Chapter 8: Scheme

2nd Game begins...

The 2nd game started right away, Jared began to move and went to a dribble sizeup right away, in one fell swoop he went for a strong crossover to the right, Ethan sprints with his speed and agility to match his pace.

Ethan saw Jared is preparing to do a move and asked himself "Is he going left? right? will he take a shot?"

Jared answered his question by hitting him with a hesi shot fake then went for a powerful crossover to the left, Ethan almost took the bait, but that slightest hesitation left a window for Jared to exploit, Jared drives even faster, his movements are more precise and sharp, his moves provided an advantageous distance away from Ethan.

Armed with his speed, Ethan tried to catch up to Jared, Jared then explodes to the left then switched his pace, he slowed his pace down and motions for a shot, Ethan jumped to block the ball, but Jared explodes in a blinding speed and blew past Ethan disappearing without a trace. Jared scored for an easy layup

1-0 Jared leads

"His movements are getting more refined which makes his fakes even deadlier, I need to watch out" Ethan thought to himself.

Without wasting a second, Jared Immediately started his posession, he hits Ethan with a quick double crossover, Ethan Intensifies his defense and tried to steal the ball using his speed, But with Jared's God's Eye, now fully adjusted to Ethan's playstyle, he already saw Ethan's movements couple of milliseconds before he moves, by observing the slightest flex of his feet and arms Jared predicted his step.

Jared hit him with a stiff leg crossover facing left then zooms past Ethan's right leaving a trail of shadows and broke Ethan's ankles in quick succession, Jared then side stepped to the three point line and released a long range shot for an easy 2 points.

(Stiff leg crossover - is a dribble move where the ball handler puts either of his legs forward and performs a crossover in front of the leg)

SWISH!!

3-0 Jared leads

Ethan's feeling of uneasiness intensifies even more, it is as if the more the game progresses he's becoming more anxious by the second, Ethan cannot explain it.

As Ethan is trying to contemplate the turn of events, without giving him time to compose hinself. Jared held a triple threat stance.

Ethan now feeling an immense pressure he saw Jared staring at him straight in his eyes, as if he's staring right into his soul, Jared then suddenly feints, startling Ethan which broke his defense.

Using his refined motion, Jared did a scissor step then crossover to the left in quick burst, thinking that Jared is going to the right, he took the initiative to try cutting him off but it leads to him going the other way, leaving an open space for Jared, he went for a hesi shot fake then Jared snapped for a pullback cross into a step back three and shot the ball, all done in smooth succession, the right moves and right places. Leaving Ethan clueless and one step behind.

SWISH!!

5-0 Jared leads

The second match went on for another couple of minutes, Jared pretty much dominated Ethan, posession after posession, Jared's shots keep falling, Ethan never got the chance to touch the ball. Jared hits him with perfect fake after perfect fake, together with his refined ball handling, Ethan was left guessing every posession, his speed became useless, afterall speed without direction is going nowhere.

As the game went on, he feels his body getting heavier with an unknown pressure looming in the atmosphere, with pressure surmounting, Ethan is slowly realizing the game is slipping away from his grasp.

After a few posession...

With the score now 7-0 Jared leads, Jared went to position again in a calm and collected manner.

Jared started to move "Let's finish this shall we?" he thought.

Jared set up his movements by doing a sizeup dribble, he then went to face left, Ethan with his speed followed to try pressuring Jared, But soon as Ethan made a step, Jared simultaneously crossover the other way, this left Ethan in the dust.

As he continues his way to the right wing, Jared delayed his dribble, when he noticed Ethan is catching up he faked his inward drive then pumped a loud pullback cross dribble, this sudden burst of movements broke Ethan's ankles, which made him fall to the ground, as he does, Jared went for a step back three and unleashed a long range shot.

As he released the ball, he turn around and walked to the table where Dad and Katie is sitting, never looked back to check if the shot went in.

SWISH!!

Jared won the second game 9-0, the two is now tied with one game apiece.

"Wow!! hey Jared that was amazing!! how did you do that?!" Katie cheered Jared after winning the second game.

"Nice! what a great way to snatch that second game!" Dad said to Jared as he gives him a high five.

"Thanks guys, but the game is not over so.." Dad thanked the two as he sat on a vacant chair to rest.

"Dude that was a good one back there! I'll get you on the third game!" Ethan said to Jared in a friendly way.

"Haha thanks ... let's make the third game dun then" Jared replied.

"Hey Ethan here's your water!" Katie yelled at his brother as gives him a bottled water.

As they rest, Ethan thought "He's even more sharper in the second game, his moves are much effective this time around, is it luck? have I been too careless? doesn't matter, I have the first posession on the next game, let's take advantage of it"

"Alright, just catch your breath, rehydrate yourselves, take your time okay?" Dad said to the two.

Dad, Katie, Ethan and Jared chatted for while before starting the 3rd and last game.

3rd Game begins...

