Night Hoops

Night Hoops focuses on Nick’s high school basketball team, but the primary model he and other players base their game on is professional basketball, or the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nick consumes Sonics games, and his primary inspiration is Gary Payton, the All-Star point guard for the Sonics. Nick, too, plays point guard, which makes him the point person. Nick leads the offense and controls the ball. It’s his job to involve the other players; at first, he mainly passes to Luke; then, he favors Trent. In the NBA, the emphasis on specific positions is somewhat obsolete. Night Hoops came out in 2000, and current basketball discourse highlights “positionless basketball,” where players shoulder various roles regardless of their listed position. Thus, the seven-foot MVP centers Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic can run offenses and make three-pointers like a point guard or shooting guard.

Coach O’Leary emphasizes a fastbreak offense, meaning that he wants his players to hurry the ball up the court and score quickly without running a set play. O’Leary’s style of basketball anticipates the quick pace of the contemporary NBA, where the offense is a priority, and coaches encourage players to either shoot three-pointers or drive the ball to the basket for a layup, dunk, or foul.