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Authors: John Goode
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game,” the ref said, holding the ball between us.
“Take a long look,” I said to him as we both crouched. “Last time you’re going to see the ball this close for the rest of the night.”
His eyes grew wide as the ref blew the whistle and threw the ball up into the air. We both launched ourselves skyward at the same time, but as the ball began to fall back toward us, I was a full five inches over him easy. I batted the ball to Tommy and saw him spin around, trying to lose his shadow. He passed it to Cody, who passed it to me. I turned, looking like I was going for a layup, and saw the guy guarding me bear down to block me. I dodged past him, blew past another guy, and went up for the shot.
By the time my sneakers hit the court, we were two points ahead.
I scored another eight points before the other team called a time-out. We headed over to the coach, who seemed incredibly pleased. “Okay, he’s about to tell them to double-team Danny and most likely pulling a guy off of Paul.” He looked over at the shortest guy on the team, who seemed deflated by the action. “So, Paul, get ready to teach them the error of their ways.” He looked at me. “Paul is it, got it?” I nodded, and he actually laughed in glee. “Okay, this is going to be fun. Our game starts now. Pay attention.” We called out “Tigers” and trotted out to the court. Cody was next to me and asked before he moved off to his spot, “You could probably score even with two of these guys on you, couldn’t you?” I looked over at him and gave him a sharklike grin that seemed to answer his concerns.
Sure enough, as soon as the ball was in play, the guy who had been guarding Paul moved off to join my guy. I saw Paul station himself over by the basket, and I nodded to Tommy, who shot me a grin. I burst into movement. Their guy was trying to find a guy open to move the ball forward when I came at him. He began to dribble sideways for a moment as he glanced over at the shot clock. He had less than ten seconds to take a shot or lose possession of the ball. So he had ten seconds to either try to take a shot and have me steal it or stand there and do nothing and give it to me anyway.
He decided on the first one and dodged to the left, trying to get past me. I took the ball from him and went to drive forward. My two shadows tried to stop me, and I passed it to the first open guy I saw. I feinted to the left, looking like I was setting myself up for a layup, my two guys on my heels. Tommy had the ball, and I indicated for him to pass. He threw the ball to me and when I turned, looking like I was going to take the shot, I saw another person shift to block me.
I tossed it to Paul, who was literally standing under the basket by himself.
It was the easiest basket I’d ever seen made. Three more like that and the panic began to descend on the other side. Each time they moved back to man-on-man, I would blow past my guy and score. When they grouped to block me, there was always someone else waiting for the ball. By halftime it was obvious we were running the game, and the other team was just struggling to keep up.
In the locker room during the break, we were ecstatic.
We were already celebrating when the coach came back and began to yell at us. “Did they call the game and not tell me?” he asked as everyone grew silent. “Did they decide to cut the game in half and just forget to announce it?” We were silent now as he began to pace. “We haven’t won yet, you idiots, so stop celebrating. So far it’s working, but I can assure you they are in their locker room right now and their coach is trying to find a way around it.” He looked at me. “Am I wrong?” I shook my head, knowing he was right. “So trust me when I say the second half is going to be all uphill. They are going to move to zone defense, which means we need to try working around it. Switch to a ground game, try and keep the passing to a minimum. Danny, time for some bombs.” I
“Take a long look,” I said to him as we both crouched. “Last time you’re going to see the ball this close for the rest of the night.”
His eyes grew wide as the ref blew the whistle and threw the ball up into the air. We both launched ourselves skyward at the same time, but as the ball began to fall back toward us, I was a full five inches over him easy. I batted the ball to Tommy and saw him spin around, trying to lose his shadow. He passed it to Cody, who passed it to me. I turned, looking like I was going for a layup, and saw the guy guarding me bear down to block me. I dodged past him, blew past another guy, and went up for the shot.
By the time my sneakers hit the court, we were two points ahead.
I scored another eight points before the other team called a time-out. We headed over to the coach, who seemed incredibly pleased. “Okay, he’s about to tell them to double-team Danny and most likely pulling a guy off of Paul.” He looked over at the shortest guy on the team, who seemed deflated by the action. “So, Paul, get ready to teach them the error of their ways.” He looked at me. “Paul is it, got it?” I nodded, and he actually laughed in glee. “Okay, this is going to be fun. Our game starts now. Pay attention.” We called out “Tigers” and trotted out to the court. Cody was next to me and asked before he moved off to his spot, “You could probably score even with two of these guys on you, couldn’t you?” I looked over at him and gave him a sharklike grin that seemed to answer his concerns.
Sure enough, as soon as the ball was in play, the guy who had been guarding Paul moved off to join my guy. I saw Paul station himself over by the basket, and I nodded to Tommy, who shot me a grin. I burst into movement. Their guy was trying to find a guy open to move the ball forward when I came at him. He began to dribble sideways for a moment as he glanced over at the shot clock. He had less than ten seconds to take a shot or lose possession of the ball. So he had ten seconds to either try to take a shot and have me steal it or stand there and do nothing and give it to me anyway.
He decided on the first one and dodged to the left, trying to get past me. I took the ball from him and went to drive forward. My two shadows tried to stop me, and I passed it to the first open guy I saw. I feinted to the left, looking like I was setting myself up for a layup, my two guys on my heels. Tommy had the ball, and I indicated for him to pass. He threw the ball to me and when I turned, looking like I was going to take the shot, I saw another person shift to block me.
I tossed it to Paul, who was literally standing under the basket by himself.
It was the easiest basket I’d ever seen made. Three more like that and the panic began to descend on the other side. Each time they moved back to man-on-man, I would blow past my guy and score. When they grouped to block me, there was always someone else waiting for the ball. By halftime it was obvious we were running the game, and the other team was just struggling to keep up.
In the locker room during the break, we were ecstatic.
We were already celebrating when the coach came back and began to yell at us. “Did they call the game and not tell me?” he asked as everyone grew silent. “Did they decide to cut the game in half and just forget to announce it?” We were silent now as he began to pace. “We haven’t won yet, you idiots, so stop celebrating. So far it’s working, but I can assure you they are in their locker room right now and their coach is trying to find a way around it.” He looked at me. “Am I wrong?” I shook my head, knowing he was right. “So trust me when I say the second half is going to be all uphill. They are going to move to zone defense, which means we need to try working around it. Switch to a ground game, try and keep the passing to a minimum. Danny, time for some bombs.” I
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