Basketball ‘above the rim’ still unusual in Maine

If ever there were a basketball tournament that could have been used as a backdrop for the movie “Hoosiers,” it is ours, here in Maine.

Take your pick. Class A, B, C, D. Doesn’t matter. Basketball, for the most part, is played below the rim here.

There are exceptions to the rule, and because we are so used to the game being played below the rim, exceptions to the rule stand out. And when we see these exceptions to the rule, we have to scratch our heads and ask ourselves whether we like it or not.

Take, for example, Brandon Hall up in Dover-Foxcroft. He’s 6 feet 7 inches.

We’ve seen 6-7 people come through before, both good and bad. But maybe we haven’t seen a 6-7 player like this one. Hall, in addition to playing hoops, high jumps 6-4, repeat, 6-4. That’s 6 feet, 4 inches high.

So, when Hall was in Bangor a couple of weeks ago for the Eastern Maine Class B tournament and attempted a tomahawk dunk in the first half of Foxcroft Academy’s quarterfinal game, some of us oohed and ahhed and some of us scratched our heads and asked ourselves if we liked it or not.

Some liked it about as much as a jar of salsa that was made in New York City.

The officials working the game at the time correctly whistled Hall for grabbing the rim and he was assessed a technical foul.

Then, in the fourth quarter, he did it again. Hall trailed the play as one of his teammates went in for a fast-break layup. Two defenders arrived on the scene and forced the shot to go high off the rim.

Hall took off from the floor about halfway between the free throw line and the basket on a dead run. He grabbed the ball high above the rim and slammed it down. The ball hit off the back of the rim and soared. Meanwhile, Hall grabbed the rim again and again was whistled and assessed another technical foul. Then when he argued the call he was given another technical foul.

I know why he was arguing the call. I have it on good authority – MY OWN TWO EYES – that the two players who had challenged the original layup attempt were under the basket. Hall, as the rulebook allows, had grabbed the rim to protect himself.

There are a couple of problems with this. One, the call affected Foxcroft Academy’s future in the tourney because the second technical meant that Hall would miss the next game. Two, Hall, as he said a couple of days later, shouldn’t have argued the call with the official.

And there is one more problem – (WARNING – this is not an indictment of the official who made the call) – BUT, this is one of those head-scratching, do-we-like-this deals?

Officials, like everyone else, have to get used to the idea that Brandon Hall is capable of doing what he did, and that there may be more Brandon Halls out there who will do things we are not used to seeing.

One more problem associated with the Brandon Hall situation is that it put his team in the position of having to play a semifinal game without a vital member of their team who, perhaps, might have been a difference maker.

Foxcroft Academy lost in the semifinals, after playing Erskine Academy of South China tough for three quarters.

FA coach Dave Carey won’t go so far as to say Hall’s absence cost his team the game. It would not only sound like sour grapes, but put the onus for their loss on a kid. He will, however, show you the videotape of Hall’s trip down the free throw lane.

I don’t need to see the videotape. I saw the real deal. I saw a little Rucker Park introduced to the Bangor Auditorium and I liked it.

It’s nice to see the kids wearing flat tops and playing fundamental basketball in this somewhat Pleasantville existence we are fortunate enough to have here.

It’s wonderful when a coach can convince a team that a concept can take them far, and it does as in the cases of George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill and Bangor, to name a couple.

But every now and then, we need a little rock and roll in the elevator. A little All-American Rejects to replace the Mantovani.

Every now and then we need a Brandon Hall to shake us up and make us scratch our heads.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net