01x02 - The Marvyn Korn Effect

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Big Shot

You need a second chance.

This is the only one I could get.

It's a girls' school.

My name is Marvyn Korn,

and I will be your new coach.

They don't even want me here, Sam.

Hey, Dad. How'd the first day go?

We run on money. Mr. Gruzinsky's got it.

Do not screw this up.

Wave goodbye to Louise Gruzinsky.

She's suspended from the team.

- He's insane.

- This is not a good start.

Laguna has a player.

All the college scouts,

they follow her every game.

I need to play in the game. It's

about making my father proud.

You told them to do everything

that they could to try to win.

They have done that. Now it's your turn.

- Louise

- Just give me the ball.

This outcome was unacceptable.

But we're just getting started.

Hey, all right!

Wait, guys. Hold up for a sec.

- Hey, Coach.

- Hey.

You live around here?

Yeah, just over there. Who

are these guys? They're good.

Just friends of my brother's.

We sometimes play a little

pickup before school.

You know, 'cause it's so ugly out here.

Mm-hmm.

Damn, that's Marvyn Korn.

Hey, Coach. Take a shot.

- Nah, I'm good.

- No.

- Come on, man.

- Throw a chair.

- Throw a chair. Throw a

- Come on, idiots! Dylan!

Bodhi, chill! All of you!

That dude's crazy though.

Sorry, Coach.

Save some for the game!

Swing the ball! Swing Pass it!

sh**t it, honey! sh**t the ball!

Mouse, get it to Destiny!

Destiny's open!

What are they doing?

They're getting it to Louise

like they always do.

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yes, ladies!

Great game, Louise.

Thanks. Good job feeding me the

ball. Their defense was tough.

Nice work!

Congrats! That was a great one!

Yeah!

So good! So good!

All right, listen up. A lot of

mistakes out there today.

Mouse, you do realize

there are other players

out on that court besides Louise?

Louise, please tell me you can do

something with a ball

other than sh**t it.

And while we're up 16 late,

we don't jack threes!

If we're gonna win, we're

gonna win with class.

Destiny, how many times have I told you?

When you're in the paint,

demand the ball.

We won, Coach.

I mean, I know it wasn't

perfect, but we did win.

You don't have to like sing our

praises or anything, but still.

Okay.

Yes, I'm sorry.

You won. And I'm glad.

But do you know why you won?

Because we're better than them.

Yes, Olive. We have better players.

In fact, the last six times you played

them, you beat them, decisively.

You should have beat them.

Because you're better than them.

You're better players!

Unfortunately, we're not defined by

beating teams that are worse than us.

We're defined by beating

teams that are better.

Now, we play Encinitas next week.

They have better players,

don't they? Anyone disagree?

How are we gonna beat them?

Huh? How?

We're gonna be the better team.

We're gonna play unselfishly.

If Destiny's wide open under

the basket, get her the ball.

The play doesn't care who makes it.

Now we're gonna go back to two-a-days

starting tomorrow, 6:00 a.m.

If you're ten minutes

early, you're late.

- You're mad.

- I'm not mad.

- You haven't touched your burger.

- You offered to buy me dinner.

I didn't say I was gonna eat it.

- You're mad.

- I'm not

Okay.

What did you hope to accomplish

with your little speech tonight, hmm?

We won, Marvyn.

The girls played great.

Louise scored 21 points.

Yeah, but nine turnovers.

Those girls aren't gonna learn anything

if all they do is feed

the ball to Louise.

- She's our star player.

- There are no stars on my team.

Yeah. No stars but you.

See? I was right. You are mad.

I think you like to make me mad.

Why can't you ever find

the joy in anything?

I find joy.

Yeah? Name one thing.

- Winning.

- We won tonight, and you're miserable!

Hold on. Is that what you think?

That I'm miserable? I'm not

In fact, I was encouraged.

Watching those girls tonight, it

was the first time I felt that

Like we could be something.

Then why didn't you tell them that?

'Cause if all I do is compliment them,

then the compliment loses its value.

That is the dumbest

thing I've ever heard,

and I work with teenagers.

Anyway, back to my original question.

Name one thing that brings you joy.

- John Wooden.

- Unrelated to basketball.

Frank Sinatra and Dean

Martin. Two things.

