Customer Reviews

Central Division: The Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee (Above the Rim: The NBA Library)

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The Detroit Piston's stunning five-game upset of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA finals is about the only reason that this volume from "Above the Rim: The NBA Library Series" needs to be updated. There has not been as much turnover in the "Central Division" as there have been in the rest of the NBA (except for Rasheed Wallace joining the Pistons), but then the off season is still young and who knows what will happen before and during the NBA draft this week. In telling the history of the teams in this division one of the points of emphasis is winning championships and what the Pistons did would certainly qualify.

The chief value of this series is that it gives young fans of the NBA a look at the history of each team in the league. "Central Division" tells the story of the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Hornets, and Toronto Raptors. Robert E. Schnakenberg provides a brief history of the division, the teams that make it up and their greatest coaches and players. Fans of the Chicago Bulls who grew up watching Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen get to learn about Bob Love, Norman Van Lier, and Jerry Sloan. Even long time NBA fans might learn something new (Red Auerbach coached Atlanta at some point?).

Fans of each team will find that Schnakenberg does a good job of providing a basic history of the franchise so they can at least know the highlights. If you are a fan of the Atlanta Hawks and only know Sharif Abdur-Rahim and not Bob Pettite and Dominique Wilkins, then this book will explain why you need to expand your knowledge of NBA history. "Central Division" is illustrated with photographs of superstar NBA players, with both black & white shots of the likes of Bob Lanier and Oscar Robertson along with color shots including Reggie Miller and LeBron James. The back of this book includes all time team records, as well as the career leaders in points and rebounds for each franchise, and members of the Naismith Memorial National Basketball Hall of Fame from each team. There is also a Glossary of terms from "All-American" to "role players," along with a Time Line of when teams were founded and won championships, Books and Web sites for additional information about the Central Division and the NBA, and an Index.