A captivating account of the NBA's strangest season ever, from shutdown to championship, from a prominent national basketball writer living inside the bubble When NBA player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 in March 2020, the league shut down immediately, bringing a shocking, sudden pause to the season. As the pandemic raged, it looked like it might be the first year in league history with no champion. But four months later, after meticulous planning, play resumed in a "bubble" at Disney World-a restricted, single-site locale, where teams could only bring limited staff and the outside world was largely cut off. Due to health concerns, the league invited only a handful of reporters to the show. Everyone who attended would need to sacrifice medical privacy, live in a simple hotel room for months on end, and submit to daily coronavirus testing in hopes of keeping the Bubble from bursting. Ben Golliver, the national NBA writer for the Washington Post, is one of them. Bubbleball is his account of the season and life inside, telling the story of how basketball shut down and how superstars like LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Kawhi Leonard battled for the throne once play resumed in unconventional circumstances and empty gyms. Based on months of reporting in the exclusive, restricted environment, this is an entertaining record of an extraordinary season.

If you have ever watched a champion make that impossible three-point shot in the game's final seconds, you know that mental skills are absolutely critical to all-around success, on and off the court. No one understands this better than coaching legend Dale Brown and renowned sport consultant Dr Kevin Burke, the co-authors of this book. Together, they share their expertise and techniques to bring the mental aspect of the game under every player's control. They stress preparation, practice, and performance in attaining these vital psychological skills: Concentration; Teamwork; Relaxation; Confidence; Strong Ethics and Fair Play. This book gives players the tools to improve their mental game plan; a way for coaches to teach successful psychology techniques; and a way for parents to be supportive and involved in a player's development.

Journey "inside the numbers" for an exceptional set of statistical tools and rules that can help explain the winning, or losing, ways of a basketball team. "Basketball on Paper" doesn't diagram plays or explain how players get in shape, but instead demonstrates how to interpret player and team performance. Dean Oliver highlights general strategies for teams when they're winning or losing and what aspects should be the focus in either situation. He describes and quantifies the jobs of team leaders and role players, then discusses the interactions between players and how to achieve the best fit. Oliver conceptualizes the meaning of teamwork and how to quantify the value of different types of players working together. He examines historically successful NBA teams and identifies what made them so successful: individual talent, a system of putting players together, or good coaching. Oliver then uses these statistical tools and case studies to evaluate the best players in history, such as Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Charles Barkley and how they contributed to their teams' success. He does the same for some of the NBA's "oddball" players-Manute Bol, Muggsy Bogues, and Dennis Rodman and for the WNBA's top players."Basketball on Paper" is unique in its incorporation of business and analytical concepts within the context of basketball to measure the value of players in a cooperative setting. Whether you're looking for strategies or new ideas to throw out while watching the ballgame at a sports bar, Dean Oliver's"Basketball on Paper" will give you amazing new insights into teamwork, coaching, and success.

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.

En primer lugar, amigo entrenador-lector, bienvenido a este Manual Rapido de Ejercicios, un compendio de situaciones que nace fruto de la experiencia de muchas temporadas a pie de pista, tanto en el basket aficionado como en el profesional. Ante todo, el libro que tienes en tus manos pretende ser un manual eminentemente practico y de aplicacion inmediata, tal y como indica su nombre. El objetivo primordial es ofrecer una recopilacion de ejercicios -algunos conocidos, otros no tanto- de cara a facilitar la realizacion de entrenamientos atractivos, dinamicos y divertidos. Si en algo se ha ahorrado en este manual es en la redaccion excesiva de explicaciones vanas -el baloncesto tiene su propio lenguaje a traves de los graficos-. Lejos de dar un mitin en cada ejercicio, se ha buscado ir al grano, a la esencia. La intencion es provocar en el entrenador- lector una idea general, para que luego el pueda trasladarla a su entrenamiento de la misma manera que esta escrita o adaptada a su modo de hacer, incorporando matices propios. A su vez, este manual se puede tomar de dos maneras: Como una progresion de ejercicios o bien a modo de compendio de situaciones que pueden ser aisladas de forma independiente. El caso es promover en el entrenador una reflexion en la forma de hacer y aportarle herramientas para que realice su trabajo en funcion de su filosofia o manera de entender el baloncesto. Al fin y al cabo la labor del tecnico se basa en saber adaptar, modificar, o crear en funcion de sus necesidades. No es posible saber de antemano que necesidades tiene tu equipo. Pero, si puedes quedarte con una idea basica, o estos ejercicios pueden servir a modo de fuente de inspiracion de otros, el objetivo se habra conseguido a buen seguro.

Although the basketball teams of the Southeastern Conference dominate the national college rankings, it wasn t too long ago that the SEC was mostly recognized for football. Today the SEC has displaced the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference as the premier conference of college basketball. Beginning with Rick Pitino s revival of the University of Kentucky from the perdition of probation to the University of Arkansas s entry into the conference and subsequent national title, Chris Dortch chronicles SEC history up to its present pinnacle.The twelve conference teams play for high stakes, competing fiercely for coaches and players and for coveted spots at the NCAA tournament. Join Dortch as he talks to the coaches, players, and fans who have turned the SEC into the home of all that is best in college basketball. "String Music" also explores the traditions and history that bring SEC hoops to life, including the rivalries, the history, the players, and the coaches. It sets the standard for analyzing the state of college basketball today and provides the best coverage of the rich heritage of SEC basketball.

