The Zone - Rookie Season: The Virtual Basketball Video Game

By Blake T. Parker

The Zone is an all-inclusive practice game that will aid basketball players at all ages and skill sets. The game contains three interactive modes: Career, Rivalry, and King of the Court. These modes are designed to allow full participation either alone, head-to-head, or with a collective group. This game contains multiple competitive opportuniti

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Oct 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643457819

Blake T. Parker

Blake Parker is a basketball aficionado from Suffolk, Virginia. He has spent the last decade collecting and organizing basketball data. He has used this information to commentate on local television. He has used his years of knowledge to create books and programs to provide ways for the younger generation to share in his love of basketball. He works as a real estate agent and utility locator in Lithonia, Georgia. He is the father of three children: Briyonna, Ashiyah, and London, and is the son of Benjamin and Brenda Parker.

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Introduction

The sweetest sound on the face of the earth is hearing the swish of the nets echoing in your backyard or playground. Your hand is raised with a perfect follow-through as the ball leaves your hand and swish…nothing but nets. The best feeling of all is when you are making baskets back-to-back, and you know you are in the zone. Basketball is a game designed for creating or assisting in high-percentage shots. This fundamental understanding put a premium on taller players who played near the rim. The low post game is usually achieved with the center position laying up or dunking the ball into the basket or ball movement that creates easy baskets for perimeter players. However, there is another high-percentage shot that can be developed with repetitive practice.

There is a story of a young man in rural Virginia who would shoot baskets alone in his backyard. He would get kicked out of the house while his parents were at work, and he would work consistently on his jump shot. His repetitive practice became so good that he shot his way into the NBA. He passed this ritual onto his son who is now arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history…Steph Curry. The purpose of this story is to inform you that with repetitive practice you can turn the outside shot into a high-percentage shot.

I also grew up in rural Virginia, and my dad put up for me a regulation goal in my backyard. I was the youngest in the family and had very few playmates. By living in the country, and I do mean the country, I had to find ways to entertain myself. I was born in a time when video games were new, and expensive, so I spent my after-school hours shooting alone on my backyard goal. It is very likely that you share my experience. Maybe in the country or maybe in the city, but what is the same is the love of basketball and the hope of getting in the zone.

I created this game because shooting repetitively for the sole purpose of shooting repetitively is very boring. I loved the competition of playing against my friends, but based on my location, that was not a daily occurrence. So, I created The Zone. The purpose of the game is to combine repetitive practice with simulated competition. Tiger Woods once said in an interview, I do not play against my fellow competitors but with the golf course. The same is true with basketball.

Your competition is not your opponent. They are merely obstacles in