A New Development
A New Development
Right off the bat, Dominion started the action off with Devin as they inbounded the ball to him. Whether as a sign of confidence or for more strategic reasons Jason began guarding him at full court.
He couldn't take a single dribble without Jason being right there, putting pressure on him as he smothered him.
Devin placed his body between Jason and the ball as he began to dance in an attempt to create space. Spin move, hard stop into a crossover, between the legs.
But with each move Jason responded accordingly, shuffling his feet, chopping his steps, and rotating his hips, playing tough physical defense while avoiding any fouls.
Having only gotten into the game a bead of sweat was already rolling down the side of Devin's face as he had just barely managed to cross half-court before getting a violation.
"Damn bro, I just got in. You really ain't trynna give me any space huh?" Just as he had finished speaking, Devin drove hard to the right. In the direction of a screen.
Jason fought through the screen from the opposing team's reserve Center. Once again he was right in Devin's face as he responded with a slight grin.
"You're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want to get rid of me man." The intensity in Devin's eye's burned even more fiercely "Then I guess it's about time I took it up a notch."
In an almost slow motion like manner, Devin began to turn over his right shoulder. Jason was readying himself to respond to whatever his next move would be. For a split second Devin and Jason were squaring off face to face.
But before he could even react Devin burst forward off of a hard dribble, crossover from his left to his right as he began to drive in that direction.
By the time he could respond Devin had already blown past him, almost a step and a half of space between them as he began chasing after him.
'What the hell!? I knew he was a freak athlete before that incident in college, but this is way too much!' Even with that thought on his mind Jason didn't allow himself to be distracted as he continued to do his best to stick with Devin.
Although he was able to blow past Jason and create some distance initially, he began to slow down just a bit. This slight deceleration combined with Jason's defensive grit to not give up on the play allowed him to catch up slightly. But he was still on his hip as Devin began to drive into the paint.
Seeing Devin drive straight into the paint, Kyle had no choice but to leave his defensive assignment with a bit of space as he stepped up in an attempt to provide some resistance and rim protection.
Surprisingly enough, even with a teammate somewhat open with a bit of space right underneath the basket Devin did not attempt to pass the ball. Instead fulling committing to score as he leapt off the court with his right foot.
Jason was on his left side as he jumped up into the air to stay with him. Kyle was right in front of him as he jumped straight up, hands extended high above his head.
The ball was in Devin's left hand as he neared the apex of his jump. Jason reached out in an attempt to block it from behind.
With Kyle's intimidating reach and jumping ability combined with his own defensive presence he was sure that Devin's shot would be bothered enough to miss if not just outright blocked.
But then Devin's left hand swooped the ball down toward his body as he began rotating towards his right, avoiding both his and Kyle's outreached hands.
Almost completely underneath the basket with his back facing the baseline, Devin tossed the ball up overhead with his left hand in a scoop shot styled lay up.
Seeing Devin's insane mid air adjustment Kyle lurched forward in a moment of panic. The sound of the referee blowing his whistle rang out as Kyle overreached and made excessive contact.
Worst of all was the fact that his effort was all in vain as the ball still managed to float over his reach. The contact in the air threw all threw of them off balance as they all collided slightly before crashing to the hardwood.
Kyle and Jason stared at the basket as they saw the ball land on the rim. The air seemed to have been sucked out of the stadium as the crowd fell silent in anticipation.
The ball circled around the rim in dramatic fashion before finally falling through the net. Devin pounded his chest with both fist as he shouted out "And One!"
His teammates walked over and reached out to help him up. As he was helped to his feet he began to high five his teammates, even smacking some of them on the chest with the back of his hand.
"That's what I'm talking about! We got this! I got this! We ain't getting done in in our house! Not in our city!" Jason stared at him in confusion and slight nervousness.
'What in the world happened? That level of play doesn't match up with his stats and medals. This doesn't make sense...'
As the players from both teams began to get in formation for Devin's free throw Jason used Heart's Eye on Devin once again. His heart began to race even harder than it already was, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as his eyes widened.
[Skills
Free throw: A+
Lay Up: SS+
Dunking: C-
Close Shot: SS+
Mid Range Shooting: SS
Three-Point Shooting: B
Dribbling: SS+
Passing: B
Ball Handling: SS+
Play Making: A-
Post Scoring: SS+
Rebounding: B
Post Control: S+
Perimeter Defense: A+ ->S+
Post Defense: A+
Steals: B+ ->A+
Blocks: B+ ->A-
Athleticism: S+ ->SS ]
[Tough Shot Maker (Gold): Decreases the effect that defense will have against your shot by a small margin and increases the speed of your release when defense is close by.
Human Highlight Reel (Gold): Performing highlight plays will temporarily give you a slight boost to your abilities. Keep performing highlight plays to keep the boost active. But if you make a mistake or if a highlight is performed against you the boost disappears.
Microwave (Gold): Can get hot in a hurry. Making one shot has a chance to give you a small boost and increases your chances of getting into rhythm.
Acrobat (Gold): Making adjustments mid air imposes less of a penalty to your shots and layups.
Cannon Ball (Gold): You are able to absorb contact while in the air and minimize the affect that it has on you.
Clamps (Silver): Increases your ability to stick with your defensive assignment. Also improves your ability to recover after being broken down on defense.
Lock Down Defender (Gold): Lowers the effectiveness of your opponents offensive badges and increases your ability to not fall for different fakes and moves.
Pick Pocket (Gold): Increases your ability to steal the ball away from the ball handler. Decreases your chances of being called for a reach in foul.
Ankle Breaker (Gold): Increases the effectiveness of your dribble moves in breaking down your defender.
Tight Handles (Gold): Increases your ability to dribble through traffic without losing the ball. Decreases your chances of having the ball stripped away while dribbling.
Pick And Roll Ball Handler (Gold): Increases your ability to pass to the roll man during a pick and roll.
Off The Dribble Shot Maker (Silver): Increases the users chance of making a shot when taking it off of the dribble.
Isolation King (Gold): When you are going one on one with your defender all of your offensive skills gain a small boost.
The Dream (Gold): Your pump fakes and moves in the post are more likely to succeed and are able to create more space.
Post Delivery (Gold): Gain a small boost to post hooks and floaters from the post. The penalty imposed by defenders is slightly reduced.
Post Fade Away (Gold): Gain a small boost to post fade aways. Amount of space created and effectiveness is slightly increased.
Like A Butterfly (Gold): Gain a small boost to the effectiveness of floaters. Penalty from defenders is slightly reduced.
Mr. Euro (Gold): The amount of distance you can cover with Euro steps and their effectiveness receive a small boost.
He was already surprised by the jump in Devin's stats. But what got to him even more was something else entirely.
Blast Off (Platinum): You are an explosive athlete with insane speed. When attempting to drive, your athleticism gains a boost for your first step. Every step afterwards gradually loses the boost until you return to your regular level. Use of this badge drains more stamina than your regular drives would consume.
Circus Show (Platinum): An advanced version of other badges. You can attempt insane shots in the that others wouldn't even dream of taking. The penalty induced by the difficulty of the shot itself is vastly reduced. Use of this badge drains more stamina than your regular shots would consume.
Jason cursed in his mind 'You've got to be fucking kidding me! I've had this system for damn near two years now and I've never seen this shit before. What the hell is Platinum!?'