Vladimir Nabokov's Five-Point Play

The book “Last Shot” shows what a basketball game is really about. It doesn't just show you the game and who wins; It shows you how all the competitors need to prepare immensely to attempt to win. It shows you how the players could throw everything away with their grades or selling team merchandise for a maximum profit. During the read of this book, you are Stevie Thomas, teen writing contest winner. You get to experience the time of your life (at least from his perspective), which is going and reporting at the Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Final Four. You discover what the reporters have to go through and maybe what the players are told to do. Basketball is much more than just the game, it’s life.

“Rejected by Rose,” screamed, TNT broadcaster, Kevin Harlan. Derrick Rose’s block on Rajon Rondo’s shot was the play that forced game 7 and kept the Bull’s season alive. The 2009 first round series between the Chicago Bulls and the reigning NBA champions, Boston Celtics was the best playoff series I ever watched. What does Rose’s late-game heroics have to do with anything? The excitement of the sport of basketball. My paper will be about my favorite sport to watch and play I will also mention about my favorite sport to participate in ancillary. Afterward, I will relate my favorite sport to Michael Mandelbaum’s The Meaning of Sports and offer my opinion on the book.

Coach Steve Rocker is one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Kentucky’s history. Coach Rocker was very successful in previous years. Strangely, this year was very different for him. For the first time in his professional life, he is falling short of his expectations, the community expectations, and the team’s expectations. His team lost a lot of games, but most importantly the boys had no motivation or desire to bring the team out of the rut they found themselves. His players have lost their will to win, their love for their teammates, and their passion to play. Coach Rocker’s motivational methods that have always worked before and resulted in success are now failing, and he doesn’t know why. He argues that his players have become selfish and bored with winning because they have been so successful in previous years. “And there’s no question that my guys have lost their drive to win because they’ve won so much in the past. Now all they want is individual ‘wins’…which just doesn’t cut it on a team” (Gongwer, 2010, p. 17).

According to the film, Hickory, Indiana is a place where “basketball players are treated like gods”. The town takes basketball very seriously, it is literally a way of life for them. The Hickory Huskers may not be the best team in the area, but the community is very supportive of the team. Every week the whole town comes together for the games to cheer on the Hickory Huskers and the townspeople have meeting to try coming up with solutions to help better their performance. However, the towns approach is aggressive and their strategies to win are different from Coach Dales. For example, a group of men from the town barge into one of the team’s practices and criticize Coach Dale that they should be practicing with the ball instead of doing strength exercises. Coach Dale believed that for the team to improve he needed to

“The battle you are going through is not fueled by the words or actions of others; it is fueled by the mind that gives it importance” – Shannon L. Alder. The novel, Hoops by Walter Dean Myers, follows the life of Lonnie Jackson, a high school student from Harlem who has an unusually impressive talent for playing basketball. Lonnie’s goal in life is more than just being one of the best players to ever hit the court; for Lonnie wishes to create a new life for himself– one that is free from the struggles of Harlem streets. This goal along with his environment bring constant conflicts in Lonnie’s journey, which gradually develops his character from self-centered to compassionate. Lonnie’s professional relationship with Cal Jones as well as his bond with Paul and Mary-Ann guide him on how to both become a respected player and how to grow up into a noble man.

It all started with an email seeking freshman male in his coaching and administration program. The 2012 graduate of UConn’s Sport Administration and coaching program, William Aloia, says this future success as the Associate Athletic Director for The College of St. Rose started out by almost” falling into his lap”. The New Jersey native began his undergraduate experience with two Division-I parents, and like an abundance of people he knew that working in sport was something he wanted to do. Previously a part of the Kinesiology department under the late Joe Marrone, Will jumped on the opportunity posted through an email and started his freshman year as a basketball manager for the very successful UConn’s basketball program. He explains how this experience “opened his door up”. Will states; “once I started at UConn working with the women’s basketball program and being around collegiate athletics at such a high level it’s really something in itself, and unbelievable experience. I knew it was for me, I didn’t know which part for sure, but I knew this was something I wanted to do.” What Will realized very quickly realized about working in sport is that often times it is a thankless job. However, that did not stop him from finishing his undergraduate career as a four-year manager for the basketball team. The motivation for Will early in his career has been a two-dimensional illustration of success.

