Well, let me tell ya, this college, they got them 10 basketball players. Ten! Can you believe it? Back in my day, we was lucky to have five that could even dribble straight.
So, they got these ten fellas, and they gotta pick a team. Not just any team, mind you. They need five players for the team. Five! That’s a handful. And then, on top of that, one of them five gotta be the captain. Like the head honcho, you know?
Choosing the Basketball Team
Now, how many ways can they do that? Pickin’ five outta ten. It’s a head-scratcher, that’s for sure. Seems like a whole lot of ways to me. My old brain ain’t what it used to be, but I reckon there’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say.
First, they gotta pick them five players. Let’s say they pick the tallest ones. Or maybe the fastest. Or maybe the ones that can jump the highest. Who knows how they do it? But they gotta pick five.
- They got Big Jim, he’s a tall one.
- Then there’s Speedy Pete, quick as a wink.
- Jumpin’ Jack, he can practically fly.
- Steady Eddie, never misses a shot.
- And then there’s… well, I forget the fifth one’s name. But you get the picture.
They pick them five, and then what? Then they gotta pick a captain from them five. So, they could pick Big Jim. Or Speedy Pete. Or any of them other three. Five choices for captain, right there.
The Captain of the Team
Now, some folks say there’s some fancy math to figure this all out. Combinations and…permutations, and all that fiddle-faddle. Sounds like a load of hogwash to me. But they say it’s important. They say it helps you figure out all the different ways you can pick that team and that captain.
This one fella, he tried to explain it to me once. Said somethin’ about “10 C 6”, then multiplyin’ by 6. I just nodded along, pretended I understood. Truth is, it went right over my head. Like a basketball sailin’ over the backboard, I suppose.
But the gist of it is, there’s a lot of ways. A whole heap of ways. I heard someone say 210 ways just to pick the team and then when you add in the captain, it is 1260 ways. That’s a big number, ain’t it? More than the number of chickens old Mrs. Henderson used to have, and she had a lot of chickens!
So, they got these ten players, and they can make all sorts of teams with a captain. Each one different in some way. Maybe one team is all tall fellas. Maybe another is all fast ones. Maybe it is a mix of them all.
Why So Many Ways?
It’s all a bit confusin’, if you ask me. Why do they need so many different teams anyway? Back in my day, we just picked the five best and went out and played. Didn’t need no fancy math or nothin’.
But I guess things are different now. These young folks, they like to have choices. They like to think about all the possibilities. It keeps them busy, I suppose. And maybe it makes the games more excitin’, I don’t know.
This college, they like to win. Winning is what those coaches want. And to win, they gotta have good players, and they gotta have a good team, and they gotta have a good captain.
So they do all this figuring to pick the best team. They make their selection from the 10 basketball players. A 5-member team is made. Then they pick a captain. And they hope they picked the right one. The one that will lead them to victory. It is important to make sure the players can play together well.
Well, I reckon that’s about all I got to say about them ten basketball players and their team. It’s a lot more complicated than it needs to be, if you ask me. But what do I know? I’m just an old lady, rememberin’ the days when basketball was a simple game.
But hey, as long as they’re havin’ fun, that’s all that matters, right? And as long as they keep winnin’, I suppose that college will be happy too. That’s all for now!
