PenPen's Random Writings of Muchas Yore

Double Dribble - Chapter 6: Go My Way

2007-05-20T17:28:41Z

As promised, this is the 6th chapter, and I actually wanted it all to happen in one chapter, which actually will become 2 chapters.

The chapter name is just from an Ouendan 2 song's name.

Chapter 6: Go My Way

**Monday, October 20, 5PM**

“Alright, that’s all for today’s class.” The professor said. Students began packing their notes and leaving the lecture hall.

Kelvin was one of them, during the weekend he did some hard thinking, on whether he should go for the interview or not. He didn’t want to play for the Texas coach, but he didn’t want to pass up a chance to play in a higher level as well. Still not quite sure on what to make of it, he regardless walked to the Joseph Brand Memorial Stadium and entered the building.

Ricky was there already, along with Hotshot, outside the building.

“Sup, Kelv.” Ricky started. Kelvin nodded with Ricky and Hotshot.

“Hello guys. Where’s the others?” Kelvin asked. He looked around. “Is the door locked?”
“Yeah man, I couldn’t get into the building since 10 this morning, I tell ya! The door just won’t budge!” Hotshot said as he demonstrated by pulling the door again.

“…wait, you were here since 10 this morning?” Kelvin asked.

“Well yeah, I’m here early, you see, and show my sincerity and stuff to the coach.” Hotshot muttered. “Too bad the building’s locked.”

“…oh hey.” A voice blurted. The three looked at its direction and it was Mick along with some other guys who were selected by the coach.

After a bunch of ‘sups, handshakes, congrats and fives, the topic goes back to how to find the coach.

“I have absolutely no idea.” Said Mick. “Jamal told me that he’d be here by 5 but I don’t see him anywhere.”

“Hope we aren’t getting’ faked by the coach into comin’ here.” One of the guys said.

Then the group saw Jamal running towards them.

“Hey guys! Coach wants you guys to come to another building! Follow me!” Jamal yelled.

…

The group was led to another building, apparently the university’s library. It’s newly built, however with all the glass like those business complexes, it looked out of place from the historical setting of Southwestern Texas University.

A little bit of information should be divulged about the university. It was founded in 1902, apparently by a group of sea traders who decided to start living near the coast. The university started off as a small one, but then as the population grew, there was a larger demand of a university. It’s also a little close to Mexico. The university now hosts about 7000 students, mostly from Texas and has a rather large Hispanic population. Two years ago it started its NCAA Division I program for basketball, with Randy Acer as the coach for the team since day one.

Anyhow, as Jamal led the other candidates up the stairs, Kelvin was wondering whether it was intentional, since it’s past 5 and the elevator could be used instead of walking up the stairs. The building was 6 stories tall and from the looks of what Jamal is looking, it might be the top floor.

Kelvin had the right idea. Jamal then said, “Guys, I think we’re running a little late…let’s run up the stairs!” And then he started running. The other guys, Mick, and Hotshot started racing after Jamal. Ricky didn’t go any faster, nor did Kelvin.

“You found that out yeah…?” Kelvin asked Ricky.

“Sort of. The coach might not be here, even.” Ricky replied.

Meanwhile Jamal was already at the fourth floor with some guys following him and starting to pant. Ricky and Kelvin were still at the third floor. Jamal looked down and yelled, “Ricky, Kelv, come faster!” He then kept running up the stairs.

When Ricky and Kelvin reached the top floor, the other guys were panting. Some of them were also sitting on the ground, while Jamal was talking on his cellphone to someone.

“Coach, everyone’s here. You’re in your office now?” Jamal asked.

“…yes. Okay. …understood.” He then stopped the phone call and turned towards the group.

“Guys, the coach will be here in 10 minutes. Meanwhile we’ll stay put here.” Jamal said.

…

30 minutes have passed but the coach didn’t show up. It was 5:45. People passed by, and sometimes stopped for a split second looking at the guys by the stairs but none of them seemed like a basketball person.

“…guys, I think I’m leaving.” Said one of the guys sitting on the ground. “I got other appointments.” He then proceeded to stand up and walk down the stairs.

“Wait, man!” Said Jamal. “I think the coach will be here soo…”
“The coach hasn’t been here for almost half an hour now.” Another said. “I ain’t buying it. I’m leaving too.” He then turned around, and went for the elevator. Another guy went with him as well.

Jamal looked around. After a while, seeing that the 3 other guys left the premises, he started talking.
“…well. I guess team D’s best 5 are still around.” Jamal shrugged. “I thought so. So guys, let’s start getting back to the gym.”

“Jamal, so this is a test?” Mick asked.

“Yeah, it’s to test endurance and your heart of the game. Coach said if you care about the game, then you’re more deserving, even if say, those 3 guys have better talent than you do.” Jamal answered. He started walking towards the elevator. The other guys followed him.
“So Jamal…” Ricky said. “I suppose that you’re like John Doe yes? You’re just to test us out.”
“Well, not really. Coach wants to know how much I’ve improved by the summer. He said that if I don’t play well during the tryouts I would get cut by the team.” Jamal said.

The group started to walk back to the gym. The doors were open and John Doe was outside the building waiting.

“Yo guys.” John greeted. “So Jamal they’re the guys who made it?”

“Guess so.” Said Jamal. He then turned back to the other 4 guys. “Guys. As you remember there’s 3 spots, so it’s not a done deal yet.”

John and Jamal led Kelvin and others into the building, talking about the team and how this season will be.

Soon enough, they entered the gym. Coach Acer was sitting along with a few assistant coaches.

“Welcome candidates!” Said coach Acer. “I’m sorry to have Jamal take you guys to the library and back. It’s part of my interview, if Jamal didn’t explain to you.”
“Anyway, it’s the second round of the interviews. This time we’re doing things a little different.”
“Yo coach, how different is it? Are we having a dunking contest?” Hotshort blurted.
“Hotshot, I think you’re a little too anxious from all the waiting. Our guys saw you out there this morning. Anyhow I appreciate the sincerity.”
“Yes! Point gained!” Hotshot said.

“Back on topic, we’re doing a little bit of basics. I saw the scrimmage and I think you guys have what it takes to be in this team. But to play good basketball we need some fundamentals. John, if you will?”
John Doe picked up a basketball from the basket and dribbled it to the foul line, right at the center.

“Letsee here…Mick. You’re first.”

“Yes sir.”
“By the way, since all four of you are playing different positions…well 3 different positions, technically. Anyhow, we’ll test out the skills of your position.”
…

Mick’s test was basically trying to post up against Jamal and making at least 6 out of 10 shots, and alternating from left side to right side after each shot. He first had to catch a pass from John from the foul line and try to score against Jamal. Coach Acer added that if Mick missed he could also go for the rebound, and it won’t count as a miss unless John or Jamal caught the ball instead. Any fouls by Mick (eg. traveling) would be counted as a miss as well.

Mick started off quite well, netting 3 out of 5 shots. But then shots couldn’t come as easily. Jamal started getting physical with Mick, and at times Mick couldn’t get his shot off very well. In fact he was blocked by Jamal once.
In the end, Mick could only manage 4 out of 10 shots.

“Thanks Mick, Jamal and John. That was a good performance.” Coach Acer said.

Mick sat by Ricky as Jamal and John are still standing on the court.

“Ricky, this might be harder than we originally thought.” Mick said. He then hanged his head down.

“Ricky, you’ll be next. And what we’re going to do here is to basically a 3 point contest like the NBA. You’ll have 5 shots per position, each ball is worth 1, and the last ball is worth 2 points, the money ball. You have 40 seconds for the whole thing.”
“How many points, coach.” Ricky asked.

“Hmm…at your caliber I think 20 points?” Coach Acer said. “You’re good with 20 yes?”
“Not a problem sir.” Ricky answered. He stood up and got to the edge of the court, about ready to start shooting.

“Ricky, aside from that…” Coach Acer said. “…Kelvin, could you go to the paint and catch the basketball after each shot? Thanks.” Kelvin got up and walked into the paint area. That would be three people inside the paint.

“And Hotshot!” Said Coach Acer. “Could you do me a favor too?”
“Gotcha coach! I have to get into the paint area too yes?” Hotshot got up and started jogging into the paint area.
“Well not really.” Coach Acer said. “What you’ll do is to stand in front of Ricky.”

“Huh coach…? Why am I gonna do that?” Hotshot asked.

“…coach, I know what you mean.” Ricky said. “I…don’t think it should be a big problem. I hope.”
“Clever! Anyway Hotshot, what you need to do is to try and block Ricky’s shots, all of them if possible.” Coach Acer said. Hotshot got into position. “Just don’t stand right in front of him so he can catch passes from Jamal, John or Kelvin.”
“Okay coach!” Hotshot said with a thumbs up. Meanwhile Jamal, Kelvin and John got a basketball each and the three seemed to agree upon something.

