Chapter 5: One-on-One

"Here are the rules, listen carefully" Dad said as he explained the game's rules. "We'll just play one game, game is race to 12 points, first to 12 wins the game, layups, dunks and midrange shots are equivalent to 1 point, 2 points for long range, for every posession the ball must be dribbled outside the 3 point line before attempting a score... are we clear?" Dad asked Jared. which Jared replied "Clear"

"Since this is your first game you get the first posession son" Dad said as he passed the ball to Jared.

Meanwhile in Jared's mind, he's already reading everything with his God's Eye, his brain is already multitasking and running simulations in his head, he's checking his Dad's breathing, his tendencies, body language and scans for openings.

At the same time, Dad is also thinking of a strategy against his son as well. "In order for him to learn, I must not go easy on him, ... you wanted to test out yours skills, you're good in dribbling and shooting, i know your tendencies, dribble then shoot with your right, but I must not be complacent, now, surprise me son, show me what you learned.." Dad thought to himself.

In Jared's mind. "I can't win with strength, speed and size, i don't have that body yet, Dad also have the experience, he's already aware what i can do and he's not gonna underestimate me, I'll outplay him with my wits and take him by surpise then" Jared thought to himself.

Jared starts to dribble with his right hand, observing everything, they both looked at each other like two cowboys on a standoff waiting for someone to make a move.

Jared decided to size up his Dad by dribbling between the legs left and right, trying to breakdown his Dad's balance.

Dad thought "Okay, size up dribble ... that's a good start, watching my balance eh?"

In Jared's mind he already ran thousands of sinulations already, "let's go with this then.."

Jared started to move doing a drop crossover to the right with explosive speed and extreme handle, this shocked his Dad disturbing his balance, but Dad was able to keep up with both hands raised up, as Jared continued to the right, as soon as Dad recovered his position near Jared, Jared crossed over to the left, this change of pace caught his Dad off-guard, Jared .. 1, 2 step, looked at the basket and shot the ball.

In Dad's mind "Ha ... i admit those dribbles caught me off guard, but unfortunately im still too big son.." Dad jumped as he tried to block the ball with force, smiling. However, Dad felt so uneasy as he feels a cold atmosphere in the air.

Dad's smile disappeared as he noticed Jared's smirk, while in midair as Dad reached the ball for a block, Dad watched as Jared immediately took couple of steps backward, looking at the ball ... "That was weird" Dad initially thought, that's wheb he realized something.

Meanwhile in Jared's perspective, couple of seconds ago....

Jared remembered his Dad's lesson ".. In defense, don't leave your feet, as soon as you jump and it's a fake, you're out of the picture"

Knowing his Dad is gonna go for the block, he calculated the trajectory of the ball, the strength of the shot and their position on the court, so that when his Dad blocked it, it will bounce to where Jared wanted it to be.

Dad blocked the ball successfully bouncing the ball off his hand, as he landed, Dad saw Jared caught the ball outside the 3 point line, fixed his form, shot the ball for an easy 2 points, with Dad's current distance he can no longer challenge it.

SWIIIISSHHHH!!!

Dad was left speechless.

"2-0" Jared yelled.

In Dad's mind "This kid ... he sets those dribbles up as a trap, he knows im gonna jump, but how the hell did he know where the ball is gonna land? is it luck?... now way, he predicted it?" Dad thought to himself. Dad cannot shake this uneasy feeling, he feels as if someone bigger than him is controlling his moves.

In the next posessions, Jared showed his Dad how it is playing against a child genius, posession after posession, Jared dominated in an overwhelming fashion, handling every situation with clinical precision, Every move is calculated, like a stealthy assassin stalking hisbtarget then strikes with the right timing with terrifying skill and accuracy.

current score: 5-0 Jared leads.

Dad passed the ball to Jared again, Jared observes his Dad, Dad did the same. At this point he no longer has any Idea what Jared is going to do, is he going left? right? every time Dad predicts it, Jared has a counter moves, he's always a few steps ahead.

Jared composed himself, thinking of another aspect to exploit. Predicting everything with his God's Eye.

Jared just stood there holding a triple threat stance.

