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hinzed1127's review against another edition
3.0
If you're new to Goldsberry, this book is a distillation of a lot of his writing/talking points over the past 5+ years. The shot charts are illuminating, and the core chapters on Curry, Harden, LeBron, and Kevin Love do a great job illustrating the changing aesthetic of the game and how positions are continuing to evolve in an increasingly 3-pointer-first league.
That being said, the writing is really repetitive. Certain ideas and evidence get restated to redundancy, and in many ways this felt more suited towards a series of articles rather than enough material to fill a book.
Bottom line: if you want to read some good analysis and understand some aspects of the modern NBA you might not have considered, it's a good quick read, but the editing could have been better.
That being said, the writing is really repetitive. Certain ideas and evidence get restated to redundancy, and in many ways this felt more suited towards a series of articles rather than enough material to fill a book.
Bottom line: if you want to read some good analysis and understand some aspects of the modern NBA you might not have considered, it's a good quick read, but the editing could have been better.
tannerlund45's review against another edition
3.0
Awesome subject material, lots of awesome facts and visualizations. Was hard for me to get past some of the repetitiveness though. Felt like he was trying to meet a word or page count. Could have been more effective with 50 fewer pages. Absolutely loved the last chapter though! Great read for fans longing for basketball prior to the obsession with 3 point shooting.
"But that obsession came from my desire to understand greatness in my favorite sport. It didn't come from my desire to direct it."
"But that obsession came from my desire to understand greatness in my favorite sport. It didn't come from my desire to direct it."
docjh's review against another edition
5.0
Simple, clear data and a great narrative argument. Best analysis of how the modern NBA game came to be.
oreojakesters's review against another edition
4.0
I was fortunate enough to be able to see Goldsberry talk about "Sprawlball" in-person at a book signing event, and he could not have been a more personable, yet strikingly intellectual mind regarding the game of basketball. Sprawlball is INCREDIBLY nerdy, but in the best possible ways, with maps, graphs, and charts to give data on the way the game has changed and is continuing to change, and Goldsberry questions whether or not this is a good thing and even provides some suggestions to change it. Overall, it puts the league in perspective and opens your mind.
giantrobot's review against another edition
3.0
Excellent points with lots of great visualization diagrams and supporting data. However the lengthy examination is hammered home so much that it almost ends up being a one-note complaint about how the three-point shot has ruined classic basketball.
While the changes in the game and the roles of the players can't really be refuted, it elides the fact that no team really has found long-term success in it except for the Golden State Warriors, who have the best shooter of all-time, backed with another historically great shooter. It remains to be proven whether more teams can reliably and repeatedly succeed without Steph and Klay.
While the changes in the game and the roles of the players can't really be refuted, it elides the fact that no team really has found long-term success in it except for the Golden State Warriors, who have the best shooter of all-time, backed with another historically great shooter. It remains to be proven whether more teams can reliably and repeatedly succeed without Steph and Klay.
blacksentai's review against another edition
4.0
My worry with a lot of basketball books written lately is that they're so un their own butts with how smart they are that you don't actually end up learning anything other than what the writer thinks of themselves. This does not do that. This book poses questions and has some answers that seem to be well thought out. Goldsberry doesn't seem like a know it all and it makes the book so much more enjoyable. Also the illustrations are super neat.
jimbritt75's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting thoughts, but too repetitive and disjointed to really enjoy. Would’ve worked better as a long magazine piece. Nice illustrations, though!