Rise and Fire: The Origins, Science, and Evolution of the Jump Shot--and How It Transformed Basketball Forever

by Shawn Fury

It’s hard to believe that there was a time when the jump shot didn’t exist in basketball. When the sport was invented in 1891, players would take set shots with both feet firmly planted on the ground. Defenders controlled the sport, the pace was slower, and games would frequently end with scores fit for a football field. It took almost forty years before players began shooting jump shots of any kind and sixty-five years before it became a common sight. When the first jump shooting pioneers left the ground, they rose not only above their defenders, but also above the sport’s conventions. The jump shot created a soaring offense, infectious excitement, loyal fans, and legends. Basketball would never be the same.

Rise and Fire celebrates this crucial shot while tracing the history of how it revolutionized the game, shedding light on all corners of the basketball world, from NBA arenas to the playgrounds of New York City and the barns of Indiana. Award-winning journalist Shawn Fury obsesses over the jump shot, explores its fundamentals, puzzles over its complexities, marvels at its simplicity, and honors those who created some of basketball’s greatest moments. Part history, part travelogue, and part memoir, Rise and Fire bounces from the dirt courts of the 1930s to today’s NBA courts and state-of-the-art shooting labs, examining everything from how nets and rims affect a shooter to rivalries between shooting coaches to how the three-pointer came to rule the game. Impeccably researched and engaging, the book features interviews and profiles of legendary figures like Jerry West, Bob McAdoo, Ray Allen, and Denise Long---the first woman ever drafted by the NBA, plus dozens more, revealing the evolution of the shot over time.

Analyzing the techniques and reliving some of the most unforgettable plays from the greats, Fury creates a technical, personal, historical, and even spiritual examination of the shot. This is not a dry how-to textbook of basketball mechanics; it is a lively tour of basketball history and a love letter to the sport and the shot that changed it forever.

Genres: Sports, Basketball, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published February 23, 2016

About the author

SHAWN FURY is an award-winning journalist who has written for newspapers in Minnesota and North Dakota, and is the author of Keeping the Faith: In the Trenches with College Football's Worst Team.

Reviews

[dakejones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine. It was heavy on basketball history and light on actual arguments. I felt like a lot of the time was spent reading box scores and talking about random games that I wasn’t really interested in.

Also shoutout to the guy in 1956 who wrote that “What’s ruining basketball is the jump shot.”

[Ryan Berger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about basketball, yes. But really it's a book about small towns and the power of legends. It's about glory and how it fades. There are so many small things to love about this book, stories that will inspire you and break your heart.

Unfortunately, they're hidden in the ribcage surrounded by a skeleton of box scores and play-by-play accounts of long-forgotten games. And I do.... not.... care. And I'll go so far as to say I think it's poor writing. Wright Thompson (is it unfair to compare Fury to one of the all time greats? I'll tell you what, I feel silly because I thought this was a big book until I checked Goodreads and saw it has hardly any reviews. Might explain why I found it in a book store in Wyoming) manages to convey the big ideas at play first and uses box scores and shots to provide a little structure. Way too much of this book is just uninteresting recaps of games. Game stories don't make for engaging nonfiction-- that's why ESPN developed an algorithm that can produce them postgame (a sad, sad blow for sports reporters everywhere).

I really enjoyed the bits about dispelling the "myth" of a jumpshot origin, and how it's likely small-fry's all around the country developed it intuitively on their own to defeat their taller older brothers, and WWII helped the jumper spread like a virus. Well researched. Maybe *too* well researched.

A book about basketball in which the parts about basketball are the worst parts. Funny.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If anything, this book describes just how revolutionary the jump shot was and how much of a weapon it could be. The book is almost divided into two parts: an attempt to figure out who was the first to take the jump shot and the how it evolved from there. People actually lost their minds if you left your feet to take a jump shot. Now, you can’t imagine doing anything else.

Perhaps the most intriguing part was reading about some of those who succeeded with good jump shots in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. If wasn’t all NBA or major colleges. It could be playground/high school legends. It could also be women ballers. All intriguing and enlightening. The 3 isn’t seen as an abomination like some felt it was. Still, there will likely always be a place for a good jump shot in Basketball.

