Day 7

Winnipeg, Manitoba - It's Tuesday of our second week of shooting in Winnipeg.

Today, we returned to the Winnipeg Arena, which has been transformed into Assembly Hall.

We shot a number of the IU basketball practices and scrimmages today. It was a chance to see a bit more of the well-known Knight rage. As described in John Feinstein's A SEASON ON THE BRINK, Knight frequently lost his temper with the players at practices.

We started with Knight running passing drills and loose ball drills. Knight is famous for demonstrating passing to his players. He liked to get on the court and snap the ball to players as they would try to get open off a screen. He's been known to hurt guys with the power of these passes. Players would move around the court, weaving through the key. As a Hoosier would get open for a brief moment, Knight would then snap the ball to them. On this day, Todd Jadlow, a 6'9" center/forward made the mistake of stealing one of Coach Knight's passes. Knight gives him a withering stare that could peel paint from the wall.

After shooting the passing drill, we did a loose ball drill. This is something to behold. The team is split into two lines on either side of the key, behind the baseline. Then Coach Knight would toss the ball to the floor at around the free throw line. The first player in each line would then have to dive for the ball, wrestle it away and get up and dribble. This is intense. The kids (our actors) went at it hard. One of the extras (a local basketball player that is filling out the team) banged up his knee and spent the rest of the day on the sidelines with an ice-pack on it. Pay close attention, you'll see him in the background of a few of the later practice scenes!

The key scene of the day was when Knight was notified that Steve Alford had been suspended for one game (the Kentucky game) for having appeared in a sorority calendar that was sold for charity. While he had done it with the best of intentions, NCAA rules forbid taking a photo that you know will be sold. Knight was really angry at Alford and unloads on him in front of the rest of the team. It's a key moment in the book, and I think it played well today. You aren't quite sure if Knight, who was desperate to get Alford to take a leadership position with the team, was doing this as motivation or if he was really, really angry. That's part of the Bobby Knight mystery.

Tomorrow, we continue with IU basketball practices and play a scene where Alford glares back at Knight.

Past Diaries

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6