“Ricky,” Said Kelvin. “I’ll be the one passing the ball to you.”

“Gotcha.” Ricky said. Kelvin first did a pass to Ricky, which he caught.

“Well then. Let’s start.” Coach Acer said.

…

Ricky’s 3 point contest didn’t go as well in the start. Actually, at the first 4 shots Ricky got the ball blocked by Hotshot. Then Ricky adjusted. He started shooting the ball higher with the first 2 point ball.

He then managed to make a few more shots at his next stop, the 45 degree mark outside the 3 point line. Hotshot’s blocks weren’t doing much effect, and Ricky made 4 of 5, including the money ball.

Then Hotshot adjusted to Ricky. Somehow.

At the center spot, Hotshot started to lean his arm forward a little more. That in fact blocked off the first two shots. Ricky then adjusted yet again. He pump faked. This caused Hotshot to jump prematurely, and Ricky started raining threes with the remaining 3 shots with a quick release.

At the fourth spot, Ricky had a nice run with 4 of 5 shots as well, including the money ball. Hotshot couldn’t get his hand at the ball, but with the pump fakes, Ricky used up a little more time than he would normally.

At the final spot, which Ricky needs to make 4 points, started off well. He made 2 shots already. But coach signaled that there was only 5 seconds. His next shot released too early, which resulted in Hotshot blocking it off. The fourth shot clanked the rim. And as for the last shot, Ricky couldn’t release the ball in time.

“Alright Ricky, that was quite a show. Thanks guys.” Coach Acer said.
Ricky wasn’t that happy but he nodded his head in response to the coach. He then walked back to the bench. Meanwhile Hotshot and Kelvin were still on court.

“Next up will be Kelvin. And what I want to test you is…” Coach Acer said.

- End Chapter 6: Go My Way -

Next chapter: What will Kelvin’s test be? And what about Hotshot?

Been two weeks...

2007-05-17T12:22:06Z

Okay, it took longer than I thought. Real life is quite the thing lately.

Next chapter will be THIS SUNDAY.

Double Dribble - Chapter 5:

2007-04-30T17:19:14Z

Well here's chapter 5, the end of the tryouts (the first one, at least). Sorry for posting it a little late. Next one will be on Sunday.

Chapter 5: I Don’t Know What To Do

The 30 seconds have passed, with team B assuming their defensive positions, while team D takes the offense. Kelvin took the ball upcourt without much trouble.

Seeing an opening in team B’s defense, he immediately drove inside the paint. Their opposing center stepped right in front of him, but Kelvin tossed the ball right to Jamal who was open because his marker went to Kelvin. Seeing at the end of the eye that John Smith was coming for him, he did a pump fake, which John fell for. He then made an easy basket. The score was now 10-8.

The opposing point guard then dribbled to the other side, and right outside the 3 point lane, instead of Kelvin, Hotshot was guarding him. Kelvin’s on John Smith now.

The point guard saw John at a height disadvantage and threw John a bounce pass. John held the ball up high, then lowered his position and his arms, putting the ball below waist-level. John then pulled up for a shot right at where he’s standing, thinking that Kelvin wouldn’t be able to block his shot.

Kelvin jumped as well, but John was jumping pretty high. John was almost 8 inches taller than Kelvin, after all. Instead of going for the ball, Kelvin raised both of his hands and tried his best to cover John’s field of view.

“You aren’t getting anywhere…!” Kelvin thought.

John pulled off the shot, even though he knew how to shoot from that position, Kelvin’s hands did block off some of the view. The ball left his hand, and flied off to the rim.

However, the ball did not go in, and clanked outside the rim. Mick grabbed the rebound and threw a long pass at Ricky who’s running to the other side of the court. John tried to catch up to him but he was quite far, and Ricky made an easy fast break layup which tied the score at 10.

John looked back at Kelvin who’s looking directly at him. He then walked up to Kelvin.

“That was good! Next time around I won’t be as forgiving.”

“…we’ll see about that.” Kelvin replied calmly. John shrugged his shoulder and as his team’s point guard was taking the ball upcourt, John started running for an opening. Kelvin chased him in defense.

The point guard this time instead passed to their center, which Jamal was guarding. The center did a turnaround jumper in the paint, but Jamal anticipated it early enough, and swatted the ball away as soon as it left his hand.

“Nice one Jamal!” Yelled Kyle offcourt. The ball was about to go out of bounds, however.

“NOT SO FAST!” Hotshot yelled. He ran towards the ball, and seeing Ricky open, threw the ball at his direction before falling offcourt.

“Good hustle!” Yelled Mick.

!!
John Smith ran right in front of Ricky and caught the ball. Seeing a quick opening where Ricky was behind him, and Hotshot getting up, John dribbled forward, with his left arm blocking Ricky from getting to the ball. Right in front of him was Kelvin.

Kelvin was in his defensive position, facing John. He anticipated that John would stop short with a jumper based on what he saw. He focused on seeing John’s motions with the ball.

But instead, John turned sideways with his left arm going directly at Kelvin. In reaction, Kelvin raised his right arm forward to block John’s left arm. John then knocked Kelvin back with his left arm, which caused Kelvin to take a step back.

John then took a quick step back and released a jumper. Ricky tried to block again, but they weren’t even close.

“Shit…” Kelvin muttered.

The score was 12-10.

Kelvin brought the ball upcourt, but right after going past halfcourt, he was greeted by none other than John Smith!

Kelvin tried to get through John, but found that John’s long arms are blocking a lot of the possible paths he could take. Kelvin looked to the side, trying to see if anyone is open. Hotshot was now guarded with the opposing point guard, so Kelvin immediately did a bounce pass at Hotshot’s direction.

Only the ball was snatched by the opposing shooting guard, who caught it and tossed it right at John who ran forward. He followed it with a quick dunk, which made the score 14-10.

…

About 2 minutes have passed and the score now was 19-16. Team B had a run which consisted of a John Smith 3 pointer and a layup by their point guard, which made it 19-10. But then Hotshot got back into action with a deflection, which led to a layup by Ricky. Kelvin stole the ball in the next possession and Hotshot made the next 2, while Mick did a long pass to Jamal from John’s missed shot, which led to a Jamal dunk.

It was team B’s ball, and they decided to slow things down a little. Their point guard was holding the ball, and was guarded by Hotshot. John was marked by Kelvin.

Knowing that Hotshot was easily exploitable when it came to defense, the opposing point guard did a fake 3 pointer, which Hotshot immediately fell for. He then jumped for the shot.

“NOOO!” Yelled Jamal. Just as the point guard was about to hoist the shot, he found out something unusual.

Hotshot was still in the air and over him.

It was too late for the point guard who released the ball, which promptly touched the tip of Hotshot’s finger.

“Guys! The ball touched my hand!” Hotshot turned back and yelled. As the shot clanked, Mick went up for the rebound, and passed to Kelvin right as he landed on the ground.

Kelvin caught the ball, but John was instead guarding him at Kelvin’s own backcourt.

“…you’re persistent.” Kelvin muttered.

“Same to you, Asian kid.” John said with a smile.

“You’re interesting,” John said. “You haven’t scored at all in both games and you made the difference somehow. Especially defensively.”

John’s remark was true, in that after reaching 19 points, Kelvin was playing much more spirited defense and John couldn’t get a clear path, or a clear look.

Back to reality, Kelvin tried to dribble left but John wouldn’t let him, so he tried to do a crossover and switch to the right side. He moved forward a little with John at his face, but couldn’t really get past John.

“Damn…” Kelvin muttered to himself. He looked around, and then saw someone going at him. It was the opposing point guard!

Seeing that the point guard was running to his right side, Kelvin decided to take a gamble. He took a strong step to the right, which caused John to move that way as well.

!!
“OW!!” John yelled as he knocked his team’s point guard down. He wasn’t really hurt, but it was more reactionary. The opposing point guard wasn’t hurt either, so he got up immediately.

All that time was what Kelvin needed to pass to Hotshot.

Hotshot caught the ball, and drove in with an uncontested quick dunk. The score was 19-18.

John glared at his team’s point guard. The latter looked away in shame. But John cooled down, and patted the point guard’s back.

“It’s okay, we’re still winning. You okay?”

“Yeah…”

Getting the inbound pass, the opposing point guard moved up to the left side of court, and seeing that their center was in front of Jamal, lobbed a high pass before Hotshot got a hand at it.