As Ethan took the ball for his posession, He thought to himself "Your scoring is good, but let's see if you can still catch up to me if I step it up a notch!"

Ethan's confidence went away and his blood went cold when he saw Jared, instead of guarding him close above the three point line, Jared sagged off away from Ethan and took a defensive stance on the paint couple of steps near the hoop, This baffled Ethan (note: this is a legal defensive position as there's no three seconds rule for their match)

Seeing Ethan's baffled look, Jared said to Ethan "Remember ... you will never score again!" Jared unleashed that statement with an evil smile.

"He figured him out huh? ... Let's see" Dad thought.

Ethan started to dribble, doing quick double crossover and into a shammgod, Jared just stood from afar watching Ethan's dribble, unfazed, Ethan suddenly explodes for a drive heading straight towards Jared.

Jared not moving a muscle, he just stood there watching everything and every movement, Ethan now inches closer to Jared, Jared started to move but he's just moving backwards with either hands on the side, Ethan went straight to Jared's right, Jared followed him in a weird manner, Jared maintains the position of his hands, Seeing it as an opportunity, Ethan went for a little bump before jumping for a layup, however, As Ethan went for a bump, Jared leaned a little, which ruined Ethan's momentum for a layup, he released the shot but it missed, a friendly bounce made the ball ricocheted right back to Ethan, Ethan tried to do a putback but Jared is all over him, with hands everywhere trying to steal the ball, with nowehere to go, Ethan decided to reset.

"Ughh his defense is tough!!" Ethan thought

Ethan went back on top of the key to try for reset, Jared again went for a defensive stance away from Ethan.

Ethan went for a size up dribble again, he made a big explosive crossover to the left then zooms in on Jared's left with blinding speed, Jared just stood there, he only made a move when Ethan is closer, with both arms raised on either side Jared pushed his body against Ethan to try to keep him off.

In a drastic and extreme change of pace Ethan stopped and shot faked then Jumped backwards away from the hoop, Ethan now facing opposite to the ring in midair, he made a formless reverse floater, little did he know Jared jumped together with him at the same time, Jared's proximity to Ethan in midair made enough pressure to challenge the shot without fouling him. The ball missed and Jared successdully rebounded it.

Ethan realized this and said to himself "There's no way he knows I'm going for that shot!! ... how did he know?!"

"I see" Dad said to himself sitting on the backyard while watching the two play, The realization of Jared's intention dawned on him.

By sagging off away from Ethan, this takes away Ethan's tricky ball handling, the pass-to-self maneuvers and crossovers will lose it's effectivity due to the distance of the defender, this would allow Jared to track the ball and Ethan at all times, this would also help control Ethan's speed, no one can outrun a speedster on an open field, therefore, the best option is to guard his only exit, In this case, the hoop, Jared wanted, Ethan to come to him where he lays his trap.

However, this kind of defensive scheme is vulnerable for midrange shot and 3 pointers, resorting for this type of scheme without proper scouting and back up plan is suicide.

But this is where Jared's unbelievable perception comes in, he was able to scout Ethan's flaw throughout the game, Ethan plays a basketball that relies on freedom of movement, this allows him to shoot the ball in odd angles and weird places, he has a formless shot, but his formless shots are only effective in close range, throughout the 3 games up until now, Ethan never attempted a midrange jumpshot or a 3pointer, this would only confirms the limits of his shooting and leaves him solely reliant on his formless shots.

Now to take away his formless shots, Jared positioned himself on areas where Ethan was able to successfully score a basket using his formless shots, evidence to Jared's countermessure of leaning away to avoid Ethan's bump, some slight physicality and enough defensive pressure, Ethan's formless shot can be challenged and eventually make it miss. Jared found a perfect position to control Ethan's speed, take away his dribbles and challenge his formless shots, all in one area.

"What's impressive is his ability to scout and formulate this scheme in a methodical way, he really is a genius" Dad thought.

Meanwhile, back in the game...

Jared started his posession immediately, he held the ball in a triple threat stance, Ethan closely guarding him, Jared went for a pivot then immidiately made a spin move to the right, Ethan tried to fight back by cutting him off, Jared answered with a huge crossover to the left and in quick succession Jared made a shamgod fake to the right which caught Ethan off guard, Jared blew right past Ethan, but with his speed he was able to cut off Jared.

Jared looked back and motions as if he's going for a reset, he noticed Ethan fell asleep on defense because of his fake, he suddenly went for baseline behind the back and went straight underneath the hoop. Leaving Ethan behind, then he scored for an easy layup.

(baseline behind the back - is a move where a ball handler turns his back against the defender then dribbles the ball behind the ball handlers back and right in front of the defender, most effectively used on baseline areas near the hoop)

1-0 Jared leads.

