The Final Four

The players slump to the side of the court. Rice and Bacic commiserate over their missed opportunity, each blaming themselves. They walk through the cheerleaders back to the bench, and Rice tries to avoid Hope’s eye.

Two and a half weeks before the game, Rice is practicing alone when Coach Kennedy arrives. They talk, and Kennedy knows that Rice has a lot on his mind. They talk about Rice’s engagement to Hope and how it has affected his game. Kennedy encourages Rice to sing in his head while he plays to free his mind from distractions. His shooting immediately improves. His mind wanders back to a long, difficult conversation with Hope. They shared their doubts and anxieties about the engagement and agreed to talk. Rice promises to focus on his game, and Kennedy assures him that he has not lost the respect of his teammates.

MJ returns to the bench. Coach Barker criticizes him for passing to McBride instead of taking a shot. McBride shoots him a glance that suggests that, if he shoots rather than passes the ball, he “better make” the shot.

Two months before the game, MJ rides uncomfortably on the bus as the team travels back from a victory against an interstate rival. McBride and the other players tease him and remark on his lack of playing time. They talk about a game two years before in which MJ’s team played against a team with the son of the real Michael Jordan. Jordan’s son was also a bench player, and MJ empathizes with the pressure that comes with such an illustrious name. The conversation eventually shifts into a discussion about the team versus the individual. MJ always favors the team, while McBride insists that he only looks out for himself. MJ does not agree with McBride, but he begins to understand him better.

The fourth period of overtime begins. MJ launches McBride on a quick but risky counterattack. McBride tries to dunk the ball, but a “glint of revenge” in his mind forces him to miss (108). He falls out of bounds, and Bacic gathers the ball.

Four weeks before the game, Malcolm noticed Coach Barker eyeing him after a practice session. Barker order McBride to see Ms. Thad, the director of compliance. McBride reluctantly obeys. Ms. Thad gives him a warning about “illegal benefits for student athletes” (109). The issue is Trisha’s gravestone. McBride admits that someone paid for a lavish new gravestone. Ms. Thad reveals that a newspaper story has discovered that the gravestone was paid for by an important Detroit sports agent, someone who happens to sing in a church choir with McBride’s mother. Ms. Thad tells McBride that the college needs to be prepared, even if the matter is not serious. Still, his desire to get to the NBA as quickly as possible and the length of the investigation mean that McBride would likely not be punished. The college, the coach, and the other players would receive the worst of any punishment.

Bacic loses the ball to McBride with just over three minutes left. He refuses to dwell on negative thoughts and clears his mind. He and Boyce try to defend against McBride but give away a foul. Boyce has made too many fouls so is expelled from the game. McBride scores both of the free throws and puts the Spartans ahead by two points.

Two days before the game, Bacic writes in his journal. He describes his shock and awe on walking through the giant stadium where the game will be held. The Superdome in New Orleans was the temporary home for many of the city’s residents during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Boyce’s family lived in the city and were forced to move into the Superdome to escape the storm. Bacic describes how the Boyce family gave the team a special tour of the spot where they lived after the hurricane. Boyce described how people became desperate as the air conditioning stopped working, the food supplies ran low, and the toilets broke. Bacic is reminded of growing up in the warzone in Croatia. Boyce’s mother describes the mixed emotions of seeing her son play in the stadium. She feels optimistic and grateful but bitter than the free tickets to the game are not “nearly enough to make up for what we went through” (113). Bacic reflects on the similarities between the people of Croatia and New Orleans.

Without Boyce’s shooting ability, the Trojans lack attacking potency. A dubious foul called against Bacic angers Coach Kennedy, who runs onto the court. Rice intervenes and drags his coach back to the bench before another foul is called against the Trojans.

The day before the game, Coach Kennedy gathers the players together for a meeting. Rice tapes up a sore finger as he listens to Kennedy explain that McBride is the Spartans’ biggest strength and their biggest weakness. McBride is too much of an individual. He can win games on his own, but his lack of team play can lose games at the same time. The Trojan players bristle at the stories in the press that present them as underdogs. They want to teach McBride, the press, and the world a lesson about who they are and what they represent as a team. At the end of the meeting, Rice stands up and tells the rest of his team that he and Hope have put their engagement on hold. The team supports his decision.

The Spartans lead by two points. MJ tries to defend but leaves a man open. Bacic takes advantage and ties the score. The play resumes with Malcolm at the center of every Spartan attack. Eventually, the ball is worked to MJ, who remembers Coach Barker’s comments. He takes a shot and restores the Spartans’ lead.

The night before the game, MJ stares out of his hotel window. He looks at the city of New Orleans. McBride joins him, and they talk about what will happen after the tournament. McBride will begin his journey toward being a professional and will move into a mansion, while MJ will have their dorm room to himself while he continues his studies. MJ mentions that he agrees with McBride about the unfair exploitation of college athletes and asks McBride what he will do with the millions of dollars he seems set to earn. MJ convinces McBride that doing charity work in his poor neighborhoods would be both socially responsible and tax deductible. MJ and McBride find respect for one another.

The announcer at the game hails the work of the “new Michael Jordan” after MJ puts his team back in the lead (119). Just over a minute remains as Bacic levels the score again. McBride tries to attack, but Bacic steals the ball. Bacic scores and puts the Trojans in the lead. McBride scores a three pointer to give the Spartans a one-point lead. The Trojans call a timeout with 11 seconds left.

The announcers talk up the drama of the game. Play begins again. The Trojans seem calm, but the tension may have begun to affect the Spartans. The clock counts down. Bacic goes for a shot and misses, and just as the buzzer is about to sound, Rice taps the rebound into the hoop. The referees disagree over whether the points should count. No one knows who won the game. Rice, Bacic, McBride, and MJ stand together with “nothing between them except a few feet of space” (121). They await the referees’ decision.

The day after the game, a national newspaper reports on Malcolm McBride and his skills, which led the Spartans to a dramatic win over the Trojans. However, McBride’s celebrations have been marred by a newspaper report that accuses McBride’s family of accepting a donation from a sports agent. The issue may result in the Spartans “forfeiting part or all of their wins” as well as incurring future penalties (121). The newspaper explains that the allegations or the drama of the game against the Trojans may have caused the Spartans to slip to their embarrassing defeat against North Carolina in the final game, in which “an exhausted-looking McBride scored only 14 points” (122). McBride admits that he learned more than he ever expected in his college basketball experience. He reveals a new tattoo that reads, “SPARTANS FORVER IN THE TROJAN WAR” (122).