Mostly for the sports fan, but it could be of mild interest to a non-sports type.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is okay, but it already seems hopelessly out of date. Steph Curry rates a few mentions, and Mr. Fury does mention how the modern game is tilting towards a three point shooting contest, but the problem is that the game he anticipates in this book, is now *the* game, which means the lack of a chapter on the Splash Brothers, GSW, and their importance decreases this book's relevance to today's readers. Still, this is an interesting look at the history of the jump shot.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun

I have followed the NBA since childhood and for some reason never had read a book about it....😕😕😕😕.....highly recommend.....☺...great fun

[Corey Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will tell you every piece of history on the jump shot.

[Steve Plamann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Was hoping for a more analytical approach. This is the stories of a lot of good jump shooters. Many are clip jobs. Not entertaining.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting narrative account. Not great as a history, but very entertaining.

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

I am a big sports fan but even I found it hard to believe there would be a 300 page book about the jump shot. I was surprised how much I really enjoyed the book. Fury goes back to a time when there was no jump shot in basketball and writes about how radical those first athletes were who started shooting a jump shot. I was really unaware of this past. Fury also writes about the great shooters over the years some who are known and some who would surprise you. Fury travels all over the country interviewing those who are still alive and those who knew well the great jump shooters who are no longer alive.

The book hits close to home in that Fury is from Janesville, Minnesota which is in Southwest Minnesota. My wife is from Sherburn, Minnesota which is in that area. Fury also has a chapter covering Denise Long and Jeannette Olson who were 6 on 6 girls basketball stars in Iowa where I am from. 6 on 6 girls basketball is no longer played in Iowa but Fury describes accurately the love for the game and the pageantry of the state tournament. I was just a little kid when the Long and Olson battle took place but I heard grownups talk about them and other girls basketball stars who could shot the ball for years. It was a fun walk down memory lane remembering the game that Iowa treasured and some still miss.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, well organized, and yet something was missing. The author seemed to assume that readers would be more basketball fanatics rather than casual fans like me. There were a lot of references to iconic moments in basketball history, such as Christian Laetner's buzzer-winner, without telling the actual story. I happen to remember Christian Laetner and his story, which was good because the author assumed readers know the story. But there were other stories that I did not know. So, if you are not a huge fan, you may feel like you are missing something in this book.

Overall, the book did not seem to be about the jump shot as much as about who some of the amazing jump shooters have been over the decades. There were some amazing stories told. And the book did entertain.

I received a copy of this book for free through GoodReads First Reads program. Thank you!

[Josh Muhlenkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I heard about this book, I was very excited to start reading it. From the reviews I read, it sounded less like the typical sports book, full of hyperbole and celebrating great plays and players of bygone days, and more like a real, modern analysis of the way the jump shot changed basketball. Unfortunately, it was just like all of those other sports books doomed to mediocrity, as Fury gets lost in the stories of individual players, and loses the forest for the trees. Maybe you can't separate the jump shot from the shooters who used it, but Fury didn't even try.

[Carlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I normally would never read a book on sports, but I took on the task to be supportive of the author. As it turned out, I enjoyed it, which says a lot about the author's writing talents that he was able to yank me through an entire book about the history of the jump shot. I mean, who would have guessed I'd ever read a book not only on basketball in general, but more specifically the jump shot in basketball. Although I could have done with fewer stats, the stories were engaging. Nice job, Shawn!

[David Barney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I enjoy reading about historical aspects of sports. Good overview of the jump shot and how it has improved, modified the game of basketball. I really enjoyed reading about certain basketball players and how the jump shot benefitted their careers. He highlighted some great shooters and scorers.

[Stu · Rating 4 out of 5]

thorough history of the great jump shooters from high school to the pros. Focus from the 50's to the 2010's. shot developed in high schools when there was much more entertainment and communities supported lower level teams more than today. Practice and repetition the key to becoming great at anything.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book through Goodreads. I was really interested in this book and was so glad to win it. I did read it and it was very interesting. Amazing thought put into a jump shot. Have passed it on to my husband who devoured it as well.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not typically a book that I would pick up and read because I'm not a real big sports fan, but this one surprisingly turned out to one that I enjoyed. I am so glad that I won this on GoodReads and
I you can bet that I will pay it forward and give it to a friend to read. Thanks again.

[David Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a celebration of great shooters. It is an easy read, but I would have liked a bit more pre-history...what was basketball like before the jump shot? It is hard to imagine the game without it, but if you love basketball you will love this book.

[Adam J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well-written exploration of the jump shot, full of interviews with the jump shooters themselves. Fast-paced romp through basketball history - highly recommended.

[Bob McNamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give me the ball!

Great history and tutorial for one of Sports greatest talents. .... the jump shot and the great players who mastered it.