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THIS IS PRO BASKETBALL by George Sullivan

THIS IS PRO BASKETBALL

By

Pub Date: Oct. 24th, 1977
Publisher: Dodd, Mead

A compact, occasionally diverting account of pro basketball, which begins with Naismith's winter improvisation and moves chronologically through the years of low-prestige arrangements up to today's big league salaries and excitement. Sullivan rightly credits the 24-second clock and the 3-second rule for speeding up play and making the game more interesting; he discusses the impact of the big man and the 1950s issue of integration; and he acknowledges that although Chamberlain took over the record book, Russell changed the game and won the championships. The particulars on league formation and court dimensions are included, basic strategies and current superstars are noticed, and sideline information--origin of the backboard, enforced timeouts for TV commercials, pairs of sneakers in a season--are scattered throughout. Sullivan even reports on the social strains of being tall, and anecdotally provides the ultimate answer to that endlessly pesky question, ""How's the weather up there?