Terry Pluto – författare

Unguarded reveals the Lenny Wilkens we have never seen before, the tough, strong, thoughtful, and analytical man who has spent a life in basketball making his teammates and players better than they knew they could be. Thought-provoking, candid, always honest, Wilkens shares all the secrets he''s learned in his four decades surviving in the NBA storm.For forty years, he has been the Quiet Man of the NBA. As a rookie, he was overshadowed by two pretty fair guards who entered the league at the same time: Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. As a veteran, he was—both figuratively and literally—a coach on the floor, but he had the misfortune to play for several struggling teams. As a general manager, he won a championship and made back-to-back Finals appearances—but he did it without superstars, a year before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird revitalized the league. And as a coach, he has won more games than anyone in NBA history—but spent his best years locked in the same division as Michael Jordan''s Chicago Bulls. Basketball connoisseurs have long appreciated the style and intelligence with which Lenny Wilkens played and the unflappability and class he''s brought to coaching. The respect he has earned resulted in his joining the legendary John Wooden as the only men to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice—first as a player, and then as a coach. Now, in Unguarded, Lenny Wilkens steps out from behind his placid demeanor to speak plainly and unequivocally on the enormous social and athletic changes he''s seen in his career. Wilkens sounds off about the challenges he had to overcome in the course of his journey: the racism that left him off the 1960 Olympic basketball team and kept him from being chosen as head coach of the first Dream Team; the fatal miscalculation that kept his Cleveland Cavaliers from getting past Michael Jordan to the NBA Finals; the painful, frustrating task of coaching a troubled and troublesome J.R. Rider, a player who contributed to his departure from Atlanta. And he credits those who went out of their way to help him: the priests and nuns who taught him the value of discipline and reinforced his faith; the coaches who pushed him to develop his talents to the fullest; the selfless players such as John Johnson, Hot Rod Williams, Larry Nance, Steve Smith, and many others who sacrificed individual glory for the good of their teams; his mother, Henrietta, and his wife, Marilyn, who stood beside him in many trying times.

What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association.What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association. The NBA may have won the financial battle, but the ABA won the artistic war. With its stress on wide-open individual play, the adoption of the 3-point shot and pressing defense, and the encouragement of flashy moves and flying dunks, today''s NBA is still—decades later —just the ABA without the red, white and blue ball. Loose Balls is, after all these years, the definitive and most widely respected history of the ABA. It''s a wild ride through some of the wackiest, funniest, strangest times ever to hit pro sports—told entirely through the (often incredible) words of those who played, wrote and connived their way through the league''s nine seasons.

Award-winning sportswriter and author of The Plain Dealer, Terry Pluto gives readers a frank and honest opinion of the National Basketball Association in the 1990s as it dealt with a low level of support following the extraordinary popularity it saw in the 80s.Pulling back the curtain on the struggles of the NBA in the mid-1990s, sportswriter Terry Pluto shares first-hand insight on how the league maneuvered some of its hardest seasons yet. Teams with superstar players that couldn’t make free throws, coaches getting blank checks from their all-star players when there were no fines for the season, and ill-chosen spokesmen of shoe companies are just a few of the hardships that struck the NBA. Through interviews and discussions with coaches, owners, refs, players, broadcasters, and general managers, Falling from Grace reveals what was going wrong with professional basketball and what must be done to save it.

An history of the beginnings of the National Basketball Associations for true basketball fans.Tall Tales in an oral history of the early days of the National Basketball Associations, when giants such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Maurice Stokes, Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Lenny Wilkens, Hot Rod Hundley, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor stalked the boards. When players sometimes had second jobs in the off-season. When teams were based in towns like Fort Wayne, Syracuse, and Rochester. If you consider yourself a true basketball fan, you need to know the sport’s roots. They’re all here, courtesy of Terry Pluto.

Unguarded reveals the Lenny Wilkens we have never seen before, the tough, strong, thoughtful, and analytical man who has spent a life in basketball making his teammates and players better than they knew they could be. Thought-provoking, candid, always honest, Wilkens shares all the secrets he's learned in his four decades surviving in the NBA storm.For forty years, he has been the Quiet Man of the NBA. As a rookie, he was overshadowed by two pretty fair guards who entered the league at the same time: Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. As a veteran, he was—both figuratively and literally—a coach on the floor, but he had the misfortune to play for several struggling teams. As a general manager, he won a championship and made back-to-back Finals appearances—but he did it without superstars, a year before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird revitalized the league. And as a coach, he has won more games than anyone in NBA history—but spent his best years locked in the same division as Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. Basketball connoisseurs have long appreciated the style and intelligence with which Lenny Wilkens played and the unflappability and class he's brought to coaching. The respect he has earned resulted in his joining the legendary John Wooden as the only men to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice—first as a player, and then as a coach. Now, in Unguarded, Lenny Wilkens steps out from behind his placid demeanor to speak plainly and unequivocally on the enormous social and athletic changes he's seen in his career. Wilkens sounds off about the challenges he had to overcome in the course of his journey: the racism that left him off the 1960 Olympic basketball team and kept him from being chosen as head coach of the first Dream Team; the fatal miscalculation that kept his Cleveland Cavaliers from getting past Michael Jordan to the NBA Finals; the painful, frustrating task of coaching a troubled and troublesome J.R. Rider, a player who contributed to his departure from Atlanta. And he credits those who went out of their way to help him: the priests and nuns who taught him the value of discipline and reinforced his faith; the coaches who pushed him to develop his talents to the fullest; the selfless players such as John Johnson, Hot Rod Williams, Larry Nance, Steve Smith, and many others who sacrificed individual glory for the good of their teams; his mother, Henrietta, and his wife, Marilyn, who stood beside him in many trying times.

During his career as the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Earl Weaver was called "baseball's resident genius." His distinctive style of managing helped his teams finish first or second thirteen times in his seventeen years as a manager. This volume reveals Weaver's approach to the game, with a focus on how to manage a roster, a lineup, and a pitching staff. He defines the differences between running a team during a single game and managing it during an entire season. In his characteristically blunt style, Weaver explains everything from how to tell when a pitcher is tiring to how and when to argue with an umpire. Successful ball clubs still mimic his offensive strategies. Readers of this updated edition will learn new ways to think about the game as it's played today.

¿Qué tienen en común Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, los Indiana Pacers, los San Antonio Spurs o el Concurso de Mates? Que todos nacieron en la Asociación de Baloncesto Americano, la mítica ABA: la liga del balón rojo, azul y blanco; de los peinados afro, los mates por encima del aro, la línea de tres puntos, los pabellones vacíos, la presión a toda pista y el espectáculo más libre.Pero la ABA no fue solo innovación y dificultades. Fue también una liga con una constelación irrepetible de personajes legendarios: Marvin Barnes y su genio indomable; Connie Hawkins, el talento prohibido; Roger Brown, el héroe silencioso; y también George McGinnis, Mel Daniels, Rick Barry, Wendell Ladner, Maurice Lucas, Bob Netolicky, Artis Gilmore, Billy Cunningham, Swen Nater… Puede que la NBA ganara la guerra del dinero y la estabilidad, pero la ABA ganó la del arte, la imaginación y la osadía.Bolas perdidas es la historia definitiva de la ABA. Un viaje frenético a una de las épocas más libres, divertidas y surrealistas del deporte profesional, contado íntegramente con las voces de quienes la vivieron: jugadores, entrenadores, periodistas y narradores que, durante nueve años imposibles, cambiaron para siempre la manera de entender el baloncesto.