Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis: Montieth, Mark: 9780998729800: Amazon.com: Books (original) (raw)
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Customers find the book well-written, interesting, and easy to read. They appreciate the great insight into the history of pro basketball in Indianapolis.
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17 customers mention "Readability"17 positive0 negative
Customers find the book well-written, interesting, and fun. They say it's easy to read and not cluttered with photos.
"This book is a good read. My only complaints would be 1) too many footnotes; and, 2) some chapters go on way too long...." Read more
"...Wonderful book an a great read. I plan on buying another soon for a Christmas present." Read more
"...This is not a picture book it is a HISTORY book written in a very readable style...." Read more
"...If this is your cup of tea, it is very well written, along with being meticulously researched...." Read more
7 customers mention "History accuracy"7 positive0 negative
Customers find the book's history accurate. They say it provides great insight into the history of pro basketball in Indianapolis.
"This book is a very well-researched and complete history of the formation of the ABA Indiana Pacers in 1967 and their first two years of operation...." Read more
"...It is a great history of how the ABA started and the challenges they faced...." Read more
"...The book is a good history of how the Pacers organization started and to where the Pacers progressed in the first two seasons...." Read more
"...is your cup of tea, it is very well written, along with being meticulously researched...." Read more
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Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2018
This book is a very well-researched and complete history of the formation of the ABA Indiana Pacers in 1967 and their first two years of operation. For a serious fan of basketball, Reborn is a wonderful mix of history, business operations, marketing and promotion, recruiting methods, coaching styles, and unique player personalities; all that goes on behind the scenes in professional basketball. Montieth details the struggles of Pacer organizers to raise necessary capital, rally the support of the Indianapolis news media, locate and staff a front office, recruit players and coaches, and attract a fan base that ultimately resulted in one of the strongest franchises in the often shaky new professional basketball league.
Reborn covers so many topics so well that anyone with an interest in college or professional basketball is likely to find much to love and to learn. As a former college player and high school coach, the sections on coaching methods and player personalities resonated most clearly for me, especially those involving Roger Brown. I was a sophomore forward warming the bench at the University of Dayton in 1960-61, the year Brown was an incredibly talented basketball recruit from New York City playing on UD’s freshman team. Coach Tom Blackburn often talked of him as “the next Oscar Robertson.” That year, like no other, fans filled the Fieldhouse by 6:30 on the nights of Flyer varsity games to see the preliminary freshmen game, that is, to see Roger play.
As Montieth tells the story, soon after the 1960-61 basketball season, 19-year-old Brown was, in effect, banned for life from college basketball and the NBA. The author rightly points out that Roger was an “…unwitting victim of the latest attempt by political figures to sweep gambling out of college basketball.” Brown worked in a factory in Dayton from ages 20 to 25, six of his prime basketball years, yet when given the opportunity by the ABA Pacers he was able to regain enough of his basketball prowess to put together an 8-year, hall-of-fame professional career (1967-1975).
Throughout Reborn, Montieth makes effective use of humor, human interest, and sports drama to add appeal to what could be dry history. Anyone who has lived in Indianapolis through consecutive winter and spring seasons will appreciate general manager Mike Storen’s joke that the second choice for the team’s nickname was “Potholes.”
I loved the story of Jerry Harkness’s (more-or-less) 90-foot hook shot at the final buzzer that gave the Pacers a one-point win in Dallas early in their first season. That the shot went in is almost unbelievable. For it to result in a walk-off win in the infancy of the three-point rule is just fantastic. Montieth embellishes the event with a hilarious, several-page description of all the hubbub among fans, players, coaches, and officials after the winning shot.
Coincidentally, 78-year-old Harkness’s memoir Connections will be published in June 2018. Once again, Jerry’s timing is impeccable as he is coming off a recent period of unusual national attention. His alma mater, Loyola of Chicago, advanced to the final four in 2018 for the first time since the Harkness-led Ramblers were 1963 NCAA champs.
As for Montieth’s future goals, “I hope to produce a book on the remaining ABA seasons…” and another on earlier professional basketball teams in Indianapolis. “Reborn ideally will become the middle volume of a trilogy.” I strongly recommend Reborn and hope to be among the first to read his trilogy.
Hal Schoen is author of Growing Up, Farm Life & Basketball in the 1940s & '50s.
2 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2018
I bought this because my reading group suggested we read about sports during the month of March. I am a big Pacer fan and thought this would be the ideal book. I also follow Mark Montieth on Twitter so I had heard about this book from him.
I recommend this book obviously to anyone interested in the Pacers, a professional basketball team in the NBA. It is a great history of how the ABA started and the challenges they faced. Pacer fans will learn some history behind the names hanging from the rafters at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. I for one did not know anything about Freddie Lewis or Roger Brown besides the fact they played for the Pacers.
I also recommend this to anyone who wants to revisit, indirectly, the history of Indianapolis in the 1960's. Many of the people associated with the start of the ABA and the Pacers are names that I grew up hearing about as the movers and shakers of Indy. Also I had not heard of the Olympians.
Finally what is also discussed in the book is what it was like to be black in the 60's in Indy. This is dealt with indirectly through stories of travel and housing problems the team faced.
Mark promises to write a second book; the years the Pacers were dominate in the ABA. I look forward to reading it.
2 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2018
This book is a good read. My only complaints would be 1) too many footnotes; and, 2) some chapters go on way too long. The footnotes often have very little to do with the content to which it is associated. It's almost like Montieth forgot to put something in the chapter; so, rather than reformatting, just stuck in a footnote. Some chapters exceed 50 pages and could be multiple chapters. Makes it a bit difficult to find a good stopping point.
The book is a good history of how the Pacers organization started and to where the Pacers progressed in the first two seasons. I was a bit disappointed that the book didn't go further into the future years of the organization.
One person found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2017
Oh how this book brought back the memories ! I have vivid memories of my Father and Uncle taking me to the Pacers games in the early 70s .This book helped me relive those found memories. The stories of the beginning of the franchise I found to be Fascinating as I was just a child of seven when they were born. I can only imagine the work it took to bring this book to being. The personal stories of the players , coaches and families is brought to life which adds so much to the book. I personally can remember the Pacers telethon to raise the money to stay in Indy. In the past few years I have been able to gather the autographs of a few of the early ball players. Slick, McGinnis, Daniels, Keller, Hillman and Netolicky to name a few. If you are a Pacer fan and want to know the founding's of the organization you cant go wrong with this book. I would think it a must for any Pacer fan or anyone just interested in the early years of the ABA. Wonderful book an a great read. I plan on buying another soon for a Christmas present.
3 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2017
I have no idea why another reviewer was worried about pictures. This BOOK is outstanding in tracking the birth and first couple seasons of the Pacers. Mark Monteith obviously did a lot of painstaking research the old fashioned way (using old newspapers and microfilm from library files as well as tracking down most of those involved in the early days) in researching and writing this outstanding history. This is not a picture book it is a HISTORY book written in a very readable style. As a college student in Indianapolis when the team was born I attended a number of the games mentioned, but never knew the background stories. Mark has filled me in very very well. I strongly recommend "Reborn-The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis" for ALL Pacer fans and fans of sports history everywhere.
Greg Lucas, Pacer radio voice 1986-87
7 people found this helpful