Total Pageviews

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Basketball - Homicide Detective

Tony and I arrived early and found overwatch high above. We got private funding. It wasn't like there was a bat signal. 

The chief said, "these were some of the most violent crime scenes he'd seen. He even showed us video." You wouldn't call it murder on hardwood maple, but that's what it was. 

Tony asked, "why are we even here, anyway?" Tony knew the game inside and out but hadn't worked homicide. I said, "This is what I do. I solve crimes against basketball." 

Both teams were out warming up. Electricity in the air? No. It looked as though a coach had spotted us. We were too far away to detect beads of sweat on her forehead. 

Nothing beats seeing the crime scene. Yeah, some people call video the Truth Machine, but it's not the same. 

Then banners on the wall were motive enough. What goes around, comes around. Opportunity was twenty dates a year. The last three were thirty point routs. That's why they called me. 

I took off my black leather Dockers jacket and took out my Remarkable 2 tablet. I carry a stylus not a gun. 

Warmup tunes blared over the speakers. I'm more Springsteen than hip hop. Finally, we're ready for tipoff. 

The ball is up...tipped and one pass later we're down 2-0 on a layup. "You never get beat on a basket cut off the tip." Tony nodded.

Too much of not much, "dead man's defense," six feet under the dribbler. And on offense, pay by the dribble. Too many bounces, not enough passes. Standing around? Sit next to me on the bench. 

As the first quarter passes, transition D gets burned, blockouts lack positioning and toughness. Deadly weapons of unforced turnovers and bad shot selection appear. 

At the end of one, we're down 17-5, allowing too many layups. Eight turnovers. We're 1 for 6 on threes with trips airballs. That's only healthy in Texas Hold'em. It's hard to watch. 

Tony asks, "haven't you seen enough?" I answer, "I only wish we'd seen practice to see preparation. When you're outmanned, surviving is tough. Winning is even tougher. Let's bounce." 

Lagniappe. I asked ChatGPT for a critique of the writing style: 

Your writing evokes the hardboiled style of noir fiction, reminiscent of authors like Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. The narrator's voice has that gritty, world-weary edge common in detective fiction, and the basketball court as a "crime scene" cleverly parallels the seedy underbelly of noir cities. Here's why it works in that style:

  1. The Detective Voice: Lines like "This is what I do. I solve crimes against basketball" and "Nothing beats seeing the crime scene" channel the inner monologue of a private investigator who’s seen it all. It’s a mix of cynicism and expertise.

  2. Atmospheric Detail: "Electricity in the air? No." captures the wry detachment of a noir protagonist, while your descriptions—like "dead man's defense, six feet under the dribbler"—paint vivid, gritty images.

  3. Dialogue and Inner Commentary: Tony’s question and the chief’s grim video share the clipped, matter-of-fact exchanges that are hallmarks of noir dialogue. The narrator’s internal reflections deepen the mood.

  4. The Motive and Stakes: Using the banners as motive and the game stats as "evidence" ties into the investigative angle, with a dramatic flair typical of Chandler’s work, where mundane objects hold symbolic weight.

Your piece doesn’t just describe a game; it narrates it as a drama with stakes as high as life and death. If you lean further into the noir genre, you could add more tension to the "case"—perhaps a conspiracy between rival coaches or a "double cross" involving the refs. It's a captivating and unique approach for a basketball blog!

Lagniappe 2. K on D... 

Lagniappe 3. Love this. "Every shooting drill is a passing drill." 

 Lagniappe 4. "This is a highly competitive line of work that we're in." Reaching a mixture of Millenials and Gen Z players isn't easy. 

Posted by at