(in triple-threat stance a player keeps their center of gravity low with one foot forward, and they hold the ball close to their hip away from the defender.)

As he keeps his triple threat stance, he faked a shot, Dad raised his hands, then Jared pivots his right foot forward, and as he pivots, Dad followed and extended his right foot. Jared returned to his original position, repeated the moves, faked again and pivot, Dad repeated his actions. Dad thought to himself "What is it this time?..."

This time as Jared pivots, knowing that Dad extending his right foot makes it difficult for him to move left laterally, Jared slams the ball using his left hand to the ground to set up a drive, then he explodes in blinding speed and disappeared from Dad's sight. Dad immediately trailed Jared.

Jared in motion, as he goes near the basket, Jared turned his head to his left away from the basket, and from a blinding speed Jared slowed down in a sudden extreme pace, Jared turned left and went to where he's looking (the left wing opposite to the basket) Dad in his thoughts "Going for the corner three?" Dad matches Jared's pace as he follows, he stepped 1, 2

"Gotcha!" Jared thought to himself.

... as soon as Dad took the second step Jared turned to the basket, explodes and drives again, shocking Dad, as Dad now facing the opposite direction of the basket, it's too late now to turn around and challenge the shot, Jared finished with an Up and Under Layup scoring an easy 1 point.

6-0 Jared leads.

"Come on Dad!" Jared said with a puppy eyes

"Haha you just wait buddy" Dad threatened Jared in a confident tone.

Dad thought "He made me turn this time ...he used my balance and direction against me so that I can't fight back ... how is he doing that? considering that small of a detail and use it in the game" Dad acknowledged.

Jared's posession started again...

Jared held the ball in triple threat, he pivots his left foot to the right and returned to his original position, as he returned, he feinted his left shoulder and elbow as if he is driving left, as he went back, in quick sudden succession, Jared dropped the ball with his right hand, caught the ball and spin to the left. Dad followed, Jared disappeared with blinding speed, leaving a trail of shadow of blue and silver.

"A Crossover?! ... no a step back" Dad thought to himself. Dad saw Jared attempting to shoot. both hands on the ball "He's gonna shoot?! I'll block it ... No, what if he bounce it again? ... no I'll get close instead, make him miss and stay on my feet " Dad said to himself.

Meanwhile in Jared's mind, "He won't jump he knows I can do it again, he'll get close and make me miss, he's three steps away from me, ... in that case..."

Dad started to move, 1, 2 step ... as he tooked the second step, Dad felt that uneasy feeling again as he watches his son, it felt everything is in slow motion, he saw his son looking at his feet with his God's Eye, his gaze cold but focused, Dad's blood went cold as he saw Jared's hands, with this new angle, everything is revealed, from far away it looks like Jared is holding the ball with both hands but he was fooled, Jared is actually holding the ball with only his left hand and his right hand is just in front of the ball giving the illusion that his right hand is touching it but it is so far away with each other.

"A Step-back Hesi? ... Where the hell did he knew how to do that?" Dad asked himself in disbelief.

After the stepback hesi, Jared crossed over to the right back to the left then blew past Dad. "Not this time!!!" Dad yelled as he challenged the shot. Jared did a reverse Jelly layup, ball goes up, hit the ring, bounced couple times ... Jared hoping for a friendly roll, Shot missed.

"Ughhhhh!!!"Jared yelled out loud.

Score remains 6-0

Dad rebounded the ball and brought it outside the three point line to begin his posession.

Dad thought to himself "He doesn't look for favorable situations, Instead he creates situations himself that is favored only to him and he's creating it out of nothing!" Just thinking about it, Dad cannot fathom how Jared is able to do that. "Let's test your defense this time" Dad asked.

"When guarding the ball handler i want you to observe these two things, the player's eyes and his body's mid section where the belly button is.." Jared keeps repeating it in his head.

Dad started his posession....

Dad held the ball in triple threat stance, looking at Jared straight in the eyes, he's doing jab steps, pivot steps and feints. He faked a shot holding the ball up, at the same time.

eyes and mid section...

