The game Pt. 2
The game Pt. 2
POV - Coach Lee
The first quarter had just finished. Her assistant coach, Terry, still couldn't process what had happened. The boys were coming back to sit on the bench. They were dead silent.
"So Terry, any ideas on countering Parker's playmaking?"
"Uh.." He was lost for words.
She let out a deep breath, this wasn't going well for them. The way it was going, Theodore would be completely exhausted by the end of the third quarter.
"Don't worry Coach! I have a plan!" Surprisingly, it was Theo who wanted to contribute.
"Oh is that so? This is the first time you've tried to be a team player. What happened to your philosophy? Get the rebound and give me the ball!" She asked him.
"Well that clearly isn't going to work here. Good luck playing Hero Ball against that defense. Peter isn't kind enough to overlook that kind of foolishness!"
"So you know that arrogant piece of..." Jake let his anger out for a second before realizing she could hear him.
"Yeah, we recently got acquainted, but I didn't know he was this good!" He said with a slight grin.
'Was that excitement?'
She understood him. She understood the pleasure of playing against a worthy opponent, she knew that all too well.
But she was his coach now, and as his coach, it was her job to not let him get too excited.
"So, genius, what's your great plan?"
"Well coach. It's simple really! You tire out William. In other words, we hunt for any and all matchups against him and only him. Like I said before, their team isn't as good as ours. We take out Will as a variable, and this game is pretty much ours!"
There was a chorus of oohs and aahs. His teammates definitely liked the idea.
"You make it sound easy. He's not an easy person to score against." Hugh spoke after he was done sipping some water.
"It'll even be harder than you think because I won't be matching against him anymore!" Theo said with a smile.
"Huh.. Why not?" Terry asked.
She answered for all of them, "Because Theo will be conserving his energy for the last quarter!"
They all were wowed by her basketball analysis.
"Oh, that makes sense!" Hugh agreed, along with others.
"Not quite!" Theo said, shocking everyone including her.
"Huh.. Why not?" This time she asked,
"You're only human. If you carry our offense then you'll get tired. Isn't that what we're trying to avoid?" Terry added.
He looked at her with a smile and replied, "Fortunately for our team, I'm not a normal person."
"Boy what are you talking about?" This kid was getting on her last nerve.
"I'll be on Peter for the duration of the game...while you grind Will down." He stated, and then proceeded to say,
I'll be canceling out Peter's points and offensive output. Thankfully, he and I are equally matched."
"Who...that...that...punk...isn't even close to being as good as... you!" Jake bitterly spat out.
"That's not true! I know we trash talked him at the beginning but he's clearly on Theodore's level!" said Fred, their team's center.
Jake didn't let it go; he sat, angry, attempting to stare down the parker boy on the opposite side.
"So in conclusion, Theo, you want us to abandon the heliocentric offense you run and play more team ball. Score by involving everyone and focus on #23 Sharpe. So that he slows down by the fourth. Meanwhile, you'll try to offset #7 Parker's output by defending him and scoring whenever he does."
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POV - Coach Sharpe
"So you're telling me that they'll take the ball out of Theodore Wellspring's hands and focus on wearing down William?" He asked Peter once again.
"Yup, Theo will probably stick to me like glue. He'll try to slow me down as best he can."
"Won't he tire himself out?" He asked him.
"Theo?... No... It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he'll be fresher than the rest of us by the fourth quarter!"
"How is that even possible? You're running like a crazy person nonstop, and he'll be following you. How can he still perform at that level after running so much?" Earl let his feelings known.
Peter scratched his chin, took a moment to consider, and then answered, "It's simply really.. He's a freak of nature. I once raced him; his stamina is insane. Especially when given breaks, it's almost endless."
He looked at his son and thought, 'Why can't my son reach that level-'
As if he could read his mind, Peter Parker spoke again,
"It's useless to think about the things we don't have control over now. The important thing is that I need you to trust me and give me the ball. Just for this one game. Will has to play my backup at least until the third quarter!"
Dead silence. No one said anything.
Everyone must have known that there was a certain level of favoritism that his son enjoyed. But they never said anything because William always produced results.
Now that there was someone else who could be better than his son; that excuse wouldn't hold water.
"I'm not asking for you to entrust the future of this team to me, but if we play as usual, we'll lose. I don't think I'll be able to beat that team on my own... At least not while Theo is playing for them!" he added, laughing.
His son turned to Parker and asked him, "How sure are you?"
"Theo told me!"
Pierre said in disbelief, "What if that's a lie? To stir confusion. Sheesh, if I were in their situation, I would cook up some cock and bull story to convince us that we weren't kicking their asses!"
"No.." His son began,
"I've known Theo since my childhood. He might play around but he never outright lies, especially about basketball. If he said it, then it must be true!" William concluded.
'Yeah that's in line with my experience with him too!' He thought.
'Still, to trust the Parker kid with the entire offense. I don't know if I'm comfortable with that.'
"So coach.. What do we do?" Eddy asked him with a grimace.
"Hmm I think we should stick to--"
He was about to make his decision, which was to wait and see, when Will interrupted him.
"We trust the ball to Peter for the second and third quarters. If it's too much for him, then I'll step in, but I agree with Peter's analysis and more importantly I want to win this freakin' game!!!"
The entire team got pumped listening to him.
