Chapter 146 - Final-Day Game; Part-Two (1/2)
The second quarter started, and Leonal switched in for Rafael.
He walked to Shun and spoke.
Leonal: ”I will cross the ball past the half-court line and will get it to you inside the three-point arc, you make your plays from there.
Our players are all inside scorers, so make the defenders confused and create space for them.”
Shun nodded and was about to run to take his position when Leonal spoke again.
Leonal: ”Also, pass more to Gilbert, he isn't getting enough action, make use of his jumping ability more.”
Shun thought for a while before nodding.
Shun: ”I will do that.”
-*-*-*-
Leonal crossed the ball past the half-court line, and in front of him, Antony was standing to defend him.
Team Ming was counting on Antony's speed to counter Leonal's quick reflexes.
Leonal looked at Antony and mentally sighed.
Leonal: 'Why does everybody assume that I always go for an iso-play.'
Leonal slowed down, and just before Antony was in his range, he lobbed the ball over his head towards Shun.
Antony looked at the ball, flying past him.
Antony: ”Aah!”
Shun caught the ball just outside the three-point arc. His back was facing the basket and Ming, who was his defender.
Shun waited till Ming was close to him before doing a pass-fake to the left and passing him from the right.
Ming fell for the pass fake because both he and Shun saw Bruno in the pass course, and Shun took advantage of that.
Shun dribbled inside towards the basket, and just before he stepped into the paint, he passed the ball to the opposite side of the basket Gilbert.
Gilbert: ”I was waiting for this!”
He ran parallel to the basket and jumped at the paint-line towards the basket.
Carlos and Roger both jumped to block him, but Gilbert brought the ball down in a double-clutch and again bought it up, and because of his phenomenal hang-time, he was still able to dunk the ball.
Shun couldn't help but chuckle at the feat of jumping.
Shun: ”He sure hangs in there a lot.”
Gilbert got down and bobbed his head as he ran away to defense.
Gilbert: ”Woohoo! Now, that's more like it.”
-*-*-*-
Of course, Team Ming wasn't going to take damage without dishing it out themselves.
Ming dribbled the ball to the three-point arc and looked at Ivan and Carlos.
Ivan ran towards Ming with Gilbert on his tail, Carlos set up a screen for Ivan and boxed out Gilbert.
Ming handed the ball to Ivan and screened out Carlos's guard, Bruno, who because of the screen, decided not to follow after Ivan, and retreated towards the basket, to prepare for a drive to the basket.
Ivan didn't drive to the basket and ran along the three-point arc and shot a three-pointer that landed into the bucket smoothly.
The competition between the teams grew as Shun and Ming decided to exploit Gilbert and Ivan even more.
-*-*-*-
Carlos had just stolen a ball, and he passed it to Ming, who threw it even further towards Ivan, who was running for a fast-break play.
Ming smiled as he saw Ivan catch the pass, but his smile fell when he saw Gilbert sprinting past him, chasing after Ivan.
Ivan jumped for a simple layup, but just as the ball left his hand, he saw Gilbert smacking the ball against the backboard.
Gilbert: ”Get that out of here!”
-*-*-*-
In Team Leonal's possession, Leonal decided to go for a fast long-pass play.
From near the basket, he threw the ball to Shun, who was at the half-court line.
Shun caught the ball and immediately relayed it to Gilbert, who caught it and sprinted to the free-throw line.
Gilbert: ”Prepared to be amazed!”
He stepped on the free-throw line and took flight.
Shun placed a hand on his forehead as if to look somewhere faraway and whistled.
Shun: ”Oooh, a jump from the free-throw line.”
In mid-air, Gilbert passed the ball between his legs, brought up the ball up to the highest point his hand could reach, and then jammed the ball into the basket.
Gilbert grabbed the rim with one hand and swung on it till his momentum didn't die down.
He got down and pumped his fists in the air.
Gilbert: ”Did you see that! A dunk from the free-throw line. Hahahaha!”
-*-*-*-
In the next possession, Ming passed the Antony, who relayed it to Ivan.
Ivan caught the ball and faced his defender Gilbert.
Ivan moved to the left with Gilbert following him, but suddenly Ivan stopped and pivoted to the right.
Gilbert wasn't able to stop in time and end up opening a space between them.
Gilbert: ”Get back here, dammit!”
Ivan was about to pass from the right, but he had to stop because Shun had sprinted to hinder Ivan from escaping.
Shun: ”Yosh, now you're trapped.”
Ivan's expression didn't show any change, and he simply pivoted back to his original direction.
Gilbert, who was finally moving towards the right direction, was stunned when he saw Ivan moving towards the left.
Gilbert: ”What the hell!”
Ivan dribbled two steps to make ample distance between himself and Shun and Gilbert and shot a three-pointer.
Shun clicked his tongue.
Shun: ”That was a smooth transition. I was pretty sure he would colliding into me.”
-*-*-*-
Shun dribbled his way into the paint and jumped for the basket to lay in the ball.