Advantage Disadvantage (7 page)

Mustering up his courage he said, “Look here, Jon.
My firearms license has been pulled. I cannot go back to work
unless my situation is resolved. This plan could take years. Beside
the loss of income, if it ultimately does not go my way, I’ll be a
convicted felon. And another thing, how much do these guys charge
for cases like this – I can’t pay much.”

Jonathon replied, “As far as missing work, consider
it a vacation. Elizabeth and Marcus, I can personally front you the
lost income. Consider it a series of loans. You can pay it back
when you are able. Marcus, you can take time to relax, work around
the house and get more involved with Jamal’s school and sports.” He
continued, “As for the legal fees, the lawyers are on retainer to
the Board already. Their fees are covered.”

Jonathon turned to the lawyers and said, “He’s right
about the timeframe. Is there any other legal strategy that
shortens the resolution time?”

“Sure,” one of them said smugly, “you can plead this
out on Monday, but they are insisting on a Class 3 felony
conviction. After 9/11 the heat’s on at airports around the
country. They want to show that they are able to intercept
terrorists. They know you had no ill intentions, but they want to
make an example out of you. They cannot let you go scot-free in
this environment. Over time, yes, but right now they’re rigid.”

Jonathon said, “Folks, we’ve got no choice.”

“Daddy, this is really generous of you. Marcus you
need a rest anyway. It is only a temporary thing. What do you think
hun?”

“I guess there is no alternative. OK,” the dejected
Security and Compliance Manager said.

Chapter Eight. Fixing Jamal’s Game

Jamal arrived at his first NAU practice dressed to
play, all six foot two inches. He was nervous and unsure that he
could hang with these boys. Some of them started with Battle‘s team
in fifth grade. They were way ahead of Jamal as he climbed the
learning curve of understanding Coach Battle’s playbook: he liked
to pressure opponent’s full court, double team the ball everywhere,
and fast break always. Most city teams earned the stereotypical
reputation by playing an up-tempo game, while suburban teams
attacked more deliberately.

“C’mon over Jamal, let me introduce you to your new
teammates.”

The boys surprised Jamal by the friendly reception
the other boys gave him. He towered over all of the players. They
were happy to get a big center on the team. He was ready to play,
but Coach Battle had other things in mind.

“Jamal, go in the locker room and put on your
swimsuit. Find the door to the pool. You’ll be working in the pool
with our shooting coach for the next three or four practices.”

Jamal was in shock. He wanted to begin practicing
with the other kids. He hung his head down and shuffled into the
locker room towards the pool. When the pool door flung open, the
shivering, lanky six foot two inch awkward boy stepped out. The
assistant coach called Jamal over.

“We are going to fix your shot. It is going to take
practice, and if you work hard in the next couple of days, you will
be on the road to becoming a pure shooter. Coach Battle likes many
things about you, but he hates the way you shoot – you have a
terrible habit of hoisting the ball from your hips. You throw it,
but in here you are going to learn to shoot it.”

A good jump shot starts with proper foot placement
and balance. This is important to getting one’s shoulders square to
the basket. Most shooters focus on the back of the rim. The ball
starts on top of the shooting hand, off the palm and on the
fingertips. The player should hold the ball directly above his
elbow. This was Jamal’s major flaw in his shot. He hurled the ball
from his waist. Although the amount of desired backspin is subject
to debate among coaches, it generally helps the aerodynamics of the
flight of the ball. In addition, on impact, the backward spin slows
the ball down and increases the shooter’s margin of error.

Marcus looked on in amazement as Jamal stood in the
five-foot water. A poolside basketball backboard and ring was set
up near the edge of pool. The ring setup measured the regulation
height of ten feet from the bottom of the pool near Jamal to the
hoop. It dawned on Marcus that from his position in the pool, his
son could not lower the ball to his hips to use his bad shooting
habit. The coach had Jamal shoot standing flatfoot in the water for
the entire hour and half practice. Jamal was frustrated because he
was shooting baskets from only a few feet away. He heard the rest
of the team as they ran into the locker room after the team
practice ended. Marcus understood the strategy – they were
rebuilding his son’s shots from the most basic fundamental building
blocks. In the pool, Jamal could not lower the ball below his chest
while shooting. “Brilliant,” he thought.

