The City Game

Basketball from the Garden to the Playgrounds

By: Pete Axthelm, Rick Telander (Introduction by)

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Paperback | 1 February 1999

At a Glance

Paperback
277 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20 x 12 x 1

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$37.75

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Pete Axthelm follows the 1969-70 season of the New York Knicks and provides a parallel focus on basketball as it was then played in the black neighborhoods of New York City. Throughout, he writes clearly, intelligently, and passionately about the game, bringing alive the players' efforts, accomplishments, and failures.

Industry Reviews

"The master prose stylist portrays parallel basketball worlds in New York City: Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks won the 1969-1970 championship, and the playgrounds of Harlem, where stars such as Earl (the Goat) Manigault burned brightly but too briefly."-Sports Illustrated "The best description of basketball played in New York City streets during the sixties and seventies."-Bill Bradley, The New Yorker "Superb . . . [Axthelm] combines Knick history, player backgrounds, seasonal anecdotes and court triumphs with another phenomenon-city basketball in the crowded ghettoes of the nation. The areas he focuses on primarily are the asphalt playgrounds of Harlem and Bedford Stuyvesant. There basketball has its special code of behavior, its pecking order and its own culture heroes. . . . A few city playground aces have made it to college . . . , and a few have found an escape route to the Harlem Globetrotters or the Eastern League. But many others have become strung out on poverty or drugs or have been imprisoned. . . . The book offers absorbing insights into the most unique and gripping of all city sports."-Rex Lardner, New York Times

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Non-Fiction Sports & Recreation Ball Games Basketball

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Non-Fiction Sports & Recreation Ball Games Basketball

Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Knick Phenomenon
Two Games: The Challenge of Basketball	p. 3
"It Makes It Fun": The Game as It Should Be Played	p. 12
The Tradition: At Last, a Winner for New York	p. 21
Winning Streak	p. 37
The Cast of Characters
A Matter of Respect: Willis Reed	p. 57
The Backcourts of New York: Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, and Lesser-Known Stars	p. 67
In the Glare of the Media: Cazzie Russell and Bill Bradley	p. 84
The Bit Players: Mike Riordan, Dave Stallworth, Nate Bowman	p. 102
The Men Who Made It Jell: Dave DeBusschere, the Catalyst, Red Holzman, the Coach	p. 113
Playground Profiles
"People Wonder Why": The Stars Who Never Made It	p. 125
The Fallen Idol: The Harlem Tragedy of Earl Manigault	p. 134
"You Grow Up Quick": The Comeback of Duane Smith	p. 145
"Searching for Myself": An Athlete Called Funny	p. 149
The Giant Killers
Approaching the Playoffs	p. 159
The Baltimore Scare	p. 163
The Bucks: Holding Off the Future	p. 178
Champions	p. 192
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

The City Game

Basketball from the Garden to the Playgrounds

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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