Quotes

"What you've achieved goes far beyond the crossover dribble, the three point jumper or the trap defense. What you achieved same men never achieve. What you achieved is the ever-so-elusive vicotory within. YHou have made me proud. Four months ago, I took this job and I had a plan. Well, that plan failed. I came to teach players and you became students, I came to coach boys and you became men. " Coach Ken Carter

Comparison

The book and the movie are alike in many ways, but different in others. The same things would have to be, the team struggling with their grades, not knowing what it is like to be a team, and not having any disipline. They struggled with other things too. Every person on the team had different struggles in life. Cruz, for instance, was involved with drug dealing with his cousin Renny. Curz had worked really hard once to get back on the team and than walked away from them when the lockout started. One night he was dealing with his cousin Renny, and say Lyle, Worm, and Battle acrossed the street. He goes over to talk to them, and is going back over to Renny when he sees his cousin being shot. The others run after him. Cruz than goes to Carters house and asks to come back on the team and that he would do anything to get back on the team.
The differance there is, in the book, Cruz is already across the street when Renny gets shot, in the movie he is over talking to the guys and is walking back across to see Renny being shot.
The other differance is that when they got done with the school board meeting they did not go to the Hambagur barn and talk about what happened.
There are so much more that I could right about, but I dont want to give away the whole book. If you have not read or seen Coach Carter, it would be a good thing to do becuase this book will change the way you think about life. It will also change the way you feel about thoughs around you. To sit here and write a whole blog session about the book and the movie, I would be giving away alot. So I am just telling you some of them and what I think happened.

Thinking Question

Why do you think the players took it so hard when Carter quit?

Summary

The thing that happened in the part of the book that we read was that Rennie got shot and Cruz wanted back on the team. The boys got their grades up and were able to play again. They got to play in the playoffs but they were a very low seed. They had to play St. Frances for their first game. It was a close game but in the end they lost by two points. Most of the boys got scholarships to college to play basketball.

Book

When we first began the story of Coach Carter, the basketball players were not doing so well in school. They were skipping class, not getting good enough grades, and did not have any disipline. When Coach Ken Carter took the spot of the head basketball coach, he knew that he had a lot to deal with. He had to teach the boys disipline and what it ment to be a team. He also had to help them with their school work in order to play on his team. Carter once said, " Your a team. If one player struggles, the whole team struggles, If one player triumphs, the whole team triumph." He said this because they did not know what it was like to be a team. Carter did not think that the team would actually make it as far as they did. At a point in time, Carter put a lock on the gym and canclled two big games, living the team with two loses. The only reason he did this, is becuase they did not earn the right to play on his team. Until they could earn that right the gym was locked. The town of Richmond is all about basketball. So when they heard that Carter had put a lock on the gym, the media and the whole town was going after Carter. Finally it went to the school board where it was voted that the lock out end. The next day when carter was going to clean out his office, he went into the gym and saw his team sitting in desks working. Worm said that they can cut off the lock, but they cant make us play. He is right about that. Even thought it was voted to end the lockout, they can not make you do anything. Than Cruz, who has had some problems throughout the whole book stood up and quoted Marianne Williamson, which states, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most fightens us." Than the team gets a call to go to the state championships, they may have not won the game but they won scholorships. They also won the respect they wanted and what it ment to be a team.

other questions

If you now know what Cruzes deepest fear is from the book, do think he had faced it or do you think that he is still living it?
When his cousin Renny was shot, why do you think Cruz went to Carters house, instead of going to get help?

Thinking Question

Why do think it is so important that the guys on the team have good grades?

Summary

The thing that happened in the book was that the boys won the basketball tournament and the boys went out to a party after they got back to the hotel. Coach Carter was going to celebrate with the boys but when he got to their rooms they where all gone. He found they at a praty and made them go home that night. Carter but locks on the gym and told the boys if thier grades didn't get better that the gym was going to stay locked up. The Student concil had a meeting and vote to have to gym be reopened. The boys had brought desks into the gym and said that they couldn't ake them play. The boys got up their grades and they only missed two games.

Thinking Question

If you have read this book why do you think that cruz came back to the team and do you think it is good or bad.

Summary

For Timo Curz, if you remember in the beginning he quit the basketball team becuase he was not going to follow the contract rules, than just before a big game he desides that he was going to come back and join the Oilers. He had to work his butt off to get back on the team however. He had to do more suicides and push ups to make up for the ones he lost, when he was about to finish he could not do it, so the team decided that they were going to help him get back on and finish everything for him. Timo got his jersey and a chance to play in the game.

Coach Ken Carter is doing a wonderful job and coaching that basketball team. He does not have any favorites, not even his son is his favorite on the team. He treats everyone the same.

Thinking Question

Why do you think, if you have ever read this book, that Timo Cruz came back to join the team? Remember he quit because he did not like what the contract stated.

Here are some quotes from the book

"This is not about basketball, it's about your life. It's about your life after basketball."
"Your a team. If one Player struggles, the whole team struggles. If one player triumph, we all triumph."
"Part of growing up is making your own choices and dealing with the results."
"The losing stops now! Starting today you will learn to play like winners, act like winners, and most of all be winners."
"Look at you Kenny, your the best to come out of Richmond basketball."

Summary

Last weeks summaries were:
Coach Ken Carter finally tells his son, Damien that he can go to school at Richmond.
Damien still dresses like he was at St. Francis compard to that of Richmond were every dresses in their gang outfits and baggy clothes.
Coach Carter asked Mrs. Fenton to have all of his players teachers to have them give him a progress report so he can see how their doing in class.
Even though Damien is Coach Carters son he will be doing the things all the other players do. He will not be made a favorite.
Coach Carter starts talking about their devensive team and using his sisters as their drill.
Diane ~ growing up she would never back down. She was on Ken Carter about every last little thing, "turn the radio down," "dont eat the last piece of cake" She would just get me in Ken's face. Diane will be a play of straight man to man pressure defense.
Delilah ~ she was Ken's childhood sweetheart, but she was a tricky little girl. Delilah would trick him into stealing a brownie from the Christ the King Baptist Church bake sale. and when I got caught, she smiled her way out of it and he mopped the church for a month. Delilah would trick you into anything. She is the trap defense.
Timo Curz also desided that he was going to come back and join all of his buddies on the team. He had to do twenty-five hundred push-ups and one thousand suicides, to get onto the team. He did it during practice and before. Than when it was the day before the game Lyle, and a whole bunch of other players helped Curz finish his pushups and suicides. They did it because they finally understood what it ment to be a team and what a team will do for one another. So Curz got his jersey and he got to play the first game which they won.

thinking question

Have you everbeen on a team that went from losing every game, that went to winning ever game? please tell us

Coach Carter

This book takes places Richmond California. It is about a group of boys who are on a basketball team. They got a new basketball coach. His name is carter he use to play there and he was a all American for three years. Carter has they all sign a contract that says they have to be at practice on time, sit in the front of all there classes, and have a 2.3 grade point average. Carter makes the boys run the whole practice because the boys are not in shape and they all now how to shoot the ball. The boys all hate him and want to quite because after the first practice they could barley walk because they were so sore. Some of the boys quite because they thing that it is dumb that they have to have sign that contract and have to do all that running. Carter didn't know at first if he wanted to at first because he knew is was going to be alot of work.