The Legends Club

[SoCalDukeFan]

I am reading The Legends Club by John Feinstein. The legends are Valvano, Dean Smith and Coach K. I have loved some of his other books, especially Forever's Team and thought others were a little weak.

I think this one is very good. Some of the info is old hat but still bears repeating. Probably more about Coach K than the others.

SoCal

[jaytoc]

There's very little new about Deano, K, or the Duke program, either that he hasn't written before, or that you don't already know. Maybe some new insights into Valvano, at least for me, but much of that territory has been covered to death as well. I think maybe John et ux just needed another addition to the old homestead.

I find Feinstein's style predictable, if you've read him before, straightforward, and simple. Easy reading, and enjoyable since it's about this subject that we can't get enough of. But not great writing, by a long shot, and his tone and fly-on-the-wall approach can become tiresome.

[killerleft]

For some reason, when I think of John Feinstein, I get a mental picture of Nancy Grace with britches on, and I shudder. I know he could care less, but maybe one day I'll end my personal ban regarding his writing, because I enjoyed his books once upon a time.

[wsb3]

After reading JD's review here on DBR I think I will pass. Maybe it is all little stuff but when you have that much little stuff wrong it shows a lack of effort..at least from this small time writer's perspective.

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2016/3/21/11275080/the-legends-club-reviewed

[oldnavy]

Anyone reading Feinstein's book, The Legends Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano. ?

I am about halfway through, and a lot of the info is pretty well known and has been told before, but I am finding it interesting. Especially the Dean Smith paragraphs.

I have to admit that I am a little bit surprised that John doesn't seem to be treating Deano with kid gloves... you will read things in this book that were never reported about Dean in the NC biased media back in the day.

If you ever thought (or more likely know someone who does) Dean should be canonized based on how he was portrayed by the press take some time to read or recommend this book.

Seems pretty fair so far....

[BLPOG]

Anyone reading Feinstein's book, The Legends Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano. ?

I am about halfway through, and a lot of the info is pretty well known and has been told before, but I am finding it interesting. Especially the Dean Smith paragraphs.

I have to admit that I am a little bit surprised that John doesn't seem to be treating Deano with kid gloves... you will read things in this book that were never reported about Dean in the NC biased media back in the day.

If you ever thought (or more likely know someone who does) Dean should be canonized based on how he was portrayed by the press take some time to read or recommend this book.

Seems pretty fair so far...

Beware of poor fact checking. Review (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2016/3/21/11275080/the-legends-club-reviewed) by JD King.

[WakeDevil]

I am not impressed with the review. For one, the reviewer does not seem to comprehend that the author was repeating a story about Holland's dog. He was not saying the widespread belief about the name of the dog was true. Perhaps the reviewer is angling for a job as a fact-checker. Second, being obsessed with minor errors does not tell the potential buyer if the book is worth the investment.

I recommend the book even if you were around then and know most of the information. It certainly brings down Dean Smith a notch or two.

[Edouble]

I am not impressed with the review. For one, the reviewer does not seem to comprehend that the author was repeating a story about Holland's dog. He was not saying the widespread belief about the name of the dog was true. Perhaps the reviewer is angling for a job as a fact-checker. Second, being obsessed with minor errors does not tell the potential buyer if the book is worth the investment.

I recommend the book even if you were around then and know most of the information. It certainly brings down Dean Smith a notch or two.

I think the review addresses that pretty clearly:

But it's such a disappointment to hold Feinstein in such high regard and then to go through this and to think, well he didn't put very much effort into that - and then charged nearly $30 for it.

"The Legends Club" is significantly flawed and was not carefully edited or proofread. However, if you can accept it with these limitations, the comments by Coach K, Dean Smith and Jim Valvano and others are wonderful and at times deeply affecting. There is a lot of great stuff here for basketball fans and fans in the Triangle particularly. And mistakes aside, Feinstein is an evocative writer, and as always, he writes with great love about things and people he cares for.

[MartyClark]

I think the review addresses that pretty clearly:

But it's such a disappointment to hold Feinstein in such high regard and then to go through this and to think, well he didn't put very much effort into that - and then charged nearly $30 for it.

"The Legends Club" is significantly flawed and was not carefully edited or proofread. However, if you can accept it with these limitations, the comments by Coach K, Dean Smith and Jim Valvano and others are wonderful and at times deeply affecting. There is a lot of great stuff here for basketball fans and fans in the Triangle particularly. And mistakes aside, Feinstein is an evocative writer, and as always, he writes with great love about things and people he cares for.

