Leonz stood at the right elbow of the three-point line while headband stood in the middle, Piercings stood at the left.
Leonz just hoped that half-court rules were the same as full-court rules.
It was not as if Leonz had never played street ball before, but it was simply because he normally practiced by himself.
Headband started the game by passing the ball to one of the defenders, in this scenario, Sleeve. Sleeve passed the ball back right away, an action known as 'Checking'.
"Boy!" (Headband)
Headband had called out to Leonz, who readily caught the ball. He glanced in front of him one more time to check who was marking him. It was the man in the Jersey, who seemed to be standing quite some distance away from Leonz.
Leonz saw the distance and instantly looked up at the hoop.
Normally, in a full-court, Leonz was normally marked quite tightly because of how bad his team was. Getting a shot was difficult for him, but if he was given enough space, he could just take it.
The ball hit the back of the rim before entering, an instant three-pointer right off the bat.
"Warm-up over." (Jersey)
Leonz looked around, confused. Headband, seeing his confusion, tried to explain to him.
"The first possession is normally the warm-up, so the shot didn't count for the total points." (Headband)
Leonz nodded, kind of understanding what he was saying.
"First to twenty-one, 2s and 3s*, Winner's ball**." (Sleeve)
* Baskets count as 2 points, three-pointers count as 3 points.
** The team that scores regains possession.
Headband checked the ball with sleeve again. Leonz stood around, feeling a new sense of freedom when playing the game.
In his team, Leonz was the primary ball handler, but even Leonz knew his dribbling was average at best. Being able to let someone else be the playmaker was freeing for Leonz.
The next play, he saw as Piercings dashed past the three-point line, his defender, White Shirt, following him.
Piercings made a sudden stop and took a step away from white shirt. Headband passed the ball while Piercings was open, but the moment he got the ball, White shirt was already on him. Piercings looked around, even making eye contact with Leonz.
Leonz was guarded too closely by Jersey and was not moving.
Piercings bent his knees low before he jabbed forward with his right foot. Piercings bounced the ball, a crossover behind his back from his right to left. Piercings brought the ball close to his right hand, looking up at the rim, bending his knees. White Shirt, predicting the shot, jumped.
Piercings dropped the ball, avoiding the carry. With a single dribble, he was already at the rim for the easy layup.
Leonz watched at how smooth his movements had been. The crossover into the fake into the lay. They played the same position, but Leonz felt that they were at completely different skill levels.
"Help out D bro." (White Shirt)
White shirt was talking with Sleeve, who was smiling sheepishly.
"I thought you wanted to iso*." (Sleeve)
* Isolation, play 1 on 1 basically.
Piercings laughed as he walked around inside the three-point line.
"Easy buckets." (Piercings)
"That'll make it 2-0." (Headband)
Instead of walking out of the three-point line again, Piercings was inside, waiting for the play to start.
Headband checked the ball.
Leonz started running to the corner, Jersey following him, but at a slower pace. Leonz expects the pass, but it never came. Instead, he saw the ball in the air approaching the rim.
"Rebound!" (White Shirt)
The ball hit the side of the rim. White shirt jumped with Piercings. But Piercings had been behind White shirt, so the ball ended up in the possession of the opposing team.
"My bad!" (Headband)
White shirt passed the ball to Sleeve, who stood at the three-point line, holding the ball close as Headband stood in front of him.
"Hold on, I got Iverson!" (Headband)
The guys there got the reference, Sleeve had to keep his laugh in. Instead, he let out a smile before jabbing to the left once.
Leonz stepped past the three-point line while still sticking to his man. He observed the movements of the ball handler, Sleeve, wondering when he needed to step in and help out on defence.
"Ain't feelin' it today." (Sleeve)
Sleeve passed the ball over to Jersey. Leonz had seen the pass coming, so he stepped into the passing lane. Leonz stole the ball right outside the three-point line. Without a second thought, he looked up at the rim and shot the ball.
'Swish' (net)
Nothing but net.
5-0
Headband patted him on the back. It was a good defensive play, but in the end, there was still 16 more points to score.