The center tried to push into Jamal who’s defending, but Jamal with his strength didn’t move even an inch. He stopped dribbling, and instead tried to shoot. Jamal didn’t fall for his fake, and he passed outside to John.

Getting the pass, John saw Kelvin in front of him again, assuming the defensive position. He started to dribble, and took a big step to the right side, but it only moved Kelvin by a little. John dribbled back to the left and seeing that Kelvin wasn’t faked, he kept dribbling.

John then tried to dribble right in front of Kelvin where it gave him the opportunity to swipe and steal the ball. Kelvin himself wasn’t prepared for this, and seeing the opportunity, tried to swipe the ball away with his left hand.

!!
John immediately changed hands and dribbled forward with his left hand, now about to pass Kelvin. Kelvin immediately turned around, but John’s long right arm prevented Kelvin from getting close to the ball. Kelvin, using his shorter height, somehow managed to go under John’s right arm.

Just right when Kelvin was about to stand in front of John, the latter decided to hoist a shot.

Kelvin turned around and jumped, but he couldn’t get so high since the momentum was going at the same direction he was running.

The ball went in. The score was 21-18. Team B won.

John’s teammates cheered and high-fived everyone in their team, and a few of them did fistpumps, and even hugged each other as if they won the championship.

Team D looked quite the opposite. Kyle, standing courtside for the whole game, sat down on the ground with his head slumped. Jamal and Ricky looked down with their head shaking. Mick wasn’t all that happy either, but shook hands and gave quick hugs to team B players.

“ARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!” Hotshot yelled. He wasn’t happy, obviously. But he was always a man of emotions. He didn’t cry, even though he kneeled on the court and banging the ground with his fist.

Kelvin couldn’t believe his eyes. John, in the last possession, duped him into trying to steal the ball. He shouldn’t have done that, he thought. In fact, he wouldn’t normally have done that.

“…ah well…” Kelvin muttered to himself. “At least I probably won’t get on the team. That’s good.”

Coach Acer clapped his hands and yelled, “Nice game, people. Now we’ll take a 5 minute break, and after that I’ll announce the names of the players who will be chosen for the next round of tryouts.”

…

The 5 minutes passed, but to every player in the court, it seemed like 5 hours. Coach Acer was still talking with his assistant coaches.

It took them about another minute, and it seems like the coaches made an agreement. Coach Acer walked in front of the spectator stands, and said, “Great job, men. You guys did your best. But unfortunately we only have 3 spots for the team. But that’s after the second tryout.”

“Please raise your hand if you have your name heard. Jamal Johnson from team D.”

Jamal wasn’t that surprised by his calling since he was a redshirt last season. He raised his hand.

“Next, Ricky Daniels, also from team D.” Ricky raised his hand.

“Ahem. Max Hale, from team C.” That would be the power forward who dominated the team B-C game until John checked in. He tried to become relevant afterwards, trying to grab more rebounds and getting other guys involved. Instead this preference was exploited by John Smith. Max raised his hand.

“Paul Duke, team C.” That’s the point guard. Kelvin didn’t know that this guy could get in, he seemed quite average. Paul raised his hand as well.

“Mick Gonzalez, team D.” Mick raised his hand, but it was shaking. He seemed like he didn’t anticipate himself getting into the second round.

“Josh Wellington. Team C.” That was the small forward who did an okay job, but was bulldozed by John Smith afterwards. Josh raised his hand.

“…okay, how many people we have now?” Coach Acer asked. He checked the paper again and said, “…that’s 6 people.”

“Right.” Coach Acer continued. “There’s 2 more guys.”

“Hotshot Maxwell. Team D.” Kelvin looked to Hotshot but he couldn’t seem to hear what coach was saying. He still had his head down.

“Hotshot Maxwell!” Coach Acer said again.

“…zzzz….”

Ricky then kicked Hotshot in the back, which caused Hotshot to wake up.

“OW!!! Who did that?!” Hotshot got up and turned around. He saw Ricky who was looking elsewhere.

“Mr. Maxwell, please don’t cause a stir. We haven’t got all the time for you.” Coach Acer said impatiently.

“Uh…sorry coach.” Hotshot said. “So…what’s up?”
“You’re in.” Coach Acer said.

“REALLY!? YES!!!” Hotshot yelled with a fist pump. He gave 5s to all the guys around him. “Yes, yes!” He yelled. He then proceeded to run down to the court and ran towards the exit.

“MOMMA I’M IN THE TEAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!” He yelled as he ran outside.

“Ahem!” Coach Acer followed. “Well then. The last person is…”

Kelvin thought to himself, well it was fun. John Smith will make the team no matter what. Everyone else believed so, perhaps except for two people in the tryouts. One of them would be Jamal.

He said to Kelvin, “Kelv, it’s not him.”

“…Kelvin Tang, team D.”

Kelvin couldn’t believe it. He made the team? Yeah right. It must be something fake. Shouldn’t it be John Smith?

“Sir, I believe you made a mistake. Shouldn’t John Smith be chosen instead of me?” Kelvin asked raising his hand.

“Well, Mr. Tang. Actually, all the people here. John Smith is already a part of the team.”

“WHAT!?” The majority of the players said.

“John, you tell the others.” Coach Acer said. He motioned John to come down from the stands to the court, which John did.

“Sorry guys, but I’m here to test the other players out. Letting you guys know what it’s like to play in the NCAA, stuff like that.” John said while scratching his head. “Anyway, I’m already part of the team. So Kelvin, this spot is yours.”

Kelvin thought, well that was something unexpected! He wouldn’t know that John was a star player.

Suddenly one of the players blurted out, “Wait…aren’t you…John Doe?! The star player of this university?”

“Well…yeah. I’m John Doe, yeah. I had to use a fake name to test you guys out, I’m like an undercover. Jamal knows about it too, but he has to keep quiet ‘bout it.”

The murmurs started thereafter. “Whoa, it’s John Doe!” “He averaged like 25 points per game last year!” “That guy is NBA quality!” “I want his autograph, man!”

Coach Acer yelled, “Quiet guys!” The murmurs stopped.

“Anyway Kelvin, if you want the spot, raise your hand.” Coach Acer continued. John looked at Kelvin with a smile.

“…ah whatever…” Kelvin raised his hand.

“Alright! Well that is all. We hope to see the qualified people on next Monday. Today’s tryouts is finished. Thanks, y’all.” Coach Acer said. He then walked towards the office with his assistant coaches and John Doe, who chatted with the coach.

The other players mingled for a while and played a bit of casual ball, but eventually everyone left the building by 7pm.

- End Chapter 5: I Don’t Know What To Do -

Next chapter: Second round of tryouts! Who’s in, and who’s out?

This week's chapter

2007-04-22T17:36:45Z

This week's chapter will be delayed until next week citing training course in the next two days, and the fact that I am still unfinished over this chapter. Apologies to anyone who's reading it.

Double Dribble - Chapter 4: Knock 'Em Dead

2007-04-17T17:09:47Z

I know, I know it's 2 days late. I went into a frenzy with my NDS + job search and suddenly had like a dozen interviews starting today until the end of the week. I had the idea down, and actually it stretched longer than I originally thought. I was thinking that 1 chapter was enough for the game itself but I needed to establish something more as potential in the future.

The title for this chapter is actually from the interview guidebook of the same name (plus 2000 afterwards) which I just got from a relative from the U.S.

Chapter 4: Knock ‘Em Dead

Hotshot entered the huddle and told the other guys on what Kelvin was scheming. All of them understood what he meant afterwards.

Both sides surrounded for the jump ball, and Hotshot was standing next to John Smith.

Jamal and the opposing center were facing each other. That guy was 6 foot 9 and Jamal got a height advantage, but from what he saw that other guy did some great blocks in the last game.

Coach Acer held the ball at the center of the circle. He then tossed the ball up vertically, while Jamal and the other guy jumped for the ball.

Jamal tipped the ball and it went towards Hotshot. He then instinctively reached out his hand for the ball, but then someone’s arm came before him.

That would be John Smith’s. John then proceeded to snatch the ball right in front of Hotshot’s face.

“Hot damn!” Hotshot yelled. John immediately turned around and looked for his point guard. He was about to do a pass…

!!
4 guys from team D, Mick, Kyle, Jamal and Ricky all surrounded him immediately!

“H…hey!” John screamed. Being probably the best player in the tryout, he got quadruple teamed immediately!

“Woohoo! We got em!” Hotshot yelled while running right in front of the point guard, blocking the pass route.

John was struggling from the 4 people while holding the ball and looked left and right for opening. The other guys were open save for the point guard, which Hotshot was covering.

