The game was close and tough; both teams refused to back down, adding point after point in their possessions, making it a game full of scoring and plays aimed at maintaining the defense. In that kind of environment, the first half had ended with a tight score.
18-16 current score.
The Bulldogs team currently held the lead by only one basket, which wasn't a very large advantage since both teams were sinking shot after shot, making the game a total offensive showcase. Once the first quarter came to an end, both teams were sitting in chairs with towels over their shoulders and drinking from bottles, trying to recover as much as possible to return to the court as quickly as possible.
While that was happening, Coach Arbitello was deep in thought with clipboard in hand, thinking of some way to break the current rhythm of the game and obtain a greater advantage for his team in what remained of the match.
"They're playing very fast," Artie added, stepping next to his friend while watching the players who were resting as much as they could in the few minutes of break they had.
"I noticed," Coach Arbitello added without looking up from his clipboard, quickly thinking of a solution to the problem his colleague mentioned. "We have to find a way to slow down the pace of the game." It was the only plausible solution the coach could think of in this situation.
"Someone needs to share the playmaking with Corey," Artie quickly added, thinking the same as his partner regarding the possible solution. "We should..." he said while his gaze settled on Aaron, who was sitting, briefly talking with Omar and drinking from his sports drink.
"I've thought about it," Coach Arbitello began to say. "But if we put him at center, the problem will be how to hold off Gardner," he finished, also considering the same possibility but revealing the potential complications of that strategy.
"And what if we just have Roland do what Aaron and Dominykas did in the first half?" was Artie's next suggestion, remembering how Aaron took advantage of Dominykas facing Gardner head-on so that Aaron could come up from his blind side and steal the ball from his hands.
At that suggestion, Coach Arbitello fell into deep reflection, weighing the pros and cons, since Roland was someone who could compete in both height and strength with Gardner without falling at the first impact, unlike Dominykas.
"Brown!!" Coach Arbitello suddenly shouted in the direction of Roland, who immediately looked up and headed toward where both coaches were standing.
"Coach," was the first thing Roland said before Coach Arbitello began with his explanation.
"You're going in the next quarter," was the first sentence Coach Arbitello dropped, causing a smile to settle on Roland's face. "You go in and Reed will move up to the center position, and I want both of you to work together to defend Gardner." The coach's next sentence made the smile on his face vanish, replaced by a frown.
"But coach, I don't think Reed can compete physically against him," was the first thing Roland said, showing his greatest concern about the coach's decision to take out Dominykas and place Reed in the center position.
"That's why I want you and Reed to do what he and Dominykas did in the first half," the coach said while quickly raising the clipboard and beginning to draw lines and explain the next strategy. "Once the Bulldogs change positions and move up, you and Reed will alternate positions, putting you under the hoop to defend Gardner," Coach Arbitello explained, drawing a line between both positions to explain the switch. "That way, Aaron can go back to stealing the ball like he did with Dominykas," he finished explaining before settling his gaze on Roland, waiting for him to understand.
Without any way to contradict or deny the coach's orders, Roland could only nod toward both coaches while taking off his warm-up jacket and starting to warm up to be ready to enter.
Once the players saw Roland warming up, a look of confusion and bewilderment appeared on their faces because usually, when Roland warms up, it meant Aaron would be heading out and subbed, something the vast majority did not agree with considering he had played a key role in the defense against Gardner.
"Dominykas, rest the second quarter." If the first part caused bewilderment, the next sentence said by the coach provoked disbelief among the players, thinking the coach was crazy.
"Coach, I can keep going," Dominykas said quickly, not understanding why the coach wanted to take him out if he had done a great job in the first quarter against Gardner.
"I know, but this is a technical decision," Coach Arbitello said in his direction while he began to explain the new plan to all the players that he had previously explained to Roland.
When the players heard the full plan, some nodded while others, like Dominykas and Maurice, had an expression of bitterness on their faces. "This is simply to increase the number of passes and shots, understand?" This last sentence was directed toward Dominykas.
"Understood," Dominykas said while tightly squeezing his fists against the chair in a clear sign of frustration at having to leave the court so soon.
Without another word, the players quickly stood up and got into position to continue the game.
The substitution of Dominykas did not go unnoticed by the Bulldogs team or their coach. "What is he plotting?" he asked himself mentally, trying to understand what could be the reason Coach Arbitello took out the only player who could physically compete with Roland.
"This just became child's play," Gardner provoked out loud, seeing the same as the coach, but to him, it seemed more like the other team had thrown in the towel than anything else.
In this possession for the Bulldogs, the ball was immediately given to him, and as soon as he had the ball in his hands, he ran as if there were no tomorrow toward the opposing team's hoop.
