Slam Dunk (9 page)
The ref signaled for the teams to come out. Julian, Grady, Mick, Len, and Terrell took their positions on the floor and shook hands with their opponents. Julian thought he might have an inch on the Falcon center. But his opponent was more muscular. That could be a disadvantage, however; he might tire more quickly with the extra weight.
The league had done away with the opening tip-off. Instead, the ref tossed a coin, asking Julian to call heads or tails. Julian called tails and won the toss. The Tornadoes would start on offense in the first and last quarter.
The Falcons stayed behind the midcourt line as Len inbounded the ball to Grady, who slowly dribbled down the court. As he reached the middle of the court, the Falcon point guard came out to cover him, and the Falcons moved into a man-to-man defense. Julian went to the low post and turned his back to the basket. The Falcon center was behind his right shoulder, not giving him much room to maneuver. Mick moved outside, and Grady threw him a chest-high pass. Julian cut across the lane, his hands high as if to take a pass, but Mick bounced the ball to Len instead. Len dribbled closer to the basket, faked a shot, and fired a pass to Julian. Terrell went to the baseline behind Julian, who threw him the ball. Terrell took a jump shot that rimmed the basket but wouldn’t drop. Julian outleaped two Falcons, pulled down the rebound, and saw Len break away from his man. He hit Len with a chest pass, and Len threw up a shot that swished through the net. The Tornadoes had scored first.
Coach Valenti signaled for a 1–3–1 zone as the Tornadoes hustled back to defend. The Falcon point guard dribbled into their front court, found a crease in the zone, and fired a fifteen-foot bull’s-eye to tie the score. Julian made a note to tell the Tornado guards to stick close to that guy, in case that shot wasn’t a fluke.
When the Tornadoes took the ball again, the Falcon center tried to intercept a pass thrown by Terrell. Len got to the ball first. Julian was free and streaked to the basket. Len saw him and threw a high pass that Julian took on his way to the hoop. As he released the ball, a Falcon forward came down hard on his arm. As the ref’s whistle sounded, the shot banked in. Cheers and clapping thundered from the Tornado bleachers.
“Number four, blue,” called the ref. “On the arm.” Julian walked to the free-throw line and took a deep breath. The ref bounced the ball to him, and Julian focused on the front rim. He reminded himself to keep his right elbow under the ball, bent his knees, and sank the foul shot, giving the Tornadoes a 5–2 lead.
But a minute later, the Falcon center hit a jumper from fifteen feet out. Julian realized that he would probably have to guard this guy outside, meaning that he might not be in position for some rebounds. He hoped Mick and the others could take up the slack.
Six minutes into the first quarter, Coach Valenti called time. The Falcons were ahead, 15–13. The coach gathered the team together. “All right, we’re looking good, but these guys are hot from the perimeter. We need to stay tight on that little guard; he can shoot from anywhere. And the center, too. Let’s stick with man-to-man for now. Cal, you’re in for Julian, and Roger, take over for Terrell. Anthony, give Len a breather. Brandon, get right in that guard’s shirt.” Brandon, who had come in for Grady a minute earlier, nodded.
But when the teams went back out, the hot-shooting guard was on the bench. His replacement, Julian noticed, liked to dribble high. Grady nudged Julian. “Look at that dribble. Brandon might be able to —”
Before he could finish, Brandon had flicked the ball away from the dribbler with a lightning move. He passed to Anthony, who sank a shot from the baseline to tie the score.
Just before the end of the quarter, Cal was called for a three-second violation. With ten seconds left, the Falcon guard came back in and, just before the buzzer, sank a shot from the back of the key. The Falcons took the lead again, 17–15.
During the second quarter, Julian came back in. He beat the second-string Falcon center to the basket, took a pass from Roger, and scored. The Falcons quickly brought back their starting center, who hit another outside jump shot to put his team ahead again. Grady leaned in toward Julian. “You need to guard him outside.” Julian nodded.
A minute later, the Falcon center swung outside to the left of the key and took a pass from a guard. Julian ran out to defend, arms high. The shot arched over his attempted block, but caromed hard off the front rim. As Grady grabbed the rebound, Julian broke for the other end of the floor, slowed down to take Grady’s long pass, and banked home a layup.
As Julian trotted back on defense, he heard Barry call out, “All right, Jools!”
But in the closing minute of the first half, the Tornadoes seemed to lose their shooting touch, while the Falcon guard hung on to his. He hit two long jumpers and, when Len fouled him, converted a free throw. The buzzer ended the second quarter with the Falcons enjoying their biggest lead, 26–19.
