Basketball or Nothing

There's really nothing...

goin' on in Chinle.

There's no clubs.

No dance, no movie theater...

There's really no outlet

for the kids or the adults.

We're on the rez.

It's like, uh... alcohol and the, uh...

bad side of life... home environment,

violence, maybe...

havin', uh... alcoholic parents and stuff.

Chinle basketball is kind of, like, uh...

an addiction to some people.

It brings a little bit of happiness for them.

- Ooh, aah, ooh, aah! -

We've got the fans here tonight!

Our student athletes are kind of a... a modern-day warrior.

And in our culture,

a warrior is defined as somebody who represents their people...

not just a fighter.

Fired and locked down.

I love it.

This team actually could make history for Chinle.

It could win Chinle's first state championship, you know.

We always dream big.

Good job! Good job!

Whoo!

If we could raise a state title banner,

the pride it would bring to our community...

It... It would mean everything.

A state title is a chance for our kids to get noticed

outside the reservation,

and maybe even give them a shot at a better life.

Oh, yeah!

What a night. What a night at Chinle.

We want them to make history in Chinle.

They have that potential.

It's... it's right there for them.

And this year, I believe we can finally do it.

Chinle is a town of about 4,500 people.

It's right in the heart of the Navajo Nation.

The Nation is over 27,000 square miles,

and it extends into three different states,

Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

In northeastern Arizona, we don't have a Triple-A farm team.

We don't have a semi-pro football or baseball team.

We have a high school basketball team.

-Hello. -Hey, Sophie, Shaun here.

-Shaun. Good morning. -Good morning.

Hey, uh... Wrestling is...

Five years ago, when I was first hired as athletic director,

our basketball team won four games,

and that's just not gonna cut it around here.

-Okay. Thanks, Sophie. - Bye.

The way I view this whole department,

is I want the best for my kids.

I call all these kids "my kids".

You know, I want the best coach available for my kids.

We decided we wanted Coach Mendoza,

and we were able to land him two years ago.

He's coached for over 40 years.

He's been to eight final fours.

He's been to four state title games,

and he's even won the Arizona state championships.

He's a legend on the rez.

And, oh, yeah, name me one other high school coach in America

that has had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as an assistant coach.

I'll see you.

He knows the struggles we deal with,

he knows what it takes to take a team like ours

deep into the tournament bracket.

Got to keep the dogs out.

As a head coach, my whole purpose

is to win a state championship.

I knew that Chinle's always had talent.

With my background, I always believed

that there's always a first time.

And so, when I first came up here two years back,

I said, "Hey, we wanna win a state championship."

Right away, I started telling the kids that, you know, that's our goal.

Saying, "You gotta believe, you gotta believe."

I think with the kids, a lot of it is psychological.

So we've been talking about a lot of things

and trying to build up to this point,

you know, trying to get them to relax

to where they... they're able to... to go and play,

and not worry about other things, distractions...

But, we'll see.

Coach Mendoza, he knows what it takes to change lives,

using basketball as a catalyst with education.

There's many student athletes he's coached

that have received college scholarships,

that are off doing bigger and better things in the world.

Before I came here, they had ten coaches in... in eight years.

So, if Chinle will keep me here,

I would love to stay here and coach for...

for a long time.

But that's not a... a given.

Hey, if we... if we play well, everything will fall in place.

If we don't play well, then...

we don't get it done.

Okay.

Meal check for tomorrow...

Okay, good.

-Plus car. -Thank you.

The kids will love to know that we've got meals.

-All right. All right, Coach. -Thank you.

Yep.

Okay, on the baseline.

Go, to you.

Hustle.

Okay, listen.

Now, tomorrow...

first game of the year.

You have to know what you're doing.

The biggest thing you've got to remember,

if we can take care of the ball,

if everybody can do that as a group, we'll be tough to beat.

Our particular brand here in this area...

we play rezball.

Let's go. No dribble. No dribble. Go.

Just go hard, just go hard. Don't dribble.

Rezball is a unique style of basketball...

and suits our strengths.

Rezball's just like running and gunning,

just pushing the ball, pushing the ball,

getting the open shot, taking the shot, coming back down,

and doing the same thing over and over.

As Navajo people, were not very big in stature.

So, for us to be effective against some of these bigger teams,

we basically have to run them out of the gym.

Rezball to us is, like, really fun.

So we just like to have fun with it and we love to push the ball.

Our coach really doesn't like that kind of basketball,

and tells us to stay away from it.

Hold it, hold it, hold it. Now... Hold it.

You're just running around.

Make sure you know where you're supposed to go.

Do it again, do it again.

Rezball.

You know...

I really don't understand it,

but that's... that's why I asked.

There's no... structure.

Not there, not there! We--

We're not being patient.

We're trying to take every... first shot that comes around.

We don't want that.

Calm down a little bit, you're trying to rush everything.

I love to run, as long as there's a structure.

And I always try to tell the kids, you know,

"You have to make the best decision."

Okay, hold it, hold it. Yeah. Again.

We're just bunching up, guys. That's not what we want.

Let's do it again. I want to walk through it.

My job is to teach the kids how to play basketball,

and learn how to play,

and be able to play the game as it should be played.

Recognize it. Move the ball.

There it is, right there.

There you go.

Coach has won championships.

So he has the experience to know,

or he knows what to do to get there.

So that's how, we just follow him.

Defensively is probably the... the thing I'm concerned about.

If everybody plays good defense, then we'll...

I-- I guarantee you, it's almost a given that we can do well.

Be patient. That's gonna be the difference.

Now, tomorrow, everybody wear slacks,

a dress shirt, a tie...

and hopefully, you shave, okay?

If you... If you look good...

they're gonna say, "Oh, man. These guys mean business."

Okay? Here we go. Break!

One, two, three, Wildcats!

You wanna shoot for a few minutes, that's okay.

Get your jerseys over here so we can put them in the wash.

Coach, I don't have to shave, right? Am I good?

Get the laundry.

This year is a... a special group of kids.

Because of my background, I'm able to relate them.

I can understand them.

Home wasn't a pleasant situation for me.

I know there's a detergent somewhere, but I don't know where it is.

My mom and my dad divorced when I was a year old.

So I never saw my dad.

I met him when I was about 13 years old.

He said, "Hi," and I said, "Hi," that was it.

And then he told me that he was an alcoholic,

and, uh... within a year, he passed on.

I became personally responsible for my half-brothers and sisters.

At the time, I had to haul water, chop wood...

did everything a man had to do,

because there was no man in the house.

I was the... I was the man.

It was hard, but I had no choice.

For me, it was a matter of survival.

Opening up against Snowflake...

It's always... That's a tough game.