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A review by rebeccavenchers
The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball by Gene Wojciechowski
4.0
This is a great sports read in every sense. The story of the players, coaches and supporters of Duke and Kentucky, as well as the 1992 East Regional Final itself lends itself to a fantastic retelling, but Wojciechowski does it justice. The pacing of the books works wells, balancing background of the players, coaches and teams, providing good build up. You can tell that Wojciechowski had great access to the key people involved in the game, because I really came to understand the context of the game much better.
The sanctions that Kentucky were faced with and the subsequent effect on Big Blue Nation were portrayed really well in this book. The relationships between players, coaches and other important people was also dealt with wonderfully, and I finished the book feeling like I understood the individuals and the teams a lot better. Particularly, the portrayal of camaraderie of the Kentucky team (particularly 'The Unforgettables'), as well as the Hurley-Laettner "like-hate relationship" really added to the story. I was able to tie together the events in this book (including the Duke-UNLV rivalry, the rise of the Fab Five at Michigan and Krzyzewski's relationship with Bob Knight) with other college basketball books I've read and loved. That made the reading of this book all the better.
My only criticism was that it lacked some critical insight into the teams, games, coaches and events - this might be because it's literally a retelling, 20 years after the fact, rather than following an unknown season. Perhaps people's recollections are mostly of fondness of people and events, rather than what the feelings truly were at the time. It's also likely due to the fact this is an ESPN commissioned book. Nevertheless, I loved this book - it's pacing was great and I highly recommend re-watching the game as well - amazing, every time.
The sanctions that Kentucky were faced with and the subsequent effect on Big Blue Nation were portrayed really well in this book. The relationships between players, coaches and other important people was also dealt with wonderfully, and I finished the book feeling like I understood the individuals and the teams a lot better. Particularly, the portrayal of camaraderie of the Kentucky team (particularly 'The Unforgettables'), as well as the Hurley-Laettner "like-hate relationship" really added to the story. I was able to tie together the events in this book (including the Duke-UNLV rivalry, the rise of the Fab Five at Michigan and Krzyzewski's relationship with Bob Knight) with other college basketball books I've read and loved. That made the reading of this book all the better.
My only criticism was that it lacked some critical insight into the teams, games, coaches and events - this might be because it's literally a retelling, 20 years after the fact, rather than following an unknown season. Perhaps people's recollections are mostly of fondness of people and events, rather than what the feelings truly were at the time. It's also likely due to the fact this is an ESPN commissioned book. Nevertheless, I loved this book - it's pacing was great and I highly recommend re-watching the game as well - amazing, every time.