Rick Barry's Professional Basketball Bible

by Rick Barry

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0963638572
• ISBN13: 9780963638571
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Basketball Books
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

I watch a lot of basketball

I wish Rick's scouting report was still being published as I find it an extensive and insightful read into the abilities and career longevities of the players. This book and the others like it are just excellent.

A paradigm for free markets and assembling winning teams

Rick Barry wrote eight books covering eight NBA seasons, basically for general managers and coaches. They provide scouting reports by one of the games 50 greatest players. Written in B-Ball jargon Barry provides readers with a keen insight into athletic talent and its application or mis-application whichever the case.After perusing all eight books, I looked up the first five players drafted in every year back into the late seventies. Lo, I found that unless your team had one of the first three players taken in the entire draft your team did not win the NBA title. Furthermore I concluded that, after 13 years of holding season tickets for the Bullets, the teams that won most often have 8-9 good players vs those that lose who have only 3-4 good players. But, the pivotal player who carries the team must be present for ultimate success to be realized. To draw a comparison, I learned years ago that there were one million high school football players. These reduced to 70,000 college players and then condensed further to 1200 NFL players. These remaining players averaged 3-4 years in the league, but the top 100-125 played for 10-15 years. The team who had the most of these head-and-shoulders better players won the championship. I believe this model holds true in all sports at all levels. It fits with a basis tenet of chaos theory and also with Mike Hart's book "the 100: A Ranking of the 100 most influential people in history." Thus I maintain that it's a model for how free markets and their unfettered, spontaneous ordering arrange civilizations. This leads into why western civilization has succeeded in raising living standards more for the common man in contrast to command and control economies. Too bad Rick B. and Jordan Cohn stopped after the '97 season. It was great stuff for contemplative fans.

A must have book.

Quite simply all you need to know about every player. Rick tells it as it is. Bad players get ripped, under-rated players get recognised

Superlative

Rick Barry's player ratings are essential reading for any serious fan. A MUST READ. Put next year's guide on your shopping list

Simply the finest book on the NBA players available

Far too many people who know nothing about basketball teams or basketball players write opinions about the game. For serious fans of the game, Rick Barry offers in-depth analysis of every NBA player, all of the college draftees and potential free agents, many CBA types, and a hanful of potential foreign players who might break into the NBA. Certainly nothing compares, either in scope, depth, or accuracy of insight. Where many publications regurgitate last year's statistics, Barry tells you why Gary Payton is such a valuable defensive player or what is missing in Chris Weber's game. With this book, you will have a new appreciation of individual players and a better understanding of the story behind the statistics, the story the statistics do not always tell you. Rick Barry also provides a unique look at player statistics, giving fans the real shooting percentage of each player (a formula that factors in three point shooting) or assist to turnover ratios or blocks per minute. The only thing missing from this book is a player's career statistics and an analysis of the teams. These are hardly reasons to skip this publication, however. In fact, you will want to buy a new copy each year and follow with Rick the improvement and progress of your favorite players