153 Recruitmen (1/2)
Daniel, occupying the small forward positon, was guarded by a blond-haired man with blue eyes and stood at 192 cm. This was Mason Young, the 'Yellow Streak.' He was one of the fastest basketball players, though he is inferior to Hayden, Magnus, and Daniel. He had the number 11 on his back.
Darryl was standing with a black-skinned American youth with a semi-bald haircut. This was Adrian Jackson, a relatively average shooting guard.
Amado was with a rather lanky brown-haired person with red-colored eyes. This was Ryder Harris, the point guard of the American team.
Of course, Hayden was watched over by Magnus, considered the second strongest Prodigal King with the epithet 'Lightning Bolt.'
The referee whistled. Alfonso jumped with all he got and surprisingly got the ball. The ball directly flew straight to Hayden. Without any delay, Hayden brought the ball to the opponent's side of the court with skillful dribbling.
Right from the get-go, Hayden and Magnus' match was stunning. Hayden couldn't shake Magnus all that easily, while Magnus couldn't steal the ball from Hayden at all. It was similar to the scene of Hayden and Akwasi.
This time though, it was worse for Hayden. It was like Akwasi and Kokou was merged into a single player. Magnus was completely on par with Hayden's agility and dexterity, giving him a hard time. To exacerbate, Magnus was making all these predictions that, if Hayden didn't have his ultra-reflexes, Magnus would have gotten the ball from him.
A few seconds of dribbling the ball, Hayden back-passed to Daniel. Or at least it would have if it wasn't for Hayden reacquiring the ball in mid-air and immediately hurling it to the net, scoring for the Philippine team.
”You know, Magnus.” Hayden bit his lips. ”I've never used these kinds of tactics with anyone as I think they would be useless. I'd never thought that I will actually bring out my true a-game in this match.”
Hayden's divine king was leaking out of him. Regardless of this, Magnus was shocked not from this aura, it was of Hayden's eyes. It was calm, and paradoxically, turbulent at the same time. It was as if Hayden was an entirely different person from when they first met. As if Hayden just underwent a life-changing experience.
'What in the world happened?' Magnus thought, feeling the immense pressure that was exuded by Hayden on his shoulder. 'What the…'
Magnus and Hayden stepped on the paint. Magnus jumped and was going to dunk but Hayden hopped, quickly stole, stole, not block, the ball, and rushed like a madman to the other side of the court. It was a confusing moment that nobody was able to react to.
Without any kind of resistance, Hayden scored three points over the Americans. The large stadium was silenced. They all had one question in mind. What the hell just happened?
Hayden hopped later than Magnus, yet he was the one to land his feet first? What's more, the speed he showed was much higher than his match with the Ghanaians and South Koreans. It was strange.
The next few minutes, it was all Hayden humiliating the American team. Stealing the ball from them here and there with all these unorthodox never-before-seen techniques, ankle breaking people left and right, forcing four-point shots, and flawlessly setting up passes to let his teammates score.
The first quarter ended with a score of 31-8, in favor of the Philippine team obviously. It was a glaring score difference that nobody could have predicted to happen during the championships.
”He wasn't this good when he was brawling it out with those three.” Magnus muttered to himself, his self-confidence wavering. ”So why? How? Don't tell me he held back? That was holding back?”
”That's the most likely explanation.” Mason sat adjacent to Magnus. ”He seldom used his ankle breaker maneuvers. He doesn't use his long-ranged three-pointers. And now, he's showing us what real streetball handling is. Still, you can do this, Magnus. You are the best basketball player in the world. Don't let others tell you otherwise.”
”No, no.” Magnus rejected Mason's encouragement. ”We may be equal when it comes to physical condition, but his skill way surpasses mine… It is not an exaggeration to state that he transcends my skill. This… this is no regular basketball player. This is the epitome of basketball pla-”
Magnus was slapped by Mason. ”Fucking idiot. Don't lose hope. Fight till the end. Remember, you are the tall guy. If the sky falls, you have to catch it. And if there is anybody out there who has the best chance of beating Hayden… It is you, the Lightning Bolt.”
