Receiving the ball from Derrick's hands, Aaron did not waste time and immediately began to advance with Julius, directing themselves immediately toward the perimeter of the area.
Without saying any word, both Jimmy and Derrick split up, with each defending one of them.
"Come on, kid," Derrick said with a smile, putting himself below the rim, having Aaron in front of him, who was giving calm bounces to the ball with his gaze totally concentrated on the basket that was behind Derrick.
Without losing time, he immediately took a step forward while protecting the ball with his hand and keeping Derrick away from the ball with his other arm, but even so, his face looked calm despite the whole situation that was taking place.
Despite giving him a difference of more than 20 cm, Derrick stayed calm before forcing contact against Aaron, making it harder for him to advance and forcing him to struggle even harder to be able to keep advancing.
From one moment to another, Derrick stopped putting pressure against Aaron, causing the latter's center of gravity to be left unbalanced, and for a brief moment, he lost his balance and, consequently, control of the ball.
That moment was taken advantage of by Derrick, who quickly launched his hand in the direction toward the ball, stealing it from Aaron in the process to then jump in the air, facing directly toward the rim. Aaron quickly reacted and wanted to interfere with Derrick's dunk so he wouldn't score the basket.
Elevating through the air, Derrick saw out of the corner of his eye how Aaron also sought to interfere with his basket, and in the air, making a display of his core strength, he immediately moved the ball away from Aaron's reach to then finish slamming the ball directly through the rim.
The gym was left briefly in silence at that, while Derrick still remained hanging on the basket with an excited smile on his face, to then fall to the ground softly.
"1-0," Derrick said while he picked up the ball and returned it toward Aaron, who immediately leaned toward Julius and began to whisper words in his ear, already with a strategy in mind to be able to score.
"Try to shake Butler off you and attempt a shot from the perimeter; I will get the ball to you," was the only thing Aaron said to Julius, who without saying a word simply nodded in affirmation, understanding Aaron's plan.
With the game resuming, Aaron returned to direct himself straight toward the rim while Derrick was slightly leaning with his arms extended, trying to cover as much space as possible.
Once he entered the perimeter, Aaron's steps paused while he gave slow bounces to the ball and began to dribble it from one hand to the other while calmly analyzing the whole situation that was being carried out on the court.
Without being able to wait any longer and seeing how the boy he had in front of him did not plan to make another movement, Derrick decided to pass directly to the offensive, quickly extending his hand toward the ball, trying to steal the ball from Aaron's hands.
Reacting, Aaron immediately passed the ball from one hand to the other behind his back, securing possession of the ball while Derrick did not waste time and also kept seeking to manage to get hold of the ball.
Before Derrick could try to steal the ball from Aaron again, he took advantage to be able to jump quickly, putting himself in the shooting position, hoping to launch the ball once he reached the highest point of his jump.
Derrick immediately jumped quickly while extending his hands upward, seeking in any way to be able to interfere with Aaron's shot, but then his look of calm passed to one of incredulity upon seeing Aaron's next movement.
Julius, following the indications that Aaron had told him previously, took advantage of the fact that Jimmy's attention, as well as that of the rest of the people watching the game, was on Aaron; he broke free from his mark, directing himself quickly toward the other flank of the perimeter.
As if he had eyes in his back, Aaron immediately passed the ball in the direction in which Julius was directing himself, who immediately caught the pass that was going in his direction to then with total calm elevate and shoot the ball toward the rim.
"Swish" was the sound heard the moment the ball went through the rim cleanly, putting the score back in a tie.
"Good job," Aaron told him with a smile, raising his hand to then shake his hand with his in a clear sign of companionship.
"1-1," Aaron told him this time while he turned to face Derrick again, who simply had a smile on his face, without taking seriously the provocations launched at him by the boy he had in front of him.
On this opportunity, Aaron did not waste time and passed the ball in the direction toward Julius, who managed to get it before Jimmy's hand could interfere with the ball, and Aaron put himself directly below the rim with Derrick stuck to him like a tick that wouldn't leave him in peace.
Raising his hand, Aaron immediately asked Julius for the ball, who still found himself locked in a duel with Jimmy, who suffocated his teammate in every way, making his movements not be as fluid as they used to be the other times.
Even so, despite the interference, Julius managed to pass the ball with great difficulty in the direction toward Aaron, who did not waste time and immediately made a fake as if he were about to turn toward the right, causing Derrick consequently to turn in the same direction.
Seeing how he had fallen into his trap, he immediately leaned his weight back toward the other direction, causing the turn to change trajectory abruptly and manage to go past Derrick without any problem, who could do nothing else but watch how all that occurred.
Originally, Derrick was ready to make a change of direction and keep defending Aaron, but upon thinking about that, a thought of insecurity surfaced in his mind, causing him to be unable to do anything else but watch how Aaron fitted the ball into the basket with a simple layup.
