The Cockroach Basketball League: A Novel [Paperback]

Charley Rosen (Author), Phil Jackson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 1998

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hard-driving coach Bob Lassner of the Savannah Stars believes that life is a metaphor for basketball, and his obsession with the game animates this kinetic, raunchy ramble through the sport's minor leagues. Lassner, a lapsed hippie and divered raised in a Bronx tenement, swings between rage and compassion for his wayward players. His top scorer is selfish and arrogant; another player faces a grandjury investigation for a point-shaving scheme; other Stars take drugs or drink too much. Among Lassner's problems are a meddlesome team owner, racial friction and a rumor that he will be fired if he fails to rack up victories. Minor-league coach Rosen (Have Jumpshot Will 7?avel) uses his fictional Commercial Basketball League to probe the aspirations, pressures and frustrations of players and coaches who may never make the NBA. Illustrated with diagrams of plays and game plans, this action-packed novel is peppered with trenchant observations on college and pro basketball, media hype and life in the minors. Lassner's epiphany in a jail cell after taking a swing at a sleazy rival coach adds a poignant touch.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Basketball player, coach, and critically acclaimed novelist CHARLEY ROSEN played for Hunter College from 1959–62, where he set school records for scoring and rebounding, and was voted team MVP all three years. He went on to play for the US Maccabiah team in 1961, for Camden and Scranton in the Eastern League (a forerunner of the Continental Basketball Association) in 1962, and was a member of the bronze-medal-winning team in the World Senior Games in 1994. Rosen coached in the minor-league Continental Basketball Association for nine years and was the head coach of the women's team at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He lives in Woodstock, NY.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press (October 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888363789
• ISBN-13: 978-1888363784
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,836,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, raucous romp through basketball's minor league., April 18, 1999

By 

Mike Ginn (Carmel, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cockroach Basketball League: A Novel (Paperback)

The Commercial Basketball Association (wink, wink) may be minor league, but Charley's novel describing a year there certainly isn't.

This is as honest a portrayal as we are likely to see about any sport. Exposing the dark side of the basketball business -- and most of it's participants -- at first left me yearning for a more wholesome, less complicated (and more naive) view of the game. Soon the story hooked me and I was able to look at the ugly, and alongside it the excitement and beauty as well.

It is a human triumph that one's love for the game, and for one's teammates, survives assaults of all kinds. Charley's love shines through. If you love hoops, this is one of a handful of books I'd call, "must read."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but very weird, May 21, 2004

By 

"bnichols43" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cockroach Basketball League: A Novel (Paperback)

Phil Jackson groupie and sometime ESPN.com writer Charley Rosen turns in a fun, but sometimes off-putting fictionalized account of minor league basketball life. He develops the characters well and puts forth a decent plot. However, Rosen's personal oddities drag the book down. Rosen is absolutely obsessed with bodily functions and he repeatedly goes into way too much detail about farting, urination, defacation, etc. At times, the book reads like an immature third grader's delight. My roommates and I all read it and the general consensus was that the book was enjoyable, but Charley Rosen is a really weird guy.

3.0 out of 5 stars Good look at minor league BB, October 9, 2011

By 

whitesoxphil - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cockroach Basketball League: A Novel (Paperback)

Just finished Rosen's Cockroach Basketball League and thought it was a good, not great read. I am a pro basketball fan and have been for 30 years. Rosen gives a great look at the inside world of minor league basketball (surely based on his own experiences kicking around the CBA for years) from the perspective of a coach struggling with multiple issues, his team, the GM, fans, cops and his personal life. Enjoyed the basketball game play-by-play and that Rosen doesn't talk down to you as a basketball fan. The language is as real as it can get both from the BB perspective and also the "culture" of the game. Would recommend this book to any fan of the game.