As he approached, he saw how the new player who had moved toward him stood in front of him, getting into a defensive position ready to stop him.
"Whoa, he's strong," was the first thought that crossed Roland's mind once he was face-to-face against Gardner, and he wondered how Dominykas had been able to hold out so long against someone like him.
"Weakling," Gardner thought while, without losing his rhythm, he immediately made a sharp spin to the left and prepared to jump with the ball to slam it hard into the hoop.
But a hand was faster, and at the moment he was about to drive it like a dagger, it swatted the ball with force, making the ball fly out of Gardner's hands as the players on the court scrambled for possession.
"Tscht, he's so annoying," Gardner thought upon seeing that it was the same player from the previous times who had stripped the ball from his hands on more than one occasion.
If there was something Gardner hated most, it was this type of defender—the ones who didn't rely on strength or contact, but those who had great prediction and timing skills that allowed them to take the ball at the perfect moment without him ever expecting it to happen.
Without wasting time, Aaron quickly moved up for the team's counterattack, never looking back at the gaze Gardner was directing toward him.
As he ran, his gaze kept shifting everywhere, evaluating the court situation and analyzing his next play while Corey had possession of the ball and a heavy mark on him.
"Here!" Aaron said, immediately raising his hand toward him, who upon seeing him move up immediately passed the ball to him while the Bulldogs player next to him ran to prevent him from moving easily.
But Aaron didn't keep the ball in his hands; the moment he caught the ball, he immediately passed it to Omar, who was further up at the edge of the court.
Seeing the ball heading in his direction, Omar showed no sign of surprise like the rest of the players on the court; instead, he immediately shot the ball toward the hoop without any pressure, thanks to the fact that some players still hadn't fully reacted to what had happened.
"Swish," was the clean sound of the ball entering the hoop.
"Yes!!" Omar shouted, heading toward his teammates to celebrate, while the Bulldogs players had a blank look as if they were still trying to process what had occurred.
"Let's go!!" Artie shouted from the sideline, infected by the spirit of the players on the court.
"With him in the center position, the rhythm of passing and play is maximized," Coach Arbitello thought while he immediately started sketching on his clipboard, new ideas entering his mind which he quickly recorded.
Without realizing it, on the bench, Dominykas saw both reactions and how the coach was starting to detail new lineups on his board.
A look of disappointment and frustration appeared on his face as he thought about the possibility of losing his starting position. "This isn't over," he thought seriously, not willing to throw in the towel so quickly or give up his spot as the starting center.
At the same time Dominykas was deep in his thoughts, the game continued without any setback, the only change being that the Bulldogs team was not having a good time like in the first quarter of the game.
"Mark him!" Bivens said quickly while doing exactly what he said and getting in front of Aaron, who, upon seeing him, simply began to do a quick feint over his legs while making a fake turn to the right and then sharply heading left, continuing to advance without any problem.
Bivens also quickly ran with the objective of chasing Aaron, who, once he broke free, quickly threw a pass to Maurice, who dove directly into the paint and did a dunk, adding another 2 valuable points for the Royals team.
Immediately after that, the Bulldogs coach couldn't wait another second and called a timeout while signaling with his hand for his players to quickly approach him.
"This is something we didn't foresee," the coach began to say. "With number 15 in the center position, it seems they are now playing with 2 point guards in the game, causing the Royals' ball control to improve," he explained what he had understood from watching the match from off the court.
Racking his brain, the coach desperately looked for any possible solution without being able to think of one in the short term.
Without a clear solution and with the timeout running out, the coach simply assigned the players to play man-to-man defense on each of the players, cutting off the passing lanes for both Aaron and Corey.
At one point, it seemed like the strategy was working smoothly as Aaron found himself in possession of the ball but was heavily marked by the Bulldogs players inside the paint.
Aaron had the ball and was rotating it from one side to the other over his head while the players had him locked in a cage and the shot clock was running out.
But something incredible happened at that moment without anyone noticing; Omar stealthily approached until positioning himself under the hoop, which did not go unnoticed by Aaron, who upon seeing that simply stayed still and threw the ball backward without even turning his head.
What happened next was something everyone expected: Omar dunked the ball while the Bulldogs players didn't understand how Aaron could pass the ball that way.
The roar of the crowd was immediate, watching in disbelief the pass they witnessed under the intense marking of the Bulldogs players.
The Bulldogs coach, seeing that, couldn't think of any idea to stop him; he simply hoped his team wouldn't lose in a disastrous way and that the game would just end once and for all so he could get as far away from New York as possible.
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