Why don't you try something

that's still alive?

My daughter, Emma.

Thank you! Why couldn't you

just say that from the start?

I don't know. It's Seemed too easy.

- You are really

- I know. I really am.

If you're not gonna

eat this, I'm taking it.

Yeah, I think it's gonna be great.

Sure.

- I'm Emma. I'm Emma

- Oh. Well, thank you so much.

Yeah. Wh Great. How about noon?

- Okay, thanks. Bye.

- I'm Emma.

Hey, kiddo. What you watching?

Nothing. What's up?

I thought that stuff stopped

a couple months ago.

I thought it did too.

Who were you on the phone with?

You remember Sue?

Um, I worked on a couple

design projects with her.

Well, there's an opportunity,

but it's in Italy.

That's amazing.

You should take it, and

I can go live with Dad.

He works at a high school now.

That'll never

He's great on weekends.

And he's dealing with

his own stuff right now

At least think about it. Okay?

Even when we literally win,

it's like we can't win with him.

He's not wrong.

Whether he's wrong or

right, it's not what he says.

- It's how he says it.

- And also what he says.

Well, look, all I'm saying is, uh,

if we're going to beat Encinitas,

we're gonna have to step up our game.

But the crazy thing is he's

punishing us for winning.

- There's no reasoning with him.

- Anybody figure out number 12?

- An immovable object.

- It's definitely not an immovable object.

No, I was talking about Korn.

For 12, you have to

use the law of sines.

Or you can just give me the answer.

You know that means you'll

be breaking a rule, right?

- Are you gonna be okay?

- Yes, I'm fine.

Okay, look, anyway, Coach has a plan.

Well, I'd care a whole lot more if I

got an occasional pat on the back,

thumbs-up, an "Attagirl".

"Attagirl"? Who says that anymore?

No, I'm saying Korn

would because he's old.

I think "Attagirl" is condescending.

Yeah, I mean, where does Korn get off?

He should've said, "Attawoman".

- Please.

- He didn't say any of those things.

That's why you're all angry, remember?

Now help me with number 13.

Or you could tell us the

name of that sick lip gloss.

- It is pretty fire.

- I'm obsessed with it.

None of you know the answer, do you?

- No.

- Not a clue.

Boy, you faked that number

40 out of her shoes tonight.

I saw her dad in the stands.

Looked like he wanted to cry.

Dad, I have a lot of homework,

and it's an early practice

tomorrow, so

Early practice? You guys

back to two-a-days?

Coach wasn't happy.

I love that.

Never satisfied, that guy.

That's why I brought him in.

You know, you had 21 points

tonight, but Korn could see it.

He knew you could have had 27 easy.

That's not what he wants.

He said I sh**t too much.

Too much?

Please. You're the star player.

Those other scrubs can't sh**t at all.

He said he doesn't want better

players. He wants a better team.

Yeah, and he'll get a better

team if you sh**t more.

That's ridiculous. I'll

talk to him about it.

Dad, please don't. It's hard

enough to just have one coach.

Okay.

He can coach the team,

but I am your coach,

and you play your game.

I think you mean your game.

Holly, someone took our shoes.

Ah. Coach Korn.

Why? As another weird punishment

for actually winning a game?

Maybe it's a motivational thing.

If we do good in practice,

we'll earn them back.

Or maybe he plans to throw them

at us every time we screw up.

Fun idea, Olive, but no.

All right, listen up.

Yesterday before the game,

as a team, I thought you

had potential to be good.

But after watching you play,

I realized if you listen to me,

if you allow me to coach you,

if you try your very best,

like I talk about all the time,

then you have the potential to be great.

I don't want you to think about

being here as a punishment.

I want you to think of it as

a testament to my faith in you.

'Cause for the first time,

I truly believe

that we could do something special.

Where was that yesterday?

That was the "attawoman"

I was looking for.

- Really, Coach?

- You think we could be great?

I specifically said you

have potential to be great.

But you've never even said we

had the potential for that before.

Yeah, which is why it means so much now

because I haven't cheapened it

with a bunch of hollow compliments.

By now, I guess you guys are

wondering what I'm doing

with your shoes, right?

They don't have any laces.

Well, they will after I teach

you to properly tie them.

Um, we're in high school.

We know how to tie shoes.

But not the right way.

