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#6: How did Junior make the basketball team? In what ways was this related to his conversation with his dad earlier? (Owen D.)

Junior made the basketball team because he was committed and wouldn’t give up. In tryouts, the coach saw him play against Roger (who is twice his size). He recognizes the difficulty and gave Junior a chance to take a break. Junior recognized that, “if I took that break I would never make the team”(Alexie 140). He was persistent and didn’t take the break. By continuing to work hard he was better than other candidates that had given up in the first 100 laps. During the game someone hit Junior, “IN THE FREAKING HEAD”( Alexie 145) with a quarter. He needed stitches and requested Eugene to do them on site so he could play in the second half. He really connected with and followed his dad’s advice of; “You have to dream big to get big”(Alexie 136). In tryouts, Junior believed he was worthy of varsity. If he didn’t believe this he wouldn’t have tried. His trying and dreaming big resulted in the coach seeing him persisting, even in the eyes of defeat. Above all, Junior’s Dad gives this advice because he sees how Junior is persistent and can use that quality to achieve greater things. He wants to be there to give Junior the confidence he needs to achieve his goals.

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