A wry and witty commentary on college sports and identity in the complicated social landscape of the South. Ed Southern, lifelong fan of the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons, the smallest school in the NCAA's Power 5, set out to tell the story of how he got tangled, in vines of history and happenstance, with the two giants of his favorite sport: the Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers. He set out to tell how a North Carolina native crossed the shifty, unmarked border between Tobacco Road and the Deep South. He set out to tell how the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant, from beyond the grave, introduced him to his wife, a Birmingham native and die-hard Alabama fan. While he was writing that story, though, 2020 came along. Suddenly his questions had a new and urgent focus: Why do sports mean so much that so many will play and watch them in the face of a global pandemic? How have the South's histories shaped its fervor for college sports? How have college sports shaped how southerners construct their identities, priorities, and allegiances? Why is North Carolina passionate about college basketball when its neighbors to the South live and die by college football? Does this have anything to do with North Carolina's reputation as the most "progressive" southern state, a state many in the Deep South don't think is "really" southern? If college sports really do mean so much in the South, then why didn't everyone down south wear masks or recognize that Black Lives Matter, even after the coaches told us to? Fight Songs explores the connections and contradictions between the teams we root for and the places we plant our roots; between the virtues that sports are supposed to teach and the cutthroat business they've become; between the hopes of fans and the demands of the past, present, and future.

From The Breaks of the Game to Summer of '49, David Halberstam has brought the perspective of a great historian, the inside knowledge of a dogged sportswriter, and the love of a fan to bear on some of the most mythic players and teams in the annals of American sport. With Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls he has given himself his greatest challenge and produced his greatest triumph. In Playing for Keeps, David Halberstam takes the first full measure of Michael Jordan's epic career, one of the great American stories of our time. A narrative of astonishing power and human drama, brimming with revealing anecdotes and penetrating insights, the book chronicles the forces in Jordan's life that have shaped him into history's greatest basketball player and the larger forces that have converged to make him the most famous living human being in the world.

The greatest players in the NBA... NOW! Like Hockey Now! and Football Now!, Basketball Now! has earned its place as an anticipated release, giving fans the inside stories about their favourite superstars. This third edition is packed with 130 action images and 50 profiles, including a fresh crop of young players whose swagger and skills launched them to league-wide stardom. Bona fide superstars, rim-rocking rookies and future Hall of Famers, plus the all stars of tomorrow, the best international imports and the underrated players that can change a game — they’re all here. Look out for elite names like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and many, many more! Author Adam Elliott Segal gives readers an inside tour of all things NBA, including essays on the Draft, the Dunk Contest and the best clutch and playoff performances in the history of the league, as well as a summary of MVPs (regular season, All-Star Game and Finals) up to the end of the 2018–19 season. Mind-boggling athleticism, careerchanging plays and pure magic — Basketball Now! has it all, straight from the hardwood.

Economic globalisation refers to the notion of mobility. In basketball, just as in other team sports, competitions are associated with a specific territorial space. Through a comparison between United States and Europe, this compilation explores the issue of the perimeter of the competition area in the new economic environment. The authors discuss the different pedagogical models that basketball coaches can apply to promote the development of an all-around player during practice sessions. The "sport education", "teaching games for understanding", "cooperative learning", and "teaching personal and social responsibility" models are discussed and analyzed from a basketball coaching perspective. The relationship between rookie players' physical abilities on the Pre-Draft Combine and basketball performance in offense and defense in the first NBA season is assessed. The results highlight the importance of basic speed, speed strength and strength endurance. The concluding study tests the basic and specific indicators, in terms of differences, in estimating the isometric rate of force development for leg extensors in the context of a playing position in basketball. Sixty-eight basketball players performed a standardized "isometric leg press" test to assess the characteristics of isometric force from their leg extensors.

From the former "New York Times" Beijing bureau chief comes a closely observed story of a struggling Chinese basketball team and its quixotic, often comical attempt to make the playoffs by copying the American stars of the NBA.
When the worst professional basketball team in China, the Shanxi Brave Dragons, hired former NBA coach Bob Weiss to improve its fortunes, the team's owner, Boss Wang, promised that Weiss would be allowed to Americanize his players by teaching them "advanced basketball culture." That promise would be broken from the moment Weiss landed in China. As we follow this team of colorful oddballs on a fascinating road trip through modern China, we see Weiss learn firsthand what so many other foreigners there have discovered: that changing China happens only when and how China wants to be changed.

Great news for the millions of young hoopsters dreaming of someday running with the pros: two-time Olympian and professional star Teresa Weatherspoon is sharing all of her basketball secrets! In this fun and informative book, not only will you get the inside scoop on passing, dribbling, defending, shooting, and all the rules of the game, you'll also learn why Spoon believes that unselfishness, hard work, and a positive attitude are as valuable as technical skill.

With tons of instructional photos and heaping "Spoon"-fuls of inspiration, personal history, and inside tips, Teresa Weatherspoon's Basketball for Girls delivers all the goods. In no time, you'll be tearing up the courts, burning up the nets, and showing how it's really done!

Part sports star, part antihero, part hip-hop icon, Allen Iverson has managed to cross over into the mainstream of American culture -- without compromise. Defiantly tattooed, with his hair in cornrows, the six-foot Philadelphia 76ers point guard is one of the most recognizable and controversial stars of the sports world. His meteoric rise from a troubled childhood in the ghetto to NBA superstardom has been marked by five straight playoff appearances, including a finals berth in 2001 and an MVP award. From his rap sheet to his rap album, fans and journalists alike hound his every move. But never before has a biographer presented a full portrait of this complicated and intensely private star -- a man whose loyalty to his family, the streets, and his friends trumps any other concern. Filled with exclusive interview material and unprecedented access to many of Iverson's inner circle, Only the Strong Survive is the first in-depth look at the truth behind this newly minted legend.