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Lapchick: The Life of a Legendary Player and Coach in the Glory Days of Basketball (B)
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Lapchick: The Life of a Legendary Player and Coach in the Glory Days of Basketball (B)
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by Gus Alfieri
Sales Rank : 379330
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Hardcover: 344 pages
Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1 edition October 1, 2006
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1592288693
ISBN-13: 978-1592288694
Product Dimensions:
9 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Alfieri offers a good-hearted, reverential homage to basketball great Joe Lapchick that's colored by the author's own experiences playing for Lapchick at St. John's in the 1950s. A lanky kid from Yonkers who grew up with the game as it was growing up in the early 1900s, Lapchick was a pioneer as both a player for the traveling Original Celtics and later as a coach at St. John's and with the New York Knicks. Alfieri's book rings with respect for Lapchick's career and demeanor both on the court and along the sidelines. While its strength does not lie in thrilling or lyrical prose, it's carried forward by the energy Alfieri clearly brings to the subject. The extent of his research coupled with his own firsthand recollections allow him to dip into occasional re-created scenes and conjure images of the game's past, including bygone protective padding and oversized balls that got beat out of shape during a single contest. Still, testimonies from people as disparate as Bobby Knight and Bill Bradley make clear that the author is not alone in his admiration of Lapchick. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Joe Lapchick is a seminal figure in the development of basketball, but his legacy has faded into the mists of time. He may have been the first of the great big men as a player with the barnstorming Celtics of the 1920s and 1930s. He coached St. John's to both the National Invitational Tournament and the NCAA titles in 1939, piloted the New York Knicks of the nascent NBA in the 1950s, and returned to St. John's to lead it to a second NIT title in 1965. Alfieri, who played for Lapchick at St. John's, does a memorable job of re-creating the life and times of a truly memorable sports icon. Writing from a context of admiration and affection, he nonetheless portrays Lapchick as confused, ineffective, and ineffectual when a betting scandal touched St. John's during his second tour with the school. On balance, Lapchick comes across as a kind, decent man who loved the game that came to define his life and who also helped define that game. A moving sports biography and a memorable slice of basketball history. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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