Coaches,
I had some time over Christmas break to do a little bit of reading when I wasn't watching "Dora" or the "Backyardigans" with my little girl. I have to admit that I have been swamped with book reviews and dvd reviews so I finally caught up on the break.
I was sent a book named "Destination Basketball" and it isn't a basketball coaching book, but just a book for college basketball fans. It was a really interesting read and I couldn't put it down. It is about two college student who on a shoe-string budget decided to meet 29 of the best basketball coaches in the country. It took 23 road trips, 421 days, 1,134 phone calls, 2,314 emails, 27, 125 miles driven to compile this book.
Here is why I wasn't a basketball coach and just a college basketball fan that I would want to read this book. The concept was to not ask about a single play, player, game or season, but their methods, their influences, their experiences, and their time within basketball. I love reading books on coaches whether it is basketball or football. I couldn't put this book down, because it was really funny to see how Andew Hemminger and Dave Bensch went on this path to talk with the best 29 basketball coaches in america. They spoke to all 29 basketball coaches in person and there were no interviews given on the phone, letters, emails, or faxes. In these times, where college basketball coaches have non-stop schedules that is amazing.
They took pictures of themselves with each coach except for Jamie Dixon. They forgot the camera and the SID department sent them a picture. Each interview gives background on the basketball coach and then they go through a series of questions. They didn't use the same questions on each coach. I thought that it was a tremendous idea and wish that I could have went on the trips. The book reads like you are on the trip.
One of the interviews was John Chaney, formerly of Temple University and he said this of the interview. "It is more of a human kind of interview where the question touches you a little bit more, and it gives you a relaxing feeling when you are able to talk about some of your experiences".
I can't say enough on how I thought that Andrew and Dave did a tremendous job on their book and I really appeciate them sending me a copy to read. I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. It is a tremendous book for college basketball fans who want some insight on 29 of the best basketball coaches in the country.
Coach Peterman
PS: Here are some excerpts and at the bottom of the article is where you can find the book.
from the JOHN WOODEN STORY…
We spotted a nearby elevator and figured it was where he would
appear. With time to assess the situation before the doors opened
and despite being so close, we still could not believe that Coach
Wooden was on his way down to greet us. With a ding, the metal
doors swung open and there he stood with the assistance of a
wooden cane, dressed in a button down shirt, slacks and a
UCLA-blue vest. We shook his hand and introduced ourselves as
the doors closed behind us.
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from the DEAN SMITH STORY…
Trying to thwart off any mishaps in transit, we left the hotel
more than 90 minutes ahead of our scheduled time and
headed toward the Dean E. Smith Center to meet Dean E. Smith,
which was less than six miles from our hotel.
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from the THAD MATTA INTERVIEW…
Who have been the biggest influences on you, in and
out of hoops?
Matta: Obviously my mom and dad. My dad was a coach
and an athletic director, and all I ever wanted in life was to be
him. I wanted to coach in a little town in Illinois because we had
such a great life.
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from the BILLY DONOVAN STORY…
Honestly, it took us 373 days to land an interview with him, which
when you think about it is a great sign for the state of college
basketball. It would not be good if he were relatively non-busy
and his time was easily accessible.
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from the BILL SELF INTERVIEW…
This job is described as your dream job, as it would be for a
lot of people. Can you sum up the job as the head coach at KU?
Self: Definitely it is everything I thought it would be, maybe
even better than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be
great. If I could sum up anything, the right word would be
caretaker, because it is such an honor and great responsibility to
be a caretaker of a program with such great names such as Naismith,
Dean Smith and Chamberlain. It is an awesome responsibility to sit
in that chair.
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from the MIKE KRZYZEWSKI STORY…
When the transition time came, we followed Jon and Coach K out
into the lobby area and waited as Coach K spoke momentarily with
several other people. As he turned around, Jon introduced us, which
was followed by the extension of a right hand and
"Hi guys. Mike Krzyzewski."
_______________________________________________________
from the RICK BARNES STORY…
With a 100 guesses I bet you couldn't come up with where we were
able to secure some time with Coach Barnes. I'm pretty confident
that if you have bothered to take 100 cracks at it you would not
have put the Cracker Barrel restaurant off I-40's Exit 125 in Hickory,
North Carolina, on your list.
_______________________________________________________
from the JIM CALHOUN INTERVIEW…
What do you hope your players take away from their
experience with you?
Calhoun: I hope that they understand that to be good at
anything you have to accept working hard. That we set a precedent
and standard basketball-wise, academically, socially, etc. You are
going to have to work and no one is just going to hand anything
over to you.
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from the ROY WILLIAMS STORY…
Sometimes in meeting coaches, we were thrown right into the fire
and didn't have that nervous period of anticipation time. In this
case, things worked out beautifully. We waited for about 10 minutes
in the office alone before a nearby door opened and Coach Williams
emerged.
_______________________________________________________
from the GENE KEADY STORY…
Informing us that we were the first strangers that he had ever
invited into his home, he also let us know that his wife was in the
back bedroom with a .38 revolver under her pillow just in case.
We think he was kidding, but we weren't completely certain at that
moment. Remembering his intimidating demeanor on the sidelines,
Coach Keady was the exact opposite, nothing short of extremely
kind for the entire two-hour conversation.
_______________________________________________________
from the TOM IZZO INTERVIEW…
Izzo: I am not sure that I want to be patient because
I have a small window with my players. I have at most four years
with them, and a lot of times it determines the girl they marry and
the life they will live, by what you do in college and the image you
portray, and that is all in that little window. I always hear about
having patience, but patience is something I don't know if I want
to have, I would rather have understanding. Everybody is going to
move at a different speed. But the venue I am in, with how long
you get to graduate, how long you get to become an NBA player,
how long you get to win a national championship, how long you
get to set your footprint in the sand here, that doesn't have any
patience, so how can I?