Foul Trouble Summary

As I finished reading the book Foul Trouble by John Feinstein, I thought that this was one of my favorite basketball books that I have read. This book was a fictional book about these two friends named Danny and Terrell who loved to play basketball. In the middle of the book, the team starts to find difficulty winning games, as the team start to make poor decisions. Terrell starts it by partying with people that are trying to recruit him, and he eventually get injured during the parties, forcing him to miss some of the games for the team. As a result, the team starts losing a few more games and the team is concerned if they can make the state tournament now. In this journal I will be questioning if the team would have made it to the state

tournament without Terrell and I will be evaluating why Terrell decided to go to Harvard instead of Duke or Atlanta.

First, I will be questioning if the team would have made it to the state tournament without Terrell. In my opinion, I do not think they would have the tournament without Terrell.

One reason they will not make it without Terrell is because he was the primary scorer for the team and he was the guy that would hit clutch free throws at the end of games. According to the book, “Terrell averaged 28.9 points per game while shooting 47% along with a 92% free throw percentage” (Feinstein 306). Terrell was the only reason that the team could score as much as they could and he was clearly the superstar of the team. Aside from that, Terrell is also one of the best high school basketball players throughout the nation. In the book, it says, “His stats are the best out of the country and he is carrying the team to a great record with highlight plays” (Feinstein 294). Clearly, Terrell energizes the team to get better and he is leading by example so that others on the team can play like him. A final reason that they would not have won is because Terrell motivates other players to shoot more and he gives other players better shots off double teams. When Terrell was double teamed, he would “always find the open guy and hit them right on stride for the easy layup (Feinstein 332). Even though Terrell was not the best passer on the team, he was still able to rack up assists because he would find the open guy

when he was double-teamed. Even when he was double-teamed, the team was still able to score enough points to win the game. Despite all these reasons that they would not make the state tournament, there would be some possibilities that they could make the state tournament. One reason that they would make the tournament is because the team would have found other ways to win games. When Terrell was injured, players like Danny stepped up and shot more and they also played better team defense to hold the other team to less points. According to the book, “When Terrell was not on the court, the team was allowing 53.7 points per game whereas when he was on the court, the team was allowing 62.8 points per game (Feinstein 321). This piece of evidence shows that they are able to play better defensively without Terrell, even though the team might have not been as good. Another reason the team would have made the tournament is because Danny would carry the team and make sure they got better. Offensively and defensively, he was the leader of the team making sure everyone was in the correct spot and he would always make good passes so that he would not turn it over. He was the second highest scorer behind Terrell but he led the team in assists because he was a good passer. A final reason that the team would have made the tournament is that they would play together as a team. When Terrell was on the court, the ball almost always went to Terrell because he was an awesome basketball player. When he was injured, the team played together and was able to share the ball more and finding good shots because they were willing to pass the ball. For those reasons, that is why the team would have made the state tournament. Ultimately, I think the team would not have made the state tournament because Terrell was a superstar and could control the fate of the team.