Fans that wager on college basketball can become consistent winners and still gain the full entertainment value of both watching the games and wagering. By applying a little extra effort to handicap games and place wagers intelligently, the losses of the average fan can be turned into significant winnings. If you are a fan are ready to spend some time handicapping - maybe 20 minutes - you can win consistently. By using a systematic handicapping and wagering process that makes the best use of your time, you can gain an advantage. Examples of the most powerful techniques for gaining a consistent wagering advantage are: . Specializing in point-spread wagers rather than totals, futures, interactive, and exotic propositions. . Projecting a team's play based on past performance against teams comparable to the next opponent, not all teams. . Analyzing a team's performance trend by focusing on the last 10 games. . Systematically varying the amounts wagered to reflect your perceived advantage - the difference between the outcome that you forecast for the game and the point spread. . Doing business with sports books with offer you a tangible advantage in terms of how early they accept wagers as well as the propositions they handle and transaction fees (vigorish) they charge. . For each desired wager, "shop" among sports books for the most favorable terms - both the point spread and the moneyline.

If you love the sport of basketball, a coach struggling with your team or a player seeking new moves, this is the book for you. Improve your game with insider skills and unique team strategies acquired through a 32 year National Championship coaching career. Read about coach Jack Alof's successful 1-3-1 Trap Zone and experience the thrill and dynamics of the sport of basketball through amazing stories about real life games. This book is unique because it will include human interest stories about the author's experiences coaching basketball at the high school and college level for 32 years with great success (College 20 year coaching record is 391-155- 72% winning percentage), that will be very beneficial, enlightening and interesting to all basketball coaches at any level, especially the younger coaches.

Looking for a game? Here's your guided tour of the country's best pickup basketball courts, from the blacktops of Brooklyn to the asphalt of Anchorage to the gyms of Jackson, Mississippi. It's all inside: where the pros play, the most scenic runs in the land, and a ranking of the top five courts. Chris Ballard and three other former college players piled into a used Chevy van and traveled thirty-one thousand miles in seven months, playing at over a thousand courts in 166 cities in forty-eight states. This is the story of their roundball road trip and a guide to the places, people, and communities they encountered. More than a travel guide, "Hoops Nation" is "a celebration of the game of basketball as it is played in America." It includes guides to streetball fashion, the lingo of the courts, the etiquette of the pickup world, the tricks of old-guy basketball, and tips for the dunking impaired. Also included are profiles of playground legends and dispatches from the legions of basketball lifers who populate the country's courts. This book can tell you where they're running today, all over America. Who's got next?

Timed to the release of Jerry Bruckheimer's movie, the moving autobiography of Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Haskins and his storied team of players, the Texas Western Miners
In 1966, college basketball was almost completely segregated. In the championship game for the NCAA title that year, Don Haskins, coach of the then little-known Texas Western College, did something that had never been done before in the history of college basketball. He started five black players, and in the now legendary game, unseated the nationally top-ranked University of Kentucky. Broadcast on television throughout the country, the Miners victory became the impetus for the desegregation of all college teams in the South during the next few years.
Now, for the first time, Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins tell his story. Beginning as a small-town high school basketball coach, Haskins was known for his tough coaching methods and larger-than-life personality. As a child growing up during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma, he developed a strong set of values and discipline that he would instill in his players throughout his coaching career. With recollections from his former players, including those of the 1966 team, along with Haskins's own Seven Principles for Success, Glory Road is the inspiring story of a living legend and one of the most respected coaches of all time.
With a foreword by basketball legend Bobby Knight, and coinciding with the release of the film Glory Road, the story of Don Haskins and his championship team is sure to become a classic for sports fans and historians.

