“[I]t’s a long race and you can always outwork talent in the end” 

Spoken by Finley’s dad, this quotation motivates Finley to constantly practice and train for basketball even though he knows he will never play at the collegiate level. This helps to explain Finley’s perseverant attitude; he is always willing to put in the effort, to go the extra mile that most other people are not willing to go. This also explains why he is so focused on getting out of Bellmont and making something of himself, instead of trying to make a quick buck. Even though this quotation turns out not to be true for Finley in the short term—namely, Russ gets picked over him for the basketball position—this is Finley’s father’s way of suggesting that basketball might fade out of importance in Finley’s life, even though Finley can’t see it at the time. 

“I say I’m sorry with my eyes” 

Finley has difficulty communicating with other people. Instead of verbal communication, he relies heavily upon nonverbal communication to understand other people. This reliance on nonverbal communication makes it easier for him to pick up on small inconsistencies between the thoughts and actions of various individuals in ways that many other people cannot. In this way, it seems as though he is rarely surprised by anything that happens; there are always indications or inklings of people’s future actions lingering just below Finley’s conscious surface.