He sighed and thought,
'I hope you know what you're doing, Will... Peter hasn't run an entire offense for a whole quarter like you have! Shouldn't we do what we know best!'
The horn for the second quarter sounded. The players got up from the bench.
His son and the rest of the players headed out to the court.
'I hope this is the right play!'
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POV - Peter
It was chaotic. Every single possession was war. Every Point hard fought. It was nerve racking. It was scary. It was beyond exhilarating.
"Peter, I'm free." Pierre yelled.
I promptly pass the ball, almost hitting Theo's hands as he tries to steal it. Pierre catches the ball and shoots it. I hold my breath.
BRICK
"Shit!" Pierre shouts.
"Don't mind. Get back to defense now!!" I shout back.
'Here comes that big dude!'
#10 Fred was their center, he was the one who trash talked me at the beginning. And unlike Jake, he could actually play. By play, I meant to dominate our bigs. No one on our side could stop him from destroying us in the paint. Slowly one possession after another they were cutting the lead.
I scored, of course, but it was incredibly hard because Theo was stalking my every move. His teammates picked up the offensive side of things.
"See what I meant by my team being better!" Theo couldn't stop talking to me. I guess I lost any right to complain when I was the one who antagonized him first.
'Okay I need to change things up!'
I moved with the ball and shifted gears. Theo was keeping up effortlessly. He tried timing the steals, but my instincts and superior grip proved too much for him.
'Fine you don't want me to get near the hoop, I'll shoot it from here!'
I faded away from the basket from 40 feet away.
SWISH
"YESS!" I screamed.
I retreated to the back to help with defense, it was an extremely short run.
"Like I said before Pete.." Theo gave the ball to Fred again, who proceeded to bully his way to the basket and get an easy bucket.
We were up 6 points halfway through the second quarter. To anyone else, it might look like we were winning, but I knew better. In fact, the chances of us losing today increase with every second the lead remains unchanged.
I looked at Will, he was glistening with sweat.
'If he doesn't play, we get obliterated! If he does then he gets tired because their offense converges on him. Like a spear tearing through him.'
It seems like there's only one thing I can do from now,
"What's the matter, Pete…you don't have a lot to say any-" I didn't let him finish as I launched the three.
SWISH
It shut him up.
They ran the same play for Fred again. He scored within the paint netting him two points but I answered back with another three.
SWISH
Theo seemed to understand my simple strategy.
If they score a guaranteed two points…we'll just have to settle for a three. The idea was, we would gain one extra point as the game progressed. It must have irked Theo because he started his barking again,
"How many times can you make those 3's Peter?" You don't think you can-"
SWISH
"Yes!" I celebrated with a fist pump.
Theo, for the first time since the game began, looked speechless. However, he soon regained his composure and inbounded the ball.
He passed it to Fred again, who bulldozed through Pierre and Eddy to score again.
"Shit!" - "Oh come on!!!" They both yelled out at the same time.
William being the cerebral player, quickly inbounded the ball and passed it to me. Theo expected this as he never left my side but I called for a screen, he got distracted. In that single second, I launched from 50 feet away.
The ball hit the rim and bounced on the iron.
"Finally…a miss!" Theo celebrated prematurely as the ball bounced two more times on the rim but ultimately fell in.
"That's fucking right, B!" Pierre came running to me and gave me a high five. Theo looked like he saw a ghost.
I was expecting them to run the same play again but Coach Lee called a timeout. I was confused for a second, but then it sank in. Our 6 point lead is now 11 points.
In other words, my gamble worked!
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POV - David Wellspring
"What's the matter, David? Is Theo in trouble?" His sister Janey asked him.
'Jesus…who is that Parker kid.. How many points does he have? I've never seen anyone make that many threes!'
"David…Davi… Theo will win, right?"
He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't want to lie to her.
"Yeah.. Janey.. Of course he will! Don't worry, sweetie." He put on a façade, but she looked unconvinced.
'That kid is a monster! When I heard Theo speak about exciting competition, I didn't take him seriously. I thought he had overestimated his rival. But this…. I don't think even Theo expected him to be this good. If that kid isn't NBA material, I'm not sure what is.'
He looked at his brother, who threw a water bottle in frustration.
'Fuck! I don't blame you lil bro.. Just don't take the loss hard.'
"Hey David.. Why.. Why is Theo angry?" His little sister asked him.
"Oh that--that's nothing--he's fine just letting off steam."
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POV - Theodore Wellspring
'WHAT THE FUCK! HOW CAN HE CASUALLY KEEP ON MAKING THREES?' I thought with passion.
"He's just lucky Theo! Don't mind it!" One of my juniors ran with a bottle of water.
I grabbed it and threw it to the ground in frustration.
I heard a gasp from the crowd. Fuck it.. I don't care about them…
"If you feel that bad about the Parker boy scoring, then do something about it. Don't take it out on your teammates!" His coach chided him.
'You don't know shit.. Fuck! I'm defending my ass off!!!'
"I'm sorry, John, I didn't mean to snap at you." He apologized, and she was right about the part about him not taking his frustrations out on his teammates.
"It's alright, Theo—I understand. We can win this, let's go teach him a lesson." He tried cheering him up.
'It's not fair! He plays with an aimbot. He's making those way too accurately for it to be luck, man; his powers are bullshit. He's way too overpowered!'
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SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 49 / Green Bulls - 38