Duke Basketball Books

[heath_harshman4]

Know of any good ones?

I have already read Blue Blood and To Hate Like This is To Be Happy Forever. Both very good. any others that i should look into?

[astoria26]

You need to get Five Point Play, by Coach K and Donald Phillips - it is the book to read right now. It's about the 2001 championship season - and there's parts that are so relevant to this season that it's almost eerie!

For example, when Carlos Boozer gets hurt late in the season, Coach K decides to revamp the team by going up-tempo, using speed and 3 point shooting to protect the paint, which is now their weak area. He describes this strategy to his players:

“I want us to sprint for 4 minutes. Then we’re gonna get that TV timeout (2 min). Then we sprint for 4 minutes again. Look at it like we’re going to beat them for 4 minutes.”

Then on defense, they use trapping schemes at the top of the key – pushing their opponent’s ballhandler further out. The faster tempo was also a lot of fun, letting the players play more freely because there was no time to call out set plays.

I really found his encouragement to his players fascinating:

“No one is allowed to say they’re tired. Your character in this drama never gets tired. And you guys on the bench . . your role is to tell them they are not tired – over and over and over again. Tired is not allowed.” (p141).

Wow. This is really our best chance at a national championship! Very much like Villanova in 2005-06, which used a 4 guard attack to earn a #1 seed and beat BC 60-59, only to get into foul trouble, shoot poorly (4 of 23 from three), and lose to a much bigger truck in Florida in the Elite Eight.

[dukerev]

Any of Coach K's books are good. I actually use some of his leadership principles that he lined out in Leading with the Heart. A really fun read is The Krzyzewskiville Tales by Aaron Dinin. Being a divinity alum, I didn't get to camp out in K-ville, but enjoy the history and the community nevertheless. An excellent read for any Dukie.

[Battierfan01]

I really like The Encyclopedia of Duke Basketball. It is written by John Roth, editor of Blue Devil Weekly. I believe it is the best reference source for Duke Basketball. It includes information on every player to have ever worn the DUKE jeresy, as well as information on past Duke teams, great games in Duke history, classic finishes, and even Duke opponents. It also has tons of statistical information. It can be purchased in the Duke Store through GODUKE.com for $35.

bf01