Based on our learning from week one of our class, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the leadership perspectives manifested in both Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski, coaches who have made significant marks in their field in college basketball. I hope to be able to identify the power bases both coaches rely upon, as well as whether their actions are more aligned with either a managerial role or leadership role. In addition, I hope to identify how significant the leadership traits have influenced their leadership, based on the five-factor

The value behind entertainment depends on each individual and their likings, implying that not every single human being enjoys playing sports. However, people who do seek enjoyment through athletic activities should know that such vigorous movement can permit various benefits. Competing 5 on 5 on the basketball court involves teamwork and a game plan. The 5 players on each team must create a clever strategy for allies to follow through on court. Possibly achieving a blind pass, jab step or block can make a victorious battle. Communication, team cooperation and interpreting the opponent’s next

After I watched two hours of intense play and the huddle split, I observed high fives and complex handshakes of some sort. “Hampton on three. Hampton on three. ONE, TWO, THREE, HAMPTON!” They started coming my way; as an ex-basketball player, deep down I yearned for a handshake or some kind of acknowledgment, but I sat there like a fork in the road. Each member parted around me to my left and to my right, some giving head nods and some giving nothing at all. I quickly realized that I was clearly not a part of this discourse community.

In Slam, Dunk, & Hook, by Yusef Komunyakaa, the speaker explains how he and his teammates play basketball and it does to them. Through his use of juxtaposition, enjambment, and repetition, Komunyakaa reveals the thematic ideas of cooperation and struggle against the many adversities of life.

It’s often an uphill fight. The ego-driven culture of basketball, and society in general, militates against cultivating this kind of selfless action, even for members of a team whose success as individuals in tied directly to the group performance. Our society places such a high premium on individual achievement, it’s easy for players to get blinded by their own self-importance and lose a sense of interconnectedness, the essence of teamwork.”

National champions and hometown superstars Lonzo, Li’Angelo, and La’Mello Ball also known as the Ball Brothers, along with Elizjah Scott and Onyeka Okongwu recently sat down with the Husky Howler Staff to talk about their rise to success and all things basketball. Their success however was not by fluke, each one of them began playing at very early ages ranging from 3-8. Along with their obvious natural talent they attribute their success to genuine chemistry and lack of selfishness amongst the team. They’ve all known one another from 1st-2nd grade and describe their relationship as a brotherhood. They also credit the coaches for keeping them humble given all the attention they’ve been receiving from the media and furthermore their families for being their support system. Their pre-game ritual consists of simply listening to music and joked that their ideal pre-game meal is cotton candy and ice cream. Although a great deal of their time is spent focusing on basketball and what’s left is

Thesis Statement: The game of Basketball is very exhilarating and will keep your adrenaline plumbing. Communication and Strategic thinking is the key to teamwork. Hence you will need the help of your teammates to deliver a good pass to you to be able to score the ball into the basket.

John Wooden’s first year as a coach at UCLA was not your average persona. A regular day for Coach Wooden during his first year as UCLA’s basketball coach, was every morning at six a.m. until noon spend time at a local diary to make money. Afterwards, he was a dispatcher of trucks and was a troubleshooter. When all the trucks made all their deliveries, he would call in the next day’s orders, sweep the place and head over to UCLA. Once he got to UCLA, him and his assistant would mop the gymnasium floor to get it ready for the afternoon’s practice.

Thesis: This paper argues that basketball is the most difficult sport, for a number of reasons that will be pointed out through the literature on the game, the coaches, and the players.