Texas Western College, then a small and unknown school tucked away in the far corner of West Texas, came out of nowhere to pull the biggest upset in the history of college basketball in 1966. The Miners' 72-65 victory over the University of Kentucky, coached by the legendary Adolph Rupp, in the finals of the NCAA Tournament topped one of the most remarkable stories in the history not only of basketball, but of all sports. It's a story of triumph of character and heart over hardship and seemingly impossible odds. Their accomplishment also had a big impact on society. For the first time, five African-Americans started in the finals of the NCAA Tournament. The victory overcame many prejudices against the ability of African-American athletes to function in a team concept and opened doors for them throughout the South and other parts of the country.

It is true, they don't make things the way they used to, they don't do things the way they used to, and the times are not what they used to be. This book is a journey back to the days of my early childhood through high school. What was like to be raised in Indiana basketball country? It was an exciting time with over 700 high school teams from every corner of the state of Indiana competing each year in a single elimination tournament for the Indiana State Basketball Championship. One small school triumphed in a miracle over the great odds against them. It is still for me to imagine what those hundreds of Indiana basketball heroes experienced by having family, friends, classmates, cheerleaders, teachers, community fans for all kinds of reasons, even stranger bystanders, cheering and shouting them on with encouragement. (www.garyleesmith.com)

Every year a new champion is crowned in the world of professional basketball. But few seasons feature a champion that has countless ups and downs, key coaching and player changes, dominating defensive play, and one player who is criticized heavily early in the season that later becomes a hero, making one of the greatest plays in team history.

Detroit experienced all these things during the 2003-2004 season and along with it, won the team's third ever championship. David Lawless was there, like he always is every year, following this team at the arena; on TV; even occasionally on the road. It's quite clear that he has "The Fever."

In "The Fever," Lawless chronicles what it's like to be a fan of a team that plays such an exciting style and ends up winning the game's ultimate prize. True fans of the team and true fans of the sport itself, will relate to his use of first names, always, when describing the players and the exclamations of emotion that come out during the middle of a big playoff game. Each game is discussed in the same language and expressions that fans use.

They're all here: each and every game analyzed like a coach would, but described with the passion of a true fan.

Best-selling "New York Times" writer Ira Berkow presents a unique look at America's premier sport--and its fans--through interviews with a remarkable cross section of widely known and extraordinarily accomplished individuals in a variety of fields, who explain what the lure of basketball is for them. Berkow talked with Chris Rock, Woody Allen, Tom Brokaw, Saul Bellow, Johnnie Cochran Jr., Walter Matthau, Nikki Giovanni, Donald Trump, Julia Child, Frank Stella, Erica Jong, Grover Washington Jr., Seiji Ozawa, and Sharon Stone, among others, to uncover fresh, funny, controversial, and often surprising opinions about the teams and players who make the game intriguing.

Finally, a book that will teach you the most effective way to coach today's players, both boys and girls. It includes all the drills and plays you will need for a successful season. Learn to become the kind of coach that you and your players can be proud of. This easy to use guide contains ideas on how to organize your team along with tips on running a well- planned practice. Also included are simple to teach individual and team offenses. Learn to play solid man-to-man and team defense. Make your team impossible to press. Special sections include "Developing your big guy" and "Recognizing and dealing with basketball injuries." Easy to follow diagrams clearly demonstrate all the drills and strategies to make your team a winner. Master the techniques to gain the control and respect of your team. Motivating different types of players is critical to any team's success. Coach Leibowitz has experience coaching elementary school, high school girls and boys, junior college and major college basketball. This book is a "must read" for all beginning and seasoned coaches.

As a coach I always find one of the most challenging parts of my job is keeping the players motivated. One of the best ways I have found for doing this is to vary the drills I use in practice. Drills provide a powerful opportunity for coaches because they combine so many important elements of training at once. Drills can train all fundamental skills. They train the team to work together in speed, agility and execution. The flowing repetition of the drill allows the training to become second nature to the players. Using new and varied drills and incorporating them into our practices, we train a wide variety of fundamental skills and variations on basic offensive plays like the fast break. I have found that drills are often overlooked as an asset in coaching. No matter where I am coaching whether at a clinic, or watching the practice of a club in Europe, South America, an NCAA or high school team. I see that coaches around the world often get into a routine of the same drills every practice. If a drill becomes routine, then the players will lose interest and focus. I was inspired to write this book after coaching a group of professional players in the Euro2003 tournament in Spain. to my drills. Other coaches who attended the tournament also said my drills were unique and asked me to share my techniques with them.