Jersey stepped closer to Leonz for the next possession.
Headband checked the ball.
"Shoot it, you won't." (Sleeve)
Sleeve's taunting convinced Headband to shoot it from deep. Leonz watched as the ball hit the back rim before bouncing out, a close shot, but just a little off. White Shirt and Piercings were in no position to get the rebound, so instead, the shortest man on the court, Sleeve, got it.
Instead of going up for an easy layup, he dribbled out of the three-point line, an action known as clearing.
He dribbled the ball as he surveyed the half-court, Headband guarding him loosely.
"Anyone want the ball?" (Sleeve)
"Take it yourself." (White Shirt)
Sleeve nodded before looking at his defender, Headband. Leonz was sceptical of Headband's ability to defend, so he adjusted his position slightly to be a better help defender.
Sleeve, with a quick first step, easily blew past Headband. Headband pursued him from behind, but was in no position to block Sleeve's easy layup attempt. Seeing that, Leonz stepped into the he paint, leaving Jersey completely open to stop the easy lay.
Sleeve saw Leonz, and Headband had already started running towards Jersey. Without slowing down, Sleeve went up for the layup. Leonz jumped too, aiming to block the ball.
Sleeve hung in the air, keeping the ball close to his body as he seemingly flew through the air. Extending his left hand, Sleeve flicked up the ball, banking it in.
Sleeve landed and instantly looked back to see if the ball went in.
"Thought shot." (Leonz)
Leonz was starting to get the hang of the whole half-court thing. The ball bounced on the ground, but was instantly picked up by Sleeve.
"They call me Iverson, y'know?" (Sleeve)
Sleeve sounded like he was joking, but Leonz could not tell if he was being serious or actually joking around.
"We call him that cause he's short!" (Piercings)
Sleeve turned away, laughing. They were a merry bunch, and Leonz quite like the atmosphere.
5-2
Sleeve started with the ball, and instead of Headband marking him, Leonz stood in front of him. Sleeve raised an eyebrow before glancing around.
They checked the ball.
If there was anything Leonz was confident in, it was his defence. He was a hustle defender, which could be counterproductive in a full-court game because of fouls. However, he just wanted to stop Sleeve.
Sleeve seemed to have taken on the challenge.
"ISO!" (Sleeve)
Leonz looked around, seeing both offence and defence moving away from the middle of the court. Sleeve waited for a moment before facing Leonz.
Between Leonz and Sleeve, there was a 9cm difference in height, around 3 inches.
Leonz definitely had the size and weight advantage, but from what he could see, Sleeve was fast.
Sleeve started dribbling the ball, and Leonz stepped closer to him, spreading his arms wide.
"Oh? Wait, you're serious here." (Sleeve)
Sleeve turned his body, putting his body between him and Leonz. Sleeve dribbled with his right hand while his left shoulder was facing Leonz.
It was an isolation situation, so no help was likely to arrive for Leonz on defence.
Sleeve took a large step back, going further away from the basket. However, he held the ball with both arms, bending his knees as he looked at the basket with confidence. Leonz stepped forward and raised his hand.
Leonz did not jump. He would much rather let Sleeve shoot from deep than fall for a pump fake.
The moment Leonz stepped forward, he felt something on his leg. When Leonz stepped forward, Sleeve had thrown the ball off Leonz's leg back to himself. Sleeve grabbed the ball and dashed into the three-point line.
Luckily for Leonz, he was used to stopping drives. Leonz managed to recover on defence, keeping his body between Sleeve and the basket, pushing him out of the paint.
Sleeve, with a strong step with his left, stopped. Using his right foot as the pivot, he turned around, leaning back, the ball brought to his head.
Leonz jumped forward, extending his hand towards the ball, hoping to block it. Sleeve brought the ball back down, his right foot still on the ground. Leonz realised his mistake, but it was too late.
Sleeve took a large step forward with his left foot, leaping and getting a virtually open floater.
Leonz stood there, scratching his head for comedic effect. Sleeve walked past him, laughing as he patted his shoulder.
"Made me work for that one." (Sleeve)
5-4