บท 57: Duo vs Duo

Jason took a look at Danilo's badges with Heart's eye.

[Post Scorer (Bronze): Increases the level of technique for moves used to score in the post. Increases your ability to control post position on the offensive side of the ball.

Strong finisher (Bronze): Increases your chance of making shots despite contact from a defender/s.]

Danilo laughed "You think you're hot shit just because you've been on TV huh? Well, let's see just how good you are then."

Danilo went out to the perimeter and demanded the ball. After Alex passed it to him he then cleared his teammates out of the way as he got ready to iso.

As he stared down Jason he began rhythm dribbling. Finally, he did a quick crossover to the right before driving in that direction.

Except that after his first step he realized that he didn't have the ball. Jason anticipated the crossover and had stabbed his hand into the path of the ball.

Jason ran down the court as he pushed the fastbreak. But even with the headstart that he had Danilo was able to easily catch up.

He stuck to Jason's right side as they sprinted their way down the court 'I dare you to shoot it! I'll swat that shit out of the gym!'

Danilo was focused on Jason looking for any indicator to base the timing for his jump. Finally, as they approached the paint Jason picked up his dribble and jumped into the air.

Danilo's eyes burned with excitement 'Now! Block it!' He jumped off of both his feet and reached toward the ball with his right hand.

But instead of the ball going toward the basket Jason had tossed it into the air behind them. Danilo was caught off guard 'What the hell!?'

A figure lept into the air and caught it with both hands. It was Kyle! Kyle was surprisingly quick for his size so catching up to them wasn't too hard considering that Danilo was going at Jason's pace.

Jason had also told Kyle before they got back into the game that they would change the way that they would guard Danilo's isolation plays.

"Their Center is a non-factor out on the perimeter. So when he calls for an isolation just leave their Center and let him stand in the corner.

I want you to float out to the middle of the paint. That way if Danilo does manage to beat me then you can still protect the rim.

Just be careful to keep an eye on the Center. You don't want him catching you by surprise with any cuts to the paint."

So Kyle was already higher up on the court than he normally would be. That combined with Kyle's natural athleticism allowed him to successfully trail Jason on the fastbreak.

Kyle held the ball with both of his hands while he was in the air. Jason had put the pass in the best location possible with amazing timing.

Everyone was expecting Kyle to come back down and quickly lay the ball up. But what he did next shocked everyone and had the whole gym rocking.

Kyle was still in the air as he got closer and closer to the rim. Finally, he smashed the ball down and through the net with both hands.

As he hanged on the rim he started yelling "Yeaaahh!!!" He let go of the rim and started pumping his fist as he fell back down to the ground.

Jason ran up to Kyle after he landed and chest bumped him "Yooo! I told you that you could dunk man! That shit was nice!"

Kyle smiled and scratched the back of his head "I guess I just needed you to push me into trying it haha."

When it came to athleticism Kyle was second only to Trell who had a rank of AA in that category.

Jason had designed a workout plan for Kyle to do outside of practice. Kyle had been doing it wholeheartedly and the results were starting to show as his athleticism was now at an A-.

Jason had analyzed Trell's athleticism ranking and determined that the main thing separating Trell and Kyle was power.

Kyles figure was thin and lanky while Trell had well-developed muscles all over his body. But in terms of agility, body coordination, and jumping ability they were fairly close to each other. With Trell just barely beating Kyle.

But Kyle had a huge advantage over Trell when it came to dunking. His amazing height and his great wingspan.

Jason had been telling Kyle that he should try dunking but Kyle had been denying it until now. The reason he was afraid to try was because he didn't believe that he could actually do it and he didn't want to disappoint Jason.

But because Jason had thrown the pass at the height where Kyle had to jump with everything that he had and at just the right distance from the rim. Jason was able to force Kyle into dunking.

Back on defense, Jason was guarding Danilo once again. Verde Gardens tried to run a few plays but they were ruined by Jason's amazing ability to direct his team's defense.

After resetting the possession a few times Verde Gardens decided to just go for another isolation play with Danilo.

Danilo had a serious look on his face as he stood in front of Jason out on the perimeter "Last time was just a fluke. I hope you're ready little guy."

Jason smiled "I think you're getting fluke and skill mixed up dog. But that's cool because Ima take you to school today man. You gonna learn today."

Danilo glared at Jason as he started posting him up out on the perimeter 'Last time I got a little too cute with it. I'll just keep it simple and bully this guy,'

He started driving to the paint with Jason on his hip. Jason shuffled his feet and stuck close to Danilo despite the physicality.

Defending a physical slasher like this is difficult enough on its own but when you are at a size disadvantage it's even harder.

Danilo was used to having his defenders bounce off of him whenever he attacked the paint so he was surprised that Jason was able to stick with him all the way to the paint.

'It doesn't matter. It's not like he can do anything to affect my shot. If their strongest player couldn't guard me don't even dream of stopping me with this midget.'

Jason kept his hands up as they got closer to the basket. Danilo ignored him as he focused on the basket.

Danilo jumped into the air with the ball in his right hand. The ball was just about to leave his hand when he saw another figure with him in the air. Once again it was Kyle!

Just like Jason had told him he left the opposing team's Center alone in the corner. When he saw that Danilo had gotten passed Jason he had started making his way to the paint.

When he saw Danilo pick up his dribble for the layup he began timing his block. As soon as Danilo jumped up so did Kyle.

Jason might not have been able to stop Danilo from getting to the paint but he was able to guide him into an angle that gave Kyle the best chance to block his shot.

Danilo gritted his teeth 'You think this is enough to stop me!? I'll just out wait you. I can adjust my shot and shoot at the last moment.'

Kyle had his arm stretched back ready to launch for the block at any moment. It became a game of chicken as the two of them were in the air waiting for the other to make a move.

To Danilo's horror, he was beginning to fall at the same time as Kyle. He had to throw a shot up before he fell back to the court otherwise it would result in a turnover.

He tried to bring his arm to his side in order to shoot the ball with a hook shot in an attempt to keep the ball out of Kyle's reach.

The ball left his hand with a good angle. If nothing happened it looked like it would successfully make its way into the basket.

Kyle shot his arm out toward the ball as it flew over his head 'Come on! It's so close! Just a little bit more!'

Kyle stretched his arm as far as he could. Just as it looked like the ball would pass over his head Kyle managed to hit the ball with the very tip of his middle finger. The ball shot up slightly and ended up going over the basket.

Kyle had put his body in an awkward position in the air as he stretched for the block so when he landed he fell to the floor.

Jason ran over to Kyle with a huge smile on his face. He lightly punched Kyle on the chest a few times as he cheered him on "That was crazy bro! Nice block!"

After that possession things seemed to click for Jefferson on both the defensive and offensive ends of the ball.

On offense, Jason could score in iso, break down the opponents' defense before kicking it back out to the perimeter, and create opportunities with the pick and roll with Kyle. He was able to play his game despite Alex's best efforts on defense.

When it came to them defending Verde Gardens things became simple now that Kyle and Jason were working together to contain him.

Coach Swendel was sweating wildly as he watched the team out on the court. As the quarter came to an end he couldn't help but gulp 'H-he actually played the whole quarter.... I can't believe it.'

Jefferson was in the lead with a score of 28-15. They had kept Verde Gardens scoreless for the last three minutes.