“I’m in our own half for some time and the 8 seconds is almost up!” John thought to himself. He decided to try for something.

With his head and eye, he looked at the small forward who’s closest to him. He then motioned that guy to go back to their own half to get the ball. Noticing John’s signal, the opposing small forward immediately went back to their own half, and clapped his hands to signal that he wanted to receive the ball.

Mick and Kyle looked at the direction of the small forward for a split second, and John saw his opportunity, seeing that they’re effectively standing next to each other. He used his arm to lightly push Kyle aside to open up space, and finally got out of the surrounding players.

“!! Crap he got through!” Kyle yelled. He tried to reach for John but he only managed to touch up the back of John’s shirt. John was totally open and went directly for a quick dunk. The score was 2-0.

Team D regrouped and Kyle brought the ball up the court. The opposing point guard came up to him early on and Kyle dribbled left, while the opposing point guard followed him but never let him go past.

Right past the halfcourt line, the opposing shooting guard came up to Kyle immediately and trapped him in the left corner. Kyle was surprised, and had to take a step back.

“Backcourt violation!!” Coach Acer yelled. Indeed Kyle’s right foot was behind the line.

The ball was brought up by team B’s PG and found John Smith double teamed by Kyle and Ricky. Then John broke off from the two by faking his run to the left, and darted to the right instead right outside the 3 point line. The PG saw this and immediately threw a quick pass to John, and Ricky immediately checked up on him.

John did a quick pump fake but it didn’t fool Ricky. He then did another pump fake. However, Ricky jumped this time around!

Seeing that Ricky was jumping, John jumped as well, and shot the ball while Ricky was touching his shooting hand, which was actually his left hand.

*swish*

“Foul in!” Coach Acer yelled. The score was now 5-0.

John made the free throw afterwards and the score was 6-0. Nary a point for team D.

Team D scored two points by Jamal who overpowered the opposing center in the paint. Then Kyle made up for the mistake by deflecting an inbound pass for John, and the ball went for Hotshot, who promptly did a monster dunk right afterwards. The next shot by team B missed the hole and Mick caught the rebound, passing to Ricky for an easy layup. Team D was now tied with team B.

John decided that it was time to take matters into his own hand, by bringing the ball upcourt. Ricky came up to him before halfcourt.

John took a step towards the left in front of Ricky with his right leg. Ricky shifted to that direction as well.

Seeing that Ricky shifted his balance, John immediately did a right spin move and changed hands midway. Ricky tried to reach for the ball when John was about to pass him, but John’s left arm blocked Ricky from getting close to the ball.

Right at the top of the 3 point lane he was approached by 2 other players on team D, Hotshot and Kyle. Dribbling the ball, he took a quick step forward at Hotshot’s direction. This forced Hotshot to take a step back, revealing an opening.

Kyle immediately noticed the opening and shifted to the space in between him and Hotshot to cover it up.

John was going the other way!

Ricky was trying to catch up to him from behind but John jumped for a 3 pointer. Seeing that it might cause an unnecessary foul, Ricky stopped short from trying to block from behind.

*klank*

John missed, and the ball bounced right off the rim.

“Mick it’s going for you!” Ricky yelled.

“I got it!” Mick yelled as he boxed out the opposing PF. Then someone appeared right in front of him.

It’s freaking John Smith again. With almost amazing instincts and agility, John jumped up for the ball right when he reached for that spot in front of Mick. Seeing this, Mick jumped as well, albeit about half a second after John did.

John caught the ball first with his left hand, but Mick was getting close with his right hand. Instead of going for a dunk, John dropped his left arm and passed the ball to his right hand. He then tried to lean towards his right side a little, to avoid contact.

He then promptly finger-rolled the ball into the hoop with his right hand. The score was now 8-6. After landing on the ground, John turned around and gave Mick a quick look. He then turned his head back, and ran to his own backcourt along with his other teammates.

He then yelled at the other teammates, “Guys, we’re 2 points to the 10 point mark! Knock em’ dead!”

The other players then stopped running back to their own half and turned around. John himself was standing at the backcourt however.

Team D’s inbound pass was heavily guarded, almost every player except for Hotshot was covered.

“Shit…” Ricky said to himself while the opposing SG was at his face flailing his arms up and down while moving sideways trying to cover up Ricky’s view of the other guys. He then saw Hotshot open at the middle of the court, and threw a high pass right to Hotshot.

Hotshot noticing the ball then caught the pass, and immediately found John getting up to his face. Hotshot hasn’t passed the halfcourt line yet, so the clock was ticking.

“Man, I couldn’t get any points in this game yet.” Hotshot told John.

“Yeah, we have to play tough. Sorry, bro.” John replied.

Hotshot then tried to deduct possible paths, there were many.

“Alright John, you’re going down!” Hotshot said while releasing the ball from his hands, starting to dribble with his right hand. He then dashed towards the right side, and John immediately followed.

!!
Hotshot then did a crossover dribble and went forward to his left side, passing John by.

“Nice one!” Yelled Kyle. Hotshot was all by himself and was free to do all the dunking he wanted.

“…wait Hotshot! What are you doing!?” Mick screamed. It looked like Hotshot was trying to do a layup outside the 3 point line!

Right before Hotshot released his shot, he seemed to notice something.

“Shit! Why am I doing a layup here!” But it was too late, the ball left his hand and it wasn’t going to even touch the rim. John was right in front of him, and received the layup with ease.

“Thanks buddy, you were a great help!” John said right after getting the ball. He then dribbled past Hotshot who was standing still.

“W…what the…” Hotshot muttered to himself.

The score was 10-6.

Hotshot was still standing at disbelief, like a pole at the center of the court.

“Alright, substitution!” Coach Acer yelled. “Team B, Henry Rodge for Lee Hawkins. Team D, Kelvin Tang for Hotshot Maxwell.”

John went up to Hotshot, and then put his right hand on Hotshot’s shoulder.

“Sorry man, but you’re just a VCR which plays what it is fed. Try again next year.”

“W…what…” Hotshot muttered.

Henry Rodge checked in for the opposing shooting guard. Kelvin looked at Hotshot.

“Hotshot!” Yelled Kyle. He then turned to face at coach Acer. “Coach!”

“Hmm?” Replied the coach.

“I…I’ll substitute for Kelvin!” Kyle said.

“Well it’s up to Mr. Maxwell himself to say if he wanted to be subbed. Well, Hotshot? You want to be subbed out?” Coach Acer talked to Hotshot.

Hotshot himself wasn’t tuning in to anything right until John said “Try again next year.”

The line repeated itself many times in his head. “Try again next year.” “Try again next year.” “Try again next year.”…

“Coach, I think he’s not fit to play.” Said John.

“Well…I guess so.” Coach Acer replied. Kelvin was standing next to the coach and heard the coach mutter to himself, “Too bad…I’d love to have him in my team this season.”

“…” Kelvin didn’t say a thing so far. He knew that Hotshot had great offensive skills thanks to the videos he saw but had no fundamentals and knowledge yet. Yet Hotshot was destroyed by John by only one move.

Hotshot was thinking to himself about “Try again next year.” He heard that line too many times. Or “Try again next time.” He then saw himself admitting by saying “okay, okay” every time afterwards.

He then recalled his mother saying, “Well sonny, if you want to play in the NBA, you need to play in university!”

Right when Coach Acer himself was walking on court to get to Hotshot, the latter suddenly yelled, “YES MOMMA!”

The yell went through almost the whole court and all eyes were on him, if they weren’t for Hotshot’s weird layup and blanking out afterwards.

“H…hotshot are you good?” John asked. He was totally surprised by Hotshot’s instant change in his eyes and getting back to normal.

“I’m good. I’m not going to lose.” Hotshot replied him and gave John a confident smile.

“Great!” John replied happily. He patted Hotshot on the shoulder and looked at the coach. “Well coach?”

“Hotshot are you going to sub for Kelvin?” Coach Acer asked Hotshot.

“No coach, I’ll stay in court for the remaining game!” Hotshot replied.

“Well then! Okay Kyle, you’re subbed for Kelvin then.” Coach Acer said. He was smiling and John seemingly gave him a nod. “The game resumes in 30 seconds. Get into your huddle!”

- End Chapter 4: Knock ‘Em Dead -

Next chapter: The end of the tryouts! Who’s going to win?

Double Dribble - Chapter 3: Hurdles

2007-04-01T17:07:53Z

The third chapter of Double Dribble is here, but I think it might need a bit of improvement.

Anyway next chapter will be the week after next week as originally stated.

Chapter 3: Hurdles

As the guys in team D sat down at the spectator stands, Jamal motioned his teammates to the huddle.

