On the Devil's Court

Throughout the book, Joe comments on the sounds he hears, using them as an emotional barometer of whether what is happening at that moment is good or bad for him. He often describes the sounds of a basketball: swishing as it falls through the basket without touching the rim, bouncing smoothly when things are going right, and making odd sounds when something negative is happening on the court. Joe spends a great deal of time alone practicing with a basketball, and his descriptions of those times involve both the basketball’s sounds and the echoes in the empty gym. When Joe is alone and begins to have an eerie feeling of being watched, he notes that the echoes sound ominous as well.

In addition to the quality of sounds he notes, Joe uses silence as a way of expressing negativity. When things are not going well in his home, he notices the silence. When he is playing a good basketball team on his home court and things are not going well, Joe notices how silent the fans are. When things are going exceptionally well, he reports on explosive sounds of joy, as during a pep rally at Eastside or when the crowd erupts with cheers as Eastside wins the state championships on Joe’s miraculous last shot. 

Though he does not use the term, Deuker has Joe frequently describe the experience that athletics call “being in the zone.” It is a feeling of being at the peak of one’s ability, able both to control and to respond to the ebb and flow of a game. This quality typically involves one’s teammates and is an experience and feeling that musicians refer to as “flow.” This is exemplified in the story by the two occasions of Joe sinking 10 straight baskets, once when making his deal with the devil and once when taking over a close game against a quality opponent and rising above any previous level of play.

Prior to his deal with the devil, Joe seemingly has no control over when he is in the zone and when he is not. Once he has made his deal, he becomes aware that the zone is always present there for him and it is more a matter of him deciding whether he wants to enter it or not. Being in the zone for Joe has such a seductive appeal that he can scarcely resist it on the court, while afterward he is filled with dread that he has accessed a malevolent supernatural power. It is only in the championship game, aware that his servitude of the devil has passed, that Joe realizes the zone is there for him apart from any supernatural contract.