Chapter 132 - High-Level Game, Part 1 (1/2)
All of the Division-One players gathered after a short break for their game.
Sarah faced the players and said.
Sarah: ”We will be playing a few quarter length games as practice. As we talked earlier, we would be playing like this every day. We might even switch players between teams after each quarter length.”
Sarah looked at Shun and ordered.
Sarah: ”Shun, you would be skipping every other quarter. You might not be able to play more than that, without exhausting yourself, so by skipping every other quarter, you would be able to rest a bit before going in again.”
Albert brought in the practice jerseys and pointed at them.
Albert: ”Gilbert, Antony, Leonal, Douglas, and Carlos pick the red jersey.
Ivan, Bruno, Roger, Ming, and Rafael pick the yellow jersey.”
Albert: ”We will be playing ten minutes at a time, and then we will switch players. Now, let's not dawdle and get to it.”
All: ”Yes, Sir!”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Shun sat with Sarah as Albert refereed the game.
Shun looked at Gilbert from Team Red, and Roger from Team Yellow came to the center of the court for the tip-off.
Shun: ”Gilbert came because he is the tallest, and Roger because he is the center.”
Sarah glanced at Shun and spoke.
Sarah: ”You are right about Roger, but you are wrong about Gilbert.”
Shun looked at Sarah and asked.
Sarah kept looking at the court and said.
Sarah: ”Wait and watch. You will get what I mean.”
Shun stared at Sarah for a moment before turning to the court.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Gilbert and Roger got ready for the tip-off, and Albert entered the court with the ball.
Roger looked at Gilbert and smiled.
Roger: ”Let's have a good game.”
Gilbert smiled and said.
Gilbert: ”Sure, get ready to lose.”
Albert: ”We are starting. Now, focus.”
All of the players got ready, and Albert started the game by throwing the ball up for the tip-off, and both jumpers jumped up for the ball.
-*-*-*-
On the sideline, Shun's watched with wide-eyes as he saw Gilbert jumping, and couldn't help but explain.
Shun: ”So-So High!!!”
Gilbert and Roger both jumped for the ball, but Gilbert reached the ball faster and at a way higher point than Roger, and tipped the ball to Leonal.
Sarah looked at Shun and said.
Sarah: ”Gilbert Knight, two times national champion, and the favorite to win it all again this year, and as you can see, his special ability is his high vertical jump.”
Shun immediately thought of Kagami and his specialty.
-*-*-*-
Leonal and jogged towards the basketball, while his teammates ran forward to get into position.
Ming closed in on Leonel to guard him.
Leonel immediately increased his speed and tried to get past Ming, but the moment Ming sped to get in Leonal's way, Leonal threw the ball over Ming to his teammate Antony.
Antony got the ball and laughed.
Antony: ”Nice, let's get the game started.”
After saying that, he ran towards the basket full speed from the right side of the court.
Douglas made a screen to block Rafael from interfering with Antony. Antony ran towards the basket unopposed as he drove to the basket, but just below the basket, he met with Bruno.
Both of them jumped near the basket, and Antony, who was going for a layup, did a turn in mid-air to get past Bruno and brought the ball in a double-clutch and put the ball into the basket.
Antony: ”Oh, yeah!”
-*-*-*-
Shun whistled after seeing the mid-air turn and double-clutch.
Shun: ”That was quite skillful. To be able to do that mid-air in a moment's notice is quite difficult.”
Sarah once again introduced Shun to the player.
Sarah: ”Antony Grigor is a small forward, who makes use of his athleticism, explosiveness, and mid-air skills to score quite aggressively. He goes in for fast and quick attacks and doesn't give defenders to corner him.
He is quite a marvel to watch playing.”
-*-*-*-
Ming got the inbounded ball and dribbled past the half-court line and looked at the court and the players on it.
Ming tried to get past Leonel by driving past him from the right but pulled back the moment Leonel shifted to the right.
Ming took advantage of the off-position Leonel and did a behind-the-back c.h.e.s.t past to Bruno, who was near the three-point arc.
Ming immediately ran to the inside and ran to a certain position.
-*-*-*-
Shun thought that he could get past Leonel, but he did acknowledge Ming's behind-the-back pass.
Shun: ”He clearly worked on his wrist strength. The force that he generated from his wrist was enough to get the ball to Bruno.”
But, when he saw Ming running inside, it became all clear. Shun's saw the players move around to accommodate Ming's intrusion in the inside.
Shun: ”Eh, the path in front of Bruno just became a lot more clear.”
Sarah nodded and gave her information on Ming.
Sarah: ”Lin Ming, a wielder of full-court vision providing Hawk-Eyes, but his eyes weren't the reason that got him invited to the camp. It was his intelligence that got him invited to this camp.
The stronger and more selfless team Ming works with, the larger the returns he gets, plus the more skilled his opponents are, the more he would be able to induce their movements.
Ming doesn't have much personal offensive skill, but he is one of the best young supportive playmakers that I have seen play.”
-*-*-*-
Bruno, who had received the ball from Ming, saw a clear path to the basket, and immediately followed the path.
He ran to the basket, but the other players were not just going to stand there and let Bruno charge to the basket.
Antony, who had moved to accommodate Ming, ran back towards a point in Bruno's path.
But, Bruno was ready, he used a spin move to get past Antony and moved ahead.
Burno, who had just finished his spin move, was surprised to see a smiling Douglas standing in his path just a step away from him.
Douglas: ”You are not going anywhere.”
Bruno couldn't charge in without fouling Douglas, so he stopped, and took a single-step jump.
-*-*-*-
Shun on the sidelines, clicked his tongue, and commented.
Shun: ”He didn't have a long enough run-up for a good jump, Douglas would block that.”
Sarah softly smiled as she heard Shun's analysis.