Hoop Dreams
As budding basketball players prepare to try out for the TAC Eagles next month, two American siblings reflect on their time shooting hoops in Japan
Ali McEachern plants her feet about 3 meters from the basketball hoop and stares intently at the net. With her eyes fixed on the hoop rim, the 10-year-old dribbles down the lane, leaps into the air and completes a textbook layup.
On the left side of the court in the Gymnasium, her brother Ethan, 13, feints a drive to the hoop with a crossover dribble, steps back from an invisible defender and pulls up for a mid-range jumper. With his feet and shoulders aligned and elbows bent to form a perfect “l” shape, Ethan drains the shot with nothing but net.
After three years of honing their basketball skills in the Club’s Gymnasium, the McEachern siblings moved back to Portland, Oregon, this summer.
“I think I am a better basketball player because I came to Japan. I have been able to pick up stuff I never would have, on and off the court,” says Ethan, sitting in the Gymnasium a few days before leaving. “It was picking up things like discipline, preparation habits and doing things 100 percent, whether it’s in the classroom or on the court.”
The McEachern family has a basketball pedigree. The youngsters’ uncle is an assistant basketball coach at Notre Dame University while their dad, Archie McEachern, played basketball for Ithaca College in New York, where he set the school record for points in a game.
“[Basketball] just kind of ran in the family,” says Ali, who, like Ethan, began playing the sport in kindergarten. “I love the whole concept of the game. I feel like it’s a fair sport and it’s kind of easy to pick up the basic skills.”
Ethan played with American Athletic Union (AAU) club teams in the United States, and before the family moved across the Pacific Archie researched basketball opportunities in Tokyo. His colleagues at sportswear giant Nike and contacts in the NBA all recommended he talk to one person: Dan Weiss.
Ethan enrolled in Weiss’ youth basketball program at the Club for one year and took individual lessons. Ethan went on to play for a Yokota Air Base team, coached by his dad, and then for the Yokohama Blue Devils club team. He also played point guard for the American School in Japan middle school team.
“At that point, Ethan had a real good foundation. He’s been to all of the camps, so it was easy to work with him and actually harder for me to continue to build and push in different directions,” says Weiss, who says Ethan has the potential to play college ball. “The way he works, if he pushes himself, he could be that guard, he can be that play maker. He could really surprise some people.”
Last year, Ali joined the TAC Eagles basketball team and began private lessons with Weiss. She was selected for the Eagles A squad, which includes girls older than 10.
“[Coach Weiss] is so amazing,” says Ali, who says she patterns her game after sharpshooter Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, this year’s NBA champs. “He’s helped me so much with everything I need to work on.”
By the end of the Eagles season, Ali was scoring in every game. Weiss says her style of aggressive play is partly influenced by her older brother.
“She came in once or twice a week for an hour, and it just flew by because it was a lot of fun,” says the former pro. “Seeing where she is now, actually going in with some speed and being able to slow down and being able to make those layups, it’s great.”
“The Eagles program and what Dan brings to the facility I think is amazing,” says Archie. “I think when you want something a little more competitive, it’s like any sport, you have to work a little harder. We were going over to Yokohama every Saturday for two straight years, sometimes twice a week. But we were committed to it.”
Ethan, who enters the eighth grade in the fall, traveled to Las Vegas with the Beaverton Hoop Elite AAU team this summer and to Anaheim with the Tokyo Samurai, a collection of international players. Soon-to-be fifth-grader Ali trained at various basketball camps over the summer.
Despite the lack of competitive teams in Tokyo, Ethan says he benefited from access to top-level coaching in a small basketball community.
“Basketball in Japan is like one big family. Everybody knows each other, and we all just love the sport,” says Ethan, a fan of Hall of Fame point guard Bob Cousy. “I am lucky because I have TAC. I can get together with my friends. I’ve spent many hours here working out with my dad.”
TAC Eagles Team Tryout
Sunday, September 6
2–4 p.m.
Gymnasium
Contact the Recreation Desk for details
Words: Nick Narigon
Photo: Benjamin Parks
