Illinois vs Chicago State (2) - Reckoning

After the basket, Tremaine Mills and Caleb Wilson entered the match. Lamont hid it magnificently from his brother, but he was utterly exhausted.

Caleb knew what to do the moment he stepped foot on the floor, and Tremaine does too.

This Chicago State team lives and dies through Lorenzo Harris.

With less than 5 minutes left on the half, and Lorenzo Harris crashing and burning, they need to apply the knockout blow here.

Who'd have thought that the Illini would start pressing now?

It was only logical for most of the home fans.

Lorenzo Harris was the only one on the away side who could fashion chances regularly with the ball in his hands.

Shut him down, and everything falls apart like a house of cards.

Of course, they've read the scouting reports of this Chicago State team, and it's their biggest flaw. However, it was their head coach that instructed them to let Lamont be the one to take his brother down head on.

If there was one person who understood how much this game mattered to Lamont, it was head coach Michael Roughan.

He was the first to find out the true deal going on inside the Harris family. He found out how deep Lamont's hatred for his abusive father went.

Lamont bone chillingly told him that his father drove his mother to insanity, and later on… towards her death.

He was eleven and Lorenzo's ten when their selfless mother died inside a mental health institution.

Lorenzo, his father's favorite, sided with him, despite knowing the truth.

That was the day when Lamont started drifting away from that family.

He slowly but surely became alienated, and forced out of his own home.

If Lamont Harris were to overcome the final hurdle of his collegiate redemption arc, he'd have to do it in front of his own brother… and father in the stands…

Michael Roughan's eyes panned straight into the destructive patriarch of the Harris family, seated courtside, in the middle of the bench side of the floor.

He wore the same aviator glasses as his son, and was about his height. However, Michael Roughan believed he was more than four hundred pounds.

Well, Roughan felt he was the pot calling the kettle black a little bit there, but he was not even 350 pounds! There's a difference!

He was wearing a Chicago State cap, and jacket, probably alluding to the school being his alma mater. Lamont would probably look 80% like this once he's older.

Knowing Lamont, he'd rather pay for a plastic surgery than have the same old, depressing face as his.

As a coach, he was pleased that Lamont did his job without letting his emotions boil over. He knows that at some point, he started playing more passionately, and emotionally, but at the very least, he remained unfazed, and level-headed.

Now, his will was transferred to his closest friend Caleb Wilson, who'd be tasked to play defense against the exhausted main man Lorenzo.

Tremaine, Deshaun, Quandre, and Tarik would probably need to just maintain some semblance of a defense on their own… and focus more of their abilities on offense...

Lorenzo's ego had been battered. He really didn't mind missing a continuous stream of shots, as long as his brother hadn't shattered his confidence to fire away.

But now, Lorenzo might still have the ball, but he was like a soulless husk of a man that was forced to dribble. Lamont's piercing remark sucked most of the life out of him.

Grow up? Me?

I'll regain my rhythm without you hounding me like an annoying insect!

Caleb saw the subtle change on how Lorenzo conducted himself. His movements that had already become sluggish, regained its cutting edge. The arrogant smirk on his face had returned as well.

Lorenzo Harris will never change for you.

He used his left arm to shield himself from Caleb Wilson, while forcibly carving himself out a path to his right, where Tremaine and the Cougars point guard were tussling against each other.

Tremaine could either double team him, in hopes of him continuing his beyond selfish play, or let it play out. Both decisions could be double edged swords, but as a veteran, and second lifer, Tremaine gambled on the high risk, high reward option.

Help defense!

Tremaine decisively turned away from his marker and pounced on Lorenzo, to pressure him with Caleb. This move of his triggered a chain reaction from all of the Cougars and the Illini, since Lorenzo is a few seconds away from a backcourt violation.

Everyone moved in sync, the Cougars' only plan was to relieve the pressure and be an open man to receive the pass. While the Illini planned the opposite, and continued to pressure them instead.

Lorenzo had no choice but to stop. He thought Caleb was more of a pushover than his brother, since he's not a starter. This backup small guy as well is doubly irritating to deal with.

He's not strong, but he's toying with his blindside, forcing him to dislodge his pivot as cleanly as possible, while blocking the way. Lorenzo crucially had even less time to search for opportunities as most of his focus was diverted to keeping himself from losing the ball.

He didn't turn the ball over, however it's grinding on his sensitivities.

This was supposed to be the day I utterly destroyed my brother! Why am I dealing with these annoying cockroaches instead!

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Lorenzo's mind was slowly getting taken over by the seeds of doubt, and was on the verge of total collapse. He couldn't see that his teammates were trying their best to get open and save him from his predicament.

It was too late to try anything, however.

Caleb finally managed to strip the ball away from Lorenzo's hand, and after a quick tussle on the ground, Tremaine came away with the ball on their own half.

A second later, and the ball would be theirs anyway.

Tremaine raised his right hand to signal for various strategies in the half court set. One by one, his teammates moved to their positions.

Tarik Diallo arrived to set a rough on-ball screen to shake off Tremaine's man, who had no choice but to duck under it.

This gave Tremaine a vital extra second to survey the field with his rapid fire court vision. What he saw made him sure that it's the right move to make.

On the left side of the court, his buddy Deshaun sacrificed his life to give a down screen for Quandre Thornton. Deshaun was on the ground right now, reeling from the truck that slammed at him. However, his sacrifice was not in vain, as Quandre managed to run free to the basket like a freight train.

Tremaine bounced it with a lot of speed towards him, knowing that there's nothing that could stop him going downhill.

Enter Lorenzo Mills. He saw his chance to end his rut. This man that could possibly kill him outside the court with a single punch, he'd stop him on the court.

If he could stop him from scoring, maybe that could be a good momentum changer.

Alas.

Quandre Thornton was unstoppable at this point.

He elevated, his massive arms were like bear arms, and Lorenzo wondered whether he's just delusional, or just plain dumb to try and match him upstairs.

Either would be good answers.

Quandre dumpstered Lorenzo in the rim, as he looked like King Kong fighting against a lowly unarmed man. He was going to be at the bitter end of one of the most vicious highlight poster jams of the early season.

Quandre roared, and beat on his chest would both his fists. He enjoyed that.

There was even an extra free throw.

***

Extras:

Lamont's father Landry watched from the sidelines as his two sons duked it out a few meters in front of him.

He scrutinized every move, every step, and even every facial expression of the older son whom he had not seen nor talked to for the last couple of years.

He followed his first born's career from the sidelines without ever expecting him to return home.

Landry's final act as a father would be to let him live a happier life away from him and his brother.

He owed his son that much.

Landry watched on in tears as his eldest buried a triple in front of his youngest.

'If only I hadn't done what I did.' As much as Landry was an unreasonable, and callous person, he knew their relationship as father and son was beyond repair. He was the sole reason Lamont's beloved mother was six feet under after all.

Tears flowed from his eyes, as he watched on with a mix of regret for his actions several years ago, and pride for what his son had become on his own.

If only he could tell him that.