“Guys, we did good but for the match between team B and C we look at the guy we’re supposed to be marking by position.”

And that’s what the 6 guys in team D did when the match started. It was soon quite apparent that team C was the better team overall.

“Maybe I’ll look at team C a little bit more instead…” Kelvin thought to himself. Quickly team C got to 10 points while team B only had 2 points.

Coach Acer saw the score and motioned for a substitution.

“Team C, Andy Johnson for Shareef El-Amin. Team B, John Smith for Henry Rodge.”

While both teams had their players subbed, Ricky took notice of one of the reserve players.

“That guy looked quite well-built. I think he might be good.” He said flatly. His teammates didn’t really know which guy he was referring to since both reserve players looked a little muscular.

“Yo Ricky which one you’re referring to?” Hotshot asked while looking back at Ricky. But Ricky didn’t answer, giving Hotshot a quick look that seemed to send him a message “look for yourself” which Hotshot seemed to understand quickly. “Geez, at least don’t stare at me like that.” Hotshot blurted.

Immediately team D realized who Ricky was referring to once the match started. Team B’s overall feel changed once John Smith was inserted into the lineup. Even their seemingly inefficient point guard before substitution moved his game level up for at least a notch.

John Smith was almost everywhere. He started the game by shooting a 3 pointer, and on his end he made a block over a guy who’s 6 foot 10 (he’s about 6 foot 6) in the paint. After that he made a no-look pass to an open player who made another 3 pointer. He made his presence felt.

Not soon thereafter the score was tied with 10-10 and team C never got the ball to touch the rim.

While perhaps not as flashy as Hotshot on the offensive end, John Smith was more efficient. He didn’t force his shots over defenders, and passing to other players who had open looks. Sometimes he did a fake pass or a forward step on his non-pivot foot to shift the balance of the defender. And almost all of his shots went in. He also took a few offensive rebounds from his or his teammates’ missed shots.

On the defensive end he was great as well, making a steal from a pass, and helping out in double teaming. Not to mention his blocks and rebounds (some coming from team C). It was quite clear that he was the best player on the floor, and even the best player in this tryout. All eyes were on John Smith.

“Why is this guy even in the tryouts? Shouldn’t he be in the team already?” Mick said. Ricky nodded and said, “I said so.”

The score got to 17-10 and team B was dominating the game. John Smith probably got 12 points and a few assists already, Kelvin figured. “How are we going to stop this guy?” He asked.

Nobody answered except for Hotshot. “Guys, lemme at em! I think I’ll close him down!”
All of his teammates looked at him and said in unison, “No.” And they turned back looking at the court. But this was a lingering thought on their minds.

Kyle thought of something. He told his teammates about his idea, and most of them gave him a weird look.

“Well, it’s a gamble.” Kelvin said. “But if it doesn’t work we’re going to get blown out.”

“Yeah, but what other chance do we have? If there’s another way of going past team B I’d go with it but that’s all I can think of now.” Kyle said.

“Hey guys, but isn’t he a sub?” Hotshot asked.

“Yeah, but being a sub doesn’t mean he won’t make immediate impact.” Ricky answered.

“Guys, I’m relying on you.” Kyle said. “I think I don’t really have that much of a chance of getting into the team but I’m sure you guys can.”

And just when Kyle talked, John Smith blew past his defender outside the 3 point range and went in for a high-flying one hand dunk. The score was 19-10.

And just when team C started to pass from the baseline, the guy found out that team B was doing a fullcourt press, marking all potential receivers man to man!

The guy at the baseline looked at all receiving players but couldn’t find a good opening. One of the players just left his marker, so he passed the ball to that guy.

John Smith intercepted the ball at the middle of the pass, right under the basket! He immediately jumped up for a dunk.

The score was settled. 21-10.

“Game!” Yelled coach Acer.

“Good game guys. Now take a 5 minute rest. The next match will be team B versus team D.”

Team B got to the other end of the seats from team D and the other 5 players sat around John Smith. It seemed like they were listening to John talking. While 4 of them were sweating (one was subbed out early) it seemed like John wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

“Damn, that John Smith guy must be telling the other guys about us.” Jamal said.

“Next match will be tough.” Kelvin said. “Until we get 10 points…”

“…we must not give up any points. Or the game is over.”

…

The 5 minutes were up.

“Alright, team B versus team D! Get on the court guys!” Coach Acer said. Both teams’ starters got onto the court.

But then John Smith walked up to the coach instead.
“Coach, let me start.” John told coach Acer. The players on team D immediately looked at the two after they heard John blurt out that line.

“Alright John, you’re in then. Henry Rodge, you’ll be the sub. Team D, you guys want Hotshot to play as a starter too?”

Team D discussed among themselves.

“Coach, Hotshot can start.” Kelvin said. “But instead can I be the reserve?”

“Okay Kelvin, you’ll be the reserve.”

Kelvin then walked towards the sidelines while Hotshot walked into the court. The two passed by each other.

Kelvin whispered something to Hotshot. He then walked to the bench while Hotshot looked back and said, “WHAT?!”

“Just do what I said.” Kelvin said without looking back. Hotshot shrugged and walked to his teammates.

“Alright guys, the spotlight is on.” Hotshot said. “We’re taking them down!”

- End Chapter 3: Hurdles -

Next Chapter: The final match of the tryouts! What is Kelvin up to?!

Next week's entry

2007-03-29T07:36:55Z

Due to a trip to Macau during Easter holiday, the 4th chapter of Double Dribble will be off for one week.

Double Dribble: Chapter 2 - Prodigy?

2007-03-26T16:37:42Z

Here's chapter 2, delayed for about 2 days. I had the idea down but couldn't get myself to write it for the past two days. I apologize for the delay made.

Also added at the end of the chapter is a 'preview line' which is commonly found in ongoing manga chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Prodigy?

Hotshot’s teammates weren’t extremely stunned but still took it by surprise. Jamal himself wasn’t that happy about it however.

“Alright, then why are you here?” Jamal blurted.

“I practiced some moves, and thought that they are good for my game!”
“Then where did you learn from those moves?” Mick asked.

…

Coach Acer looked at team D’s huddle and looked back at their portfolios.

“So far everyone has been okay on team D except for Kyle. I’m interested at what this Hotshot guy can do.” Coach Acer thought himself. “From the dunk he did earlier he was incredibly acrobatic and can jump really high. But it seems like he lacked the fundamentals.”

Coach Acer then took another look at Hotshot’s portfolio and at the experience section, Hotshot wrote ‘no real basketball experience.’ Underneath Hotshot’s portfolio Kelvin’s can be seen, and the letters ‘under 21’ was shown.

“This will be an interesting match…”

…

The talk continued for team D. Kelvin decided to leave out Hotshot on the offensive end, and said, “Hotshot, judging from what your talents have I think you can just go for loose balls or rebounds and pass the ball back to your teammate.”

“…but I want to show off the moves I learnt! Getting on the national scale man, you know? I ain’t going to listen to your plan and I’ll get my points myself!” Hotshot yelled and turned around. Kelvin wasn’t that pleased but he didn’t yell back at Hotshot.

“Don’t worry man, he’s just hotheaded. I don’t think he meant it. We go back to the plan we had then.” Jamal said. The other agreed (without Hotshot) and the game resumes.

The next baskets primarily involved the opposing point guard passing to their small forward which Hotshot was guarding. Obviously they were exploiting Hotshot’s weak defensive knowledge and experience. Hotshot was faked out or was passed by the opposing player. However they didn’t make most of the shots, and the score now was 15-18 with team A leading.

On offense Hotshot was pretty much an afterthought with Kelvin choosing to drive into the lane a bit more. Jamal also started to show off some of his repertoire of post-up moves. In later possessions, team A even didn’t bother to guard Hotshot.

It was team D’s turn on offense, after team A missed out on a three pointer. Mick picked up the rebound and passed to Kelvin who took the ball down the court.

“Guys, we’ll catch up! Don’t worry!” Kelvin yelled to his teammates. He then saw Ricky running about, and passed to him.

!!!

The opposing player saw through the pass and slapped the ball near the side of the court!

“Shit!” Ricky cursed.

But then Hotshot was right at where the ball would be. He got the ball, and then everyone on the court looked at what he could do. He was at the baseline, totally open and was about 16 feet away from the left of the basket.

“Hotshot pass the ball to me!” Mick yelled. He blocked out his defender and was in a good position to receive a pass.

Hotshot had the ball for about another second standing still.

…

It was summer. Hotshot himself was on a cement basketball court outdoors, at a rather run-down urban housing area. There was nobody at the court, since it was almost 95 degrees Fahrenheit at his town and the cement made it even hotter. He wasn’t wearing any clothes, and was sweating profusely.

