Highly Recommended Reading: The Art of a Beautiful Game

Thanks for the recap. I'm going to go get myself a copy this weekend.

 

Thanks! I'll pick it up.

 

looks like a great read. I read the intro that they show as a preview in the amazon link the thread creator posted. can't wait to read the whole thing!

 

I actually put this on my wish list last week on amazon. I just finished working my way through Dean Oliver's Basketball on Paper a couple of weeks ago. It's not like Moneyball in the way it reads, but there is a lot more information in it. I struggled in reading it straight through and had to take it a bit at a time (I think I needed a few more IQ points to process it more quickly).

I am typically not big on books that aren't fiction, I admit, but I really enjoy reading about basketball. At some point I'd like to read Mathletics as well.

 

Sounds cool, but I have no idea why you're shocked that Hayes may be our second most cerebral player.

 

Dean Oliver.

 

Jonathan Feigen last year said, of all the players on the team, Chuck Hayes would make the best coach.

 

Thank you.. I fixed! Like I said.. need a few more IQ points!

 

So I got this book yesterday night, and I'm about 2/3 of the way through.

The OP is right, this is an excellent book, and a definite must read for Rockets fans. Here's a rundown of things I've read so far pertaining to the Rockets.

Kobe Bryant's defensive insight on McGrady:
Believes he is not good at coming back to the ball once he's given it up, making it easy to deny him.

Rockets view on the value of rebounding:
You're looking for a rebounder who increases the percentage of rebounds that his team gets, rather then one who gets the greatest raw total. You want to separate out the players who actually get rebounds your team wouldn't otherwise get.

On Nick Anderson:
To this day he's still tormented by "fans" who keep bringing up the 4 missed free throws. It's actually pretty sad.

Shane Battier and Preparation:
As the OP said, there's a whole chapter devoted to Battier and him preparing for a game against Portland and a game against Cleveland. Some things I learned:

• Battier is so familiar with the playbook of every other team, he says he could easily step in for any team and know how to run their offense
• On Battier transitioning from "all-around" player to defensive specialist: "I don't have an offensive mind. Some people are brilliantly creative offensively. I'm not that way. I can't see how plays develop on offense, but I can see how plays develop defensively and what the rotation should be, two or three pasess from the current point during that play."
• Battier is very open about how he defends players, compared to Bruce Bowen.
• Battier doesn't looking at defending as a mano-a-mano contest. His goal is to do whatever he needs to to limit the other team's field goal percentage.
• The overwhelming bulk of his preparation is spent studying the opposition and memorizing what he needs to do on defense. The only time on game day he prepares offensively is with the pregame shooting routine. He professes that his main goal on offense is to be a 40/50/80 guy -- still elusive.
• Battier sits down before most every game with Sam Hinkie to go over defensive strategy.
• According to Battier, defense is much more than effort. It's about playing smart. It is observed that just looking at him play defense, one may get the impression that he isn't doing a whole lot (he doesn't wave his arms, slap the floor, gamble for steals, etc.). But in actuality, he's constantly thinking about what he needs to do to limit the other team's scoring.
  
• Battier believes having good defenders behind him is crucial to what he, or any great perimeter defender, does. This part was very interesting to me:
  
  
  Battier pauses. "I'm lucky to have a guy like Yao. He's not the best shot blocker, not the fastest, but he's there. Chuck Hayes is an unbelievable help-side defender. It wasn't until I got better help behind and better interior defenders that all of a sudden my reputation as a defender grew. Is it a coincidence? I don't think so." He laughs.
  
  "Not to take away from the great perimeter defenders in this league, he continues,. "I think Ron's one of the best, I think Bruce Bowen's one of the best, I think Tayshaun Prince is one of the best, I think Kobe is one of the best. But they usually have guys behind them that make their job a heck of a lot easier."
  ​
  Battier's view on this is very different from, say, Nick Anderson, who claimed that he always looked at it like his help wasn't there. He said that his job is not to rely on help, but to stop the other guy by himself. Battier disagrees: "I think the opposite. I don't want to be on Kobe Island, I've been on Kobe Island enough in my career -- it's not a fun place to be. I'm trying to get off Kobe Island."
• There truly is an art to how Battier contests shots. His goal is to distract and frustrate with the hand-in-face stuff. On occasion, he says he'll tap them on the face and maybe take a foul just to keep his man's attention off making the basket.
• There is also an art to how Battier contests shots in transition. I've always thought that Battier was especially good in these moments. He doesn't try to go for the highlight block shots, like LeBron, but instead he'll shadow the ball with his hand and make the offensive player think he's going to foul. Often times, this ends up in a missed layup.
• A funny quote from Battier, comparing playing defense with Artest (who'll sometimes insist on defending the best offensive player) versus McGrady:
  
