Leonz fully expected three things.
1. A drive
2. A pull-up three
3. A high post-up play
Joseph, standing at 6'4, was a relatively tall player, so Leonz had assumed that he was a forward, or a shooting guard at best.
Joseph held onto the ball, surveying the positions of Crox, Leonz and Asher.
Asher was standing in front of Crox to prevent the easy pass. With Crox's big body, it was difficult for him to manoeuvre around Asher in the paint.
Joseph then looked at Leonz. He had never played Leonz, but even he could understand that it was not going to be easy for him to score.
Joseph brought the ball to his hip before taking a simple dribble backwards, away from Leonz. Leonz was about to step in when Joseph brought his hand under the ball.
"Alley!" (Joseph)
Joseph scooped the ball high into the air, towards the rim. It was an unexpected pass, Leonz was unable to react to it.
Asher saw the ball, registering the angle of the ball along with the position of Crox.
In summary,
"Whatever." (Asher)
Asher walked towards the three-point line in advance, giving up on defence.
Crox saw the ball, jumping up for it. He grabbed the ball with both hands above the rim.
He slammed the ball in with so much force that it left the entire basketball hoop shaking. Crox landed and flexed, getting claps from the audience.
7-2
Asher stood at the three-point line once again.
"Aren't cha a little too serious for a friendly game?" (Joseph)
Asher did not speak.
He got the ball in his hands, looking at it before he checked the ball. Unlike the previous possession, instead of having Crox guard Asher, Joseph was the one guarding him.
Leonz had the massive Crox in front of him.
Asher brought the ball to his hip, leaning left. He took one dribble with his left hand before crossing behind his back. Asher jabbed towards his right, but Joseph did not budge.
Asher leaned forward, and in a moment, he was dashing towards the rim. Joseph was standing between him and the rim, stopping the easy layup.
Asher, while still driving, stepped hard with his left leg. He planted his right leg behind him and leaned back, sticking his left leg out.
Joseph, having not expected such a move, tried jumping. He ended up getting nowhere close to Asher's shot.
The ball bounced on the rim once before it went in.
9-2
Joseph put his hands on his hip, staring at the rim. Asher let out a long sigh and picked the ball up, passing it lazily to Joseph.
Asher switched back to Crox, just standing there casually.
Leonz stood in front of Joseph, ready for anything.
Joseph checked the ball, biting his bottom lip.
He put his left shoulder between him and Leonz, dribbling the ball. Joseph made a quick turn, a common move. Leonz stuck with him.
Joseph's shoulder pushed into Leonz's chest, but Leonz was able to push him out, preventing him from getting into the paint.
Joseph made a quick crossover from his right hand to his left. Leonz stuck with him, closing the gap between them. Joseph shifted his feet, spinning when Leonz got close.
Joseph slipped by Leonz's left, driving to the rim. Asher stood there, ready to block Joseph if needed.
Joseph went up for the layup, but was met by Asher in the air. Joseph hung in the air for a moment before handing it off to Crox, who was right behind Asher.
Crox went up for the shot.
Leonz, right after getting passed, ran into the paint. He could tell what they were probably going to do after Asher's help defence, so he ran at Crox.
Crox went up for the easy layup.
Using as much strength as he could muster in his legs, Leonz jumped.
Crox released the ball, but Leonz smacked the ball against the backboard, at the same height as the rim.
The ball fell back towards the ground, the shot blocked. Asher caught the ball and dribbled out by walking.
Leonz, having jumped forward, fell into Crox. Crox managed to catch him, preventing him from getting seriously injured.
"That's risky." (Crox)
"T-Thank you." (Leonz)
Leonz was shook, because he had not thought about the consequences of going for such a block. Getting injured before the season even started was definitely not desired.
"Good block." (Asher)
Asher was at the three-point line, Joseph on him. Joseph had taken several steps back, allowing Asher to take the three.
Leonz tried making eye contact with Asher to see what he was thinking of, but the guy just refused to make eye contact with anyone.
Instead, seeing the unusual pause, Leonz ran out to the three-point line, to the right corner. Just as he expected, when he got there, Asher passed the ball.
Crox was a slow defender, so he did not fully go up to Leonz, instead, staying mostly in the paint. Leonz caught the ball and took his time to prepare for the shot.
Hip to eye to shot.
Except, Joseph had sprinted towards Leonz without Leonz knowing. Asher had not called out, so Leonz assumed he was in the clear.
He shot the ball, which Joseph managed to partially block. Joseph had scratched the bottom of the ball, guaranteeing that it was going to end up short, right into the hands of Crox.
Asher, seeing Joseph run towards Leonz, saw an opportunity. Asher ran towards the baseline as well.
When the shot got partially blocked, Crox reached out towards the ball, but Asher jumped for it. He grabbed the ball out of the air before passing it back to Leonz while still in the air.
Leonz prepared for another shot, but Joseph was already there.
Leonz faked the shot, managing to get Joseph to jump. Leonz dropped the ball and dribbled towards the rim, but Crox was there, towering over him.
Asher, who had landed out of bounds, had run behind Crox.
"Switch! Behind!" (Joseph)
Crox turned around to face Asher. Leonz still passed anyways, Asher catching the ball. Joseph had managed to get behind Leonz, which was why Leonz did not go for a shot.
Asher dribbled once before taking a large step, jumping off both feet. He went up with his left arm, looking like he was going to dunk the basketball. Crox jumped too, extending his arms to block Asher.
Asher brought the ball down.
It was an awkward angle. Asher had jumped from the left, and he was headed away from the rim. Crox had jumped at the left side of the rim.
Asher extended his body forward. He managed to use some of his length and hang-time to reach out with his right arm. Joseph had gotten around Leonz, and towards the rim.
Asher managed to notice, somehow, rather, it was more instinctual than anything.
It was a difficult shot, but Asher was able to do it.
Instead of extending his arm forward for the reverse layup, he quickly brought the ball around, hooking it from his right.
Asher landed almost instantly after he released the ball. The ball, as expected, did not go in. Instead, it had bounced off the side, bouncing to the right.
Asher jumped up again, reaching higher than Joseph to get the rebound. Asher landed, faking the shot once, making Joseph jump.
Asher went up for the shot with both hands, his arms coming in contact with Joseph's, who was falling.
Asher forced it up, keeping the ball in his hands even after receiving a hit. He hung for a moment, adjusting his shot again in the air momentarily before he put the shot up.
'BEEEP' (whistle)
"Shooting foul, #1."
Basket count, and 1.
11-2
The referee had sounded different, so most people except Asher turned to look.
Instead of the member of the Basketball Club, it was a buff guy in an Air Jordan shirt. The one with was completely white except the black Jordan logo in the middle.
"Coach? I thought you told me ya won't be coming today." (Joseph)
"I lied, dumbass. I wanted to see what da hell you kids would think of if I weren't around, and you do this?" (Coach)
The coach gestured to whatever was going on, namely, the 2 on 2.
"And you're losing to your freshmen." (Coach)
Joseph glanced at Crox, who looked like he was ready to be uninvolved.
"Should we stop then?" (Joseph)
"No no. This'll be good for future reference. Please, get your ass beaten as hard as possible." (Coach)
"Thanks for the motivation." (Joseph)
"You're welcome." (Coach)
"It was sarcasm!" (Joseph)
Asher looked uninterested while Leonz just looked confused by the whole situation. Leonz was still trying to get as involved in the game as possible. At the rate they were going, Leonz was going to be deadweight.
Asher held the ball, passing it to Joseph, who checked the ball.
Leonz positioned himself at the perimeter again. He wanted to stretch the floor and also hopefully get some three-point shots in.