Graydon’s Comments (group member since Oct 11, 2013)

Graydon’s comments from the READ 96 Group 1 pm group.

Graydon Witt
Prof. Hughes
Reading 96
25 October 2013
Journal 3: Summary
The Main idea that the author is trying to get across in this book is the fact that the Dream Team is the greatest team to have ever played the game of basketball. Throughout the book the author tells us how well the team played together as a unit and how each player had a specific role to help the team THRIVE. At first NBA players were not allowed to participate in the Olympics, but once they were finally able to it got the whole world talking about them. Not only was this just the best team at the time, but also had a couple of players that to this day are some of the best basketball players to ever live including Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird. An ACCORD between the players and the coaches of the Dream Team was made to where they would represent USA o the best of their abilities and that they did. As a result of the Dream Team they managed to gain a very large amount of AFICIONADOS all over the world. Every time the Dream Team would have a game no matter which country they were in they always had fans there cheering for them because of how remarkable their talent was individually and as a unit. All of the players that were part of the Dream Team knew how good they were and some of them let their emotions get the best of them. During the games players including Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen, and Larry Bird all enjoyed conversing with the other team they were playing. Once Michael Jordan took it so far to where he shot a free throw with his eyes closed just to taunt the other team and ended up making the shot. The big idea that author is trying to say here is that the Dream Team could basically do whatever they wanted because there was no other team out there that would get in their way and stop them from winning gold medals. The Dream Team would go on to win 14 gold medals in 14 different national leagues that they were involved in. The more and more the team played together the better they would become and the more confidence they would gain as a team. Overall in Jack McCallum’s book, The Dream Team, the main idea is that of all the teams that have ever played the game of basketball, no other team will ever compare to the Dream Team.

Graydon Witt
Journal submission No. 2
Dream Team by Jack McCallum
Chapter 15 – 27 Pages 90 – 210
Tiffany, Sylvia, Bree, Jennifer
Friday October 18 2013 7 am
Journal No. 2
I love the way that this book is turning out as I am reading it. The author is going into great detail of the actual Dream Team and how their lives actually were as they traveled and played together. I thought the team was very interesting because the coach, Bob Knight, is very conservative, or traditional coach. (Definition) Most of the players on the team were very radical , which can be defined as, favoring great change. (definition). Michael Jordan was the main player that went away from the traditional style of basketball. His style was so unique and different from the others which was one of the main reasons why their team thrived. As I was reading these chapters I began to compare the Dream Team to our most recent Olympic team and I noticed that they ha some similarities. Both teams were very dominant and won a lot of games. As both teams kept winning games I noticed they were not satisfied even though they had not lost yet. (Opposition). This was because both temas were in accord with eachother that the only reason they were playing was to win gold medals for the USA. Having the Dream Team in the Olympics turned out to be a catastrophe for the other countries. They wouldn’t just beat the other teams, but destroy them. (opposition). I like the way the author is writing this book because he makes the events very interesting which makes you want to keep reading. I didn’t really understand why some of the players did not want to be part of the Dream Team at first because who would not want to have a chance to perform for their country? It was capricious (unpredictable) what the Dream Team was capable of because they seemed to blow everyone away with their talent more and more every time they played. (substitution). There were very many aficionados, (an enthusiastic fan) around the world that would cheer for the Dream Team.(Substitution). They didn’t necessarily want them to win but all of the fans admired their talent and the show that they put on. Overall I like the way the author has written this book and it is very easy to follow along and not get distracted. As I was reading these chapters the time went very quickly because a lot of the events that happen in the present are because of the Dream Team and what they accomplished. Now days basketball fans people like to think of Michael Jordan as an epitome for the greatest basketball player to ever live. (example). I used to first think that Michael Jordan was very cocky along with the other members of the Dream Team but then I realized where they came from ands that that’s just who they are as players which only benefit them. These chapters were very easy for me to understand because I had a general sense of what happened with the Dream Team but I did not know for sure. It makes sense that all of the players from the Dream Team ended up being first ballot hall of famers and ended up being very affluent, making tons of money. (Example). As I was reading I figured out more how the player’s lives were like off the court. Even though it seems sometimes we forget, these players that were on the Dream Team are normal people just like us. A lot of the players including Larry Bird and Michael Jordan really enjoyed heavy drinking. Larry Bird was known for being able to pound the most beers which I thought was pretty funny. I stopped reading a couple times just to take a break because for me it is hard to keep reading for longer than 30-45 min. This way it helped me stay refreshed so that when I did go back to reading I would not get distracted and miss important points. I predict that later on in this book they will tell of how the Dream Team ended and everything that they accomplished which I think will be very interesting. The only parts of the reading that were difficult for me to understand were when some of the people involved with the organization would have meetings with others talking about the rules and the policies for the teams. I felt this was a little confusing because they hanged names a lot and it made it s little difficult to follow. Other than that I have really enjoyed this book up to this point and i am very excited to see where the author is going to take this story in the following chapters.