Hoop Dreams Page #10

are much different.

No, it's not.

I haven't been workin' for about a year.

And if it wasn't for William

knowing Miss Wier...

I wouldn't even be here.

'Cause I walked in the door and that's

the first thing I see on the sign

- "No openings."

It ain't much better than a person

without a college degree can get.

So I feel like I'll be here

for quite a while.

What you lookin' at?

I don't believe people

when they be sayin; "Wow, school's hard.!'"

The work weren't hard for me.

All right. I'm gonna do it.

I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it.

If I gotta do, like,

a report or somethin;..

I don't like none of the topics,

so I'll just pick somethin' that's simple.

So, what's the topic of your paper?

The life cycle of the butterfly.

- Gonna read it for us?

- Mm-mmm.

Aw, come on.!

No, man!

- I wanna hear it-

- I'm just doin' this stuff!

I know, but I just wanna hear

how you write.

"Well, as the people bloom

into another year-"

You know, the year just changed,

January 1.

"The butterfly also blooms.

The butterfly are very beautiful

flying objects."

Then it say at the

beginning of the butterfly,

it goes through a change and all that.

Then I keep goin', man.

I just wanna, like, do that stuff.

Then I'll just keep goin'

on and on and on...

and I won't never stop.

Move out the way! Move!

Look out! Move out the way!

Its botanical name is Cannabis sativa.

Millions of Americans

break the law and use it.

Arthur's latest report card shows...

he's failing

both Spanish and Science.

He rushes through his work.

As you see,

he just missed one assignment.

Mm-hmm.

But his test scores were pretty low.

- he had a 10 on one test.

- Mmm-mm-mmm.

Will you do me a favor?

When you see things are slippin' like this,

give me a call and let me know.

Let me make sure I have

the right phone number.

So I can stay up on top of this boy.

Because he tells you one thing -

I say, "Where your book?" "We didn't have

to work on the book. It's in my locker."

he gonna have to start

showin' me somethin' better.

He probably on the borderline,

and all that clownin',

people just give him an "F."

That's what I would do too.

But I'm goin' stay up on his behind

this time around.

'Cause I told him we payin' 181-odd dollars

out there to St. Joseph's...

Right.

For his transcripts.

He got the transcripts

and he ain't doin' that?

Uh-uh. It ain't gonna happen like that.

Man.!

You remember I told you,

whatever I start I finish.

I'm not like some people I know.

I don't need nobody to push me.

All I gotta do is have the goal

and the motivation, and I'm ready.

It's Sheila's graduation day...

from a nurse's assistants class

at a local community center.

A high grade

will assure her certification.

I want to be an R.N. nurse.

I've always had that dream.

Well, Miss Agee.

- Sheila.

- Hmm?

You scored 89 on the exam.

You're gonna get the highest

grade point average for the class.

Really? Really?

No, no, no, no!

Oh, I love you, I love you, I love you!

Oh, I'm so happy!

Oh, thank you, Miss Martin!

You did it yourself.

Oh, thank you.

Oh, you so good.

I didn't think I could do it.

- I knew you could do it.

- Yeah, you did.

You gave me that belief in myself.

You're really inspiring me to go on.

Not just stop right here,

but go farther.

And people told me

I wasn't goin' be anything.

The gym is packed for today's

game against West Side rival, Westinghouse.

Marshall's rebounded

from last year's dismal 9 and 16 record...

to go 16 and six.

And Arthur has emerged as the Commandos'

second-leading scorer and assist man.

Rebound.!

Some junior colleges have begun to notice.

A lot of these kids won't talk

to a junior college...

really until after they've seen

the dream of, you know...

Illinois and Nevada, Las Vegas

and Georgetown kind of fade.

A junior college could

be Arthur's only hope.

Without better grades

and an 18 on the A.C. T...

major colleges can't offer him

a scholarship.

It's just too bad

those kids don't realize...

hey, if they had an 18,

the door is so much wider open.

You're in the middle.!

In the fourth quarter, the Commandos

fight back from an

11-point halftime deficit.

They trail by one.

We gotta play more aggressive on defense.

We're not good at playin' on defense.

Yeah, man.

Defense!

Derrick Zinneman's layup

pushes Marshall to a one-point lead.

Moments later,

a Westinghouse foul...

and then a double technical puts Arthur

on the line with a

chance to ice the victory.

One more! Whoo!

The upset win is sweet vindication

for the unranked Commandos.

- Arthur Agee, you lead the books.

- Junior!

You got seven.

Seven turnovers.

Even for the guards, that's too many.

This is a good win for you,

but it doesn't mean anything.

You gotta do better than that, man.

You have to do better than that.

Yeah, man.

That was a good game though.

You could have played better though,

you know.

Oh, Mom. You know he did good.

Youre just killing me.

You know your mother's proud of you.

He been gettin' down.

Like a real star.

Number 11...

Arthur Agee.!

Nearly four years

after discovering Arthur

on the playground...

Earl Smith shows up to see Arthur win

his first play-off game.

I figured this game and the next game

may be his last high school ball game.

- Where you been, man?

- Where I been?

- Yeah. Where you been?

- I've been workin'.

- Oh, yeah, right.

- I've been following you in the paper.

- Oh, yeah. You impressed or somethin'?

- Yeah. I'm impressed. I'm here, ain't I?

If I wasn't, I wouldn't

have followed you.

You been

talking to Ping?

- For what?

- You don't talk to him no more?

- Why not?

- What do I have to talk to him about?

- Well, Jamal -

- You ain't there.

- Yeah, you're right. I had to break out.

- Yeah.

So I was thinkin' about goin' tonight

to see, uh, St. Joe and Nazareth play...

but I wasn't sure

if you had time to do it.

Yeah.

I've got a bitter taste in my mouth

about a lot of things that happened.

A lot of people accuse me

of taking youngsters...

out of the inner city and taking them out

to St. Joe high School...

and they ask

what did I get out of the deal and...

a lot of racial slurs and so forth from

my own people about me, about what I did.

I still felt and feel

that I was doing the right thing...

for that particular time.

Uh, sometimes I have second thoughts...

when I see the net results

of what happened with the youngsters.

Arthur.

- Arthur-

- Arthur Agee, sophomore.

My gosh. What are you doin'?

- What are you doin' now?

- Goin' to school.

- Where?

- Marshall.

Oh, I taught him.

Can you believe it?

- So you came in case you

have to play St. Joe's?

- Yeah.

Arthur. Arthur.

- What's up, man?

- What's up, man?

- What you been up to?

You playing basketball?

- What? Yeah.

- how'd you guys do?

- We did a'ight. Still playin;

Still playin'?

When's your next game?

- We gotta play Crane.

High school in Chicago.

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