The Cockroach Basketball League: A Novel - Softcover

Rosen, Charley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1888363789 ISBN 13: 9781888363784

Publisher: Seven Stories Press, 1998

Synopsis

The Cockroach Basketball League follows the tribulations of hard-driving coach Bob Lassner of the Savannah Stars, a team in the Commercial Basketball League—a fiction drawn from Rosen's own nine years experience coaching in the minor-league Continental Basketball Association. Lassner is an aging hippie and divorcé who hails from a Bronx tenement. His obsession with the game of basketball animates this kinetic, gritty ramble through the sport's minor leagues.
Lassner is either red with rage or soft with compassion as he struggles to deal with his wayward players. His top scorer is selfish and arrogant; another player faces a grand jury for a point-shaving scheme; still others are drinking and taking drugs. Lassner also faces a meddlesome team owner, racial tension, and the threat of losing his job if he doesn1t produce victories.
With The Cockroach Basketball League, Rosen provides a poignant portrait of men—both players and coaches—who may not ever make it to the NBA. Through this look at life in the minors, Rosen offers a unique perspective on college and pro basketball, media hype, and the psychology of dreams deferred.

About this title

About the Author

A native of the Bronx and longtime pal of basketball guru Phil Jackson, CHARLEY ROSEN led the league in technical fouls during each of his six years as a coach in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association. Since then he has become the world’s foremost writer of fiction and nonfiction on the subject of basketball, chronicling the drama that takes place both on and off the court. His many novels include The House of Moses All-Stars, a New York Times Notable Book, and Sammy Wong: All-American. His non-fiction works include The Scandals of ’51: How the Gamblers Almost Killed College Basketball and More than a Game, with Phil Jackson. Rosen is an analyst for hoopshype.com and a devotee of the Triangle Offense. He lives in Accord, NY.

PHIL JACKSON is a seven-time world champion NBA coach (six times with Chicago, once with Los Angeles). He currently serves as the President of Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks.

From Publishers Weekly

Hard-driving coach Bob Lassner of the Savannah Stars believes that life is a metaphor for basketball, and his obsession with the game animates this kinetic, raunchy ramble through the sport's minor leagues. Lassner, a lapsed hippie and divered raised in a Bronx tenement, swings between rage and compassion for his wayward players. His top scorer is selfish and arrogant; another player faces a grandjury investigation for a point-shaving scheme; other Stars take drugs or drink too much. Among Lassner's problems are a meddlesome team owner, racial friction and a rumor that he will be fired if he fails to rack up victories. Minor-league coach Rosen (Have Jumpshot Will 7?avel) uses his fictional Commercial Basketball League to probe the aspirations, pressures and frustrations of players and coaches who may never make the NBA. Illustrated with diagrams of plays and game plans, this action-packed novel is peppered with trenchant observations on college and pro basketball, media hype and life in the minors. Lassner's epiphany in a jail cell after taking a swing at a sleazy rival coach adds a poignant touch.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Seven Stories Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1888363789
• ISBN 13: 9781888363784
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288