I'm gonna teach you my system

of basketball from the ground up.

On this court, every move you make,

every play, every lace is gonna be

done the exact same way every time

until we don't have to think about it

because thinking is what slows us down.

All right, come on. Grab

your shoes. Grab your laces.

Let's start from scratch.

And last, I have some

very exciting news.

Professor Briana Carmichael has finally

agreed to come and discuss

her book with us.

So I need each of you to prepare

three intelligent questions

before she joins us after

school next Thursday.

- Ms. Grint, that's really exciting.

- Isn't it?

Yeah, super exciting. And we'd

love to meet her. Only thing is

Next Thursday after school

is our last practice

before we play Encinitas.

Oh. That's too bad.

Unfortunately, attendance is mandatory

unless you don't mind taking a zero.

That could drop us a whole letter

grade. My mom would k*ll me.

There has to be something we can do.

There is. Attend.

- But we have practice

- Practice. Yes, I heard.

So it seems you have a choice.

You have the rare opportunity

to hear a speaker

of the caliber of Professor Carmichael,

or you can try to throw

a ball through a hoop.

He's gonna go berserk.

He thinks ten minutes early is late,

and we have to miss a whole practice.

I feel sick. I can't do this.

Olive, you're good at talking

to people. You talk to him.

No. No! If I have to

face him, so do you.

He's gonna go berserk.

Not a problem.

Really? So we can miss practice?

What? No, don't be ridiculous.

Nobody's missing any practice.

Definitely not a day before the game.

- But you said it wasn't a problem.

- Because it's not.

Listen, don't worry.

I'll take care of this.

What's this teacher's name?

Hi. Ms. Grint, do you have a second?

Ah. I certainly do. Come right in.

Oh, British.

- Nice to meet you. I'm Marvyn Korn.

- Coach Korn,

yes. Welcome to Westbrook.

I've been wondering when I was

going to run into our new celebrity.

I don't know about all

that, but thank you.

I can see you're busy.

I'll make this quick.

We have a scheduling issue.

No, I don't think we have an issue.

Oh.

Okay, good.

I mean, it's too bad the girls

have to miss your talk thingy,

but they're gonna do whatever's

necessary to make it up.

I give you my word. Nice to meet you.

Mr. Korn.

When I said we don't have an issue,

I didn't mean to imply you don't.

As I'm sure the girls told you,

attendance is mandatory

to my "talk thingy".

Well, attendance is mandatory

to my practice.

I'm sure that you're used to a certain

amount of deferential treatment

from the faculty towards your players,

but here at Westbrook, I

do not teach your players.

- You coach my students.

- Oh, that's

And once I have made up my

mind, it is final. Ask anyone.

Okay.

Hey, I got you.

You sure you're old

enough to drink coffee?

I have my permit.

I'm Felix. I teach Global Studies.

That covers everything, doesn't it?

They were rough on me too,

till they figured out

I make great coffee.

- All right.

- Oh!

George Pappas.

Nice to meet you.

No, my name is on the cup.

I-I don't mind sharing it.

As long as you ask permission.

- Can I borrow your

- No.

- Sorry.

- Get the feeling they don't like me around here.

Well, I like you.

And most of them like me. So,

maybe some of that'll rub off on you.

Yeah, maybe.

Are you guys supposed to be crossing

Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over.

Oh. Hi. Hello? Oh.

- Hey, Dad.

- Hey. You look happy.

'Cause I got some really good news.

Mom got a job offer

from a firm in Italy.

Wow, fancy. Good for her.

Yeah, but she can't take it 'cause

it's for six months to a year.

Well, I don't see the silver lining.

I was thinking she might be able to go

because guess whose dad works

at a high school for girls

and could maybe pull some strings

for the very best daughter in the world.

W Are you guys supposed

to be crossing through here?

Uh

So, you want to come out here?

And live with you.

Wouldn't that be awesome?

I bet we could convince Mom.

She really wants this job.

Said it's a major opportunity.

It's nice that you want

to help your mother out,

but, you know, we're already

into the semester now and

It's only been a few weeks.

I could catch up.

Listen, sweetie. Nothing

would make me happier, but

things have been a little

rocky around here.

You're doing what you

always do, aren't you?

Rubbing people the wrong way.

They'll get used to me. They always do.

