Chapter 37 A Star Is Born 3
Chapter 37 A Star Is Born 3
So the game continued with Jake's total domination by his opponent, he made a few points with 2-point shots, but did not try to make 3-point shots, although Jake was fairly confident in his 3-point shots he knew in one game and with markup his hit rate was very low and with him winning the game had no reason for him to risk losing possession of the ball.
His opponent had also realized this and as he knew he would lose at this pace he tried to force Jake to stay out for the 3-point line, plus if he tried to force it too much would be missing and if he gave Jake some space would pass with his speed , so he managed to stop Jake from scoring for a while and Jake did not force the pass either because he knew that his opponent would soon tire.
As soon as his opponent began to make mistakes and Jake could do the 10 points soon, Jake finished his first game and was as tiring as he hoped, competing in 2 categories before Jake was a little tired and if he reached the final and did the 8 games Jake could not stand.
Good thing Jake still had many Stamina Bars, so this extended tournament would not be a problem, so Jake had his second and third games plus those matches were much easier it seemed that his opponent in the first game could have gone far to the competition if not had faced Jake in the first match.
In his fourth game Jake found his first most feared opponent, he was 1.68 m, it was the opponent Jake else thought would be difficult, but Jake soon realized that it might not be so despite his opponent being tall and having some skill he was very slow and his marking was not very strong, it seems that he counted on the mistakes of his opponents and with his height to achieve victory in his previous games, so Jake used his speed to dribble his opponent and make his shots of 2 points, he still did not try to go into the basket because he was afraid to take a block but the shots from far away were not problems.
After that Jake won 2 more games with some difficulty and reached the top 4 of the competition 1 against 1, all the other 3 were 15 years and an average height of 1.72 m, the largest was 1.74 m, and different from before all 3 looked like they were very skilled, someone who was tall, fast and knew how to score well as the most feared opponent for Jake, as he only missed 2 games and would finish soon and without much rest Jake ate his Stamina Bar to recover his energy, so he turned what everyone thought was his biggest disadvantage became an advantage, his 3 opponents were tired after 6 games, after all, they depended on his height and always had to score and run to basket to make his points while Jake alone had to take possession of the ball and make his 2-point shots to win.
Everyone watching the last four thought Jake was the favorite. Jake was actually much more skillful than the other 3 who had difficult games so far, but everyone who understood the game knew that Jake should have been exhausted by now and also that his opponents would use his height to try to gain the advantage.
Soon Jake had his first game his opponent looked tall and strong, he did not seem to be the fast type and was more of a type that uses his body to score as a Center.
"Boy, when I first saw you on this court, I never thought you could compete with me in a match, but now after all you've done I'd have to be an idiot to underestimate you, even though I have to use my height to win you do not think it's unfair after all this may be the last time I win you after all next year the height should not be more of a disadvantage for you. "
"You talk like you've already won, do not worry I will not find your height unfair because I'm going to beat you, it's just going to be more work than the others."
"Being overconfident is already boyish arrogance, you should be satisfied getting two awards should not be too greedy."
"If I win hands it's because I have the ability not because I'm arrogant."
"I like you, lad. I'll let you know the name of the person who taught you a lesson, CJ, that's the name for you to remember."
After CJ said what he wanted, Jake just laughed as if he thought it was ridiculous, he admitted that he thought it was going to be a difficult game, but he did not play several games in his Imagination Training with opponents much taller than him for nothing , he learned several ways to punctuate such people, he just finds more annoying as he said.
The first possession of the ball was going to be CJ, it seemed that even the organizers thought that Jake was going to win and they were giving CJ a chance to win, of course, CJ also realized he did not care to be underestimated, despite everything he said to Jake himself knew that he was much inferior to Jake in everything, but that was not only why he was going to give up, he wanted to win that prize in cash and also the trophy.
In addition, he had a feeling that Jake would be a great NBA player in the future, so if he could win even having to use his advantage at the time he would have something to boast for the rest of his life, win a game over a future professional player just thinking about it increased the energy of CJ.
The game started and CJ soon put the ball up and tried anyway to bounce the ball as far as possible so that Jake could not take the ball while he was down, on top he knew he would not lose his way forward the basket was slow and when he got close to the basket he stood with his back to Jake protecting the ball, it seemed that he was very afraid of losing possession of the ball, then he turned and makes the basket.
When Jake saw what CJ was doing he was shocked and irritated, when he heard what CJ was talking about before the game he thought CJ would make the best game of his life and was even thinking that it would be a difficult game.
Plus he never thought CJ would make such a shameless game, the crowd was also booming more Jake had to admit he had no idea how to get the ball in that situation.
After CJ made the third point, in the same way, the crowd was booing, even more, the audience had never seen this style of play either, they even thought it was illegal and they were looking at the judge.
The judge was helpless despite being an ugly game was not illegal, no one did it because it only worked for the difference in height, and it is difficult to find someone who is much taller than another opponent much inferior in ability, if Jake was a little the higher he could steal the ball with ease.
When CJ went to make the fourth point Jake could not stand and made the mistake, it seemed that CJ also did not think Jake would appeal to the dirty game and fell soon he tried Free Throw and missed and lost possession of the ball.
So Jake figured out how to regain possession, he had confidence in making the points after that, CJ also found that what he was trying to do was not going to work out anymore, so he regretted not having trained Free Throw any more.
Jake started the ball and soon felt the pressure of marking, it seemed that CJ also knew how to play and was not only shameless, so Jake tried a race more CJ kept the distance and ran along, Jake felt that if he attempted the shot miss or would be blocked.
This was the first time that Jake was in a really difficult situation on the court, it seemed that CJ was well on losing time because he had the advantage on the scoreboard and when the time was over he would win.
Jake also noticed this and thought it was time to use the skill he learned in his training, Jake changed his style of dribbling to a faster type and that got the ball higher, so CJ was also confused for a while and soon changed to Marking stance with this new dribbling style Jake could react faster and use his speed to the maximum, so he cut to the right and when CJ was going to follow Jake made a crossover to the left and CJ lost his balance and fell on his butt in the ground so Jake made his first point in the game leaving the audience silent.