The coach told Jamal to come out of the water. He
told him to practice holding a ball with his elbow bent at a
ninety-degree angle, pretending that water was up to his armpit.
They would break him of his hoisting habit, or he would not play on
the team.

***

“Dad, I don’t want to play on this team anymore. I’m
the best player on the middle school team already. Shooting in the
pool is bullshit,” he told Marcus on the way home.

“Son, I love you to death. You’re my man, every day.
However, I think you need to respect Battle’s judgment. He has sent
a bunch of boys on to high school and college teams. If you want to
play, you’ve gotta pay”

“Ok, Dad.”

At the next practice, Coach Battle sent Jamal and
another player to the pool.

“Imari, keep working on your shot. I can’t wait
until you are ready to practice with us.”

“Me too, Coach.”

“Mr. Smith, you know why you’re back in the
pool?”

“’Cuz I’m throwin’ up bricks.”

“Right on, Mr. Smith. Back to basics for your jump
shot. Let’s get it fixed.”

The two boys talked about the coach’s weird teaching
technique as they made their way through the locker room to the
pool.

“Just wait until you see what else is up Coach’s
sleeves!”

Jamal spent the next three practices in the pool,
graduating from flat-footed five-foot jump shots to using the
water’s buoyancy to simulate elevating off the court. This gave him
the feeling of leaping high and timing his shot to the peak of the
elevation. He was finally broken of his bad shooting habit.
Ultimately, he embraced Coach Battle’s training technique and his
shot improved dramatically.

After Jamal finally joined the team in practice, he
sometimes wished he were back in the pool. One practice tried to
improve foot speed, and drilled readiness to receive or pass
without traveling. The medicine ball weighed about five pounds.
Using a three-man weave, Coach Battle told the boys to move the
ball the entire length of the court of course without violating
travelling rules. The boys were adept at running this drill with a
regular basketball, but the medicine ball was heavy and they could
not dribble it. The first attempt hardly moved a few feet.

“You are not going to be able to run this drill the
same as you are used to. Use your noggins, boys. Let’s see if you
can figure this one out.”

Normally, the three players running a weave would
spread out across the end line of the court, with the player in the
middle with the ball. He bounced the ball to the player on the
right and ran behind him. The receiving player caught and bounced
it to the third teammate who had moved into the middle creating a
weave – players simply followed the player who received the ball
whenever they passed it. It was easy to avoid dribbling because you
could make forward progress by passing up stream, with an inflated
basketball, that is.

Group after group either dropped the heavy ball on a
long pass or travelled, stopped by Coach Battle’s screeching
whistle. One group finally found a solution. Under normal
basketball rules, if you catch the ball in flight your first foot
down becomes the pivot. You can then step with your other foot and
lift up your pivot as long as you do not slide on the other foot or
replant the first one. In order to take only “two steps”, players
have to snake up court in a tight helix-like formation. Quick steps
and fast handoffs were required. After passing the ball, the
players had to hustle to be in position to receive the ball after
the other two have moved their short distances. This was much more
grueling than the traditional weave. This drill was worst than
suicides. It brought out the sweat and the gym always smelled worse
after the boys ran this one out. It was 15 minutes of hell for the
players. Their arm muscles burned from the weight of the medicine
balls. Groans echoed in the gym as the five-pound ball leached
forward from stomach to stomach by quivering, weary arms. Coach was
unforgiving about footwork. This drill made everyone light on his
feet, even an awkward six foot two player such as Jamal.