I can help. I speak Marvyn Korn.

Dad, I could actually

really use a change.

Is everything okay, sweetie?

Sure.

I just thought

Sweetie, listen. It's

The timing is just not great right now.

Maybe this is something

that we could consider

Sure, yeah. Got it.

Hello?

sh**t.

- Motion. Louise.

- Constant motion.

Know where your teammates

are and where they're going.

Olive. Get it to Olive.

They look pretty good.

Imagine how they'll be when

they actually have a ball.

They're developing muscle memory.

When they can do this in their

sleep, I'll give 'em a ball.

Starters are coming together.

It's a shame we're gonna lose three

of them for the pregame practice.

Oh, they'll be there.

I'm handling it.

- You're handling Ms. Grint?

- Mm-hmm.

She can't be handled. Ask anyone.

Oh, I will.

Me and her are meeting with

Sherilyn this afternoon.

Maybe you'd like to be there.

Forget it. I'd like to be

anywhere but there.

- Well, too bad. 'Cause I told Sherilyn you're coming.

- What?

Okay, that's it for today.

Good, good, good, good. Much better.

I figured it out.

It's about faith. We put our faith

in him, and he'll put his faith in us.

I feel like you're meeting

him a little more than halfway.

Wrong. He knows what he's doing.

His shoelace tying method

is a revelation. Revelation.

Said no one ever.

Look, he's definitely annoying,

but we are getting better.

Yeah, we're gonna lead the

league in invisible ball passes.

I wouldn't get too

comfortable with Korn.

He has a way of self-destructing.

Yeah, but then your dad

will just protect him.

My dad wants me to play point

guard and take every shot.

Coach Korn doesn't.

- Who do you think's gonna win that fight?

- Ms. Grint.

No, I mean, there she is.

She haunts my dreams.

And she wants Coach gone.

He said he can handle her.

What about my dad? You

think he can handle him?

- Or Ms. Sherilyn.

- Ladies.

Grint's gonna eat him alive.

I don't mind sharing, as

long as he asks permission.

Ugh. George.

Yeah, I know him from his cup.

Uh

Ah, Coach Korn and Ms. Barrett.

Thanks for coming.

Not a problem. Thought it was

just gonna be the four of us.

Oh, I asked Mr. Pappas to join us.

We've not officially met.

George Pappas, school counselor.

- Pleasure.

- Hey.

I want you to know I'm

on no one's side here,

only the side of the girls of Westbrook.

- Yeah, we all are, George.

- Are we?

Yeah.

All right, I understand

there's a scheduling conflict.

- That's correct.

- Oh, I'm afraid it's much bigger than that.

And so it begins.

She scheduled this test or talk thingy

against my pregame practice next week,

which is, you know,

ridiculous, so here we are.

Or perhaps we should

be asking, "Who are we?"

I think we'd all agree we're

an institution of learning,

which is why it's so telling

that Mr. Korn assumes

we would set aside our

academic priorities for sports.

- Come on. That's not what he's doing.

- The distinguished speaker series

is a critical component

of the school's curriculum.

So is the basketball team.

I'm sorry. I did not realize that

we had a class called

"the basketball team".

What she's doing here is

she's scheduled her talk thing

against my practice deliberately

because she has it out

for the basketball program

or, more specifically, me.

I don't think we need

to personalize this,

but if we're going to,

yes, we do in fact have

some issues with you.

We? God, I thought you

weren't taking sides, George.

The girls' sides, as I said.

And many of us have grave concerns

about Westbrook employing a man

who is too volatile to be permitted

around adult male athletes

but apparently perfectly

fine to oversee the girls

whose safety has been entrusted to us.

George, your concerns

have been duly noted

every single endless time

you've raised them.

But I must assure you Coach Korn

has been thoroughly vetted,

and I resent any implication

to the contrary.

Obviously, that wasn't

aimed at you, Sherilyn.

- Um

- Speaking of being vetted,

the rest of us have been through a

rigorous screening and

interview process.

Had I but known that playing a

round of golf with Larry Gruzinsky

would've ensured employment here,

I would have saved myself

some time and money

- and skipped my double masters at Yale.

- Come on, Terry.

You know he did not play a round

of golf with Larry Gruzinsky.

Obviously, that was not aimed at you.