He was only wearing a pair of shorts and sneakers. However, his sneakers were not normal, they had wide pads underneath them. Hotshot took a basketball and dribbled it around for a little. He went over to the baseline.

“And over here, Michael Jordan would go down the court…” Hotshot muttered as he started dribbling forward, and started going down low. “…and then he jumps right off here…and BLAM!” And that was what Hotshot did, he did a slight pumpfake midair and went for a one-handed slam with the ball.

Hotshot landed on the ground but it felt like he was weighing more than he should be.

“Damn these shoes are heavy!” Hotshot got the ball from the ground and took it to another spot within the 3 point range. “But if I were to become an NBA superstar, these shoes are worth my moola!”

“Okay…from here, Plus1 legend Shoop did a killer crossover spin…” And that was what Hotshot did. He dribbled the ball in between his legs, and tried to spin left afterwards. He then stopped short. “No wait, it wasn’t like that…” Hotshot went back to position and tried again.

…

Just when Hotshot had a short flashback of what happened during last summer before he got into university, his marker on the defensive end came up to him and started defending him.

“Yo Hotshot! I dunno what’s with you but I’m takin’ you down!” The opposing player said.

Hotshot himself stared at the forward path. In his eyes, there was a player in front of him. But in his eyes, he was envisioning himself going past the player and going in for a layup. Or maybe a dunk.

Making the decision Hotshot gathered his focus again.

“Sorry man, I’m going to the NBA and you aren’t. It’ll end with this move here.”

Then Hotshot started dribbling. He moved his right leg forward and dribbled with his left hand. The opposing player, thinking that he was left-handed and based on the thought that Hotshot was a crappy player, went for the ball.

Hotshot immediately did a crossover dribble and a spin move to the right at almost the same time.

“What the…”

Hotshot did not hesitate while the opposing player was blurting out that line and moving in the opposite direction. He kept on dribbling forward. The person who got blocked off by Mick earlier came right up while Hotshot jumped off.

Seeing that there was a person right in front of him, Hotshot instinctively remembered the ‘Michael Jordan move’ that he learnt and immediately put the ball down in midair to avoid from the opponent.

Hotshot now had a clear look at the basket. Raising his hand again with the ball, he immediately did a one-handed slam dunk!

“Woahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Some of the guys off the court watching them play yelled.

“Ah man, it’s always nice to get some cheers for a prodigy like me.” Hotshot said to himself, smiling.

His teammates were completely in awe of what Hotshot just did. His opponents were even more in awe seeing as Hotshot passed through their two guys effortlessly.

Hotshot ran back to his team’s defense and yelled at his teammates, “What are you guys doing? Let’s go back on D!” And the other guys went back to defense along with him.

“…so it was true.” Kelvin said while Hotshot was standing next to him. “What you said was true.”

“If you really only practiced moves you learnt from streetball video tapes you might be better than I thought.” Kelvin muttered.

“Hey Kelv, make that ‘we’.” Jamal said from behind.

“Yeah, and Hotshot better do a little more D!” Ricky said.

“I’ll try, I’ll try. But when it comes to offense, I’ll make those guys pay for going over me so easily!” Hotshot said.

“…yeah, but Hotshot doesn’t have the skills except for going for offense yeah?” Mick uttered.

“True that. I guess he’ll have to learn the ropes.” Jamal said.

“So all in all, you still suck on defense. But I’ll cover your butt.” Mick said.

“What? I suck on defense?” Hotshot turned around and saw Mick and Jamal nod. He then looked to Kelvin and saw him nod as well.

“Guys, they’re comin’ at us.” Ricky said.

The score was now 17-18.

…

After a few more exchanges of baskets, team D managed to scrape the 21 point mark by beating team A 21-20. The match was tight, since Hotshot’s weakness in defense was still exploited. However team A didn’t get their baskets with Mick helping Hotshot in defense. In return, all the baskets after the 17 point mark by team D were all by Hotshot himself.

“Alright guys, good game and team D will go towards the next round with the winner of team B and C.” Coach Acer said. “Team B and C, it’s your turn.”

- End Chapter 2: Prodigy? -

Next Chapter: A hidden gem in team B?

Rewrite Time

2007-03-22T20:22:28Z

The Prologue and Chapter 1 for Double Dribble have been rewritten and hopefully they do not need any further fixes. The old text are replaced with the new ones now.

The POV has now turned into third person which makes most scenes less awkward in description.

Next chapter coming up later this week.

Also for more exposure the prologue and first chapter will be posted in some writing sites.

Double Dribble: Chapter 1 - Movin' On

2007-03-16T15:52:53Z

Eventually I decided on a name, 'Double Dribble' since 1. I intended to make it a manga and giving it weird terms in English sounds good and 2. I'm out of name ideas. So there. Double Dribble.

The magnificent (ahem, cough, wheeze) chapter 1 is right below the LJ cut. SS told me about the past-present tense thing in the prologue and it should be fixed in this chapter, I think. But I find writing in present tense kinda weird. I think it'll need some getting used to, heh.

Anyhow here's chapter 1.

Chapter 1: Movin’ On

It took team D a short while to figure out who’s who. Mick Gonzalez was the power forward who didn’t make last year’s tryouts. Jamal Johnson was the center, who actually practiced with the team last year (as redshirt – practicing with the team but not playing their games) but still needed to tryout for this year. Kyle Kinston was the point guard, and a white guy. He initiated team D’s gameplan based on Mick and Jamal’s experiences. Ricky Daniels was the shooting guard and he told us that he’s good for long distance shots. Hotshot played the small forward position but since he’s a sub, he can’t do much in the first half and it’s not up to them on who’s he subbing for.

When Kelvin was asked what position he played as, he said “Small Forward.” The other 5 guys gave him a weird stare. Kelvin didn’t find this too odd, since he knew he’s the shortest guy on the team.

It took him some time to explain that it was his natural position but eventually Kyle decided that it would be better if Kelvin were playing at the SG position and have less of a height disadvantage, and switch with Ricky. Kelvin could not disagree, so that was how their starters would be.

Their gameplan was basically mostly with Jamal and Mick by pounding inside, since they have had the height advantage for these two – both 6 foot 11 players. Jamal had more muscle as well so most of the shots will be delivered to him while Mick complements him.

As for the other guys Kyle said that he will look out for opportunities and openings. Ricky would have to run a bit more to mess up their defenses, plus open shots. Meanwhile Kyle said that (based on what Kelvin said to him: “I’m a slasher”) Kelvin will be hovering at midrange and then driving in for layups.

Unfortunately there wasn’t much time for defense assignments, and team D went to man-to-man with Kelvin guarding their point guard to minimize their height advantages.

According to Kyle anyway.

…

Kelvin’s team was now down 5-2 and he found out that Kyle tookk too long to make passing decisions. He had 3 turnovers so far. Only Jamal got the two point. Kelvin haven’t even touched the ball.

It’s team D’s ball and Kyle dribbles up the court. “Guys, we’ll be okay,” He yelled out to his teammates. “Let’s keep a medium pace.”

Suddenly two guys swarmed up to him before he reached halfcourt.

“What the hell!?” Kyle yelled. He’s trying to dribble through them but these two guys weren’t letting him go past the halfcourt lane. Kyle only have 3 seconds left for backcourt.

“Hey Kyle! I’ll take over!” Kelvin figured that if this isn’t going to work, he would take his spot for the time being. Seeing Kelvin at the edge of the eye, Kyle throws the ball at his direction.

“!!”

“Holy shit!”

The ball got intercepted by a third player and he dribbled down the court for a layup. That made the score 7-2 now.

Walking up to Kyle, Kelvin said, “Kyle, I’ll take point.” He looked quite exhausted with that halfcourt trap, and understandably so since the other two players who were marking him were also sweating.

“Alright Kelvin, you take point then.”

The ball started off in Kelvin’s hands and while dribbling, Kelvin noticed the opponents weren’t swarming at him now. He thought they’re looking at what he could do first before making any decisions. Going to the top of the 3 point lane, the opposing point guard, a guy who’s noticeably a head taller than him was covering my view. Turning around to protect the ball while dribbling, Kelvin looked left and right to see who he could pass to.

“Hey shorty, you think you can pass through me?” The guy was trash talking to him. In no mood to respond to him, Kelvin decided to look for more openings.

Kyle gets into his field of vision but knowing that he’s a slow decision guy, Kelvin looked elsewhere and found Ricky at the 45 degree spot. Throwing the ball at him, Kelvin believed that he’ll do better than Kyle.

