The Hoosiers: Q&A

What obstacles does the coach face in building the team at first?

At first, the coach realizes that no one thinks that he is a capable basketball coach. We see this at first when the principal says that she imagined the coach to be someone younger. However, Coach Dale proves everyone wrong, showing that he is an excellent basketball coach. Second, the coach encounters a very self-conscious player who does not have much confidence (Ollie). Ollie tells the coach that he is too short, and not good enough, to actually be considered a player. A few minutes later, two players walked out on him. Those two players had been talking quietly at the back of the group throughout Coach’s entire speech. When they did not stop talking, coach kicked one of them out.

The other one followed shortly after. As he walked out, he said something indicating that Ollie was not even counted as a person, due to his small size. Both of these players came back before the end of the season. Meanwhile, everyone wonders how the bizarre exercises that the coach is making the team practise will ever help the team reach success. These bizarre exercises include dribbling or running without shooting. During Hickory’s first game, the coach finds out that everyone is determined to see Jimmy play again, but he is told not to bother him by the principal. This was because Jimmy had refused to play after the previous coach had passed away, and the principal was his current guardian. She thought it better that Jimmy focused on doing something other than basketball.

Hickory lost its first few games. For their first game, Coach Dale had made a rule that the team had to pass at least four times before they could shoot. Toward the end of the game, Player #25 shot without ensuring that the ball was passed four times. As a result of this event, Coach Dale told the team that his rules are laws in a basketball game, and they must follow all of them. The Coach had good motives in doing so, as his number one priority was to involve everybody.

In the middle of the movie, the principal informed Coach Dale that she received a petition to remove him from his position as coach because he physically assaulted his own player. However, when Coach attended the hearing, the principal said that she wanted the coach to stay. At the end of the hearing, Jimmy came and told everyone that he would play ball again if Coach stayed. If Coach went, so did he. After this, the team started winning, and the winning did not end.

On sports teams, we see how members depend on each other. Provide 3 examples. Also, provide a fourth off-court example.

Members of the team depend on each other in many ways. First and foremost, they must cooperate in order to make the outcome successful. This relates to the reason why Coach Dale told the team that they must pass at least four times before they can shoot. As the team members do this, they see how much they rely on each other in order to shoot. They pass the ball to another player as they work TOGETHER to try to protect the ball from the opposing team. Secondly, all the team members have weaknesses. Together, the team can cover up for each other’s weakness and bring out their strengths. For example, if one player is not good at shooting and the other player is, that player would pass the ball to the player that is good at shooting so that they can be successful together, and cover up their weaknesses as one.

Lastly, the team depends on each other to take different tasks so that players can put their mind to one specific objective. One player cannot block their team’s net, steal the ball from their opponent, and shoot the ball into their net all at the same time. That player requires other players to take jobs to ensure that players only have to focus their mind on one purpose. In terms of off the court, members depend on each other for encouragement and motivation, as well as strategizing and developing plans. The team must decided which positions to give each member so that everyone is involved. Thus, a success will evidently mean a team success, rather than the success of an individual person.

Who in the film demonstrates positive team qualities? How? When?

After watching the film, I would definitely have to say that several characters demonstrated positive team qualities. Coach Dale is one of the first people to come to my mind. Although Coach Dale may seem rude and abrupt at times, it is only because of his motivation to train a team to be successful at basketball that he did so. In general, he instilled good team qualities into each of the players. He showed optimism at the most. He really showed compassion when he hired Shooter to be his assistant coach because he believed that nobody ever game him a chance, on the condition that he would always be punctual and avoid getting drunk. Also, Coach Dale always told the team that he didn’t care about winning or losing, and that the team would always be a winner in his books. We can specifically see this during one of the first games when Shooter’s son got injured, and the coach told him to sit out and not worry about winning.

Another person who demonstrated positive team qualities was Scott because he always prayed at the beginning of the game, and this made the team feel more confident as a whole. In addition, Scott was always cheerful, optimistic, and encouraging, especially to Ollie. Shooter’s son also showed good qualities because of the way that he made his dad feel good at the end. Up until this point, Shooter always got the impression that his son disliked him. Now, his son appreciated him for who he was, and he believed that his father could do anything if he put his mind to it.

Who in the film demonstrates damaging qualities? How? When?

In the film, player #25 demonstrated damaging qualities during the first game, Hickory vs. Oolitic. The coach had specifically said that the team could only shoot after they passed the ball four times, but player #25 went ahead and shot the ball into the net without ensuring this. By doing this, he stopped the feeling of teamwork. Because of this, players did not feel as if they contributed to the success of the team.

In addition, when Coach Dale was talking to the team for the first time, two boys at the back of the group were talking. When Coach told them to get out, they were very rude about it, and answered him back abruptly. Also, one of the two players that walked out on Coach Dale when he just became the coach insulted Ollie. He said something indicating that Ollie was only considered half a person instead of one whole person. By doing this, he was belittling Ollie. Instead of encouraging him, he decided to make him feel bad about himself. Furthermore, the Coach Dale showed bad qualities when he yelled at the referee. He should not have done this as he was being a bad influence to the team.

How can we as a class learn from this film?

We, as a class, can learn from this film because it is imperative that we cooperate and depend on one another. Drama requires much trust and reliability. Once you trust someone, you feel more comfortable around them, resulting in open communication. When you are comfortable around a person, you do not fear to say the wrong thing or make a mistake. Rather, you feel free to say what is on your mind and to let your feelings be known. This movie shows that you should give others the chance and opportunity to show who they really are, and what their true abilities prove to be. We specifically see this with Ollie when everyone thought he could not get two shots into the net, but he did. This just shows that if we encourage and respond to others enthusiastically, we can make a dramatic difference in their lives.

Consider the helping/hindering roles you have demonstrated in our class. Describe two examples of helping and one of hindering. Describe how another student played a helping role. Be specific.

In drama class, I displayed a helping role when I offered to act in a certain way for our formal pantomime presentations. I agreed to acting very angry and mad when the other babysitter was sitting and playing video games. Naturally, I am quite shy at times and would not have agreed to do this, but in this case, I decided to self-start and volunteer to perform the task. Another time I displayed a helping role was when I was doing my summative tableau assignment on “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”.

At first, one of our team members was quite hesitant to act as a little bear and cry upon finding out that someone lay in his bed, but I encouraged him, and his self-confidence greatly increased. As a result, he greatly performed a role. Finally, I once remember portraying a hindering role when I was working on my formative tableau assignment of “Humpty Dumpty”. When my team told me that I should be Humpty, I was very hesitant and refused to do the job. Other students in my group encouraged me, and finally I agreed. After our performance, I felt a little guilty about refusing at first, since it turned out to be a pretty easy and fun job. Now, I have made a goal to myself that I will always take chances, make mistakes, and get messy.