69 pages • 2 hours read
Hoops
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Chapters 8-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary
The team barely wins two easy games, and someone, presumably a white man, calls the practice facility looking for Cal. Lonnie decides to find Cal, enlisting Aggie’s reluctant help. When they find Cal, he is drunk and agrees with Lonnie that it is probably O’Donnel who called. After some tension, Cal agrees to help.
The next morning, Cal and Lonnie go to O’Donnel’s office, where O’Donnel speaks privately to Cal. Lonnie waits patiently; when Cal returns, he explains that what O’Donnel asked wasn’t for Cal to step down as coach, but for Lonnie to be off the court. Cal is coming up with a plan based on the new information that the tournament has been shortened and their team will be in a championship game on television. They tell the team the plan, then Cal and Lonnie talk one-on-one. Cal explains that he advocated for Lonnie to at least “suit up and sit on the bench” (162). Right after the conversation, Lonnie listens to Cal make a phone call and place a bet on their team losing, since he’s sitting Lonnie out. When Lonnie questions the decision, Cal says, “thought you trusted me” (164), and Lonnie is filled with rage.
Chapter 9 Summary
Before the game, Lonnie ensures that Mary-Ann is getting treatment at the hospital and is going to be okay. Lonnie is nervous about Cal pulling “something dirty” (166) but sits on the bench as the game begins. The team has already planned how to address Tomkins, the big white player whose fouls against Lonnie were not called in their previous matchup. The goal is to “mess with” (168) him; since the game is on television, Tomkins will want to look good.
The game starts and the team’s plan is working. Meanwhile, Lonnie sees Juno Rashid, Tyrone, and another man sitting on the bench. One of them has a bandage from an injury, and Lonnie confirms that it was Cal who injured the man. Cal explains, “[I]f your team can keep the score close, that’s going to be some light stuff” (170), implying that a larger plan is in place. By halftime, the team is down by five points and the players are in an intense headspace.
When the game resumes, the team is able to get the score even closer, and one of Tyrone’s men gets up to place a bet. Cal is excited because his plan is working. Cal explains to Lonnie that Lonnie will need to get in the game, “play like [he] know[s] [he] can” (173) and then Tyrone will lose all the money he bet. Lonnie gets on the court and can “feel the game” (174), playing with a new energy. With a few exciting plays, Lonnie wins the game for his team by one buzzer-beating shot.
Amidst all the excitement of winning, Lonnie loses sight of Cal. Lonnie shouts to Ox that they need to call the police, then finds Cal being beat up by Tyrone and Juno. Lonnie gets into the fight and realizes that Cal has been stabbed. The police finally arrive.
Cal dies from his stab wounds, and the team attends the funeral. Lonnie feels like he is “leaving the only friend” (181) he has in the world. Later that week, Lonnie and Mary-Ann talk about their futures. Lonnie reflects that he is going to have to “learn to deal with” (183) good and bad people if he wants to be a successful basketball player. The book closes on Lonnie shooting in front of some little kids on the playground; when he misses, one of them says “you don’t know nothing about no basketball” (183).
Chapters 8-9 Analysis
As the dynamic of a father-son relationship plays out in the concluding chapters of the novel, trust is at the forefront of the conflict. When Lonnie feels that he can’t trust Cal, he is reminded of his own relationship with his father; at the conclusion of the novel, Lonnie feels reassured by the way Cal proved his loyalty to Lonnie. By being able to trust and be supported by Cal, Lonnie can start healing his own internal wounds about his father. Lonnie is moved by the fact that Cal gave some of “his game” (182) away to Lonnie. This is a gift that Lonnie’s father was unable to provide. Through Lonnie’s pseudo parent-child relationship with Cal, Lonnie starts believing that an older man can be trustworthy and present in his life, unlike his father.
Another strong thematic thread of Hoops is Lonnie’s developing capacity as a basketball player and as a person. As the novel reaches its climax and conclusion, Myers highlights two of Lonnie’s issues: the first is Lonnie’s ability to be genuinely confident in his ability, and the second is his capacity to regulate his emotions regulation and respond to conflicts appropriately.
Although Lonnie spends much of the novel feeling alone, by the end he gains confidence and defines himself in relation to others. His positive relationships with Cal, Mary-Ann, and Aggie all contribute to Lonnie’s ability to feel more comfortable with taking on new challenges. In particular, Lonnie feels that his new strength comes from Cal giving him some of “his game” (182), which now lives inside of Lonnie. This is reflected in Lonnie’s confidence on the court, as he describes being able to “feel the game” (174). Overall, Myers paints a picture of a young man who starts out feeling lonely and unsure of himself, but develops over time into a strong player on and off the court.
In addition, Lonnie’s emotional development is centered in the concluding sections of the novel. This is intimately tied to Lonnie’s capacity as a basketball player; Myers portrays Lonnie as only being able to be fully successful on the court when he can address emotional setbacks without reacting disproportionately. After Lonnie sits out a full half of the most important game of the season, when he does play, he is able to “freak a little” (175) and still recover to do the appropriate moves and win the game. This kind of emotional regulation was not previously available to Lonnie. In his concluding reflections at the end of the novel, Lonnie describes this ability, feeling that he has to “get on with living” (182) and will “learn to deal with” (183) the good and bad that comes his way. These perspectives are markedly different from the way Lonnie thought about the world previously. Through this major development in Lonnie’s character, Myers shows how young men might find a path towards greater internal stability. Further, Myers emphasizes through characters like Mary-Ann, Aggie, and Cal that relationships are a key part of this transition.
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By Walter Dean Myers
