King of the court

What is Chapel Hill without basketball? The North Carolina Tar Heels is one of the most successful college basketball teams, having won 5 NCAA Tournament Championships and produced many NBA players, most notably Michael Jordan. The love of the sport permeates the campus, and I am naturally going to get involved as well.

Aside from the varsity and club teams, the two main gyms on campus have basketball courts which are always bustling. However, these courts are governed by rules and codes of conduct which are not obvious to the unaware foreigner, and thus I have learnt it the hard way:

1) Hierarchy. Centre court is the equivalent of pride rock - you are king - and you stay until you lose. Challengers can assemble and wait their turn / play on the outer courts. If a team is short, they will select a member based purely on whether they think he is an asset to the team; i.e. if you are a lousy player, you can stand around in line all day, but you'll never get to play.

2) The better you are, the more respect / game time / acknowledgement you get. This might seem obvious in an environment brimming with testosterone, but it is the law of the jungle. If you add no value, you feel as if it is 9 on 1 (rather than 5 on 5), but if you make good passes and especially shots, you'll be welcomed by the gruff cheers of "There you go, boy!" and fist bumps. I love fist bumps.

3) African Americans are physically amazing. There is a reason why some 70% of the basketball players at the gym are black. Either they are 6'5" and weigh 220 pounds, but still have a faster change of pace than I have, or they are 5'9" but still have the jumping power to dunk. I have never seen such agility, strength or explosiveness before in my life - and these guys are just amateurs having fun.

4) Every person has a role on the team. Even if you are not that good at making shots, you can still be an asset to the team. You just have to find a niche. I have identified the following types of players: the shooter, the driver, the passer, the center, and the joker. These are somewhat similar to the basket positions of shooting guard, point guard, small forward and center for the first 4 positions respectively.

Every team has a shooter who makes shots, can hit 3 pointers consistently, and lure out the defence. These guys are probably the most admired, and they often have the ego to back it up. The driver is a smaller, more explosive player, who can offset his direct opponent and drive towards the basket. They are effective scorers, but more common and easier to guard. If you have an exceptional driver, however, you have something akin to a one-man army. The center is basically some huge dude. Criteria are at least 6'6", some 230 pounds, and able to score from under the basket with 2 guys marking them. A good center often acts as a good defender against the opponent's center, so they are rarely the most dominant players.

Most teams at this level often have 1 or 2 of the above. They thus need some actual teamwork to shift the defence and create space. This is where the last two roles come in. A joker is an all-round player, typically small, fast, technical, and with a good shot, but not good enough to be an outright shooter or more valuable as a play-maker who can both drive and shoot. These guys are often jack of all trades, master of non, and there is a seemingly over-abundance of them. You have to be on a bad team to stand out as a joker. Finally, there is a passer. This is the role I am adapting to. A passer is the energetic bunny racing around creating havoc in offence. He will create space, and receive a pass under pressure. His objective is to quickly shift the ball to a team mate before the 3 defenders in the 1 yard radius all crush him with coverage. I see it kind of like a 1-2 pass in football - this double motion unbalances the defence and shifts the ball from the driver, via the passer, to the shooter, the center, or the joker at half-range. Often without too much pressure (thanks to the passer), they should make the basket.

So for now, I am brushing up on my dribbling, shooting, passing (everything), my intricate hand-shakes, my fist bumps and my Southern-accent slang, while increasing my weekly practices, my group of African American friends, and my reputation on the court. Welcome to UNC!