on numerous interviews with Hinkle and his players and associates, Tony Hinkle: Coach for All Seasons is an absorbing account of the life of a remarkable figure in the world of sport."

You, the basketball coach, are vitally interested in the teaching of fundamental drills for effective development of the individual player and the team. This book will serve you as an invaluable assistant coach. Whether you have been coaching basketball for a year or fifteen years, you will discover drills to fit your style of play. Coach Pin-holster, one of the most energetic and promising young coaches in the country, has included drills that cover all phases of the game. Each chapter begins with the simple drills and progresses to the more complex drills. This sequence will greatly aid the coach in using the book as a guide to overcoming player and team weaknesses. As an aid in helping to organize daily practice schedules, as a conserver of time, and as a source of a wide variety of basketball drills, this book fills a great need. In drawing from its contents, you will be aiming at a more balanced, efficient team and also at a higher figure in the all-important "wins" column.

Many excellent basketball books have been written in past years that have contributed greatly to the growth of the game. This book is presented in the sincere hope that it will be a worthwhile contribution and that each reader may find something of benefit. The manual represents an attempt to compile numerous offensive and defensive formations, fundamental techniques, and supplementary coaching methods into one easy-reference volume. The author encourages correspondence from readers and will welcome any suggestions that may be used in future revision to make it a more complete guide to modern basketball.

Includes new chapter on the surprising 2009-2010 season

The inside story of how one of the most successful college basketball programs in the nation was built

The 2009-10 NCAA college basketball season marked the 100th anniversary of North Carolina basketball. The UNC Tar Heels have won two NCAA championships since 2005, and own more victories over the last half-century than any other college team.

But it wasn't always that way.

For most of the first 50 years the team existed at UNC, the sport was an afterthought. But that all changed in 1952 with the arrival of Frank McGuire. When Roy Williams and the Tar Heels won the 2005 and 2009 national championships, they could thank Frank McGuire and his protege, Dean Smith, for starting the tradition of triumph. Art Chansky, who has covered UNC basketball for more than 30 years, constructs an intimate narrative of how three dramatically different coaches built the longest-lasting dynasty in college basketball.

The banners of those teams hang in the rafters today, warming the hearts of all those who have worshipped UNC's Light Blue Reign over the last fifty years--and counting. Part history, part centennial celebration, "Light Blue Reign "is not simply about one team's victories--it's about the dedication, passion, and love for a sport that players and fans of any loyalty will understand.

Teams play like they practice. Even in ideal circumstances time for practice is limited. Coaches need to make the most of available practice time. Better Basketball Practices contains valuable information in the areas of: * Overriding Purpose * Planning for optimum learning during practice * Planning to plan practice * Setting the tone for practice * Creating organized, efficient and productive practices * Building intensity in practice * Planning for special situations * Planning for late season practice * Ideas about quality practices * Common coaching mistakes in planning practice Includes 34 simple drills designed to teach essential fundamentals of the game. Complete with 74 diagrams and descriptions of each drill and possible variations. Learn from a veteran head coach with over 460 career varsity wins and 8 Coach of the Year awards. Build a better team and a better basketball program by planning, organizing and conducting better basketball practices.

Perhaps the greatest all-around player in basketball history, Oscar Robertson revolutionized basketball as a member of the Cincinnati Royals and won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks. When he was twenty-three, in 1962, he accomplished one of basketball’s most impressive feats: averaging the triple-double in a single season—a feat never matched since. Cocaptain of the Olympic gold medal team of 1960; named the player of the century by the National Association of Basketball Coaches; named one of the fifty greatest players in NBA history; and inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980—Robertson’s accolades are as numerous as they are impressive. But The Big O is also the story of a shy black child from a poor family in a segregated city; of the superstar who, at the height of his career, became the president of the National Basketball Players Association to try to improve conditions for all players. It is the story of the man forced from the game at thirty-four and blacklisted from coaching and broadcasting. But two years after he left basketball, after six years of legal wrangling, Robertson won his lawsuit against the NBA, eliminating the option clause that bound a player to a single NBA team in perpetuity and ending restrictions on free agency.  The Big O is the story of how the NBA, as we now know it, was built; of race in America in the second half of the twentieth century; and of an uncompromising man and a complex hero.

The definitive biography of basketball genius Julius Erving--the icon who transcended his sport and defined an era

Julius Erving, aka Dr. J, was a wizard with the basketball, performing feats the world had never seen before: midair spins and whirls punctuated by powerful slam dunks, which he was the first to glamorize. In a career that lasted from the 1970s well into the 1980s, he was one of the first players to make extemporaneous individual expression an integral part of the game, setting the style of play that has prevailed ever since. He's also long been respected as a gracious, dignified, and disciplined man. As there are great men of history, there are great men of sports, and Dr. J is just such a man.

This book tells Dr. J's amazing story, following his basketball journey from his Long Island childhood to the street games of New York City to a college career as his skills, reputation, and character grew. It follows his entrance into the ABA, where he revolutionized the game by glamorizing the dunk, and his conquering of the NBA, where he was Michael Jordan before there was a Jordan. It relates the family struggles he's had since leaving the game and charts the transformation of the man into myth.The first complete biography of one of the greatest and most popular basketball players of all timeDraws on interviews with Dr. J's childhood friends and his family to teammates and coaches at all levelsWritten by a "New York Times" sports journalist and author of "Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament"Includes Erving's years as a player with the Virginia Squires, New York Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers

Read "Doc" and follow the incredible journey of the basketball genius who elevated the game off the hardwood and helped make it America's passion.