”Usually I'm the one who gives this sort of reassurance to my team.” Magnus wryly smiled. ”Okay, I'll do my best.”
The second quarter started. Just like in the first quarter, Hayden moved nonstop all over the court. He was unstoppable. Every time the ball would land in the hands of Magnus, Hayden would swoop in to steal it.
Every time anybody in the American team passed the ball, Hayden was one step ahead and would intercept it. Every time, the ball was at the midpoint of a dribble, Hayden, akin to an eagle, would figuratively dive in and steal it. Every time Hayden was two-manned, he would find a chink in the defense, pass the ball to Daniel, and prevent the two from ever escaping his grasp. Hayden was nothing short of a nightmare for the American team.
At the two-minute mark of the second quarter, the score was already at 56-11. It was an all-time low for the American team that has decimated every opponent with the duo of Magnus and Mason.
At that time, the ball went to the hands of Magnus. He was about to dribble when Hayden popped up in front of him and slapped the ball out of his hands. It was a soul-crushing humiliation for Magnus to not be able to react to Hayden's speed.
'I don't accept this…' Magnus turned back and watched as Hayden jumped to dunk the ball. 'No, no, no… My country's put their hopes on me. There's… No…'
Filling up with indignation, Magnus stood in front of Hayden to guard him. Whilst the ball was being dribbled by Mason from their side of the court, Hayden talked to Magnus. ”Is this all you can do, Magnus? I'm sure there are a lot more contained inside of you. Don't let me down.”
The second Hayden finished his sentence, he twisted and passed Magnus at an unpredictable angle. Right on time, Daniel jabbed the ball away from Mason. Hayden picked up the loose ball and was going to shoot a long-ranged three-pointer when the ball flew away from his hands.
The ball was then scooped up by Magnus. Magnus swiftly rotated and charged to the Philippine team's net and dunked with one hand. From this display, his speed has clearly risen up a notch.
'There we are.' Hayden licked his lips. 'The monster sleeping inside Magnus. Show me what you got, Lightning Bolt.'
Hayden received the ball from Alfonso. Crossing the half court boundary, Magnus blocked Hayden's way, wearing cold and analytical eyes. Magnus' gaze was unnerving. It was as if Hayden was naked in front of him.
As might be expected, this 'unnerving' feeling merely lasted a picosecond. Hayden did not let his nerves affect his playstyle one bit. As such, Hayden did all these fast-paced moves. To no avail. He couldn't locate a single opening at all. He couldn't even ankle break Magnus.
Left with no choice, Hayden jumped to shoot the ball. Needless to say, Hayden forced a four-pointer on the overeager Magnus, who was starting to get into the flow state.
The ball was back to the hands of the American team. The instant that Magnus stepped into the Philippine team's side of the court, Magnus… Shot a three-pointer. A seamless one.
Hayden smiled as he noticed that Magnus hasn't shot any three-pointer in the course of the Annual Youth Pride. This was the first time that Magnus has shot one.
The ball got back to the hands of the Philippine team. This time, it was Daniel who brought the ball up. Hayden prevented Magnus from intercepting it by screening for Daniel. Magnus couldn't escape Hayden's guard. It was extremely annoying and frustrating for Magnus.
No matter what kind of maneuver Magnus did, Hayden would be on him. He couldn't even advance or help his teammates. Hayden's defense was that tight.
With this, Daniel became the new center for making plays of the group. And with Daniel being personally trained by Hayden, his skill was way beyond the likes of Mason, who was eluded by Daniel too many a time.
Daniel shone brilliantly in this match, copying most of Hayden's techniques prior Annual Youth Pride, such as the perfect passes that makes the ball 'fit' right into the hands of the receiver, Hayden's streetball ball handling, and feints.
With Hayden out of the equation, everyone saw just how skilled Daniel was. Everybody couldn't help but think that Daniel's plays were the spitting image of Hayden's own style. It was a wondrous sight.
Nevertheless, there was one disparity. Daniel's plays were much more teammate-friendly and his coordination with his team was better than Hayden's. This microscopic deviation was noticeable as the Philippine team performed excellently under Daniel's set-ups.