Bob Knight (1) (1940–2023)

Whether you love him, hate him, or are neutral toward him (I'm in the last category), Bob Knight's book is a fascinating glimpse at his personality, his Indiana basketball teams, and college basketball in general. For Indiana basketball fans (I'm an ACC fan) and college basketball fans in general (a category I fit into), this is a must read. Knight gives a lot of detail about his Indiana teams, especially those that won national championships, and discusses his point of view on the state of college basketball today.

There are really two main topics that run throughout the book - and that is Indiana basketball and the controversies that have surrounded Knight - mostly because of his volatile temper. From a basketball standpoint this is really a great inside look at the college game and the Hoosiers. Knight's detestation of losing and lack of effort are part of what gets him into trouble because he is clearly a disciplinarian and expects a lot from his players and others involved in the program. On the other hand that is also why his teams traditionally have been over achievers. In my opinion, his success in college basketball has been mostly because of his coaching talent and getting his teams to play like a team instead of selfishly.

Even though in some ways Knight claims, and I think in a lot ways rightfully so, that a lot of controversies about his temper and clashes with players, officials, or others is a result of his reputation and are undeserved. Frankly, I do believe him on this account. And he does seem contrite about some incidents that are clearly his own fault where he's lost his temper. Some may argue that he is not apologetic enough or doesn't face his own faults in some of the controversies and I can't disagree with that either. On these issues the reader will have to decide what to believe.

But either way, this is highly readable and very interesting.… (más)

The slightly misleading title is no doubt meant to trigger, or attract, potential readers and Bob Knight is a questionable role model, but I must say I'm intrigued by The Power of Negative Thinking. It's hardly a how-to guide of being an irritable downer, far from it. It's more like you're being shown the tools to analyze problems rationality. It's a warning to never stop self-assessing, to never allow yourself the lazy "it'll be okay" proclamation without the critical thought to back it up.

Power of Negative Thinking is Knight's controversial philosophy of leadership seen through the lens of his biography.… (más)