Tryouts: Part 2

First we had to do shooting drills. We started from the top of the perimeter and had to make as many free throw line pull up jumpers as possible out of 10 shots. I easily made all of them. Next, we had to make as many catch and shoot three pointers as many possible also out of 10 shots. I had made 7 out of 10.

To test our handles, they made us start from one side of the court and dribble to the other side of the court. We could do any move we wanted and we would be graded based on those move. However, if we messed up any of the move such as losing the ball or stumbling, points would be deducted.

I felt this was a very good way to test a player. If a player simply dribbled the ball, it showed that he was not confident in his handles. If a player dribbled too flashily, he would also be deducted as those type of moves should definitely not be used in games. I decide to go with simple between the legs and behind the back moves and did not mess up a single one of them so I felt I did pretty well.

For layups and paint moves, they made us do a variety of drills such as handoffs, finishing over defenders, finishing with contact, footwork, overhand and underhand hooks. I was able to do most of them with little trouble except maybe the overhand hooks. I wasn't used to playing in the paint and had practiced few skills for it.

After all the drills, we were each given our respective scores out of 100 and told to wait for the practice games. I looked at my paper and saw a score of 85. I didn't know how great it was compared to other players but I definitely wasn't satisfied. Dammit, 85! I was aiming for at least 90, what more could I have done. Maybe if I hit all of my threes they would have given me a 90?

"Hey, Kaen what did you get! I got 73." Takao came to me and waved his paper excitedly.

"I got 85, why are you looking so happy getting 73? I'm sure everybody else would have gotten around 75 to 80." I asked him curiously.

"85! KAEN ARE YOU SERIOUS! 85! Do you know the highest score for the tryouts ever recorded was 88 and that was 15 years ago, you are only 3 points away!"Ryo who was walking to us exclaimed.

"Really? I expected better, I missed like 3 threes in the shooting test and screwed up some of my finishes." I said sadly. I wasn't really sad with my score, more like I could not beat the club legend who made it to the first team in his first year, and that guy only made it to the league for a couple of years. He wasn't even an all star in the NBA or else I would have known his name.

"Okay, everybody huddle up." I heard one of the coaches calling us in the middle. We all started making our way towards him.

"Now it's time for our practice games. There are 20 of you here, I want you to split into 4 teams on your own. This is a chance for you to shine if you messed up and did not do so well in the drills earlier. I expect everybody to treat this as a real game and try your best. Now lets go!"

I teamed up with Takao and Ryo and the 3 of us found 2 other big men. One of them was 1.85 and the other was 1.83 meters tall. This is actually a pretty good team, now it is time for me to boost my score.

We were playing full court practice matches. I got the ball and passed it to Takao who then started making his way up the court. Once the both of us crossed mid court and we started a play. Takao started driving to the basket, pulling both his defender and Ryos defender with him. He then kicked the ball out towards Ryo. I then ran towards Ryo and he handed the ball off to me and set a screen. My defender go caught in the screen and I turned around and let the ball fly. The ball, flew through the net hitting nothing but air. Easy, I thought to myself with a smile.

Next, it our possession and I was marking the other teams small forward. The point guard passed it to the forward and he caught it with his back facing me. He then tried to spin around me and drive directly to the basket. Unfortunately for him, he was too slow and I managed to get a hand on the ball.

I ran after the loose ball, scooped it up and started sprinting full speed to the basket. I looked back and saw my mark trying to chase me down, probably hoping to redeem himself with a block. I stopped suddenly in front of the basket and did a pump fake. My defender bit it and jumped. He the realized it was a fake and tried to avoid me but it was too late. I jumped into him and heard the whistle call, I then tossed the ball up and watched it fall through the net.

"Lets goooo! And 1! Why you making this so easy bruh!" I taunted my mark, I then walked up to the free throw line and sunk the shot.