Would you just tell her the girls

are gonna be at my practice

and let's call it a day please?

I most certainly can. Ms. Grint,

either reschedule your speaker

or arrange for the players to make

up the assignment some other way.

Thank you.

- I'm not one to brag, but

- You are, but go on.

You just witnessed

the Marvyn Korn effect.

I thought the Marvyn Korn effect

referred to the chaos that

you leave in your wake.

Huh. You read the book.

I skimmed it. But look,

you know, this is not over.

Grint is not the

forgive-and-forget type.

I don't lose.

No? Then what are you doing here?

Look, you're not famous,

Korn. You're infamous.

Yeah. You breeze in here.

You're this entitled jock.

You think the rules don't apply to you.

You're sitting in a sea

of intellectuals,

and nobody here likes you.

That doesn't bother you?

- Little help?

- How'd you get in here?

My name's on the gym. I have keys.

Figured I'd get in some practice

with actual laces and an actual ball.

We practice as a team. I

thought I made that clear.

You did. But this is my study hall time.

No freelancing.

You're just gonna pick up

bad habits I have to fix later.

- I'm out here busting my a*s

- There's that word again. "I". "I".

We're going nowhere unless

you learn to pass the ball!

Good players make themselves better,

but great players make everyone

around them better.

How? By tying shoelaces

and sh**ting invisible ba*ls?

We're not learning anything.

All right, let's do that drill

you were just doing.

Instead of making a basket,

pass the ball to me.

Hold on.

All right.

Fine. Now, don't look at me.

Look at the basket. Pass the ball.

- How can I hit you if I don't know where

- Just feel me.

Try it again.

No, no.

That was a turnover.

Come on. Focus.

Okay, go.

The more we pass, the

tougher we are to defend.

They'll double-team you, and your

team gonna be wide open right here.

Good. Just feel me.

No.

Trust your teammates. Come on.

Come on. You know how to do this.

You just haven't passed the ball yet.

Focus, focus, focus. Okay.

Try to fake again.

Yes, that's it! Try it again.

That's it! That is how

we create a winning team!

That's how you make a great

player. That was great.

- That's what we've been working on.

- I had no idea.

I know.

Welcome to the team, Gruzinsky.

So Louise is looking good.

Have you given any thought to

moving her to sh**ting guard?

I thought about it and rejected it.

'Cause you can't stand the thought

of Larry Gruzinsky screaming at you?

Please. I'm not afraid of Larry.

There's a Larry at every school.

My dad was a Larry.

Yeah? How'd you handle him?

Great. We haven't had one problem

since we stopped speaking to each other.

You know, it's not gonna

be the same with Grint.

I took care of Grint. You saw it.

I got this. Don't worry.

The rest of us have

rules we must abide by.

I am limited to one hour of

homework per student per night.

Yet Mr. Korn has his players practicing

two hours in the afternoon,

two hours in the morning.

And what has he taught

them in all that time?

How to tie their shoelaces.

They're getting quite good at it too.

She doesn't know when

to give up, does she?

Are you practicing two-a-days?

Well, yeah. Just because I think

three-a-days might be excessive.

See? He thinks it's all a joke.

Look around you, Mr. Korn.

Do you see anyone laughing?

Sherilyn, the girls are making progress.

They're really starting

to come together.

That may be, Ms. Barrett,

but Ms. Grint is correct.

We do have a daily limit

on the amount of time

teachers can demand of our girls.

You should know that.

From now on, one practice per day.

No, I can't turn the team around

with one practice per day.

Oh, that is unfortunate. And

I was just starting to like you.

One-a-days, Coach.

George, you better not be following me.

I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it.

- You have to.

- No, I don't have to.

Nobody's ever told me how to coach

my team. They're not gonna start now.

Two-a-days. One in

morning. One at night.

- You can't.

- I will.

Okay, then you're gonna see that little

ticker on the bottom of ESPN saying,

"Girls' high school fires Marvyn Korn".

- Is that what you want?

- Come on.

That's the hill you're

gonna die on. Really?

Girls.

Bring it in.

Hit the bench. Come on.

Let's go. Hustle. Hustle!

All right, a couple things.

Olive, Samantha, Mouse, the

situation it's been taken care of.

Told you he'd handle it. See

you in the morning, Coach.