In the locker room, Coach Valenti said, “They can’t stay hot all day. Let’s just play our game and not do anything foolish. Julian or Cal, you’ll have to keep guarding that starting center outside. Julian, if you can hit from outside, we can get that center away from the paint on D. Then we might be able to get high-percentage shots from our forwards. We’re going to start with the man-to-man defense at first in this half, but watch for my signals; we may want to change. We can win this game, guys. Take a minute to think about what we need to do, okay?”
The Falcons started the third quarter on offense, and it looked as if they wanted to give their shooting guard another chance at a long-distance basket. But this time, instead of shooting, he wheeled past Len and drove toward the hoop. Julian had been on the other side of the key, but made a quick sidestep move to block the lane. The guard rammed a shoulder into Julian, and the ref stopped play.
“That’s a charge on number twelve, blue.”
The Tornadoes took over, and Grady came down the court. After several passes around the perimeter, Julian, who’d stayed in the low post, darted to a spot fifteen feet from the basket and took a pass from Len. He spun around and launched a jumper. It banked off the glass and in, bringing the score to 26–21. Suddenly, the Falcons had something new to think about.
On the Falcons’ next possession, Mick stepped in front of a pass meant for one of their forwards and picked it off. He threw it to Grady, and the Tornadoes headed downcourt. Again, Julian moved out from the baseline, and this time, the center followed him. Mick suddenly broke toward the basket, and Julian threw a bounce pass that caught the center by surprise. Mick laid it up and in, and was fouled in the process. He hit the free throw, and suddenly, it was a two-point game at 26–24.
It stayed very tight through the rest of the third quarter and into the fourth. Julian came out for Cal a minute into the fourth quarter, and at the same time, Anthony went in for Len. The Tornadoes took the ball and got it inside to Cal. Terrell moved next to Cal, and Julian elbowed Len, who was sitting next to him. “They’re using the double screen!”
Sure enough, Anthony moved behind the two bigger players, and Cal got him the ball. Anthony’s jumper went in from fifteen feet, tying the score at 34–34.
When Julian went back into the game shortly afterward, the score remained tied, and there were three minutes left in the fourth quarter. But the Falcons, using their quick passing game, were able to spring their shooting guard loose for two shots, plus a free throw, and they led by five.
A minute later, with the clock running down, Julian had the ball in the low post. The center was guarding him closely. When Julian looked around for an open player, he didn’t see one. He whirled around and threw up a jumper... that was off target. But Mick sliced in between two Falcon rebounders and pulled down the ball. He leaped, let go a shot, and was hit on the shoulder as he did. The shot went in, and Mick went to the line for a free throw.
The Falcon fans began to yell at the top of their voices, hoping to distract him. But Mick’s attention was fixed on the rim as he held the ball, flexed his knees, and put it up and in. Once more, it was a two-point game, 39–37.
As the Tornadoes raced back on defense, Julian checked the clock. There was less than a minute. Coach Valenti whistled sharply and signaled for the 1–3–1 zone defense. The Falcons passed the ball around, hoping to flood the zone, force the Tornadoes to foul, or run out the clock. With fifteen seconds to go, Len lunged just as a Falcon forward passed the ball. He deflected it away from its target, and Terrell grabbed it. The Tornadoes had fourteen seconds to score.
Coach Valenti called a time-out — the last time-out the team had. “Okay, we’re going to use the double screen, but this time, we’ll run the pick-and-roll. Julian, you and Terrell will be the screen, Len will fake the shot and give it back to Julian, and maybe we’ll even get them to foul. Let’s go!”
Julian moved into place as the fans on both sides began to roar. Grady passed to Terrell, who swung the ball around to Len on the right side. Len passed to Julian as Terrell came up to set the screen next to Julian. Len came in behind the screen, and Julian threw him the ball. There were four seconds left on the clock as Julian pivoted and moved for the basket. Len passed, throwing high so that Julian would be the only player who could reach the ball.
He threw it
too
high. The ball sailed just over Julian’s fingertips and out-of-bounds. The ref stopped play with two seconds on the clock.
The Falcon rooters yelled, whistled, and clapped. A Falcon guard took the ball and threw a long pass downcourt. As a Falcon guard pulled it in, the buzzer sounded.
Final score: Falcons 39, Tornadoes 37.
Len bent over, hands on knees, looking miserable. Julian draped an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay! We gave these guys all they could handle. You played great!”
Len slowly straightened up and gave Julian a look of gratitude. “We’ll get ’em next time.”
“You bet!” said Julian as the players on both teams went around shaking hands.
Grady looked at Julian. “Well, we almost had them. What can you do?”
Julian smiled. “Know what? This was a great game! And that’s the bottom line.”
Grady thought for a second, then nodded. “Hey, Jools, when you’re right, you’re right.”
They walked off the court together.