With helplessness, Derrick could not help but think about his left knee, which had been subjected to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which kept him out practically the entire previous season.
The damage had not only been physical but also psychological; after all, upon thinking about his injury, Derrick subconsciously began to hold himself back, leaving behind the reckless and explosive Derrick Rose that had been the youngest MVP in the history of the league.
"He is not bad at all, kid," Derrick could not help but think, completely re-evaluating the opinion that Derrick originally had of Aaron.
After all, it was quite an anomaly that someone of 7ft could move with so much ease and agility, especially in a reduced space such as was the case of the paint, which usually found itself filled with several players.
"Let's switch," a voice suddenly said, which until the moment had not said a single word up to now, staying completely quiet while they played.
The voice belonged to none other than Jimmy Butler, who looked with fierceness at Aaron, who did not pull his gaze away at any moment.
"Sounds good to me," Derrick said, being completely in agreement with what was said by his teammate and exchanging positions quickly, with Aaron now facing Jimmy.
This time, when the game restarted, Aaron completely felt the change in comparison with the defense that Derrick put on him.
The defense on him was completely suffocating, since Jimmy pushed him with all his strength and did not give him any moment to be able to move the ball with total ease, which was a completely different sensation from what Aaron had felt until now.
For the first time, he could completely feel the change of pace there was between the NCAA and the NBA, which could be said that the pace of the game was faster and more ruthless, as could be appreciated in Jimmy, who did not give any space or opening to Aaron to be able to shoot the ball with ease.
"Hey!" Julius suddenly shouted while he broke free from Derrick and ran in the direction toward Aaron with his hands extended, asking for the ball, which Aaron did not hesitate to pass to him quickly while he took advantage to be able to create distance between himself and Jimmy.
Immediately, Julius returned the ball to Aaron's hands, executing a clean pick-and-roll, which Aaron took advantage of to jump with the ball in one of his hands, rising ready to be able to slam the ball straight against the rim.
But before his hand could even touch the rim, a hand slammed against his, causing the ball to bounce outside the paint, and the ball ended up being quickly picked up by Derrick, who did not waste time and immediately disposed himself to launch it against the rim, increasing the score to "2-1."
Once his feet touched the ground, Aaron could not help but shake his hand due to the hard blow it had received when the ball was blocked.
"That guy doesn't hold anything back," Aaron could not help but think while he looked at Jimmy, who simply returned the look with what seemed to be a smirk before returning to his position and waiting for the rookies to restart the game.
Returning again with a new attempt, Aaron kept feeling the pressure that Jimmy exerted on him, preventing him from playing at his own rhythm and control with which he was accustomed to playing, forcing shots and plays which ended up being blocked without any problem.
"This cannot keep going like this," thought Aaron, who already felt slightly overwhelmed by everything that was happening right now, and that they were down by 2 points, and that the opposing team needed only 2 more baskets to be able to beat them.
Discreetly, Aaron made a signal to Julius, who seemed to understand and simply nodded his head, demonstrating that he understood what his teammate was planning at that moment.
With the plan already in mind, Aaron did not waste time and went back to plant himself in front of Jimmy while trying by all means to shake him off based on dribbles and fakes, putting his back to him to keep the ball as far away as possible and briefly covering Jimmy's vision.
At one point, Aaron leaned again in one direction, at which Jimmy, knowing that it was possibly a fake, could not help but lean in the same direction, waiting for Aaron after that to lean in the opposite direction and seek to go past him through the opposite flank.
Just as Jimmy expected, Aaron did exactly what he had foreseen. "Watch out!" Derrick suddenly shouted, alerting Jimmy, who immediately upon turning found that Julius was already by his side and was setting a screen on him, allowing Aaron to get an easy layup before Derrick arrived to support Jimmy.
"3-2" current score.
"You know, I think it's time to finish this," Derrick said to Jimmy, who simply nodded, knowing what he referred to.
What followed for Aaron and Julius was a completely different game from what they had previously played on the court.
Now the plays of Jimmy and Derrick were no longer so individual, and they cooperated between themselves, making screens and a pick-and-roll which ended up sealing the encounter between both teams with a final score of 5-2.
Bringing his hands to his knees, Aaron could not help but exhale heavily due to the game he had played up to now, which he could say without any doubt had been the hardest he had played to date.
"Good game out there, kid," Derrick suddenly said while he extended a water bottle to Aaron, who did not hesitate to receive it and give it a deep sip, finishing almost completely the bottle in the process.
After saying that, Derrick gave him some pats on the back before directing a few words to Coach Calipari and retiring from the stadium without looking back.
But even so, he could feel the gaze of all the players on his back.
Thinking about the players, the last encounter left him intrigued, especially the way the one who wore the number 15 jersey played. "Maybe it's not a bad idea to go see tonight's game," he thought while he left the training facilities.
Authors thought
What did you think of today's chapter? Give me your opinions and thoughts.
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