Seven Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns Paperback – Illustrated, May 1, 2007

Jack McCallum's outstanding ":07 Seconds or Less" chronicles a season (2005-2006) spent inside the Phoenix Suns organization. McCallum uses 40 years of journalism skills and his decades as SI's top NBA writer to give us a compelling story of the Sun's tremendous achievements last year. Beset by season-ending injuries to stalwarts Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas, Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and his staff somehow piece together 54 victories and two already-classic 4-3 series victories against the Lakers and Clippers before simply running out of gas against the Mavs. The centerpiece of the book are the three playoff series, especially the stirring comeback from a 1-3 hole against the Lakers. There's probably 100+ pages on those games alone. Whoever made the editing decision to front-load and spotlight that material deserves an award. By starting out with that series, the book takes a two-fisted grab of your attention and never lets go.For those curious about the title, it alludes to Coach D'Antoni's philosophy that his offense has the best chance to score if it gets a shot off within the first seven seconds of its 24-second possession. It's that philosophy that makes the Suns so exciting and refreshing to watch. McCallum and the coaching staff make the point that the NBA is, in general, over-coached and, well, flat-out boring. Let's hope more teams see the product and the results that D'Antoni is getting and sign up. [Eddie Jordan's Wizards look to be on pace this year.] I'm sure players around the league are dying to play for D'Antoni. McCallum's book can only reinforce that perception. He comes across as a good guy and a talented coach who has the respect of his players.The one eye-opening surprise in the book is the fragility of Shawn Marion's ego and psyche. The staff has to spend a lot of time and emotional energy stroking the guy because he seems to feel slighted by, well, just about everything.If you like basketball, you'll love this book. And there's no better team to cover than the Suns, the most exciting team in the NBA. I love the quote McCallum elicits from Lawrence Frank, coach of the Nets: "Playing the Suns is like being a passenger in a car going 75 miles an hour. When you're driving, like they are, you feel comfortable. But when you're the passenger, you feel uncomfortable. The trick is to figure out how to be the a driver. But they don't let you do that."And that, boiled down to its essence, is what makes Mike D'Antoni a successful coach.

I'm an SI subscriber, so I've been reading Jack for years in the magazine. I was looking forward to this book ever since I put it on my wishlist, and I wasn't disappointed. They gave him really great access, and the coaches seemed to relax around him and give him good quotes. He has a smooth and engaging writing style, which works great for wriiting about sports.And he did not treat the players like Gods, and that was very key. He made Shawn Marion look like he was, your typical insecure semi-superstar, and allowed Amare Stoudemire to appear as the clueless, under-educated athlete that he is. Reserve guard Eddie House wound up being the star of the book, player category, he's very entertaining without coming off like a jerk.A couple of quibbles:Jack really does not like Mark Cuban, and takes as many shots at him as he coould. Makes a person wonder if he tried to float this book idea by the Mavericks and was turned down.The other, far bigger gripe, is that the book was too short. It seemed that he rushed it to get it out quickly, and thus the focus so much on the playoffs, with the preseason and regular season not touched on much. I know that this is paritially a compliment, wanting the book to be much bigger, and I mean it that way. It just seems rushed.All in all a great buy, well worth the money I paid, and I got it right here at Amazon.

I loved that this book didn't follow a dynasty or even a championship team; these Suns were hobbled by injury andego and didn't even make the NBA Finals, which makes the read a bit more interesting. McCallum has access likeno other writer i've ever read as he basically becomes a trusted member of the staff, which allows for some verypersonal looks and conversations. The book shines a favorable light on Coach D'Antoni, which is someone I wasnever sure about, prior to the book. It changed a lot of perceptions I had, be it good or bad, about certain members of this team.The word count McCallum uses trying to explain the inner workings of a pro athlete, especially a fringe athlete, issome of the best writing; realizing these guys are scared of injury, of better players, of rookies, of coaching changes.It's fascinating stuff, reading the inner-politics of a team trying to win, as opposed to the more common "reflectionby a winning team on what it was like to dig deep and win".Excellent basketball writing; i'd consider it in the same class as Season on the Brink in terms of it's access and the connection you begin to feel with certain members of the team and staff. A Must read for any above-average basketball person.

A great, well-written and funny book exploring what goes on behind closed doors on an NBA team.If you're looking for a book that delves into players affinity for clubs, booze and girls, then you'll have to look elsewhere. The Suns are a pretty clean club, and I'm sure they've done some stuff that isn't included in the book. What is included is an insiders look into the thought processes of coaches and players and discusses how the relationships within a professional organization can affect the win-loss column. There are some solid perspectives on team chemistry, ownership, the role coaches play in the success (or failure) of a ball club, the pressures of the playoffs, the psyche of the pro athlete (who knew someone making $20m a year could be so sensitive), how marketing efforts can affect a player's attitude and much more. I kind of wish the Suns would've won it all in 2006 so that this book could've been longer. Also, you don't have to be a Suns fan to appreciate this book. I'm a die-hard Pistons fan, and found this read very enjoyable.On thing to point out: there's some swearing in this book (a few F bombs and the like), so if you're a parent thinking of picking this book up for a young Suns fan you may want to browse the pages beforehand. Otherwise, there really isn't anything worse than that, though.

Being a big Phoenix Suns fan, I'm absolutely loving reading this book, it's a real inside look at the team!

The inside story of a team that should of won it all but fell short as described in the book.

Son loves it

Amazing inside view of an NBA team

Excellent insight into the workings, on and off the court, of an NBA team.