  
  "It's better than Tracy McGrady," he says. "I'd be on one side of the court and he'd be pointing, 'Pick him up! Pick him up!' So I'd have to run all the way acros the court to guard a guy like Kobe. It's gone from one extreme to another."
  ​
• Post-game, after the media leaves, Battier goes over what worked and what didn't with Sam Hinkie. They both believe Roy to be one of his toughest covers. According to Battier, his five toughest covers are Roy, Wade, Bryant, Ginobili, and LeBron (honorable mention to Paul Pierce and Kevin Martin). Interestingly enough, Battier says he doesn't watch film of his performance. "You just put in your work. I do the scouting report before the game, I play to that scouting report and I play as hard as I can and I live with the results."
• Against the Cleveland, the strategy is to make James into a jump shooter. Artest takes the assignment primarily, because physically he matches up with James better. Sam Hinkie, though, says he'd prefer Battier on James because he feels he's better at forcing players into low-percentage shots. Hinkie really likes Battier.
• Battier believes that a good defensive possession is forcing the opponent into a contested 2-point jump shot. He says he thinks there are only maybe 10 guys in the league where a 2-point jumper is as good as the league efficiency at other spots on the floor. (e.g., Deron Williams, Nowitzki, Hamilton).
• On one play, Battier gets beat by Szcerbiak on a drive, to his astonishment.
  
  "He usually doesn't drive," Battier says, incredulous. "Only 31 times all season in the half-court. Thirty-one!"
  
  He pauses, shakes his head. "That's an example of the scouting report not translating to the actual game."​
  Thought that was interesting.
• After the game, there's a fun exchange between Battier and Hayes on how well the defensive strategy worked against James. Battier insists it was a success, as they were able to limit him to jump shots and he missed most of them. Hayes argues that too many of those jump shots were uncontested, which means the Rockets just got lucky. Here's the exchange:
  
  
  ... Ten minutes later, as the players are preparing to leave, Battier turns to Hayes, the power forward and his good friend (and something of a defensive nerd himself), who sits two lockers down.
  
  "So, Chuck," says Battier, "do you acquiesce to our game plan"
  
  Hayes looks up, frowns. "No, no. I think he just missed shots tonight."
  
  Battier is incredulous. "Those were the shots we wanted him to take."
  
  "No, those were open looks. When you were on him, you contested, but Ron didn't contest all night. Those are rhythm jump shots, a guy like that, you can't let him shoot those. Those are high-percentage shots!"
  
  Battier opens his eyes wide. "That's the point. They aren't high percentage. He shoots 38 percent on two-point jumpers."
  
  Hayes looks up from buttoning his shirt; he is having none of it. "These were different. He was open. They were rhythm jump shots."
  
  "You'd rather have him go to the basket?"
  
  "Yeah."
  
  "In the lane where he shoots 67 percent?"
  
  Von Waer, the youn Houston guard dressing nearby, hears this and pipes up, "No way! You're dead! Dead!"
  
  "F--- that," says Hayes.
  
  "So you're saying", says Battier, lacing his voice with sarcasm, "that you'd rather have him do what he did in Cleveland, where he went 11 of 23 and got to the basket? We want him taking those jump shots."
  
  Hayes remains steadfast. "He's the second-best player on the planet, and we all know who's Number 1, and you're going to give him open jump shots?"
  
  Battier looks at Hayes in disbelief, then looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. There is only so much one man can do.
  ​

There was a bunch of other stuff on this chapter I didn't touch on. Just a great read.

There's also a chapter entitled "Superbigs" which focuses largely on Yao Ming. I'm looking forward to that one.

 

Definitely an interesting read so far. Like most great writers/entertainers, it left me wanting more. Besides I like these kind of stuff that gives u an insight on the person also and not just the basketball player.

 

Thanks for the recaps. Loved the Battier-Chuck conversation.

 

Okay I am totally off to buy that this weekend instead of buying off amazon. Was it hard to find?

Edit: Oh and d, thanks for adding the popcorn machine

 

Found it at Barnes and Noble. A little pricey ($26), but I think its worth it.

 

Thanks for the highlights, durvasa. I am getting the book today. So far, my favorite has to be the term "defensive nerd." It really captures what Battier and Hayes are.

 

Through that amazon link from the first post, some online places are offering used copies for $11.38 plus $3.99 shipping. Amazon themselves are offering it for $17.16 right now.

 

Wow! Guys and dolls, this sounds like a must read. I've been carrying around a B&N gift card in my glove box forever and keep forgetting it's there. Now I know what to do with it.