The guy defending Kelvin looks to Ricky and found him open, and ran towards Ricky’s direction. Seeing that he was finally free from this guy, Kelvin started running into the lane and raised his left hand.

Ricky saw him, and immediately bounce passed to Kelvin while the guy just reached Ricky. Seeing that there was an open lane, Kelvin decided to drive right into the paint.

Going right at the basket and jumping off, Kelvin immediately found a large hand going for the ball. Obviously not on his team, and the guy was going to slap the ball out of Kelvin’s hand.

Quickly Kelvin saw Mick right under the basket and retracting his right hand from that person’s palm, Kelvin sent the ball straight to Mick.

In quick succession Mick grabbed the ball while jumping for a one handed slam. It was finally 7-4, a little bit closer but in no way it looked like it’ll be an easy battle.

“Nice work Kelvin!” Jamal yelled. Mick gave him a high five and team D went back to defense.

Their defensive assignments haven’t changed and Kelvin was in charge of guarding their point guard. After a bit of observation Kelvin was starting to see how this opposing guy works.

He’s 6-2 and he liked to drive to the rim. Adding to that he got some muscles, so he could do a little bit of pushing or power moves to put Kelvin aside. In fact, he scored the first two points by going directly to the rim and dunking over Mick.

Being a little interested Kelvin decided to give a better effort in guarding him. Kelvin seemed to get his basic pattern down.

Dribbling down the court and onto our 3 point territory, Kelvin quickly approached him and he took a step back.

“Shorty that was some good display you got, but I’m mowing you down.” Saying with some confidence, he dribbled from his right hand to his left hand.

“Oh yeah? Then try again, fatboy.” Retorting to him, that was the best comeback Kelvin thought he could make. But it did work, somehow. “If you say that again shorty, I’m going to freaking slam the ball right at your head, ya hear?”

Taking this opportunity, Kelvin moved his right hand and went for the ball while he got angry. Kelvin managed to poke the ball out of his dribble!

“Shit!!” He turned around and tried to go for the ball again, but someone got the ball first. That would be Kyle.

“Guys, come up!” He yelled. Ricky was already running ahead of him so he gave Ricky a quick toss, and Ricky did a layup. It’s 7-5 now!

Afterwards the opposing point guard seemed to lose his cool and tries for a 3 pointer over Kelvin, but the rock didn’t even hit the rim and Jamal gets the rebound. Giving the ball to Kelvin, he immediately passed to Ricky who was at the 3 point lane unguarded. With a great shooting touch, he scored from 3 point land and it’s 7-8, winning the match at this moment.

The next possession was pretty much the same except that the opposing point guard trying to pass the ball right inside the key but Kyle actually got hold of the ball instead. So he dribbleed upcourt quickly and did an easy layup. It’s 7-10 and team D can substitute now.

Hotshot Maxwell had been doing warm-ups and tossing around with the ball since the score got close. He seemed quite excited. “Hey guys good job without me! We’ll beat them 21-7 with me in the court!”

Coach Acer said, “Alright, substitution, Kyle, you take a rest. Hotshot you’re in.”

Kyle did look a little tired but he did give his best, even though the other guys in his team thought he doesn’t cut it as the point guard. Regardless he helped defensively.

“Alright guys, the magnificent Hotshot, checking IN!” Hotshot yelled. He tried to rally the crowd, but then realizes that it’s a practice court, and not a stadium. Hotshot got quiet immediately afterwards, and gathered at their huddle.

“Alright Hotshot, we’ll go with you as the small forward and Ricky goes back to shooting guard.” Kelvin said. They all agree, and immediately they got ready for team A.

The opposing point guard brought the ball up the court and looking around, he passed over to the guy Hotshot is marking. That guy went for a shot, and Hotshot jumps up.

“!!”
It’s a pump fake, and the guy dribbled sideways and shot the ball from there. So it’s 9-10 now.

“Hotshot, don’t get faked by that guy!” Jamal yelled.

“I know I know!”

Regrouping Kelvin took the ball down the court himself, and seeing that Hotshot is free from the opposing marker, he passed right to him.

Getting the ball, Hotshot ran towards the basket without dribbling. 1 step…2 step…3 step…4 steps????

“Traveling!” Coach Acer yells.

Hotshot stopped and dropped the ball. He then went back to his teammates.

“Guys…” He whispered. His teammates looked at him in slight disbelief thinking that this vociferous player suddenly getting quiet and a little mellow all of a sudden.

“…I don’t know how to play basketball…”

- End Chapter 1: Movin’ On -

Double Dribble: Prologue

2007-03-10T19:51:26Z

If you read the one from my 'real' blog, not much has changed except for the name of the university and some past-present tense errors. Not much otherwise, so you can skip it if you read the one in my other blog earlier.

It all started here.

It’s October, about two months since start of the fall semester in the university. Usually the more studious people would start worrying about mid-terms, while the lazier ones prefer just skipping them outright. However, someone still believed that there’s some sort of extracurricular activity that goes aside from learning in class.

You might ask, did this person join any clubs? He looked around and actually checked out the “Basketball Club” which was basically gathering about once every two or three day to watch old NBA games on NBA TV when they’re on replay (the season doesn’t start until November). They usually say ‘ooh,’ ‘ahh’ when Magic Johnson did that no-look pass, or like when Michael Jordan did all the impossible stuff while sticking his tongue out.

They did play some pickup games indoors, but their skills were generally average at best. He played with them in some games but usually it ends up with his side losing since his teammates weren’t clicking with him well. His teammates were usually worse than him in basketball skills and most of the time he was the one with the ball while others are looking at him and hoping he’d score.

The president of the club met with him a week ago and asked if he was interested in trying out for the basketball team.

…

“Is it one of those local casual leagues?” He asked the president. Given that the president’s a senior, he looked pretty young. His name is George Booth, majoring in Finance and graduating next semester. He’s about 6-3, but in most of the pickup games, he didn’t play or just posed as the ref. He did have a lot of knowledge about the game though.

But when he played, there’s nobody who’s worse off than him. They play 5 on 5 and he got the 4 (power forward), but he’s lanky, and didn’t have the skills to at least complement his position, or any other position. His best move was a fade-away jumper which has a 99% chance of getting the ball stuck at that wedge between the board and the rim. And he’s always teamed up with the president, no matter what.

“KT, it’s not that. Heard of NCAA basketball?”

“Yeah. So what’s about that?” KT thought that George must be thinking a freshman like him from outside the U.S. wouldn’t know a damn thing about basketball besides the NBA.

“Why don’t you give it a try? I think you’ll get into the team.” He seemed to get a little more excited now.

“…don’t flatter me. I thought all universities in major divisions get players through scholarships?” As KT told George matter-of-factly, his eyes somehow glowed. Knowing George, KT understands that something’s coming up…

“Kelvin, you had it wrong! While our university is part of the NCAA Division I, it doesn’t mean that ALL players come into the team on scholarship! That’s why the team holds tryouts for any gems they missed!” Man, this guy can get intense when you gave him the wrong fact.

“Okay okay I get it! So what now? Where the hell do I find the tryout?”

“It’s next Friday and it’ll be held at the Joseph Brand Memorial Stadium. Give it a try, I think you can make it.”

“Sure, whatever.”

...

You see now, this is where the prologue ends and the real thing comes along. Back to reality and Kelvin was now lined up with about 15 African Americans who were pretty much a head taller than him, at least. Oh, and those 5 white guys who were as tall as they are. Kelvin was the shortest guy and he’s feeling it.

An old man, while his hair is white, looked pretty young himself, wearing a red-T shirt with our university’s name sketched on it. He’s also wearing a rolex. Kelvin figured that he’s the coach.

“Alright guys, thanks for coming to our university’s men’s basketball tryouts for the upcoming season. My name is Randy Acer and I’m the head coach of the U of Southwestern Texas Greenhorns.”

Obviously he’s not wearing green, and the “Texas” on the shirt was quite misleading.

“Just in case you’re wondering why I’m wearing a t-shirt that’s not green, I come from UT and this is their color, in case you don’t know.”

So a coach who’s just came from U of Texas? Upon hearing that name Kelvin’s clenched his fists for half a second, his eyes seemingly appearing with a bit of anger.

“Alright guys, lemme line up the facts here. Currently this team is 3 men short. That’s right, there’s only 3 guys from you 24 people who can make it to the team. So make it count when you’re playing during the tryouts. We’ll look for all traits of you that will contribute to this team.”

The facts were there, 24 people going for 3 spots make it tough. Especially Kelvin who figured that all these people were at least a head taller than him.

