The Game of Basketball: Basketball Fundamentals, Intangibles and Finer Points of the Game for Coaches, Players and Fans

I started out as a very skeptical reader. I have been in coaching for some time now and in my cynical mind I think that pretty much everything there is to basketball is out there. However, for a 200 page book, there is immeasurable knowledge in this book. I love the differing perspectives Coach Sivils gives in this book. While the book begins with fundamental such as passing and defense, which are drastically important for a successful team, he then moves on to tactics and player mentality and additives that are vital to a successful program.Coaches will agree that this is a very useful and appropriate book for the stage our players are at these days. For those that don't know, basketball is changing because of the different players that play the game. This book gives coaches, players and fans the necessary knowledge to make sure they keep up with the pace.Finally, one of my favorite details in this book is when Coach Sivils discusses how players can only remember so much. I think as coaches we forget many times that while we may have great ideas, our players can only remember so much before we need to integrate repetition to improve muscle memory. Coaches are too often detrimental to their players because we saturate them with too much information to easily process during a game.Whether you are a full-time coach, parent-coach, player or fan, you will love "The Game of Basketball" by Kevin Sivils for its insight and application to our modern basketball era.

This book had a lot of basic info that is great reminders. In college and high school I remember hearing or doing these things as an athlete. Especially when dealing with younger athletes it is easy to forget to emphasize many of these things, but these are the foundation on whatever you do rests. I really liked the section that had suggested reading and websites.

This book is more of a series of "proverbs" or individual tidbits of information and contains a wealth of finer points that many casual youth coaches might not think to emphasize. It isn't laid out in terms of a comprehensive training plan or coaching strategy but can be used along with another book that does provide those things to suggest techiques that can be emphasized or developed. That is OK, but since the information isn't very well integrated with an overal strategy, I would probably give 4 stars based on content.However, the kindle version of this book is flawed. By it's nature this is a quick reference type of book and a good table of contents is essential. However, the table of contents in this book is formatted poorly (bordering on unreadable) and lacks the detail to be able to quickly navigate to points of interest. Even worse, if you try to use the "Table of contents" feature in a kindle reader program / app, the reader immediately crashes or freezes up (depending on the device). If you scroll there from the front cover of the book, the reader will crash as soon as you hit the table of contents. (the crash seems to happen only on the first page containing chapters 1-4), if you can get to the other table of contents pages, they seem to work. I have had this issue on the iPhone, Touchpad and PC versions of the Kindle reader (my actual Kindle reader device does not crash and the format of the TOC is better).(just a follow-up note... the author contacted me about my issues and has committed to work with the publisher to get the Kindle edition corrected and offered to send me the print edition while I wait. I thought this was a nice touch. I will try to update my review once I see a revised Kindle edition, but if you're reading this more than a couple of months after this was written, you can probably download the sample to see if the table of contents is working)

Kevin Sivils has written a series of books on basketball, but "The Game of Basketball" is his crown jewel. Coach Sivils presents a comprehensive "how to" approach on basketball fundamentals, with outstanding chapters including both passing and receiving, "the fine art of cutting", and shooting.But he presents information in a way that both coaches and players can improve their ability to "see the game", as recommended by legendary coach Pete Newell.Players and coaches who read "The Game of Basketball" will gain insight into how to prepare, and the "why" and "when to" do it of basketball. All middle school or high school coaches will learn something by reading this book.

This was a good book that illustrated the fundamental principles of basketball well. My only perceived drawback with this book was the lack of diagrams which would have significantly aided my comprehension of the topics.

My main issue with the book is the title is very misleading. This is not a book on fundamentals, basic concepts etc., rather a book on a sub-set of the finer points of the game. One you would likely not coach or focus on until you are an advanced basketball player. So, for that there is a fair number of solid recommendations. Just do not recommend if you're looking for a basic/intermediate level book on basketball.

I just picked this up for my Kindle because the price was right and I coach basketball. It turns out to be the best book on the little things we sometimes forget to teach I have ever read. The author addresses a slew of little things that I take for granted in good players, but then I wonder what's wrong when my players aren't doing some of those things.

This is not a beginners book. It does not explain the rules of the game or what each position is suppose to do. This is more of a level two book. I would suggest buying a more a basic book before this one or reading some articals online. In addition, the book is not very concise and jumps from point to point. It does not really go into detail in order to better explain ideas. Based on the other basketball books i've seen (not read) on amazon, this book still looks better. If you are watching basketball and want a better understanding of the game, this book will certainly help. The best part about the book is probably going to be its low price point coupled with the fact that it is packed with basketball information.