Another tough drill was Coach T.J.’s “no-hands
defense scrimmages”. The boys divided into two teams and competed
in an hour-long game. Losers had to run suicides to end practice.
“No hands” meant that on defense the players could only use the
positioning of their bodies and feet to deter the offensive
players. Once a shot went up, all players could rebound with their
hands. The only effective way to win this game was to draw charges
or deny players the space to get close-in shots. The purpose, of
course, was to force defenders to learn to use their bodies, not
hands, to block-out. It was very unconventional, but certainly,
this drill was effective.

Coach Battle also used a ring reducer to refine the
boys’ jump shots. The specification of men’s regulation basketballs
required a diameter of about ten inches. The official basket ring
measured eighteen inches. Two men’s basketballs could almost fit
simultaneously through the basketball ring. Up close, the basket
was surprisingly big. As forgiving as the official ring could be,
the ring reducer enforced much sharper precision. It fit on top of
the basket and forced the boys to shoot higher arcs to descend
downward at better angles. It frustrated each player, but like
shooting jump shots in the pool, the ring reducer drills helped
everyone get better.

If the ring reducer drill was not tough enough,
Coach Battle often put a complete cover over each basket for a
special rebounding scrimmage. Rules were simple. A team received a
point for hitting the cover on top of the basket ring. In addition,
for every time a point scored in this manner, two points scored for
the team who secured the rebound. On every Coach Battle team,
rebounds were valued as much as successful jump shots – in practice
and in games.

A favorite of the boys was the football-blocking
dummy. Often, Coach Battle asked Marcus to use this inflated
canvass bag with two handles to simulate player contact while the
team shot layups. This drill attempted to increase the odds of
making shots while being fouled. Depending on Marcus’ whim, the
players received either a light “love tap” or a harsh push that
landed them on their behinds.

Jamal excelled as the weeks wore on. These drills
improved his fundamental capabilities. Being six foot two was not a
great advantage in any of these training sessions. To thrive, he
had to advance his skills. As he acquired more and more skills,
Jamal became more dedicated to the game. He absolutely fell in love
with basketball.

***

Despite being the tallest player on the team, he
earned the right to play away from the basket as point guard. Jamal
had progressed from an average player with an indifferent
assessment from T.J. Battle to the best player on the team. His
basketball future was considerable. He bonded with the other
players on the team, and he and his dad grew to appreciate Coach
Battle’s strict disciplined approach to the game. Marcus loved how
Jamal looked forward to playing basketball, or even attending
practice, and his on-court improvements were obvious.

Instead of becoming bitter about his in-limbo legal
status due to the O’Hare Airport incident (he was still suspended
from his Security and Compliance Manager’s job at the Board of
Trade), Marcus felt blessed that meeting Bobby G. led him to
getting his son a spot on Battle’s NAU team. Bad things happen for
a reason; sometimes producing a great result.

The team practiced for several weeks under Coach
Battle’s rough supervision. He alternatively treated the boys
harshly like criminals on the streets of Chicago, to the
compassionate understanding of a father. He was great for the boys.
They were looking forward to the first tournament of the season in
Illinois. Teams from all over the Midwest came for this weekend
tourney. Games used the local college’s arena floor on the
regulation collegiate layout. Teams from out of town always drew a
large crowd – these were elite seventh grade players from
Minneapolis, South Bend, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and St. Louis.

Vole or Kerbe sponsored most of the teams.
Representatives from these companies operated product information
tables and sold logo shirts and shorts. Many of the local high
school coaches were there, checking out their future stars. Slimy
street agents lurked around. Bobby G. was a fixture at this
tournament. Not only did he help fund Jamal’s team by sponsoring
T.J. Battle, he worked the crowd like a well-schooled Chicago
politician. Tournaments like this were a great way to conduct
research and build relationships. He hustled this weekend, planting
seeds for future moneymaking opportunities.

While his team was loosening up in their pre-game
layup line, Coach Battle approached one of the referees assigned to
the game. They had known each other for several years. The referee
had worked some games back when Battle’s sons played high school
ball, and more recently, he ran into him at NAU games around the
city and suburbs.