I read it and liked it. I'm an ACC outsider. I became a Duke fan in the 1980's when college basketball wasn't so widely reported or televised.

Julio, with due respect, was probably correct on his factual corrections. It's still a good story, well written.

[oldnavy]

Beware of poor fact checking. Review (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2016/3/21/11275080/the-legends-club-reviewed) by JD King.
Noted, but he didn't get the fact wrong that DES was a bit of an horses' butt and not the Saint as he has always been portrayed here in NC.

[ballfour]

Beware of poor fact checking. Review (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2016/3/21/11275080/the-legends-club-reviewed) by JD King.

I was coming here to report some of the same. Like JD, I didn't pick up the book to find mistakes, but I was surprised by what I found.

-- The famous Sam Perkins in-and-out FTW shot against NC State in the 1983 ACC tournament was identified as being taken on the wrong side of the court.

-- Indiana is mentioned as being ranked No. 1 in 1987 for "a good portion of the season" when they were never higher than 2.

-- (This is more borderline) He talks of the 1990-91 Duke team being thought to be a year away from a Final Four run. Well, they opened the year No. 6 and were in the Top 10 for 15 of 17 weeks (http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/duke/1991-schedule.html). What is expected when you're a Top 10 team, or No. 6 to open - an NIT bid?

I innocently mentioned the last item to John on Twitter, not in a gotcha kind of way, and he said K told him the team was a year away. Elsewhere in the book, he talks several times about how you can't trust coaches when they talk down their team. But I guess you can trust it when it's K telling you in private and you use it two decades later to sell the narrative you want to sell.

I do like the way Smith is handled without kid gloves. Not that Smith didn't do a lot of decent things in his life - and assemble a lot of terrific teams - but he can't come close to the holier-than-thou image he's often given in the media. He said a lot of sarcastic and self-serving things over the years. We're lucky his stalling tactics didn't ruin the college game completely. Any other coaches get shut out in a half at Durham?

I don't regret buying the book or reading it. But the critiques you guys have assembled are right on the money.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Finally. Folks coming out saying what I've always thought of Feinstein. I read him once early on and haven't opened anything of his since. How he passed a freshman comp class at Duke confounds me. Bless his self-aggrandizing heart.
Love, Ima

[FadedTackyShirt]

Bilas & JWill have their fair share of DBR detractors, but I've never heard them booed in CIS. Have heard Feinstein audibly booed multiple times.

[WiJoe]

Really? Multiple times? I presume when he returned to "work" a game in Cameron

[FadedTackyShirt]

Really? Multiple times? I presume when he returned to "work" a game in Cameron

Actively rooting against Duke on a Navy football telecast didn't endear him to anyone at Duke. Was booed pre-game while walking on the CIS floor a couple of times.

[sagegrouse]

Actively rooting against Duke on a Navy football telecast didn't endear him to anyone at Duke. Was booed pre-game while walking on the CIS floor a couple of times.

"Actively rooting against" is an understatement. Of course, he is/was a paid Navy commentator. But he dropped an F-bomb on the live radio broadcast of a Duke-Navy game when the refs failed to call a pass interference penalty in the end zone. He then fired himself as a Navy announcer, only to relent when Navy wanted to continue.

[Devil549]

I have enjoyed many of the books John has written and understand he is hated by some/many on DBR.

I do think in all the books that I have read he describes the real Dean Smith not the made up one the local media and UNC fans believe in. DES is a man not a saint and has flaws like us all but I do use and believe one of hiis quotes "coaching is a dictatorship not a democracy".

Yes I do believe DES knew what he was doing leading the way for paper classes and the AFrican American Studies program over in Chapel Thrill.

[arnie]

I have enjoyed many of the books John has written and understand he is hated by some/many on DBR.

I do think in all the books that I have read he describes the real Dean Smith not the made up one the local media and UNC fans believe in. DES is a man not a saint and has flaws like us all but I do use and believe one of hiis quotes "coaching is a dictatorship not a democracy".

Yes I do believe DES knew what he was doing leading the way for paper classes and the AFrican American Studies program over in Chapel Thrill.

Yes and he understood the plague of Alleva. To bad nobody listened back then.

[Indoor66]

Yes and he understood the plague of Alleva. To bad nobody listened back then.

Please! Not that discussion again.

[macdaddy]

I don't recall if the book covers much, if any, of the UNC cheating scandal. It does mention the tremendous pressure on Deano after Duke won two in a row.
I thought it insinuated Dean was willing to lower his standards to win i.e. Jeff McInnis, Makhtar Ndiaye, Rasheed Wallace. We now know he was willing to do anything to keep up. He made Valvano look like a choirboy.