"Defend him! Defend him!!" the Crusaders' coach shouted at the players on the court while holding his clipboard and tapping the floor with his shoes in a clear sign of anxiety at the situation unfolding on the court at that moment.
Turning toward his players, he immediately signaled to the tallest player in the group, who was sitting in the furthest corner from him. "Listen to me, Kentan, I need you to replace Gray in the paint," the coach said, causing a look of incredulity to settle on his face as he looked at the court and the situation his teammate was in at that moment.
At that moment, Darnell Gray wished he could be anywhere else except on the court, especially without having that monster in front of him blocking the way toward the rim.
"Come on," Darnell thought, seeking to shake off the person in front of him and finally feeling what it was like to be on the opposite side, being hounded by a player taller than him in the game.
Usually, he was the person who hounded the smaller ones on and off the court, using his height as a great means of intimidation even for some school teachers; but now he felt completely overwhelmed by the person in front of him who had become his greatest nightmare.
It wasn't the first time he had met players taller than him, but usually, he could beat them by wrestling a bit and using physical strength; but upon making contact with him, it simply felt like crashing into an immovable mountain without even being able to move him a bit to generate space.
With the shot clock coming to an end and seeing no other option, Darnell attempted a shove against Aaron to penetrate toward the rim, but he barely managed to move him a bit and, with no other choice, attempted a forced layup which ended up hitting the rim and being caught by Jordan, who didn't hesitate to head out of the paint toward the other side of the court quickly.
Advancing a few steps before being immediately surrounded by the Crusaders team, Jordan passed the ball toward Aaron, who caught the ball while continuing to advance, his eyes on every player as he got closer and closer to the rival rim.
Darnell immediately stood in front of him, not wanting him to score again, so he made his best attempt to steal the ball quickly, extending his hand toward him; but Aaron, before he could take the ball, passed it quickly to his other hand and, holding it between his two hands, took three large steps before jumping and making a basket, adding two more points to the score.
"And there you have it; Reed shook off the player in front of him with a textbook euro-step, allowing him to sink the ball against the rim before the rest of the players could react," the commentator narrated quickly before the roar of the crowd was heard throughout the stadium, causing the commentator to put a hand to his ear in awe.
"Let's go team!" shouted one of the team players who was sitting on the bench, seeing how the team was dominating what could be the most important game of the year and taking one step closer to the championship trophy.
"Finish them!" shouted one of the students sitting in the stands along with the rest of the spectators as they gradually began the chant that had become a custom this year every time the Royals played at home.
"Royals! Royals! Royals!!" Along with the performance and acrobatics of the school cheerleaders, the atmosphere became very lively.
While time stopped for the Crusaders' inbound, the coach signaled for Darnell to sit down while he saw Kentan by the scoring table reporting the substitution.
With a look of complete frustration, Darnell didn't delay in approaching his teammate to high-five him. "Watch out for him," was the last comment he gave Kentan before sitting in one of the chairs.
Returning to the game, the Crusaders team wasted no time in restarting play, following a series of quick passes seeking to reach the other side calmly, not wanting to give the Royals the chance to take the ball; so, trusting in that strategy, they managed to reach the other half of the court with the small forward launching a three-pointer from the perimeter, cutting the lead.
The Royals, instead of being demotivated by that, simply inbounded the ball quickly, passing it to Aaron immediately, letting him take control of the game rhythm; as he advanced, Aaron immediately found himself face to face with Kentan, who had his arms extended, blocking any possible drive from him.
Dribbling the ball between his legs, Aaron tried to throw him off balance in order to cross him easily, but it seemed the new player in front of him was not like Darnell, as his defense was more solid for the moment.
Trying a few more feints looking for any opening, Aaron didn't waste any more time; as they continued moving, using strength, he managed to get near the perimeter, so at that moment, Aaron made contact with Kentan and then turned quickly.
Kentan, thinking he would attempt a jump shot from that distance, jumped immediately with his arms up, seeking to block the shooting angle.
But Aaron, while still looking forward, contrary to what Kentan thought, simply passed the ball to the right—the spot where Drew soon appeared, who, upon catching the ball, was immediately blocked head-on by the other team's power forward.
Drew, without hesitating, immediately began to move the ball from one hand to the other while continuing to advance under the watchful eye of the rival power forward, who sought an opportunity to take the ball and go straight into a counterattack.
Immediately after, Drew took a step back in a step-back motion while jumping and launching the ball, adding 3 points for the Royals and maintaining the lead they had kept since the game began.
Once that was done, the referee immediately blew his whistle, indicating the timeout that had been requested by the Crusaders' coach, who couldn't keep watching as his team couldn't cut the point deficit they had against the other team.
