also worked with young people at the city’s playgrounds. Manigault died in 1998 at the age of 53.
Basketball players, both older and younger, still play pickup games on playgrounds, street courts, and gyms all over the world. Playing pickup basketball is a great way for any player to improve his or her skills. But it is also important for a player to play and test those skills on an organized team.
John Wooden, the Hall of Fame player and coach whose UCLA teams won a record ten NCAA championships in the 1960s and ‘70s, once observed that pickup games arenot a real test of basketball skills. Wooden said, “Every once in a while I will overhear some young college player talking about beating [NBA superstar] Magic Johnson in a summer pickup game at [UCLA’s] Pauley Pavilion. I almost have to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that the
real
Magic Johnson was not on that floor. The real one stands up in the NBA against a Larry Bird or a Michael Jordan. There is a great difference.”
So what kind of basketball should be considered “real hoops”? The pickup games played on playgrounds and street courts, or the more formal games played with referees and coaches on gymnasium floors? Maybe the best answer is the one Ben and Hud found: play both pickup basketball
and
on an organized team with a coach. That way you’ll know for sure that you’re playing some real hoops!
About the Author
Fred Bowen was a Little Leaguer who loved to read. Now he is the author of many action-packed books of sports fiction. He has also written a weekly sports column for kids in
The Washington Post
since 2000.
For thirteen years, Fred coached kids’ baseball and basketball teams. Some of his stories spring directly from his coaching experience and his sports-happy childhood in Massachusetts.
Fred holds a degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from George Washington University. He was a lawyer for many years before retiring to become a full-time children’s author. Bowen has been a guest author at schools and conferences across the country, as well as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, and The Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fred lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife Peggy Jackson. Their son is a college baseball coach and their daughter is a college student.
Be sure to check out the author’s websites.
www.fredbowen.com
www.SportsStorySeries.com
Become a fan of Fred Bowen on Facebook!
In my research on the Rucker League and Earl “The Goat” Manigault, I consulted the history section of the National Basketball Association’s website,
www.nba.com
.
The quote from Coach John Wooden is from his book, T HEY C ALL M E C OACH , written with Jack Tobin.
While T AKE THE A T RAIN , the piece Ben and his school jazz band play for the winter concert, was the theme song of the Duke Ellington Orchestra for years, it was written by Billy Strayhorn.
Finally, the author thanks his daughter, Kerry Margaret Bowen, for her help in typing the original manuscript.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Fred Bowen
Peachtree Publishers
1700 Chattahoochee Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30318-2112
www.peachtree-online.com
Distributed by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
Basketball players, both older and younger, still play pickup games on playgrounds, street courts, and gyms all over the world. Playing pickup basketball is a great way for any player to improve his or her skills. But it is also important for a player to play and test those skills on an organized team.
John Wooden, the Hall of Fame player and coach whose UCLA teams won a record ten NCAA championships in the 1960s and ‘70s, once observed that pickup games arenot a real test of basketball skills. Wooden said, “Every once in a while I will overhear some young college player talking about beating [NBA superstar] Magic Johnson in a summer pickup game at [UCLA’s] Pauley Pavilion. I almost have to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that the
real
Magic Johnson was not on that floor. The real one stands up in the NBA against a Larry Bird or a Michael Jordan. There is a great difference.”
So what kind of basketball should be considered “real hoops”? The pickup games played on playgrounds and street courts, or the more formal games played with referees and coaches on gymnasium floors? Maybe the best answer is the one Ben and Hud found: play both pickup basketball
and
on an organized team with a coach. That way you’ll know for sure that you’re playing some real hoops!
About the Author
Fred Bowen was a Little Leaguer who loved to read. Now he is the author of many action-packed books of sports fiction. He has also written a weekly sports column for kids in
The Washington Post
since 2000.
For thirteen years, Fred coached kids’ baseball and basketball teams. Some of his stories spring directly from his coaching experience and his sports-happy childhood in Massachusetts.
Fred holds a degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from George Washington University. He was a lawyer for many years before retiring to become a full-time children’s author. Bowen has been a guest author at schools and conferences across the country, as well as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, and The Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fred lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife Peggy Jackson. Their son is a college baseball coach and their daughter is a college student.
Be sure to check out the author’s websites.
www.fredbowen.com
www.SportsStorySeries.com
Become a fan of Fred Bowen on Facebook!
In my research on the Rucker League and Earl “The Goat” Manigault, I consulted the history section of the National Basketball Association’s website,
www.nba.com
.
The quote from Coach John Wooden is from his book, T HEY C ALL M E C OACH , written with Jack Tobin.
While T AKE THE A T RAIN , the piece Ben and his school jazz band play for the winter concert, was the theme song of the Duke Ellington Orchestra for years, it was written by Billy Strayhorn.
Finally, the author thanks his daughter, Kerry Margaret Bowen, for her help in typing the original manuscript.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Fred Bowen
Peachtree Publishers
1700 Chattahoochee Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30318-2112
www.peachtree-online.com
Distributed by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
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