With 40 years of coaching experience at the high school level and 8 state championships, Hall of Famer Bill Kuchar lends his battle-tested philosophies and principles that made his teams unbeatable, and offers his advice on how you can start to build a dynasty of your own. Using easy to read drill diagrams and concepts, Coach Kuchar breaks down the game of basketball into a science. Offensively, it focuses on dynamic zone play such as the 1-2-2, the 1-3-1 and the box and one--concepts that will help your team score at will against the stingiest of defenses. Kuchar also introduces his double motion offense, where you utilize your three best scorers by screening away from the ball and making back cuts. He shows you how to locate zones and how to infiltrate them using proper jump shooting angles, zone cutters, screeners and producing man to man situations. He demonstrates how this will open up gaps for your players that will overwhelm the opponent with deadeye shots. He also gives his 15 best out-of-bounds plays as well as three sure fire last second desperation plays when the game is on the line. Defensively, Coach Kuchar provides a complete breakdown of the man for man pressure defense from half-court and full-court sets, as well as the zone defense with bases from a 1-3-1 set to a 2-1-2. He not only teaches you how to defend a particular offense, but what to defend it with and why. He shows you the individual and team techniques to build a tenacious defense that uses both these man-to-man and zone styles of play. In Coaching High School Basketball, you'll also find new, cutting edge ideas on how to defend against the ever-popular fast break, stunting defenses and powerful post players. You'll learn the right way to create mismatches, slow down your opponents, and utilize your best shooters all while shutting down their best scorer. And through dozens of easy to follow drills you'll also learn the fundamentals of shooting the proper jump shot, boxing out for a rebound, setting picks, screening away from the ball, and making the right decisions on the floor.

He was featured on the covers of both Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine. He has the scouts of every pro basketball team drooling. He has been touted wildly on national TV by basketball experts from Dick Vitale to Bill Walton. He has a reported $20 million dollar shoe contract pending.

And he's still in high school.
Why the big deal about LeBron James?
The odds were against LeBron from the start. Born in poverty to a 16-year-old, drug-addicted single mom, without a father, raised by various family and neighbors . . . he could have become just another scarred product of a rough childhood in the projects.
Instead, he's the darling of the sports world--and he plays the part well.
Sportswriter David Lee Morgan has covered the LeBron phenomenon for the Akron Beacon Journal since the kid's freshman year and has been granted unequaled access to LeBron, his family, and his close friends. He's seen the exceptional play on the basketball court. But he's also seen how surprisingly well LeBron has handled the pressure, the scrutiny, the criticism that arrived with the early onset of stardom. (Just imagine how most of us would have handled that as a teenager )
An unusual inside look at the rise of sport's hottest young prospect, now poised at the brink of superstardom.

"Nothing in basketball beats Hoosier Hysteria, and this true-life Cinderella story of the 1954 Milan Indians has it all courage, heart, suspense, and triumph. Greg Guffey brings the team and its championship odyssey to life again in this action-packed book. A great read " Digger Phelps

With the release of the movie Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman, the whole world discovered the "Milan Miracle." The true story of the Milan miracle is even better, and Greg Guffey tells it here in graphic and gripping detail. Here we get to know the real Coach Marvin Wood and the remarkable group of high school players who defeated mighty Muncie Central. In his new introduction, Guffey talks about the switch to class basketball in Indiana and the legacy of this story for the town and for the legendary team."