Jared raised his arm. Dad brought the ball back down. As soon as he saw Jared dropped his hands, Dad took a shot, in perfect form for an easy 2 points.

"Damn it ... i can't reach it" Jared yelled to himself in silence.

SWIIIISHHH

"6-2" Dad yelled, gaining confidence.

"That's cheating! I can't reach that!!" Jared complained.

"Haha you will when you grow up" Dad replied while joking.

However, Dad said to himself "He still doesn't have the length to challenge shots like that, I can just shoot long ranges from here til I win, but what're you gonna do about it son? ... show me" Dad thought to himself.

Jared picked up the ball and pass it back to Dad and started the posession again, Dad held the ball again in triple threat stance. Jared standing there silently, watching his Dad's movements to the tiniest detail, He's trying to predict his Dad's move. Running simulations in his head again.

Dad pivots his foot forward to create distance then went back, in perfect form, from the chest area, he raised the ball and released the ball above his head near the forehead.

SNAP!!!

De javu! it was Jared's vision using God's Eye ...

In real time, Dad pivots his right foot forward then went back, perfect form, from the chest he raised the ball....

But Jared tapped it before he can even raise the ball further up, leaving Dad in state of shock. "What the?!!... He saw it?? How?" Dad Asked himself.

In Jared's mind "If i can't block you up top, I'll block you from here" Jared said to himself.

As Jared tapped the ball, the ball ricocheted off of his Dad's right leg and bounced up high, but due to Jared's height, he's unable to reach it in time, Both tried to run for the ball, but Dad gets to the ball first, as he does, Dad posted up Jared and used his size to power his way to get near the hoop.

Jared behind his Dad's back, uses his body to keep his Dad away from basket but his efforts are in vain, Dad knowing that he's near the basket, pivots his body to his right to try a layup, Jared cuts him off, one hand raised up while the other hand is trying to reach for the ball, with Jared's current angle, he might be able to get the ball again, but Dad can't make any shot in this position as his balance has been messed up, But, he is free to spin to left either to layup or hook shot.

Dad spun to the right and as he turn, Jared is already there as if he magically teleported there, as if he just blinked and suddenly here he is.

"I knew you're gonna do that" Jared in his head while holding a sinister grin. Dad's spin created a blindspot for him and that creates a window for jared to get to the ball. Making it appear as if Jared teleported to the other side.

Jared stole the ball and ran to the 3 point line to start his posession.

He wasted no time and didn't wait for Dad to establish a defensive stance as he started to dribble. He went for a scissor step and crossed over to the right, this combo threw Dad off his balance.

(Scissor step is a move wherein the ball handler raises his right leg up, then switches the position of his feet, in a scissor-like motion)

After the scissor step and the crossover, Jared slammed the ball and went above them both, then Jared ran to his Dad's right to make him believe he made a bridge move, using Dad's own momentum, he made a gentle push to create a distance between him and his Dad, the force is enough to make him turn and would require him to turn again to recover, making it appear as he did a full 360.

(bridge move is a move wherein, the ball handler either bounces the ball or throwing the ball behind his defender and then catching it on the other side)

Meanwhile, the force that made the ball went up, creates a window for Jared to distract his Dad and diverts his attention away from the ball and made sure he can't defend until it's too late. Dad never saw the ball until Jared caught it, and in quick succession dribbled the ball to a step back behind 3 point line and shoots for easy 2 points.

As the ball flew up "As you said Dad, Basketball is more than a mind game than you think" Jared said in confidence then winks at Dad.

SWIIIISH!!!

"Misdirection, I love it ... haha" Dad replied as he's shooking his head.

"8-2!!!" Jared yelled out the score. "4 to go" he added.

The game continued on for the next five minutes, Jared dominated the game through his intricate schemes, masterminding everything on the court, Although, Dad regained a lead when fatigue started to take its toll for Jared, he posted him up to score and kept it close, but in the end, Jared still won the tightly contested game with a score of 12-11 Dad cannot believe what his son just did.

"Beyond good job buddy, that was amazing!!" Dad congratulated his son, with extreme pride and enthusiasm. as he grabbed Iris, Then fist bumps his son.

