Juan Dixon[]
We're down by twenty points going into the second half, the team is really falling a part. No one is executing the plays we learned in practice. Our three-point defense is horrible and we just look really sloppy as a whole. Gary wasn't too happy during the halftime speech he gave, he was throwing a fit. The last thing I want to do is make him angry before Thanksgiving.
The whistle blows. We inbound the ball and take it up court, I yell out "We gotta comeback quick." I want to let my teammates know that time is against us, so we have to be proficient but also quick. First play and Steve drains a 15-footer. Good start, now to crack down on the defense. With ten minutes into the second half, we've cut the deficit to ten. Gary calls a timeout.
I go into the huddle with my arms on my waist, tired but not willing to quit. Gary mentions some plays he wants to see executed after the timeout and says that defense is the key to the game He then says he wants me to be the go-to-guy.
The next 9:45 second is a war between us and UNC as we give it all we got. With 15 seconds on the clock, we find ourselves down by two and without the ball. Gary wants to foul so we can stop the clock.
They inbound the ball and I rush towards the player to foul him, instead I get a peice of the ball and scream out, "TIME OUT."
We go into a huddle and Gary gives us a play. He wants me to shoot a three pointer, "It's all or nothing now," he says.
Whistle blows. Ball inbounded. I take advantage of a pick that is set and find myself in the right corner. There are two defenders and another one dashing towards me. I spot my girlfriend jumping up and down with a "3" smacked across her face. With that in my head, I fade back and fire one up and as soon as it leaves my fingertips I crack a smile. I hit the ground and stare straight up into the ceiling, the roaring of the fans says it all.
We just won the championship.
Gary Williams[]
The team arrives to the stadium. I, of course, sitting in the front of the bus get up and tell all the players the game plan. Following me, we all walk into the stadium. Looking around all the players are putting their uniforms on, lacing up their shoe laces, or taping their ankles. I turn over to the white board and draw up what i started on the bus. I meet with the assistant coaches and we get the pregame warm ups going. Soon enough the game starts and we are getting hammered on the boards. We cant hit any shots and we arent getting back on D. I called a timeout to set up Juan, hopefully to get something going in the first half. The play went wrong and it ended with an AND 1 for the other team. I LOOOOSSSSEEE it. As I'm yelling at the ref, reaming him out, he gives me a technical foul right in my face. The assistance coaches had to come over and pull me back to the bench. The second quarter ended are we were down god knows how many points. As everyone walked into the locker room with their heads down i knew i needed to say something meaning full. Over the next few minutes in the lockerroom i got the team back on the right track. Finally, in the third quarter we started getting rebounds, making shots, and getting back on defence. There is two minutes left in the game. University of North Carolina is winning the game by a couple points. I look down to the other side and look right into the eyes of Roy Williams. We have the ball and Juan makes another shot, making that 3 shots in a row. UNC dribbles back down the court and Juan steals it and quickly calls a timeout. There is 15 seconds left. I draw up the same play for Juan that i drew up in the second half that failed. Everyone put their hands in and knew this had to work in order to win the game. The ball is inbounded right to Juan he dribbles for a couple second and makes an incredible juke move. As sweat is pouring down my face i see Juan pull up at the 3 point line as time expired to win the game by 1 point. As the team runs over to him i walk down the sideline and shake Roy Williams hand. I give an interview to Stewart Scott and head into the lockerroom. With all the kids yelling I calm them down and hand the game ball to Juan and congradulate the team. What a way to end the game.
Mya[]
I was on the edge of my seat all day waiting for the game to start. I was so excited I couldn’t handle it. When the Terps take on UNC the energy is CRAZY!!!!
My name is Mya and my boyfriend’s name is Juan Dixon. He is one of the best players on the team and I’m his biggest fan! Every game I paint a big number 3 on my face and my shirt to show my support. And every game he promises to make a 3 just for me!! Little did I know the 3 pointer would be a huge deal in this game.
The game had been dragging on and on throughout the first half of the game and well into the third quarter. I was so nervous I didn’t know what to do with myself. I knew how important this game was because Juan had been talking about it for months!
The game was going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Every time we scored they scored. They managed to always jump ahead by just enough points. I was screaming to the top of my lungs every time we got the ball, “GO GO GO!!!!!” There were 15 seconds left in the game and we were down by 2. I knew we could at least go into overtime but I was ready to win this thing! I saw Juan call a timeout and I just knew we were in over our heads. The game started up again and I was going crazy, jumping up and down, screaming, “LETS GO #3..MAKE MY SHOT!!!!!” I saw him look up at me and knew he was gonna bring it home…and he did!