The critically acclaimed, classic autobiography of UCLA basketballs legendary coach

What Knute Rockne was to football, Connie Mack to baseball, and Wilbur and Orville Wright to flying, John Wooden is to basketball. --Los Angeles Times

They Call Me Coach is grassroots Americana, a story bigger than basketball. One of those rare sports books that is must reading for everyone. --Chicago Tribune

Now featuring a great new look and a Foreword by hoop Hall of Famer Bill Walton, this classic bestselling sports bio by Americas winningest coach is back. Still charming fans everywhere, college basketball legend John Wooden reflects on his record-breaking career, his inspired life behind the scenes, and how his top players went on to shape and change the NBA. With worldly wisdom, Wooden offers a very personal history of an unforgettable time in college basketball, answering the most-asked questions about his life, his career, and the players who made his team unbeatable.

Charles Barkley has never been shy about expressing his opinions. Michael Jordan once said that we all want to say the things that Barkley says, but we don’t dare. But even die-hard followers of the all-time NBA great, the star of TNT’s Inside the NBA and CNN’s TalkBack Live, will be astonished by just how candid and provocative he is in this book—and just how big his ambitions are. Though he addresses weighty issues with a light touch and prefers to stir people to think by making them laugh, there’s nothing Charles Barkley shies away from here—not race, not class, not big money, not scandal, not politics, not personalities, nothing. “Early on,” says Washington Post columnist and ESPN talk show host Michael Wilbon in his Introduction, “Barkley made his peace with mixing it up, and decided the consequences were very much worth it to him. And that makes him as radically different in these modern celebrity times as a 6-foot-4-inch power forward.”

If there’s one thing Charles Barkley knows, it’s the crying need for honest, open discussion in this country—the more uncomfortable the subject, the more necessary the dialogue. And if the discussion leader can be as wise, irreverent, (occasionally) profane and (consistently) funny as Charles Barkley, so much the better. Many people are going to be shocked and scandalized by I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It, but many more will stand up and cheer. Like Molly Ivins or Bill O’Reilly, Charles Barkley is utterly his own thinker, and everything he says comes from deep reflection. One way or another, if more blood hasn’t reached your brain by the time you’ve finished this book, maybe you’ve been embalmed.


From the Hardcover edition.

The real basketball deal-the inside story of Harlem's legendary tournament and the pros and playground legends who have made it world famous.
Earl "The Goat" Manigault. Herman "Helicopter" Knowings. Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond. Richard "Pee Wee" Kirkland. These and dozens of other colorfully nicknamed men are the "Asphalt Gods," whose astounding exploits in the Rucker Tournament, often against multimillionaire NBA superstars, have made them playground divinity. First established in the 1950s by Holcombe Rucker, a New York City Parks Department employee, the tournament has grown to become a Harlem institution, an annual summer event of major proportions. On that fabled patch of concrete, unknown players have been lighting it up for decades as they express basketball as a freestyle art among their peers and against such pro immortals as Julius Erving and Wilt Chamberlain. X's and O's are exchanged for oohs and aahs in one of the great examples of street theater to be found in urban America.
"Asphalt Gods" is a streetwise, supremely entertaining oral history of a tournament that has influenced everything from NBA playing style to hip-hop culture. Now, legends transmitted by word of mouth find a home and the achievements of basketball's greatest unknowns a permanent place in the game's record.

"From the Hardcover edition."

Few people in sports have had more books written about them. This is the first by Bob Knight---one of the most literate, candid, quoted, and outspoken men in American public life telling in this first-person account of his full, rich life. Much of that life has been in basketball, most of it because of basketball, but it also has brought him forward as a coach, who has proved academic responsibility and production of championship college athletic teams not only can coexist but should. His excitement as things start anew for him at Texas Tech is matched here by his characteristic frankness and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed.

His Indiana teams also won NCAA titles in 1980--81 and 1986--87. The 1975--76 Indiana team was the last unbeaten team in college men’s basketball. Knight’s career includes six seasons as head coach at Army, where his teams won 102 games and lost 50. He is the only coach whose teams won championships in the NCAA tournament, the National Invitation Tournament, the Olympic Games, and the Pan American Games. During all that he has been at the heart of more controversies while running a winning and squeaky-clean program than any coach of any sport anytime or anywhere.