The Royals team, seeing the timeout, didn't waste time and simply sat in the chairs while rehydrating and resting as much as they could before having to return to the court.
Coach Arbitello didn't give more instructions or talk about new plays, letting his players simply relax as long as they could while making some changes to the lineup, letting Drew and James rest, who simply nodded.
In contrast, the Crusaders' coach didn't give his players a single second to take a breath, starting to explain the changes in the game strategy while drawing frantically on his clipboard.
"We can't allow the game to continue like this; we have to prevent them from scoring," the coach said more to himself than to the players. "This time we will change the approach; we can't block Reed," the coach said with regret, making several players clench their fists and bow their heads in a clear sign of frustration at the coach's words.
"Instead, let's prevent him from passing to his teammates," he said while explaining to each one whom they should mark before addressing Kentan again. "You just try to make him as uncomfortable as possible and force him to take shots," he finished telling him, not confident that Kentan could completely counteract Aaron.
And the thing is, since last year, most coaches in New York had been asking themselves the same question: "How to stop Aaron Reed?" Many tried different approaches—some with man-to-man marking and others by exclusion—but so far, none of those approaches had worked.
"Kentan, do you think you can?" the coach asked his player worriedly, knowing he was the one with the hardest task of the whole game, and already considering giving him support with another player even if it meant having to leave one of the Royals players unmarked.
"Don't worry, Coach, I'll take care of it," Kentan responded with the most confident voice he could, not willing to make things so easy for Aaron.
With the timeout over, the players returned to the court with the Crusaders in possession of the ball while they repeated the previous passing strategy, seeking to advance little by little toward the basket.
As soon as the ball reached Kentan's hands, he saw that the paint was slightly exposed; so, taking both the Royals players and his teammates by surprise, he immediately picked up the pace, penetrating directly into the paint.
Aaron, seeing that, immediately rushed to block his path as quickly as possible, trying to prevent him from making a dunk; but against all expectations, Kentan stopped dead instead, launching a mid-range shot and adding 2 valuable points.
After that, his teammates didn't hesitate to go toward him to hug him and celebrate with him, while the bench and some Crusaders fans who had come to see the game cheered him on after the brilliant play he had just performed.
As the celebrations ended, Kentan immediately felt a slight pull in his left ankle, but seeing it wasn't that serious, he dismissed it as he and his teammates prepared to mark each of the Royals players and waited for the game to restart.
Isaias was in charge of inbounding the ball from the sideline, but seeing that none of his teammates were free, he became slightly nervous while the referee put the whistle to his mouth, clearly indicating for him to hurry up.
"Isaias!!" Aaron shouted, running quickly, breaking free from Kentan and getting right in front of him, and Isaias didn't hesitate to pass him the ball.
With the ball in his hands, Aaron didn't hesitate and kept running toward the other side, quickly initiating the counterattack.
Behind him was Kentan, who was trying with all his strength to catch up to Aaron before it was too late, while the rest of his team was blocking him.
The team's point guard planted himself in front of him; even though Aaron was more than a head taller and was running at full speed toward him, he stood firm.
Seeing that, Aaron didn't waste time and quickly performed a high-speed crossover, avoiding the opposing team's point guard while continuing his solo run toward the rival rim as the Crusaders players tried with all their strength to prevent it.
With a 360-degree spin move, Aaron shook off another defender as he quickly recovered his footing without even falling or losing his balance due to the speed he was going; so, immediately after, he jumped with all his strength into the air.
Soaring as high as he could, he extended his arm forward while staying in the air, almost as if he were flying in the middle of the court, before gradually descending and slamming the ball against the rim with one hand, hanging onto the backboard.
"Whooa!!" was the cry heard from the entire crowd at such a demonstration of technique in a single play, while Aaron let go of the rim and his feet touched the ground firmly.
Once there, he was immediately surrounded by his teammates while one of them jumped on his back and they celebrated frantically under the watchful eye of everyone present on the court and the thousands of people watching the television broadcast.
"And it's moments like these in which basketball gives you surprises and joy," the commentator said over the noise of the crowd while the referee blew his whistle, signaling the Royals to end the celebration and for the game to restart at once.
Kentan didn't want to waste time and immediately asked for the ball, seeking to score another basket so the point difference wouldn't keep increasing.
With the ball in his hands, he began to run toward the other corner of the court, shaking off Jordan, who was at his side seeking to steal the ball.
But while he was running, Kentan immediately felt how his left ankle suddenly lost strength and he ended up losing his balance, falling immediately to the floor and clutching his left leg.
Raising his hands immediately, Jordan took a few steps back, making it clear that it had nothing to do with him, while the referee blew his whistle, stopping the game immediately.
With his leg extended upward, Kentan knew his night was over as he felt the stinging pain throughout his left leg.
Authors thought's
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