Chapter 25: Second team: Part 2
I watched as the bigs on both teams jumped for the ball. From my point of view, it was quite clear that Takao's team was going to win the tip. Eh, its fine, its not like the tip really matters that much anyway.
I then turned around and started running back on defense, setting myself up and waiting for the opponents to bring the ball forward.
"I got Takao, the rest of you mark your man!" I shouted to my teammates.
"Oh, is mr prodigy actually going to start trying now?" Takao said with grin.
"Only if I need to." I replied, just as Takao started lunging forward.
I was much faster than him and managed to block his drive in time, preventing him from driving to the basket. Due to a slight miscommunication, one of my teammates had slacked off on his man and come over to help, leaving his man was currently wide open. However I did not think much of it. He was currently behind two defenders, how did he expect Takao to see him. I thought.
Suddenly, Takao threw a behind the back pass straight into the hands of the open man and he tossed the ball into the basket.
Crap, I remember now. He had his eagle vision or eagle eye in the anime. If I remember correctly, it allowed him to see the positions of all players on the floor. I messed up.
"Stay with your man, I don't need help on defense. Just don't leave your man open." I told my teammates.
I then caught pass from one of my teammates and started going on offense.
I signaled for Ryo to get ready and he nodded his head. We then started running towards each other, confusing both our defenders. Once Ryo was just beside me, I handed the ball off to him and set a screen, preventing both our defenders from contesting the shot. Ryo then let the ball fly and it fell through the basket with ease.
A few possessions later, I was currently with the ball being defended by Takao. Seeing that I was a distance away from the 3 point line, he stepped back.
"Oh, are you sure you want to leave me so open." I said.
"Who are you kidding man, if you make a shot from there I will buy you a drink after this." Takao replied.
Ok, I gotta make this shot right now. I squared up my shoulders and dipped the ball down. Once I ensured that I had gotten sufficient momentum, I brought the ball up to a low set point and let the ball fly. I watched as the flew in a arc before rattling itself through the rim. I then turned to Takao, with a grin and said: " Remember your promises."
On defense, things were not looking that great. This was basketball, a team sport, defense was not like offense where it could be run through a single individual. Defense required the whole team to work together and any weak spots would be targeted by the opponents mercilessly and that was what Takao did.
I had no trouble locking Takao down and preventing him from scoring, but preventing him from passing was a whole other matter. This was my first time playing with my teammates and it showed. There was a lack of coordination between my team members, whether it was on switches or help defense. There were many times where my team members had left a man unguarded or were simply caught ball watching. Takao would just fling a pass to his open teammates for them to knock down a shot.
"Screw it, this is not working. Ok we will stick to man to man. Just make sure to stick with your guy and him only. No switching or anything just lock them down for one last possession." I told my team and they nodded their heads in agreement.
Takao then started dribbling. He got one of his teammates to set a screen for him. I was expecting it and easily dodged. However, he had also expected his teammates defender to also switch onto him so he could run an easy pick and roll play. But that did not happen. My teammate stuck with his guy and Takao was now left in a bad position holding the ball. I stepped forward and started to pressure him and managed to get a finger on the ball, knocking it loose.
I then ran after the loose ball, picking it up and looked up at the clock 7 seconds left. I picked up my pace and sprinted towards my basket. Takao was running just beside me, trying to push me of course. I could tell that he was putting in extra effort, trying to make up for his bad play on offense.
Once I neared the basket, I slowed down, still keeping Takao at my side. There were only 3 seconds left. I pounded the ball once, hard and gave Takao a slight nudge with my shoulder. I then burst forward and came to a stop on two legs before jumping up and made the lay up.
Nice, there was only 1 second left on the shot clock, the game was basically over. My team had beaten Takao's 30 - 17. A valiant effort from Takao but his teammates just weren't good enough.
I turned to Takao: " I'm gonna be kind and let you get me a green tea. That's like the cheapest item in the vending machine."
"This is just not fair. Why did a first team kid come here to bully us in the second team." Takao joked.
"Well, I gotta admit you two did improve quite a bit since the last time I saw you. Ryo's shot is a lot smoother and you, how do you manage to pass like that?" I asked.
"Well, lets just say its a trade secret." Said Takao with a smirk.
I guess he ain't gonna share about his eagle eye just yet. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of underlying method behind it but I'll figure it out later.
"Yo Ryo, Takao and I are gonna get drinks. Wanna come!" I yelled at Ryo from across the court. Well, I guess it was nice to ball with people my age once in a while, since everybody on the first team is a year older than me. Maybe I should come here more often.
-------
Your power stone is looking good, give it to me.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
JW_Ngiam
JW_Ngiam Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone