Hoops

Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Harlem (Chapter 1)

2. A hotel, the Grant (Chapter 1)

3. A case of Scotch whiskey (Chapter 1)

4. A one-on-one game with Lonnie (Chapter 1)

5. Lonnie eats dinner with Sweet Man. (Chapter 2)

6. Snakeskin (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

1. Lonnie is angry that Cal did not show up to the game. He pulls a pistol on Cal, but Paul intervenes, causing Lonnie to accidentally shoot his own hand. Lonnie’s feelings are conflicting because he wonders why he is glad to see Cal. (Chapter 2)

2. When Lonnie first meets Cal, he is drunk and challenges him in basketball, calling him “youngblood.” Cal does not show up to the team’s first game, and Lonnie probably feels he will be unreliable as a coach. (Chapters 1-2)

Chapters 3-4

Reading Check

1. Lonnie’s team loses. (Chapter 3)

2. To be scammed (Chapter 3)

3. He altered the outcome of games for gambling purposes. (Chapter 3)

4. Cal’s former partner (Chapter 4)

5. Singing (Chapter 4)

6. Paul (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. Mary-Ann asked Paul why Tyrone needed him, so he hit her. Lonnie and Mary-Ann discover gambling debts and IOUs that they take from the club. (Chapter 4)

2. Cal thinks Aggie was good enough to be a professional singer, but she was unable to succeed because she is Black. (Chapter 4)

Chapters 5-6

Reading Check

1. Checks (Chapter 5)

2. Paul (Chapter 5)

3. His autograph (Chapter 6)

4. In a house fire (Chapter 6)

5. If he wants to get married (Chapter 6)

6. He tells him not to. (Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. Paul is stealing checks to impress a girl, and Tyrone agrees to burn the checks for him at a price. Lonnie asks Mary-Ann not to tell Paul that Tyrone isn’t cashing the checks and that they stole them. (Chapter 5)

2. Cal gambled his basketball career away and became depressed. He left his son Jeffrey with a neighbor, then there was a house fire that killed Jeffrey. Cal and Aggie’s relationship never recovered. (Chapter 6)

Chapter 7

Reading Check

1. A wealthy white man named Mr. O’Donnel (Chapter 7)

2. Rashid (Chapter 7)

3. Cal (Chapter 7)

4. The practice facility (Chapter 7)

5. Scouts (Chapter 7)

6. A technical foul (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Lonnie is concerned because Cal was arguing with two men after a game and doesn’t show up to several games after that. Lonnie goes to visit Mary-Ann to tell her that Cal is missing. (Chapter 7)

2. Lonnie feels that the team’s white sponsor, Mr. O’Donnel, is making him and his teammates “remember their place.” Lonnie also feels that he does not want to perform for white audiences as he has done in the past and been let down. (Various chapters)

Chapters 8-9

Reading Check

1. To Mr. O’Donnel’s office (Chapter 8)

2. Lonnie (Chapter 8)

3. Cal bets against his team. (Chapter 8)

4. She has been injected with drugs by Tyrone. (Chapter 8)

5. Tomkins (Chapter 9)

6. Cal is stabbed and dies. (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Cal teaches the team to work together cohesively. Cal’s presence is necessary because he gives the team the confidence they need to win. (Various chapters)

2. Lonnie says he feels like he has lost his only friend. (Chapters 9)