Yeah, about that. We're

gonna go back to one-a-days.

We're just gonna practice

once in the afternoon.

What? But we're doing great.

- Why?

- We can't take our foot off the gas now.

Hey, hey! I'm the coach.

Let me do the coaching.

Coach! Coach, wait.

What did What did we do wrong?

No, you didn't do anything.

He said we have potential.

He said we could be great.

- Then he just gives up on us?

- He didn't give up on you.

No one wanted to play Coach

Korn's way less than me.

But I'm doing it. I changed my game.

Okay, my dad is furious, but I'm all in.

We all are.

So why isn't Coach?

Look, it's not up to him.

Some of the faculty thought that

he was overstepping his authority,

that he was pushing you girls too hard.

What do you think?

It's not for me to say.

But between us,

Ms. Grint can shove it.

This is crazy.

He's not pushing us too hard.

We need the practice.

We're not children.

It's not like we're incapable of

making decisions for ourselves.

Right? Like, all this "women striving,

women thriving", future CEO stuff

is just for the brochure.

Real empowering.

Look at her. Enjoying life.

Why does a poli-sci teacher

get to tell us what we can't do?

She's not the boss of us.

Why does she even care?

I'm gonna say something to her.

Really?

No.

Damn.

It would be too bad if something

happened to the brake line in her car.

Mouse, are you suggesting

we take out Ms. Grint?

Not us.

Gravity mostly.

You know those twisty roads

she drives on the way to school?

We're not doing that.

Although it is very tempting.

This sucks. We finally get a coach

that cares and this is what happens.

- Why not just get your dad to make a call?

- Because I'm not five.

There has to be another way.

Well, we're three gelatos in,

and so far, the best idea we

have would send us to prison.

It's hopeless. We're done.

Encinitas is gonna kick our a*s again.

Maybe not.

Yeah.

- Louise.

- There you go. Communicate.

Behind you!

You got it. Okay, now you

can br There you go.

Go for it! Go for it!

Good!

Come on.

Bring it in. Let's talk about it.

What's going on here?

Oh. Hey, Coach. Um

Yeah, it's the craziest thing.

- The girls here

- Totally on our own.

Totally on their own,

decided that they wanted

to play a little basketball

this morning.

Yeah, on this off-campus,

totally public court

that is in no way affiliated

with Westbrook.

And there's nothing wrong with

them getting a little exercise

on time that's clearly their own, right?

- So

- Uh-huh.

And if we accidentally get

some benefit as a team

from something that's clearly

not an official practice, then

What's the harm?

Only thing we have to lose is a

win against Encinitas next week.

Right. But I'm confused.

If this is totally unofficial,

what are you doing here?

Oh. Yeah, that is the darndest thing.

So I came here to do a little

surfing, which I do, never,

and I accidentally brought my

whistle instead of my surfboard.

And then I saw the girls

- Total coincidence.

- Obviously.

And I thought, "Hmm, I don't know,

maybe I'll do a little coaching".

You know, another total coincidence is

you guys picked this place to practice.

This is my morning jog.

I jog right along here

every single morning.

- Did you know that, Louise?

- Oh, I couldn't possibly have.

Wait, are you guys serious?

Care to join us, Coach?

- Ball! Pass me the ball!

- Give

Give her the ball!

Whoa!

All right!

Whoa!

That is how you do it! Let's go!

That was so good!

Everybody in! Team win selfie!

Let me get photo approval.

You have, like, a million followers.

- True.

- 149,000. But I'm working on it.

You see, the thing about Encinitas

is they have better players.

So, Gruzinsky, why did we win?

Because we have a better team, Coach?

You're damn right we

do. Good job, girls.

You avoided complimenting them

by forcing them to

compliment themselves.

Can't you find the joy in anything?

- You are really

- I know, I know. I I really am.

- Hey.

- You ready?

You see that pass at the end?

Mm-hmm.

You like it?

I'd have liked it better

if you took a shot.

I told you that's not what Coach wants.

I thought I was your coach.

You were. My first coach.

But now I just need you to be my dad.

All right.

What?

Nice win.

- You're connecting with these girls.

- Oh, stop it.

It's a trap, you know. Happened to me.

One day you're gonna wake up and

find out you actually care about them.

