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A Season With Coach Dick Bennett
Book by Ferris, Eric
Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 14, 2016
Personal Response
I really enjoyed this book. I think the author Eric Ferris did an excellent job covering the Badgers in the 1996-97 season. He did a good job of capturing Dick Bennett and the teams emotions throughout the season filled with much turmoil. I enjoyed being able to dive deeper into what goes on during a college basketball season with the team than just the games themselves. I thought it was very interesting digging deeper into Bennett´s seemingly easy decisions like, who the starters were for each game. Normally as a casual fan, I would think this decision would be very easy to make and it would take no time at all, but Bennett spends hours watching practice, going over the film, and thinking before putting a group of players on the floor.
Plot Summary
The plot of this book starts at the very end of the 1995-96 season when the Badgers had a very successful season and looked to build off of it coming into this year. It than gave a background on all of the players the Badgers had coming back this season. The book went into the recruiting happening before the season even started. Wisconsin was in a recruiting battle for a 4 star prospect with Indiana, at the time Indiana was a basketball power and Bennett didn't think he would be able to land the prospect. He took a visit to Wisconsin and a visit to Indiana, Bennett was afraid he would like Indiana more because of their practices and how energized and fun they were compared to Wisconsin´s. The prospects mom wanted him to go to IU but his dad wanted him to go to Wisconsin. Eventually, he announced that he was going to Wisconsin which made the entire Badger coaching staff very happy. The season began with the Badgers going 6-0 and steamrolling some very easy teams. Wisconsin than traveled to St. Johns where they took their first loss of the season. After that, it became a very up and down season for Wisconsin. They had big highlight wins over teams like Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; but the Badgers also had some very ugly losses to Iowa, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Indiana. Wisconsin earned themselves the 7 seed and a matchup with number 10 Texas in Pittsburgh. The Badgers lost the game 71-58 in a very lackadaisical effort.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to any Badger fan. I would also recommend it to any basketball coach, whatever level they be. I think it would be good for them because it shows the style of coaching Dick Bennett used and some of the upsides and downfalls of this year of coaching for him. I think they could learn what to do and not to do, just from this book.
I really enjoyed this book. I think the author Eric Ferris did an excellent job covering the Badgers in the 1996-97 season. He did a good job of capturing Dick Bennett and the teams emotions throughout the season filled with much turmoil. I enjoyed being able to dive deeper into what goes on during a college basketball season with the team than just the games themselves. I thought it was very interesting digging deeper into Bennett´s seemingly easy decisions like, who the starters were for each game. Normally as a casual fan, I would think this decision would be very easy to make and it would take no time at all, but Bennett spends hours watching practice, going over the film, and thinking before putting a group of players on the floor.
Plot Summary
The plot of this book starts at the very end of the 1995-96 season when the Badgers had a very successful season and looked to build off of it coming into this year. It than gave a background on all of the players the Badgers had coming back this season. The book went into the recruiting happening before the season even started. Wisconsin was in a recruiting battle for a 4 star prospect with Indiana, at the time Indiana was a basketball power and Bennett didn't think he would be able to land the prospect. He took a visit to Wisconsin and a visit to Indiana, Bennett was afraid he would like Indiana more because of their practices and how energized and fun they were compared to Wisconsin´s. The prospects mom wanted him to go to IU but his dad wanted him to go to Wisconsin. Eventually, he announced that he was going to Wisconsin which made the entire Badger coaching staff very happy. The season began with the Badgers going 6-0 and steamrolling some very easy teams. Wisconsin than traveled to St. Johns where they took their first loss of the season. After that, it became a very up and down season for Wisconsin. They had big highlight wins over teams like Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; but the Badgers also had some very ugly losses to Iowa, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Indiana. Wisconsin earned themselves the 7 seed and a matchup with number 10 Texas in Pittsburgh. The Badgers lost the game 71-58 in a very lackadaisical effort.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to any Badger fan. I would also recommend it to any basketball coach, whatever level they be. I think it would be good for them because it shows the style of coaching Dick Bennett used and some of the upsides and downfalls of this year of coaching for him. I think they could learn what to do and not to do, just from this book.
January 9, 2013
I'm a coach and I love Dick Bennett. This book really showed the heart and soul of a legendary coach and his struggles with his team, with himself and ultimately, his dedication to a single vision that lead him to the pinnacle of the basketball world.
I would highly recommend this to anyone if they love sports. The struggle between his faith and the realities of being a coach in a highly competitive environment was really fascinating for me (a former pastor).
Dick Bennett is a model coach and man and his legacy is being carried on at UVA by his son. If you want to know what is behind the success of Butler, Wisconsin, UVA...read this book.
I would highly recommend this to anyone if they love sports. The struggle between his faith and the realities of being a coach in a highly competitive environment was really fascinating for me (a former pastor).
Dick Bennett is a model coach and man and his legacy is being carried on at UVA by his son. If you want to know what is behind the success of Butler, Wisconsin, UVA...read this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews