House League Basketball Legend Al Jochim, the Quintessential Team Player, Wins Seventh Title

What makes basketball special? Is it witnessing an overpowering demonstration of raw strength? Maybe it’s man’s best attempt at flight. Could it be the pure speed to blow by someone? Skillfully repeatable technique? Or perhaps there’s something more subtle. Chances are, if a member of the general public were asked to answer this simple question, their answer would probably yield a response tied to the athletic prowess of the human body. But what about intelligence and selflessness? What could someone accomplish if they weren’t the tallest, the strongest, the fastest?

Alan Jochim, born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1955, was coached by Barry Adams at Hillsboro High School. He attended Lewis and Clark College, where he ran track, and decided to stay in Portland after graduation. In 1987, Jochim joined MAC and played in his first House League that same fall. He won his first title the following year, in the twilight of his prime at 33.

Come the early 2000s, House League split into two divisions: NBA and NCAA. Playing at the NBA level, Jochim won his second championship in 2005 at 50. His third ’ship came 10 years later in 2015, when Jochim was 60, this time in the NCAA after the intermediate D-League was sandwiched between the two existing ones. As he entered his golden years, Jochim settled into the D-League, where he secured his fourth title in 2017. The following year, Captain Mark Plumlee drafted Jochim. Since that fateful draft, the combined forces of Plumlee’s excellent drafting and Jochim’s S-tier in-game coaching led to a mini-dynasty — they won it all in ’18, and again in ’21 and ’22.

With seven Fall House League titles since 1988; four Outdoor 3-on-3 Classic championships in 1989, 1992, 2012, and 2016; and 24 (or maybe 25, but who’s counting?) PCAC and National Competitive Team titles since the mid-’90s, we have before us in Jochim, the winningest basketball player to ever lace them up for MAC. He’s never been the tallest. He’s never been the strongest. He’s never been the fastest. But somewhere along the way, he learned how to truly impact the game of basketball by winning the game within the game — the game played between the ears. Jochim’s philosophy is simple: “Share the ball when we have it, and get the ball back by playing defense, so we do more sharing.” He’s always been the smartest player on the court and the best teammate, prioritizing winning and team play before individual accomplishments. And Jochim’s done it all with a smile and a respect that culminated in his winning the 2004 Chad Hindman House League Sportsmanship Award, bestowed upon a veritable “who’s who” of MAC Basketball players in recognition of what they’ve meant to the program. He also served on and chaired the MAC Basketball Committee in the 1990s.

Still going strong at age 67, Jochim looks forward to Fall House League each and every year and the Thursday night hoops camaraderie that accompanies it. Rounding out the 2022 Mad Ants (5-5) roster beyond Jochim and Plumlee were Plumlee mainstays Daniel Zika and Chris Turney (who were on their first championship team but missed out on the second), David Cakarnis, Cole Chase, Sky Wolfe, Charles Paternoster, and Casey Jackson. The Mad Ants got off to a slow start with a 1-4 record due to various players’ absences. But their season turned around following a week five forfeit when they dismantled a short-handed Knicks team by 30 points in week six, due in no small part to Jochim’s excellent sideline coaching, which was a much-discussed topic over post-game beers. Jochim’s coaching fortified their identity — undersized but able to switch everything defensively — and propelled them to wins in four of their final five games for a .500 regular season mark. The Mad Ants closed out the season with a six-game winning streak that spanned the end of the regular season through the playoffs, culminating in a 76-46 D-League Finals win over the Rimrockers (6-4). Asked to put his team’s late-season surge into perspective, Plumlee joked, “And yeah, we kind of cruised.”

The lasting memory from Finals night was when Jochim mysteriously disappeared for a brief time after his team’s win. As the Mad Ants settled into the bleachers to watch the upcoming MAC NBA Finals game, competitors occasionally strolled over to offer their congratulations. Historically present and accounted for after his previous finals wins, Jochim was nowhere to be found. For a time, the Mad Ants were content to hunker down in their victory corner without the soul of their team and reminisce about the season they’d just put a bow on. It wasn’t until midway through the NBA game that Jochim came sauntering into the gym grinning ear to ear, towing at least half a dozen single malts for his teammates. Did he know what kind they were? Absolutely not! But this author can tell you they passed the smell test, and his teammates were beyond appreciative. It was the penultimate gesture by the ultimate champion. Not the tallest. Not the strongest. Not the fastest. Just the smartest and the most selfless.

Meanwhile, up in the NBA

In the NBA, Stuart Fewel was making a bid to win his fourth title in as many years. Alas, it was not to be, as his St. Louis Bombers (4-6) succumbed to Ross Kelley’s Indianapolis Olympians (2-8) 68-73. The Olympians — Kelley, Scott Dougherty, Mark Gray, Hustlin’ & Bustlin’ Cam Webb, Will Von Schlegel, Joey Ulring, Luke Slater, Matt Ardell, Stu Nezlek, and Brett Johnson — played a game that revolved around getting shooting phenom Dougherty to his spots, often from deep, and playing good team ball around the margins, but it was their late-season acquisition of Nezlek (for an injured Johnson) who balanced the team with his steady inside play. The game was hotly contested from the tip, but neither team pulled away until Dougherty went on a scoring rampage by dropping eight straight to ignite a 14-0 team run. The Bombers climbed their way back early in the second half, going so far as to briefly reclaim the lead, but their ascent would be stymied by brilliant and timely play from the Olympians’ role players. The game came down to the wire, but it was decided in the final minute at the free throw line. As legendary Trail Blazers announcer Bill Schonely often said, “You’ve got…to make…your free throws…” and that’s where this game was won, with the Olympians hitting 15 to the Bombers’ seven.

Tremendous thanks go to Aaron Johnson and Jeremy Boyd, and Boyd’s staff of Brandon Walter, Aubrey Stephens, Daniel Sandoval, Jock White, Logan Dzatko, Bobby Harvey, and Jacob Eyman, for making House League happen again in 2022; the Basketball Committee; Jon Balfe for facilitating donated kegs from Everybody’s Brewing; Pfriem Family Brewers; and Boneyard Beer, with Eric Banzer supplying his award-winning MoHAZEic IPA. Cheers!

— Jim Taylor