- No. To me, they're just X's and O's.

- Uh-huh.

So you would never practice

with them on a court by the ocean

just to skirt the letter

of the law I laid down

because they thought

you were abandoning them?

I prefer to think of it as a creative

solution to a problem that

that we both would love to go away.

That problem, by the way,

the one you're referring to?

It's only getting worse.

Ms. Grint is still on my a*s

about you like a tick on a hound,

and George, he sees you throwing chairs

at Westbrook students in his dreams.

I I I don't know

what to do about that.

I know what you do. You

change his mind about you.

You prove to him that your

anger problems are in the past.

And how do you propose that I do that?

He's a school counselor. He

talks to people for a living.

- I'm thinking, hmm, one hour a week

- Uh-uh.

just the two of you. You

change his mind about you,

- he'll change the mind of the faculty.

- Not gonna happen.

It's funny how you don't

realize it's already done.

What do you mean? Is this

something that I have to do?

I prefer to think of it as a

creative solution to a problem

we both would love to see go away.

We seem to have inherited each other.

Yeah.

I warn you, Mr. Korn.

I'm a tough nut to crack.

So am I, George.

I didn't always work with

high school girls, you know.

- Neither did I.

- Hmm.

I was a warden at a

minimum-security prison.

I've dealt with guys like you.

Under pressure, trapped, desperate.

You're out of your comfort

zone here at Westbrook.

All alone. No one on your side.

Holly.

You took the job she thought

she deserved. Try again.

My team.

Teenagers have the attention

span of a tsetse fly. Go on.

Larry Gruzinsky?

Yes.

And you just turned his daughter

from the star player

to just another member of the team.

Sherilyn.

She put you in here with me.

You are on your own, Mr. Korn.

But it doesn't have

to be a life sentence.

We both want the same thing.

For you to be gone.

So help me help you help me.

See ya.

It's only been five minutes.

You weren't really a warden.

- Yeah?

- Hey, Coach.

Um, I just wanted to let you know

that I actually have to miss next game

'cause I have a test.

What?

Kidding. No.

No, I just wanted to

I just wanna say thank you.

You're welcome.

For what?

Um, for caring.

Is that your daughter?

Yeah. She's your age. Emma.

Bet you miss her.

Yeah. Yeah, I do miss her.

She's having a hard time,

probably because of me.

I'm pretty good at that, huh?

You do have skills.

I bet she misses you too.

She says she does.

- She wants to come out here to Westbrook.

- Really?

Well, I mean, I just know, like,

I'd give, like, anything

to see my dad again.

Like, literally anything.

Is he not around?

Uh-uh.

No. Um And I miss him.

That's it.

Anyway, uh

That's I just Yeah.

Just wanted to say thank you.

Um, thanks, Coach.

Hey.

Are you running out or

No, I got some time

before first period. Why?

This is gonna be "E".

I'm gonna sink it. You're gonna

miss. And you're gonna lose.

I bet you a million dollars you miss.

Ooh, I wouldn't make that bet

except that you do have

the million dollars,

and you should know, I will collect.

A buck. Buck says you miss.

All right. You are on.

Oh, fancy.

Oh!

The pressure, it's on.

I don't know the meaning of

the word "pressure", okay?

Well, do you know the

meaning of the word "choke"?

- Because that's what you're about to do.

- Just zip it.

And be ready to take it out of

the basket, okay? You ready?

That's H-O-R-S-E. You owe me a buck.

Or we could just roll it

over to the next game.

Yeah, let's roll it over

to the next game.

Hey. Got class in a minute, Dad.

Wait. I wanna I wanna

talk to you for a second.

I hate how out of sync we are.

I'm making coffee, and

you're going to third period,

and I'm making dinner,

you're going to sleep.

You're the one who moved

to another time zone.

I know.

Which is why I think

it might be a good idea

if you come and live with me.

So I can come live with you?

If you still want to.

- Yes. But what about

- I talked to Mom.

Don't worry. She thinks the

change will be good for you.

This isn't just about me though, right?

You need me too, don't you?

Of course I need you.

You're my daughter.

It's not a crime to need someone,

Dad. It makes you a little human.

Well, I'm definitely a

little of that. Very little.

Oh! Now, you better get to

class. I'll see you soon, kid.

Can't wait.