Chapitre 21: Prove my worth

"Everybody stop the drills and take a short break, I have an announcement to make. Tomorrow we will be hosting a practice game against Joshibi middle school. Since they are quite a weak school, I want to try something new. Kaen will be a starter tomorrow and he will be playing point."The coach said, stunning everybody.

Wait. I get to be a starter? Nice! The coach then continued.

"Although he is only a first year, Kaen has proven himself to be an above average player on this team. If any of you are unhappy with this arrangement just remember that while he is just as or maybe more talented than any one of you, he is one of the hardest working players on this team. I do not want to hear any complaints.

Kaen, I know your preferred position is small forward but we currently have Yukio playing that position. You just have to wait till he graduates then you can play that position.

However, you still need to prove yourself in tomorrows match. If I see anything unsatisfactory with your game or you make too many mistakes, you will be pulled out and placed on the bench. Is that clear?"

" YES COACH!" I shouted.

Kotaro then slapped me on my back and said:" Look at our super rookie. He just entered the team and obtained a starting position in his first practice game. Just remember not to hog the ball though or the coach will get mad. He hates people who never pass."

Haru, the teams starting power forward then added on:" No pressure though. If you see an open shot, take it, I'll rebound all your misses."

"Alright, thanks guys. I swear tomorrow I won't let you down." I replied to all of them.

The next day, I hit the gym early to find Haru already there, practicing his post moves. I placed my gear on the bench, changed into my basketball shoes and put on my headphones. I then proceeded to grab a ball from the rack and start my pre game warmup.

"Yo Haru, can you be my rebounder, I'm going to practice my threes."

Haru gave an ok sign, signaling that he agreed.

I then started shooting as the lyrics of my current favorite song, Rolex, starting playing through my headphones.

I just wanna Rolly Rolly Rolly with a dab of ranch

I already got some designer to hold up my pants

I just want some ice on my wrist so I look better when I dance

Have you lookin' at it, put you in a trance

I just wanna Rolly Rolly ....

I held up my hands to follow through as I saw the ball fly through the net. Oh yeah, I'm feeling good today, real good.

Kotaro then walked up to me and dapped me up:" Damn Kaen, you on fire today, that was like your tenth in a row or something."

"Yeah, I gotta make sure to impress the coach today, I don't want to sit on the bench for the rest of the year."

"Chill bro, I don't know if you know this but the coach was only saying that so you don't get complacent. When he decides to start someone, he probably isn't going to change his mind."

That statement was comforting, at least it showed that I had sealed the starting position.

The buzzer then sounded, signaling for everybody to clear the court as the game was going to start soon.

After a quick talk from the coach, the team huddled together.

Yukio: "Alright guys lets go on three. 1, 2, 3."

"AZABU!" We chanted in unison.

The starting 5 from both teams then stepped onto the court to start the game.

As I took up my position on the floor, a familiar screen appeared in front of me.

[Game time: Host can earn points during games.

Game: Practice game

1 point scored: 3 general points

1 assist: 6 general points

1 rebound: 2 general points

1 steal: 4 general points

1 block: 6 general points

Note: Number of points host can earn increases during official and national games.]

Woah, I can now earn points during matches. This isn't even an official match, just a practice game and the system is giving me the opportunity to earn points. Not that I'm complaining but this system has become very generous lately.

I watched as Kiyoshi and the other teams center prepared for the jump ball. Kiyoshi was clearly the taller center and I had utmost confidence that he would win the jump ball.

As expected, Kiyoshi easily won the jump ball and tipped it over in my direction. I scooped up the ball and started making my way up the court, looking at the position of my teammates at the same time.

My defender started marking me once I crossed half court and I shifted slightly to the left, leaning in that direction. Seeing my defender take the bait, I crossed the ball between my legs and burst to the right. I then put my head low and started driving towards the basket. Once I reached the paint, the other teams center stepped forward and I did a handoff pass to Kiyoshi who tossed it through the net. Easy.

Now it was our turn on defense. I had been putting in some work on my defense. With my new system, I realized how much I sucked at defense. I had been investing as many points as possible into the defensive categories. Now it was time to put it to use.

Before the game, the coach had instructed us to do a full court press. Basically, it involved everybody marking their guy from one side of the court to the other, not in a half court setting.

I was playing the point, so my job was the toughest. The opponents inbounded the ball to their point guard who then started dribbling. I started pressing him, trying to make it difficult for him to advance and constantly swiping at the ball. He tried to switch directions by moving back and bringing the ball behind his back. I had seen this move in practice countless times and by now, was used to it."Gotcha" I swiped at the ball, knocking it lose.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my Kataro cutting towards the basket.

"Kotaro" I yelled and did a simple behind the back pass to him and he scored an easy layup.

The opponents rebounded the ball to the point guard again and once again I started pressing him. The point guard was frustrated but he was not stupid. He simply passed the ball to another of his teammates. Kiyoshi, who was marking him stepped forward and the teammate just passed the ball.

This was a risky but effective solution to get out of the full court press. Should there be a careless pass, the ball would be stolen. However, with concise and careful passes, it would not be difficult to cross half court.

After crossing half court, they passed the ball to their center who started working his way into the paint. But the thing was, their center wasn't anybody special. He wasn't big or strong, nothing Kiyoshi couldn't handle.

He tried to go up strong to the basket but was simply swatted away by kiyoshi."Let's go! Get that outta here!"

Kotaro grabbed the ball and started pushing the pace up the court. The opponents only had only defender on him, who ran forward and attempted to block his way to the basket. Suddenly Kotaro came to a stop.

"Five" He uttered, putting 5 fingers on the ball and pounding it as hard as he could.

BOOM*