Jared went full power again, he set up by doing dribble size up, then went for a double behind the back crossover to break down Ethan's defense as he went left left Ethan followed as they both went left, in a sudden quick motion, With the ball on his right hand, Jared made a strong baseball throw to the ground where Ethan was standing, a few milliseconds ago, he threw the ball to make a V-shaped trajectory, as he threw the ball Jared simultaneously ran and juked Ethan to go left.

Meanwhile in Ethan's perspective as soon as Jared threw the ball to the ground, he immediately thought of a pass-to-self maneuver, similar to what he did on the first game "Is he really gonna do that?" he asked himself, he decided to run for the ball, he went opposite to where he was juked and turn the other way.

His face turned white at what he witnessed, he saw the ball went back to Jared, Ethan can't believe his eyes, instead of a V-shaped trajectory it went back to Jared as soon as it hit the ground, Like a yoyo returning to the hand after it was thrown, "What the?!" He asked himself, baffled beyond comprehension. he remembered Jared's quote to him "You ain't seen nothing yet" "Is this what he's referring to?" He thought, but he feels that there's something he's missing

Little did he know, Jared threw the ball and made it spin in a way that when it hits the ground, the speed of the spin would allow the ball to bounce back to him like a yoyo, Thanks to his God's Eye and huge brain.

After Jared caught the ball, he dribbled once then, he hit a step back and shot the ball for an open long range.

Dad is on his feet as he saw what Jared did, jaws dropped hands on his head "Whoooaaaa!!" Dad yelled

Katie jump and cheered at what she saw "Did you see that Arthur? it's like magic woah!!"

SWISH!!

3-0 Jared leads

As the game went on, everything went downhill for Ethan, everytime he's in posession of the ball he just can't score, it's like he can do anything on the court besides scoring, posession after posession he saw Jared draining everyshot he makes. he feels like there's a huge towering shadow watching above him and controlling everything he's doing while he's in a huge hole unable to escape,

SWISH!!

Jared drains another jumpshot

8-0 Jared leads. Match point

Jared is now going in for the kill, he blew past Ethan with terrifying speed and continued right, Ethan is right behind him, as Jared noticed this, he went for a behind the back pullback cross, which puts Ethan on skates, Jared's pullback cross turned into a shot fake hesi, Ethan recovered and tried to get close to Jared, as he does, Jared blew past him and went for an easy layup, after he shot the ball he immediately went to Ethan.

"Thanks for a good game dude! it's been fun" Jared said to Ethan in a warm and friendly manner as he shook his hand.

Result:

Game 1: 9-7 Ethan

Game 2: 9-0 Jared

Game 3: 9-0 Jared

"You got me! that was a good game! let's do it again sometime!" Ethan said and put up a big warm and friendly smile.

"Of course!! that would be cool! you and Katie are actually welcome here, so feel free drop by if you guys wanna hangout" Jared offered.

"Awesome, I'm sure Katie would love it! ... but hey you'll babysit Katie okay?" Ethan said.

"What? haha didn't I won the game?" Jared laughed as he replied.

"tentenenen for the winner!!! here's your price!" Katie yelled in a cute voice as she gives Jared a bowl of popcorn.

"Haven't you eaten most it already?" Ethan said to Katien with a playful tone.

"Well done boys!! that was a great game both of you!!" Dad said to the two "Jared you've been improving your fundamentals and your movements are much sharper, keep up the good work okay" Dad said to Jared giving him a fist bump.

"And Ethan, wow! what can I say, I didn't expect that you got those kinds of moves, really spectacular and plays are amazing! there's some things that we can polish but overall great job buddy!" Dad complimented Ethan.

"We're actually planning to get Jared a personal trainer and looking at your skills, if you want you can join Jared with the trainings that is if you're parents would agree so we need to ask" Dad added.

"Geez thanks Mr. Summers! I don't know what to say but thank you and yes! I'll go ask mom and dad first" Ethan thanked Dad with a big smile, Dad gave him a pat on the head.

"You guys can stay here I'll just call your Mom" Dad said as he went inside.

"Okay Dad" Jared replied.

"You know I never lost a 1-on-1 game before" Ethan said to Jared.

"Really?" Jared asked as he looked at Katie to confirm.

"Yes" Katie replied "he will cry later on his room" Katie added.

"Shut up!! No I won't" Ethan replied to Katie as he threw a popcorn at Katie.

"Ow!" Katie reacted and stick her tongue out and made face against his brother.

"Haha well there's a first time for everything haha" Jared jokingly replied

" By the way how are able to know how to beat me? kids bigger than can't even beat me from where we're from?" Ethan asked Jared.

"Well to be honest, I was surprised at first when you did those ridicolous shots because it was the first time I've seen those, I have no idea how to defend it" Jared replied.

"But you did though, how did you do that? I'm just curious because I wanted to develop myself, you know I wanted to be a great basketball player when I grow up!" Ethan shared with great enthusiasm

"And I want to be dancer!!" Katie yelled and let out a cute giggle. Which Jared smiled upon hearing it.

"My parents said that I have a gift" Jared said.