James King
Professor
Comp 2 English
August 25, 2013
The Big Shot I remember as a child people would tell me if I wanted to succeed then I would have to work hard. It was my eighth grade basketball season that showed me this. With hard work anything is possible. It was 2001, during that I had just moved to Lansing, Michigan because my mother was just starting her second year at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and she wanted to be closer to the school. My mom enrolled my brother and I at Walter French Academy. It was close to basketball season and I was told I could try out for the team. Try outs were on my second day of school. I had been working on the basic basketball skills for weeks before, hoping that I would have a chance to make the school team. Try outs lasted three days, and consisted of a player being able to complete basic skills like left hand layups, right hand layups, free throws, and jump shots. It was the end of the third day when Coach Crawford announced to the students who made the team. I remember being so nervous when the list for the team went up. With sweaty palms I went up and read the list. I had made it! I was overwhelmed with joy. It wasn’t until the first day of practice that Coach Crawford told us that our hard work was far from over. The first day of official practice was so tiring. Coach Crawford explained what he expected from us as student athletes. He then explained what he expected from us as a team. “My plan is to win a state championship.” He told everyone on the team that in order for us to win one we had to be in physical shape, so he blew his whistle and made us run. I remember spending the first three weeks running at practice and I never touched a basketball. It wasn’t until our fourth week in practice and the first game was a week away that Coach pulled out a basketball and told us we were going to run a full court press. This play was made to trap the opponent and force them to turn over the ball. We spent a whole week working on that one play. It was game day. The whole team was nervous, but I had butterflies in the pit of my stomach, and tip off was at 6:00 pm. The stands were packed. You could smell the chemicals on the floor from the fresh coat of wax they had laid down a few days before. I remember them announcing our names as we ran from our bench and shook hands with the referees and our opponents coaching staff. The school we played was a schooled called Hope Academy. They had been known for being a great shooting team. As the whistle blew, our starting five took the court: De’Marlyn Brown, Scott Hatcher, Eric Young, Raphael Taylor and me. I was sweating already and had not even run the court once. The referee blew the whistle and the game was on its way. De’Marlyn won the tip and I left my defender as fast as I could. I called for the ball so De’Marlyn passed it to me as I set up at the three point line and I shot it. “Swish”-all net. I remember thinking this was going to be a good game. We had won our first game but barely. Coach Crawford was mad that we had only won by two points, so as the other team and their families exited the gym, Coach Crawford made us run. As we ran up and down the court he explained his reasoning. “No one man is greater than this team,” he said.” You guys are going to have to realize that if we as a team are going to win big games down the stretch, you will have to learn to work together.” He explained even though we each had great talent, as a individual player no one man can win a game. The next day at school, the morning announcements mentioned our first win. The classroom started to applaud for the team. I remember thinking I could really get used to this. I had been in school four weeks and was still having trouble making friends .Having moved so many times in the past I thought making friends would be easier this time around. It was lunch time I usually sat alone but five of my team mates came and joined me and asked why