A guide for volunteer basketball coaches - especially those coaching girls in 4th - 8th grades - provides an easy to follow approach to coaching and managing your team. You'll gain confidence in your approach to practices and games; and you'll enjoy watching your players improve. Coach Michael O'Halloran, father of four daughters, shares his key learnings from coaching 14 different basketball teams. His ""Never Forget They're Kids"" approach to coaching places an emphasis on learning, having fun and creating memorable experiences for players. You'll learn tips on how to plan the season, how to orchestrate your first meeting with parents and players, and how to plan for practices. Other topics covered include: defensive and offensive teaching points, rebounding know-how, plays, teaching shooting, a driveway workout for players, your approach on the bench, and how to keep players engaged over the course of the season. http: //stores.lulu.com/wellpreparedcoach

The world of sports is my escape from the day to day cold hard reality that is my life, people must understand that my life is full of obstacle and it takes a lot of effort just to get started sometimes, sports get me going like nothing else, in my life it is my passion. When I am watching football or basketball I am in the zone my zone. A lot of sports break down various sports because it is their job but I do it because I really, really, really love my sports. People must realize that there is a whole world of sports outside of what we see on T.V. I am talking about those athletes that are not in the spotlight like Lebron, Kobe, or Peyton. I am talking about the athletes like me, the ones living with disability. These people are fighting a double battle because they deal with their physical situation just to do something that they all love just to have some kind of outlet and still we get little of no attention for any of our accomplishments. It is like I said before "people don't care about the handicap," I should say that "some do but most don't." As for me, I will keep doing what I'm doing until someone, somewhere pays attention. Sports gives me and others like me this kind of hope, that alone is reason enough to love the entire world of sports. Just like in the world of sports, people must stop ignoring and underestimating the underdog in the game of life, because the very ones that you count out could be the ones that make the biggest impact. As you can see this thing called sports runs deeper than what everyone wants to realize, it makes people like me believe in somebody.

Why does she play basketball? Since the enactment of Title IX in 1972, that question has come to be asked of more girls and women--and answered in more ways--than ever before. Christine A. Baker, herself an avid player and an assistant coach, pursues an answer through the ranks of the sport from youth basketball to the WNBA.
Baker sets the stage with a quick look at current statistics and trends in women's basketball nationwide, noting the profound changes in the last thirty-five years. A series of exclusive interviews then takes us into the heart and soul of the sport. Her subjects are players and coaches, from neophytes to stars such as Dawn Staley and Nancy Lieberman; from legendary coaches such as Jody Conradt to the masterminds of USA Basketball and the 1996 Women's Dream Team; from Donna Lopiano, former CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation, to tomorrow's Olympic athletes. A richly detailed, all-encompassing portrait of the sport, these interviews offer a wealth of insight into the game, American sports culture, and, indeed, why Baker plays.

Coaches: Win more games by teaching your players the fundamental skills, intangibles and finer points of the game that other coaches don't know. Help your players eliminate costly turnovers by learning to read the defense, score more points by fine tuning your fast break and improve your offensive attack skills. Players: Take your game to another level by learning the skills and details of the game the elite players know. Learn how character issues can impact a player either positively or negatively. Gain insight into the minds of coaches and learn to think like a coach on the court. Fans: Have a deeper appreciation of the game beyond just recognizing the type of defense or offense being used. Impress your fellow basketball fans with your knowledge of the finer points of the sport and become a true connoisseur of the game of basketball. "There has never been a book before for coaches, players and fans like The Game of Basketball. For the coach, this book is about moving a player's game to a higher level. For the player, the information in this book can make the difference between being an average player and a good player or even a great player. For the fan who wants to appreciate the sport and the nuances of the game, this book provides many of tiny details the average fan is never aware of." Rusty Rogers - 2 Time NAIA Div. II National Championship Coach and 2 Time National NAIA Coach of the Year "Once again Kevin Sivils has produced a book that ought to be in every coach's library. Too often, we fall into the trap of thinking that Xs and Os are the holy grail, but Coach Sivils reminds us of the truth articulated by John Wooden over 50 years ago, "It's not what you do, it's how well you do it." I've never seen a better compilation of the little things that can turn a basketball player into a "Player." Coach Doug Porter - Head Coach Olivet Nazarene University Women's Basketball - 8 Time Coach of the Year

Miller chronicles his senior year with North Carolinas famed basketball program, taking readers inside the locker room, on the court, and behind the scenes, in this unique book written about one of the most famous college sports dynasties of all time.

In the mid-1950s three unrecruited black basketball players, coached by a white former prison guard who had never before coached a college team, led a small Jesuit university in San Francisco to two national titles. "The Dandy Dons" describes for the first time how the unprecedented accomplishment of the Dons, led by coach Phil Woolpert and future hall-of-famers Bill Russell and K. C. Jones, paved the way for black talent in major college basketball and transformed the sport.
James W. Johnson traces the backgrounds of the coach and players, chronicles the heart-stopping games on the road to the championships, and details the Dons' novel techniques: a more vertical game, more central defense, and intimidation as part of game strategy. He also gives a textured picture of life on an integrated basketball team amid a culture of racism and Jim Crow in mid-twentieth-century America.

The Butler Way opens with a discussion of the Butler Way. Barry Collier, a former Butler player, was hired as coach in 1989 and slowly rebuilt a program that has declined since the days of Tony Hinkle. Collier emphasized the Butler way which featured team play. Fans will also be pleased to read about the famed Hinkle Fieldhouse, the greatest coaches, teams, players, and great moments in the storied history of Butler basketball.

Alaska Hoops, Coaching Tips and Tales from the Girls' Locker Room is a lighthearted collection of true Alaska basketball stories. Author Becky Crabtree remembers her experiences coaching and offers practical tips on the game and life