Basketball Books

Basketball Books

ESPN Films – The Fab Five $7.70 In the fall of 1991, five freshmen joined the University of Michigan’s basketball team. Relive NCAA® history watching the ESPN® Films’ The Fab Five DVD. It highlights Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Bonus features include the director’s statements and deleted scenes. Street date release is September 6, 2011….

The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend [Inspirational Edition] $4.89 The late “Pistol” Pete Maravich made basketball history as the most spectacular college scorer ever, and he’s still inspiring kids through this movie based on his first season of high school varsity basketball (which he played when he was in eighth grade). This film explores the supportive father-son relationship that pushed him to the heights of achievement and fame (Dad was a former pro and Clem…

Space Jam: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture $3.75 SOUNDTRACK SPACE JAM…

Your Personal Best Workout [VHS] $8.94 …

The Air Up There [VHS] $9.99 Kevin Bacon stars in this quickie sports film that’s really more a culture-clash comedy. He plays an assistant coach at the college-basketball level who’s looking for that big, big recruiting score and finds it in a distant African village. But his quarry, a seven-footer (Charles Gitona Maina) he spots in an anthropology film, turns out to be the prince of his tribe who’s in line for the crown and…

Sports Illustrated: The Basketball Book

What the Best Basketball Camps Say About Choking

Whether they’re at the gym, in the weight room, at the playground, or attending one of the best basketball camps our nation has to offer, players of all skill levels look to the summer as a time to make giant leaps forward in their development.  But while many players spend their time doing drills to get better at playing the game, they forget that getting better at THINKING the game can be just as important.   

Attending a basketball camp is great for developing the mental aspect of the game, and one of the best basketball camps to address this is Point Guard College.  Much of Point Guard College’s philosophy comes from the man who started it all, legendary basketball thinker Dick Devenzio, who not only started one of the best basketball camps, he wrote one of the best basketball books:  Think Like a Champion.  (Because when John Wooden says you’re on to something, people listen.)

To get an idea of the kind of approach taken by the Point Guard College, take a look at one of the chapters in Dick’s book called “Choking”, which starts like this:

“Choking may be the most talked-about, yet least substantive issue in sports. TV commentators and newspaper columnists, and of course talk show callers seem to love this concept. Almost anyone or any team that blows a lead is said to have choked. But statistics I have seen do not support this notion. If you check your team records you will probably find that you got behind by a dozen points in the first quarter as often as you lost twelve-point leads in the final quarter. Yet no one accuses a team that starts off badly as having choked. They simply didn’t do well.“

Dick’s work was all about adding perspective to your preparation by developing the mental aspects of one’s game as much as the physical.  To that end, aside from intense on court training, players at Point Guard College spend a large amount of time working on video analysis of their techniques, classroom training, and leadership development as well.  

So whether it’s in the driveway, the gym, or at one of the best basketball camps this offseason, be sure to focus on more than just your skills and athleticism.  Learn how to think, play AND lead.

Dick would’ve wanted it that way!

About the Author

In 2001, after a 7-year friendship with the late PGC founder Dick DeVenzio, Mano created his own program for point guards in Canada (the Point Guard Academy) in tribute to Dick. Over a 5-year span, the program attracted athletes from across North America and around the world. Mano is the President of Point Guard College and will direct Essentials courses on the PGC ‘09 Tour.

What is the best book on how to Coach Basketball?

I am a teacher… and I’m wanting to use some coaching psychology to get my kids pumped up about being smart and learning. Are there any good books by coaches that really talk about getting the kids to work hard and feel like a team?? Maybe phil jackson’s book??

If Bobby Knight wrote a book don’t buy it.

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