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 enlarge | Author: Jack Mccallum
Publisher: Touchstone
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $2.36
You Save: $21.64 (90%)
New (26) Used (19) from $2.35
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 323041
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 074329811X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323640979173
EAN: 9780743298117
ASIN: 074329811X
Publication Date: November 14, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: This book is in brand new mint condition, and has never been used. We deliver all over the world within 4-14 working days. The book may have signs of shelfwear.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great story with a couple of flaws August 26, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm an SI subscriber, so I've been reading Jack for years in the magazine. I was looking forward to this book ever since I put it on my wishlist, and I wasn't disappointed. They gave him really great access, and the coaches seemed to relax around him and give him good quotes. He has a smooth and engaging writing style, which works great for wriiting about sports.
And he did not treat the players like Gods, and that was very key. He made Shawn Marion look like he was, your typical insecure semi-superstar, and allowed Amare Stoudemire to appear as the clueless, under-educated athlete that he is. Reserve guard Eddie House wound up being the star of the book, player category, he's very entertaining without coming off like a jerk.
A couple of quibbles:
Jack really does not like Mark Cuban, and takes as many shots at him as he coould. Makes a person wonder if he tried to float this book idea by the Mavericks and was turned down.
The other, far bigger gripe, is that the book was too short. It seemed that he rushed it to get it out quickly, and thus the focus so much on the playoffs, with the preseason and regular season not touched on much. I know that this is paritially a compliment, wanting the book to be much bigger, and I mean it that way. It just seems rushed.
All in all a great buy, well worth the money I paid, and I got it right here at Amazon.
 Feeds every NBA fan thirst of what goes on behind the closed doors of Phoenix Suns Basketball August 6, 2007
Over the last 17 years that I've been watching, reading, writing, and playing everything and anything that is related to the NBA, I've never come across a book which has truly captured the very essence of the league and the game of professional basketball until I read Jack McCallum's ":07 Seconds or Less [My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns].
Jack McCallum, Sports Illustrated chief NBA writer, had the unique privilege "come aboard" and take part as a member of the Phoenix Suns staff during the 2005-2006 NBA season. McCallum made the most of the opportunity and in the process penning an undaunted and realistic look at what goes on behind the closed doors of Phoenix Suns Basketball--from the coaches, players, trainers, broadcasting, management, and even the eccentric owner's perspective to the colorful metaphors (profanity laced statements) that they use as a means of self-expression from time-to-time.
McCallum captures classic moments (Gentry's Anthony Mason and B.J. Armstrong story (pp. 129); The sounds of a "jungle bird" in the Suns shower story (pp.180); The Eddie House story (pp. 74; 94); and McCallum's definition of coaching (pp.144); among others) and also meticulously explains several of the Suns basketball terminologies such as "dribble-ats" - "terms used to described when "the ball handler dribbles toward his teammate and either uses him as a screener or, more typically, hands off to him to keep the offense moving;" "Gold" - "term for fronting an offensive player, thus discouraging a pass from even being thrown;" and my favorite, "clickety" - Steve Nash's word for the "clock that clicks off the time until tip-off ."
Overall, it's one book that you can't put down. An amazing ride from start to finish and if you're not yet a Phoenix Suns fan, you will be after this book.
Phoenix Suns August 1, 2007
Jack McCallum had an insiders look at a season with the run and gun Phoenix Suns. Very well written and informative look at the behind the scenes action of a msuccesful NBA franchise.
If you want a good sports book, this is the one. July 12, 2007
This book brings you behind the scenes of the Suns during their 2006 playoff run. The best parts of the book, isn't the actual games but rather the behind the scenes dialogue between players, and even better the coaches. There are tidbits throughout the book about what went on during the regular season which are interesting also.
My only problem with the book is that I felt it peaked during the Lakers series, which was the first round. Not the authors fault, reading about Kobe, and Phil Jackson was more interesting than Elton Brand, Dirk, & Mark Cuban. & it was more dramatic than the other two series,(I give it 4 stars instead of 5, so it wasn't bad).
I would def. recommend this book to any sports fan, its better if your an NBA fan but you don't have to be. On a sidenote, (Im a Knicks fan), I always followed the Suns because of their fun up-tempo style but I will be pulling for them a little more this year.
A gripping chronicle of a tremendous season, in retrospect June 5, 2007
It's interesting to read Jack McCallum's insider account of the Phoenix Suns 2005-2006 season in light of their heroic effort in '06 and '07. There are parallels at work, with another series against the Lakers this year and a returned sense of persecution at misguided calls - especially the already-infamous Game 4 suspensions that sidelined Stoudemire and Diaw, prompting a torrent of invective from Suns fans toward NBA Commissioner David Stern.
:07 Seconds or Less is first and foremost an inside glimpse of the way that the Suns worked in '05-'06, spotlighting the team's varied personalities. Of course there is the almost stoic, self-sacrificing Steve Nash; the bloodthirsty competitor with a heart of gold in Raja Bell; the psychologically fragile but immensely gifted Shawn Marion. There's the evolving and terminally French Boris Diaw, and the blossoming Leandro Barbosa, both of whom stepped up even more so last season, playing ferociously (especially the lightning-fast L.B., recipient of the 2006-2007 Sixth Man of the Year Award).
There's plenty of other characters on the bench as well, most notably the scene-stealing class clown Eddie House and the goofy-but-lovable Amare Stoudemire, sidelined by knee trouble.
McCallum also illuminates the dynamics of the team's formidable coaching staff, led by the casual but determined Mike D'Antoni, architect of the suns run-and-gun style. Flanked by his old-school brother Dan, video guru Marc Iavaroni, seasoned veteran Alvin Gentry, and an indomitable Phil Weber, the Suns coaching staff provide an interesting perspective on the strange blend of art, science, and superstition that is coaching an NBA team. McCallum also pays due attention to the front office, especially then-new owner Robert Sarver, whose loudmouthed antics and verbal scuffles are frequently entertaining diversions.
McCallum's book has a great narrative arc, focusing almost entirely on the playoff series against the Lakers, Clippers, and Mavericks. The tooth-and-nail battle against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers forms the book's centerpiece, and McCallum aptly frames the series into an all-out war, signified by the hand-to-hand combat between Bryant and Bell. (Bell emerges as a hero in the series and the book, with a noble if unsportsmanlike flagrant against the hated-but-seemingly-superhuman Kobe, a game-tying three against the Clippers, and a heroic return while injured against the Mavs). The drama is kept at a fever pitch throughout the series, and McCallum milks every turnaround, setback, and obstacle to keep your attention riveted.
McCallum's prose is perfectly pitched to the NBA after many years of reporting: he skips around from subject to subject, but always keeping track of the long-term themes and struggles. And along the way, he also provides thoughtful commentary on a variety of outside subjects, from the love-him-or-hate-him phenomenon that is Kobe Bryant to the NBA's dress code.
In short, :07 Seconds Or Less is a must-read for Suns fans and heartily recommended to basketball fans in general. It's an eye-opening look at the inner works of one of the league's most exciting teams, and simply a ripping good piece of sports journalism.
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