Customer Reviews

Transition Game: How Hoosiers Went Hip-Hop

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Sports Illustrated tennis/basketball writer Jon Wertheim spent a winter back in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana tending to his ailing father. During that time, he re-connected with his high school's basketball program. He was agog at how things had changed in the 10+ years since he graduated. In comparison to the "Hoosiers" he left behind, Wertheim finds that Streetball-fueled athleticism is permeating every aspect of basketball, in every Indiana town.

Wertheim's book juxtaposes this new reality vs. the iconic image of the lone Indiana youth practicing his free throws in a driveway in small town. It's a theme he develops well in this book, but perhaps not as extensively as the eye-rolling sub-title of the book ("How Hoosiers Went Hip-Hop") implies. I imagine Wertheim blanched a bit when he saw that. Rather then deep-diving into hip-hop culture, "Transition Game" takes the reader on a 360-degree view of Indiana basketball - small high schools, big high schools, IU, Purdue's women's team, the legend of Damon Bailey, and the so-called "Crime Against Culture" (Indiana's universally despised move away to four-class basketball in 1998). It's a well-reported travelogue that gives the reader a flavor of how basketball culture is changing in even the most traditional of settings.

I bought this as a gift for my dad. I'm always looking for a good sports book for him for his birthday and I've read Wertheim's articles and his tennis mailbag in Sports Illustrated. But when this book came in the mail I picked it up and I couldn't put it down. I'm not even a basketball fan! I loved the writing- Wertheim is witty and perceptive, and I never realized how fascinating Indiana basketball is from a sociological point of view. When my dad finally got to read his gift (after I finished) he loved it and sent a copy to my uncle in Boston, a big basketball fan. Highly recommend this book!

I bought this book recently for something to do and being from Indiana, im always interested in high school basketball. This book jumped around and gave me infomation about the NBA and different aspects of the game that you can not began to compare to the high school game in Indiana. Yes the high school game in Indiana has changed but no where near the NBA game. I recommend this book for you are an out-of-state person wanting a good basketball book but as far as an in state person wanting to know more about the game we love in our backyard this is not it.

Wetheim's book is told in a series of vignettes, alternating chapters that detail the final season of an Indiana high school coach with chapters that address individual issues that effect the way basketball is played today around the country. Some of the areas covered include: agents, women's basketball, the globalization of the sport, college basketball, professional basketball, violence, and racism. We meet some of the players on the high school team, and see where they come from and why they play. Not all of the chapters are entertaining, but most of them are.

I recommend this for any fan of basketball, whether it be high school, college, or pro hoops you prefer.

No, no, no, this is a great book. Contrary to the opinion of one in San Antonio, Jon Wertheim's book isn't a commentary book so much as it discusses the issues of Indiana's basketball history with more of a backdrop of all the issues that effect life: race, class, gender and political issues. I can't say that Wertheim picks a side in terms of why things are the way they are -- which is great! This book is more of an analogy of the state of affairs of Indiana basketball. He does a great job of putting certain items of discussion on the table, but pretty much lets the reader choose which manner of explanation(s) support the reality that is an ever-changing basketball landscape in the nation's No. 1 basketball state (despite this year's NCAA woes--LOL). Cop this book!

Wow, Transition Game will blow you away! High schools, colleges, pro hoops ... Indiana's all where it starts & ends. Wertheim basically articulates a lot of the thoughts sports fans disclose in barbershops, bars & pool halls, but nothing anyone actually puts together in one pool of thought ... until now! Wertheim narrates the book by going back to his old high school ten years after graduation and is dumb-founded by the way his once predominantly-white, slow & unathletic team of also-rans morphed into one of international, uptempo & awesomely athletic state champions. He uses his observations of this transformation as a jumping off point to explore the state of basketball culture in other Indiana high schools, colleges, the Pacers and the NBA. He explores the impact of money, a generation raised on ESPN highlights & Title IX in its valiant attempt to equal the playing fields. Basically the book tries to explore how basketball went from what it used to be back in the day to where it is now. Whether or not basketball's transition is good or bad, he leaves up to the reader. Good read chalked full of sociopolitical commentary! Recommended.

A must-read for anyone interested in basketball. Wertheim makes multiple keen observations on how both the game and the culture of basketball, from high school to the pros, has dramatically changed in recent years. His writing style is elegant, witty and entertaining. A great way to spend a few hours.

In Transition Game Jon Wertheim exposes both his appalling lack of knowledge of the evolution of the game of basketball over the last 30 years as well as his complete lack of insight into both the experience and psyche of the black athlete-the predominant force in the game today.

This book purports to provide both a historical insight into the culture of basketball within the Hoosier Empire as well as an analysis of how Indiana basketball has impacted the game overall in America. It fails completely on both scores.

Part of the problem is that Mr. Wertheim either has no knowledge of the unfortunate aspects of racial segregation and discrimination in Indiana over the second half of the Twentieth Century or doesn't care to acknowledge the realities of that history. It really doesn't matter which it is: in any case, his failure to accurately reflect the forces that shape the social aspects of Indiana basketball forms the foundation for the failure of this book. As the book moves along, it quickly becomes clear that Mr. Wertheim also has no real understanding of either the sources of motivation for the black athlete nor the black athlete's attitude towards any aspect of either basketball or life in general.

It's also clear that Mr. Wertheim also doesn't understand the nuances of the differences in the way that basketball is played in Indiana. Within the more rural, Anglo communities basketball is a horizontal, team oriented game. Among the urban African American community it is a vertical, individually improvisational game. At the college level and among the pro's, this letter aspect forms the core of the philosophy of basketball as a game. This fact goes a long way in explaining why so many heralded Indiana basketballers-mostly rural white kids-fail at the higher levels. They don't play the same game and the way the game is played requires more moxie and more athleticism than they typically have. In general, the more gifted black players go elsewhere to play. That's what happened with Oscar Robertson and it has been the norm ever since.

The book does contain some interesting in depth profiles of players and programs and it's clear that Mr. Wertheim has a genuine love for the game-the way it was played 30 years ago and is still played in some of the more remote Indiana rural areas.

All in all, this is a truly disappointing and unusually clueless book.