Practice game: Part 2

The buzzer sounded and my team, consisting of bench players, and I walked onto the court. I looked around at my teammates. There was Yuto, he was a reliable second scorer on the second team. He could shoot consistently at an acceptable percentage, allowing him to gain the position of a shooting guard. His game mainly consisted of him running around, trying to loose his man who was ball watching.

Next was Sota. He was tall, very tall. Standing at 1.89 meters tall, he was the second tallest player on the team, just behind Kiyoshi and he played the position of center. Imagine a 15 year old being that tall, it is just crazy. He wasn't very skilled though. The furthest he could shoot was from the free throw line but it didn't really matter much. He practically lived under the basket, grabbing rebounds and tipping in missed shotes.

At small forward, there was Yuki. I really want to play his position but I gotta control myself for now. At least I'm getting the keys to the offense so I could still use some moves for small forwards. Yuki was an average player. He was average in everything and never excelled in anything. This style of play was perfect for being a small forward as it allowed one to utilize all skills in basketball.

Lastly, was Koki, the teams power forward. He was actually only a power forward in name, he played nothing like one. Although he was 1.84 meters tall, he was a spot up shooter. In practice, he mostly trained his threes, never working that hard on any other part of his game. He wasn't bad at what he did but he was very limited.

Well, this was what I had to work with for now. Definitely no stars with me, but that means that it was my turn to shine the brightest.

Since we had won the tip, it was our turn to start in the fourth. I got the ball and started dribbling up the court. Hm, what should I do, let me get my teammates involved right now.

I passed the ball to Yuto who then started dribbling the ball. I stopped for a moment, allowing my defender to relax. Once I saw that he wasn't looking my way, I burst in Yuto's direction. I ran past him and he quickly handed the ball off to me and set me a screen. I squared up my feet and got into my shooting motion and let the ball fly.

I knew it was going in before it did. It just felt so good on my hands. The ball fell through the net and I ran back on defense. The coach had noticed that the opponents had gotten used to the full court press and told us to switch back to the normal half court defense. This was a huge boost as now I had the gas to last through the entire fourth quarter.

My opponent came forward with the ball and I started marking him. He then burst to the left, putting his head low trying to drive to the rim. "LEFT" I heard a shout, I but it was too late. My opponent had trapped me and I had no choice but to run into the screen. "Switch!" I yelled back, hoping one of my teammates could cover for me. The guard then passed to ball back to my screener. He was in front of me and had a clear position to the basket.

I watched as he ran towards the basket. All those lessons of defense with Kiyoshi as well as a variety of defensive skills I received from the system flashed through my head. I took note of his timing, footwork and where the ball was. I watched as he took hold of the ball with 2 hands. And I counted in my head.

One

Two

Now

I jumped and got my hand on the ball just after he released it. Feeling the ball firmly in my hand, I instinctively did one thing. I threw the ball as hard as I could out of the court. I then landed and everything went back to normal.

"YEEEAAAAAHHHHH! THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!" I yelled. The bench was going crazy. My teammates were all over me. The referee blew the whistle signaling an out ball but no one cared.

That block had hyped my teammates up and giving us the flow of the game for the rest of the quarter. My opponents who held the slimmest chance of hope just gave up, knowing it was over. This was the power of defense, the power of a block.

My opponents then inbounded the ball. They continued running their plays but it was easy to see that none of them put any effort into it. Nice, this means that they will be slacking off on defense too. Time for me to earn rack up some points.

I watched at the ball bounced off the rim and was caught by Sota. I started sprinting down the court and stretched out my hand. "Ball!" I yelled and felt the ball land firmly in the palm of my hand. I then picked up the pace and dribbled quickly to the basket. I looked around and saw no defenders over me. Wow, I guess they have really given up huh.

I then tossed the ball into the basket. That was 6 points right there, easy.

After a series of badly run plays by the opponent, we got possession of the ball once again. I dribbled forward and shot a pass to Koki who immediately pulled up and shoot a three which went in. Another 9 points.

Clang. I watched as the ball bounced off the rim and flew in my direction. I caught it and started making started dribbling in the direction of my basket. A defender stepped forward to guard me. I turned my back towards him and faked a look to my left. I then spun to the right and drove to the basket for an easy lay in.

The points just keep coming.

*_*_*_*_*_*

There were about 5 second left on the shot clock. I got the ball from one of my teammates and started dribbling forward quickly. I watched as the clock counted down, 3 seconds, 2 seconds there was not enough time. I pulled up about 2 meters from the 3 point line and let the ball fly.

*Beep* the buzzer sounded while the ball was still in the air. The entire gym stood still in anticipation. The ball hit the backboard and went firmly through the net. "Lets gooo!"

I high fived my teammates and looked at my coach. He gave me a firm smile and nodded his head. I did it, I finally earned his respect and the starting postion.

"Nice one Kaen, that was some good shooting right there." Said Yukio.

"Dude, where you even get that range. I never seen you shoot from there in practice." Said Haru.

My teammates showered me in praises and I sat on the bench with a bright smile on my face. However, I wasn't smiling at their comments, I was smiling at what was on the screen in front of me.

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Hey guys, do any of your have tips to improve your vertical. My highest recorded vert was 34.5 inches or about 80 cm which is pretty trash for a 16 year old. If you have, pls share in the comments.