"Thanks Dad!" Jared replied, panting in exhaustion. "That was a cool lesson! that was fun" Jared continued. "But i am so tired .... ughhh" Jared sat on the ground, body felt heavy.

"By the way Dad, what are the things i need to work on?" Jared asked.

"Well first off, your Mom and I, already know you have a gift and perhaps that's the reason you're able to excel on many things even though you're just 4 yrs old, which leads me to your game, your game instinct is already there you're able to utilize all the things you learned with great proficiency, and come up with these out-of-box strategies, like the one where you bounced the ball so high, that's well played I want you to keep thinking like that, smart and calculative and you'll only get better from here, I can't imagine how good you'll becone as you grow" Dad pauses and continued.

"For weaknesses ... you're still young, your body is still developing, I noticed throughout the game that even though you have the elite skills already your body can't keep up, we can work that out by simply just let you grow properly and healthy but so far that's the only opportunity that I can see" Dad explained.

"Don't worry Bud ... it'll take time but right now you're still our baby haha" Dad remarked, playfully mocking his son.

"Ughh, im not a baby anymore!!" Jared replied.

"Well tell that to your Mom" Dad laughed.

Dad smiled and said "Listen ... your learning of the game doesn't stop here okay, you will learn more as you grow older, and in learning, remember that it's okay to fail sometimes not everything is about winning what's important is you learn something from it and be open for criticism, this way you could work on your game, sometimes those criticisms gives you a different perspective that makes you realize your blindspots" Dad dropping some life lessons.

"Also, after every game, everyone is your friend okay, treat everyone with respect, if your team won, give complliments to your opponents about what they did good during the game or maybe give some advise on what they can work on, if you guys lose, thank them for giving a good game" Dad continued. "This will earn you their respect.

"Thanks Dad, i will remember everything, thanks for the lessons today" Jared replied with heartwarming smile and hugged his Dad. They both walked inside the house.

Both sat on the living room, with the house's warm cozy modern minimalistic look, sitting in the soft sofa is heaven for the two right now, as they sat in exhaustion drinking water.

Mom came into the house from the outside through the main front door. "Ohh there you are!" Mom exclaimed in excitement "Ughh you guys smell like sweat" Mom commented while laughing as she gave both a kiss. Mom then sat on the sofa next to Dad, Dad lay down his head on Mom's lap and closed his eyes.

"So how did it go, sweetie do you have fun?" Dad asked both then turned to Jared.

"Yeah Mom it was fun and i beat Dad!" Jared replied in a prideful tone.

"Oh really, Wow that's great!! look at you my little mvp!!" Mom giggled feeling so proud od her son.

"By the way I just meet a couple outside, the Wolfes" Mom said.

"couple of dogs?" Dad asked

"wolves?!" Jared added.

Mom laughed "Haha no silly, Wolfes .. W-O-L-F-E Wolfes, that's their last name" Mom explained.

The father and son let out an "Ahhh" in unison.

"They live upfront they just moved in... well... they haven't completely moved in yet, they moved couple of their things but officially they'll move in next week and Jared sweetie they got 2 kids the same age as you, you'll get to meet new friends next week!!!" Mom commented as he looks at Jared with excitement.

"Oh Cool!!" Jared commented then he asked both his parents "Can they sleepover here?"

"Sure!" the couple replied in a lively manner.

"But we need to ask permission from their parents first sweetie, okay?" Mom added.

"Okay" Jared replied

"Jared sweetie ... after 10 minutes, you take your shower and change your clothes okay?" Mom instructed Jared.

"Alright ... Oh! Can i go the study after shower?" Jared asked Mom as he acknowledged.

"Sure, I'll call you come dinner okay" Mom said.

"Okay!" Jared punched the air in excitement

"You too hon" Mom said to Dad, Dad still eyes closed.

Dad just hummed "Hmmm" ... "I might take a quick nap after shower, wake me up at dinner?" Dad asked Mom.

"Haha your son beat you that hard huh? Mom joked at that, Dad just smiled still eyes closed.

"I don't wanna talk about it!" the couple laughed.

The three stayed there for couple of minutes then the two went for a shower and Mom started to prepare for dinner.