“Today’s rundown will be quite simple. First, you guys will be playing 5-on-5 scrimmage where the first team who gets to 21 points wins. Think of it as a tournament where there’s 4 teams. Each team will have 6 players, and when there’s a team who gets to 10 points first, the sixth man must be subbed in, and I’ll make the decision on who is subbing for who. After that all the other 4 players can be freely subbed at any time like a real basketball game.”

“Winners of each group in this tournament will face each other while the losers will face each other. After everything is over, me and my other coaches who are seated right above there,” Randy points to the edge of the spectator stands. “We will make a decision on who will be go through the first round. The second round will happen next Monday where we’ll interview with you and check your mind and academics and so on. But I’ll tell you guys later, if you get in.”

Randy then waved for his other assistants to come over and pass out some forms.

“Guys, fill in this little bit of information of yours, like what you achieved and what your position is. After that hand back to me or my assistants. You guys can do warm-ups until I’m done with your forms. Questions?”

One black guy raised his hand. A particularly tall one too.

“Yo coach! How do we know which team we’re on?”

“Good question, I missed out on that one. Somebody’s listening!” Mr. Acer gave a slight pause before continuing. “That’s after you filled in with that form. We’ll distribute it as evenly as possible and see which guys are in which team.”

So Kelvin was handed with my form, and filled out with all information he thought that wouldn’t help his chances for getting into the team.

It was clear that Kelvin didn’t want to play for a UT graduate. He just has that hate, but he kept it within himself. Of course he didn’t have any problems with that Acer guy, but he believed that playing under a UT grad is an insult.

After a while Kelvin figured that maybe he should stop filling out the form and walk away instead. He looked at the other guys, they were filling out their forms too, but one African-American was just staring at the form and seemingly blanked out. He then put down his pen and leaped onto court.

He looked around and found a basketball. He’s the guy standing next to the guy who raised his hand earlier. He’s about 6-7. Other guys were starting to notice his antics too. He grabbed the ball, and dribbled it to the top of the 3 point line.

“Hey Mr. Acer! Who wants to fill out these damned forms, we just wanna play ball! Lemme show you why I deserve a spot!”

He then threw the ball forward, directly at the backboard to the left of the rim, and ran after the ball.

The ball bounced back, he caught it, and did a windmill dunk with both hands. Kelvin and others looked quite surprised. Kelvin thought he saw something like that in the NBA slam dunk contest. Those dunks were sick, but he usually didn’t think that they were really *that* acrobatic. Seeing it live made him understand why people were cheering in their stands when they made a thunderous one. The guy had a confident smirk that looked like he’s going to be in the team.

Now all eyes were on coach.

“Sir, I don’t know who you are yet but fill out that damn form before you showcase your dunking skills in front of us.”

Well, so much for this guy making the team. The tall dude went from a confident smirk to a growl and hanging his head low afterwards. He then moved back and stared at his form again, but he didn’t finch this time around. He started filling up the form.

After a while Kelvin finished his form while some guys are doing shootarounds. In fact, some of them were just dribbling with the ball casually and chatting with each other. Kelvin took a ball and shot for a while.

The coach came out with his assistant coaches. “Alright guys, let’s gather up here.”

“There will be 4 teams as I said. Team A consists of…”

Kelvin seemingly didn’t listen much, but not until he didn’t get his name heard for the first 3 teams.

“Alright, and team D will have Kelvin Tang, Mick Gonzalez, Jamal Johnson, Kyle Kinston, Ricky Daniels and…Hotshot Maxwell.”

Hotshot Maxwell? Who the hell calls himself by that?

Oh. It’s the guy who did that dunk earlier. Kelvin’s thought that this guy will probably make or break this team was slowly floating about.

“Guys, we’ll start with team A versus team D now.”

Kelvin made a sarcastic “Oh great!” mutter to himself. He didn’t like the immediate matchup and pairing up with Mr. Hotshot, obviously.

“And for team A, Avery Everett will be the sixth man, and the slam dunk champion of today’s tryout, Hotshot Maxwell will be the sub for team D. I’ll give you guys 5 minutes before playing to get to know each other and how to play your roles.”

- End Prologue -

I need a name.

2007-03-09T18:50:49Z

Actually I don't mean my blog but it's actually the work that I'm writing. It revolves around basketball so I guess a basketball title is good to begin with, but I ran out of ideas with names. All the stuff is in the lj-cut.

Anyhow here's what the premise is about.

Overall premise:
Kelvin Tang from Macau comes to learn what getting into the team is about and what playing basketball is really about. While being a good basketball at his own league and people around his size, he has to adjust to the new environments of playing in an NCAA team and learning new skills on the way.

--Spoiler Alert?--
Characters (designed so far):
Kelvin Tang - 5 foot 10 guy from Macau, he plays the small forward position but finds himself horribly outmatched by guys in the team who are taller than him. Not a great speaker and sometimes displays rudeness towards others. Freshman at University of Southwestern Texas. Great perimeter defender but the current offensive skill set has rendered him not so-useful on the court and thus relegated to being a bench warmer. Dislikes University of Texas with a passion, but reason unknown.
Creator's notes: Name came out randomly from my head.

George Booth - President of the Basketball Club. Serves as more of a background/support character and doesn't show up that much unless Kelvin needs pointers on basketball knowledge or ways to improve. 6 foot 3, tall and lanky and a little nerdish. Doesn't wear glasses. Preferred position is power forward even though his basketball skills are extremely poor. Big fan of the NBA. Senior and graduating next semester, majoring in Finance.

Hotshot Maxwell - High-flier dunker and player, 6 foot 7 and plays the small forward position. One of the guys who's in the tryouts. Has great vertical leap and is very keen on himself making the team. African American, has a tattoo on his left arm with a cross. Good offensive skills and can penetrate well, but can't defend almost anything. Overestimates his abilities at times. Sophomore in Liberal Arts.

Randy Acer - Coach of the Greenhorns basketball team. Comes from University of Texas and has been with the program 8 years ago. Stern and goes by the rules most of the time even though he can make a few surprise decisions. White guy. About 58-62 years old. Fairly well-off. Has a son that's playing for U of Texas now.

John Smith - Star player of the Greenhorns, plays basketball with a passion but has poor grades. Plays shooting guard/small forward even though he sometimes can handle the point. Good personality and lined-up as the next captain in the next season. Great midrange game and unselfish. 6-6 and can muscle his way though the paint if need be. The name however could be less common and he doesn't like that fact. Junior.

(unnamed player) - Starting power forward for the Greenhorns. Doesn't speak much, and does all the dirty job for the team in the game. Has power moves inside and can score at times, but he usually defers to John Smith. 6-9 and carries some muscles. Usually unrecognized but is a key part to the team. Junior.

(captain) - Starting small forward and is 6 foot 8. Slim build, and is a great outside shooter. Sometimes switches positions with John Smith for height advantage matchups. Definitely not the best player but has the leadership abilities to lead the team into victory. Graduating after this year and is on the line on whether he should declare for the NBA draft afterwards. Senior student.

(point guard) - Injured until the 5th-6th game of the season due to a broken wrist. Quick and is more of the scoring point mold. Has a rash attitude and doesn't mingle well with his teammates, even though he does deliver in-game. 6 foot 2 and a little overweight due to the injury. Senior.

(center) - Worst off in the starting 5, he doesn't get much rebound and is a soft player. The coach doesn't want to play him much but his height of 7-2 has its advantages. Daydreams at times and a little slow. He is quite wide though, and with enough practice and putting them to use he can be good. Sophomore.

(Kelvin's brother) - Also from Macau and is one year older than Kelvin, now enrolled in U of Texas. A sophomore student who somehow became the starting shooting guard for them. I haven't decided much on him so that's all for him, now.

Locales:
U of Southwestern Texas - Mid-sized (18000 students) public university which is of a second tier in terms of being famous, but still is part of the NCAA Division I Program. Is in the 'Desert Conference' with 8 other universities. The basketball team has not made the NCAA tournament before even though they usually finish at third place. Fictional but I'm thinking that this university is probably real (the name that is). Desert Conference is made up, as well.

U of Texas - A real life university in the Big 12 conference. Largest university in the U.S. with over 50000 students and I'm a graduate from there as well. Great athletics program and campus at the capitol of Texas. This is the university that Kelvin hates and is where his brother studies now.

Hmm.

2007-03-09T18:20:22Z

Hmm.

Okay, this is where I'll post my written stuff while my own blog will still be used for blogging purposes. So if you wanna read up on any latest writings I have, friend me and be sure to post comments when a post comes up.

I'll try to update it at least once a week but there's no guarantees.

The first one will be the basketball manga idea which I had but couldn't draw it because my drawing sucks.

Next post will be a rundown on the general feel of the work itself.