Cockroach Basketball League

(Paperback)

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Description

The Cockroach Basketball League follows the tribulations of hard-driving coach Bob Lassner of the Savannah Stars, a team in the Commercial Basketball Leaguea fiction drawn from Rosen's own nine years experience coaching in the minor-league Continental Basketball Association. Lassner is an aging hippie and divorc 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 menboth players and coacheswho 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.

Reviews

This affectionate look at life in the basketball minor leagues is enlivened by real-life details from a coach who's been there. Mr. Rosen skillfully induces the reader to join 'the Brotherhood of the Sacred Hoop. The New York Times


Action-packed . . . poignant . . . peppered with trenchant observations on college and pro basketball, media hype and life in the minors. Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

A native of the Bronx and longtime pal of basketball guru Phil Jackson,CHARLEY ROSENled 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 worlds 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 includeThe House of Moses All-Stars, aNew York TimesNotable Book, andSammy Wong: All-American. His non-fiction works includeThe Scandals of 51: How the Gamblers Almost Killed College BasketballandMore 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.