His excitement as things start anew for him is matched here by his candor and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed. You’ll see why, with story after story---some delightful, some hilarious, some poignant, none of them dull: the story of Bob Knight’s life.

Basketball is now over a century old. "Cages to Jump Shots" offers an unforgettable glimpse of its exciting and eccentric early years, beginning in 1891 when James Naismith drew up the first rules, through decades of growing popularity and professionalism, and culminating with its fundamental transformation in the 1950s, when the twenty-four-second shot clock and team foul limit were instituted. Along the way we learn about all those who were drawn to the game--players, officials, owners, and fans--and why so many came to love it. Drawing on extensive research and a host of interviews with veteran players, Robert W. Peterson vividly recreates the rough-and-tumble basketball games of long ago and shows why basketball has become such a celebrated part of American life today. This Bison Books edition features an updated appendix of early pro basketball teams.

Like millions who love college basketball, John Feinstein was first drawn to the game because of its intensity, speed, and intelligence. And like many, he now feels that the vast sums of money involved in NCAA basketball—TV money, sponsorship money, alumnae money—have turned college basketball into a division of the NBA, rather than the beloved amateur sport it was in the past.

Feinstein went in search of college basketball played with the passion and integrity it once inspired. He found it in a place called the Patriot League. The Patriot League is one of the NCAA's smallest Division I conferences, a group of schools that includes Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Army, and Navy. No one leaves these schools early to join the NBA. Few have athletic scholarships. The players ride on team buses the day of the game—and back to campus the same night. No private planes or deluxe hotels. They carry full course loads of real college classes, without the lavish support network provided at larger schools.

John Feinstein spent an unforgettable season with the players of the Patriot League, and in The Last Amateurs he tells their amazing stories. Every year, these players compete against top programs like North Carolina and Indiana. Every year, one team from the Patriot League enters the NCAA Tournament, joining into the national dream of a David-and-Goliath upset. And every year, virtually every senior in the Patriot League basketball program graduates from college—a success rate unparalleled in the richer conferences.

The Last Amateurs is John Feinstein at his brilliant best, capturing the passion of players for whom sports are neither pastime nor profession, but something more. For anyone who enjoys college basketball, this is an unforgettably moving and enlightening look inside the game at its purest and most intense.

The newest addition to the highly successful Baffled Parents Guide Series.

Written by a teacher and basketball coach with more than three decades of experience, Great Basketball Drills offers 125 games that will keep practices fresh and kids moving and excited. Here is a fun, engaging alternative to traditional rote drills, with games designed to teach basic skills, sharpen reflexes, and build confidence and decision-making ability. Great Basketball Drills is a sure bet to end practice boredom.

• A fun, original games approach to drilling young players
  
• 125 simple, skill-building games that keep kids moving
  
• Quick-access troubleshooting chart lets coaches easily match drills to problem areas
  
• Endorsed by nationally renowned high school coach Morgan Wooten
  

Coach Girls for Success on and off the Court
Coaching girls' basketball is a blast! Witness a well-executed fast break, an intense defense, or a team's unbridled enthusiasm, and you can't help but be inspired. The effort, pride, and enjoyment on the girls' faces are great rewards for parents and often the signs of a good coach—the type of coach you want to be. So how can you get there?
Perfect for coaches of girls up to age 13, Coachng Girls' Basketball includes everything you need to be an outstanding coach and mentor to your players. Whether you are a seasoned coach looking to fine-tune your skills or a rookie eager to take the court running, you'll discover techniques for success that are tailored specifically to the needs of girls, including:
·Drills and strategies for coaches new to the world of coaching basketball
·Tips on what girls want and need from their basketball experience
·Practical suggestions on how to motivate in a positive and encouraging way
·Advice for helping girls deal with their changing bodies
·And much more!
Now, you can be a coaching winner and help bring out the best in your players, both on the court and in the game of life.