"And with that, that would be everything," the team doctor said while he finished weighing Aaron on the scale that was located in one of the corners of the sports center's medical wing, while the doctor finished jotting down the data on his clipboard.
Name: Aaron Reed
Age: 18
Position: Center
Height: 7 ft (2.13 M)
Weight: 220 pounds
Those were most of the data that the team doctor had taken from each of the players, while that information would later be digitized on the team's servers to be able to have control of the players.
"The blood tests and other analyses will take a week," the doctor told him while he placed the vial, which had Aaron's name engraved on it alongside the rest of the other 3, for its subsequent analysis in a laboratory affiliated with the university.
"Well, then I think we can already start with the part that interests all of you boys the most," Coach Calipari said while he returned with a basketball between his hands and headed toward the 4 young men.
"How will the game be?" one of the Harrison twins asked toward the coach, who began to explain the rules of how the game would be.
"You will play a 2 vs 2; the first to 21 will be the winner," Coach Calipari told them with a smile, while the Harrison twins already had smiles on their faces imagining that they already had it won; after all, their chemistry as a team was something undeniable.
Seeing that reaction from the twins, Coach Calipari smiled. "And by the way, you 2 will play separated," he said to clip the wings and the spirits of both young men.
"Who with whom then?" asked Julius. "You decide that," said Orlando, who was already in a corner with a clipboard to take notes about the results he could see in this game.
In the end, the teams ended up being Julius and Andrew against Aaron and Aaron; yes, both Aarons would play together on the same team.
"I'm counting on you, friend," Andrew said to Julius, since between the two, he knew that Julius would be the best option to be able to contain someone like Aaron Reed as far as height and physical strength are concerned.
With the teams already formed, John Robic approached the center of the court, giving light bounces to the ball, while both Aaron Reed and Julius entered the center circle, preparing to take the opening jump.
"Good luck, friend," Julius told him with a friendly smile, while Aaron, on the other hand, had a look of complete concentration while flexing his knees, entirely focused on the ball that John held.
Looking toward both sides, John brought the whistle to his mouth, and as soon as its beep sounded, he threw the ball with all his might straight upward, while the two giants who were on both sides of him jumped with their hands extended all the way up.
Although it seemed that both Aaron and Julius jumped almost at the same time, there was a slight difference of barely microseconds between the jump of both, with Aaron being the one who jumped a bit before Julius, causing him to get hold of the ball before him.
With the palm of his hand reaching the ball, Aaron passed it immediately to Aaron Harrison, who advanced decisively forward while his brother Andrew put himself in front of him, seeking to block his path.
Without wasting time, Aaron manages to get past his twin with a quick feint, cutting toward the center, while on the other side Julius took charge of following with attention each one of Aaron's movements, who had headed quickly toward the center.
"Here!" shouted Aaron, calling for the ball, which did not take long to arrive at his hands, while at his back was Julius, who had his entire body pressed against Aaron's, not wanting the latter to turn and basket the ball.
"He's strong," was the first thought that arose from Aaron's mind upon seeing how effectively he could not turn with comfort against Julius, but despite that, he already counted on a way to be able to get past him and score.
The first thing he did was bump against Julius again in an attempt to generate contact and unbalance him, something he achieved but barely, but that was enough to then turn quickly and put himself in position to attempt a mid-range shot.
Taken by surprise, Julius unconsciously jumped with his hands upward, attempting to block any possible shot that Aaron was going to attempt, but instead, what he did was nothing more than a fake with which Aaron was able to get past Julius.
Once he got past Julius, Aaron jumped, seeking to make a dunk against the hoop, but at his side Andrew had also jumped with his hand heading toward the ball that was in Aaron's hands.
In the air, Aaron changed the hand with which he held the ball, moving it completely out of Andrew's reach to finish slamming it against the hoop with all his might, causing the sound to echo throughout the entire gym.
The coaches, upon witnessing that, directed glances among themselves while Orlando made quick notes without ceasing to raise his gaze to see Aaron. "His low post game does not cease to surprise me," Orlando said with a smile of admiration.
"There is no doubt that he counts on an agility rarely seen for someone with his size," added Coach Calipari. "But physically he can still develop more," was the next comment from the coach while he analyzed the play in detail.
Even though Aaron managed to evade Julius based on his agility and superior intelligence, that would not work always, especially against teams with suffocating defenses or if they commit fouls on you all the time; of course Aaron also has a high free throw percentage, but even so, suffering constant fouls would slow down his development.
"Let's talk with the team nutritionist; I want Aaron to manage to gain another 20 pounds of muscle," Coach Calipari told Orlando without taking his eyes off the court, while the latter noted everything down thoroughly.
On this occasion, Julius and Andrew's team was in possession of the ball, while Aaron Harrison took charge of guarding his brother and defending the perimeter of the court; Aaron was beneath the hoop, looking thoroughly at each one of the other team's movements.
With a classic pick and roll, Julius managed to get rid of Andrew to be able to penetrate straight to the paint and face Aaron again, who stood with his hands extended while preventing Julius from taking any more steps.
"Damn it," Julius thought while he tried with all his might to overcome Aaron, but he stayed stuck to him like a leech, preventing him from turning with comfort, and he knew that forcing a shot in this kind of situation wouldn't be a good thing either.
"Hey!" shouted Aaron Harrison, raising his hand in the direction of Julius, who, while Aaron and Julius fought for the paint, had moved along the perimeter, ending up in the right corner of the court.
Seeing how there was no other option, Julius threw the ball in the direction of his teammate, while Aaron, upon seeing that, immediately left his mark on Julius to head straight toward Aaron Harrison, who, upon seeing how Aaron followed him, immediately put himself in a shooting position, launching the ball.
Despite not arriving in time, Aaron jumped as high as possible with his hand extended, seeking to interfere with the ball, but his fingers barely could graze the ball; however, that was enough to be able to cause the ball to bounce off the rim.
"I got it!" shouted Andrew, heading straight toward the rebound of the ball, but before his fingers even touched the ball, Julius arrived faster and with force slammed the ball against the hoop.
2-2 current score, tied.
John, upon seeing that, said, "Reed's defensive awareness is also first class," remembering how Aaron's decisions were very accurate while interfering with Andrew's shot from the perimeter, demonstrating that Aaron was also a good perimeter defender.
"Now imagine both Aaron and Julius on the same court," Coach Calipari said with excitement, imagining the scene in which both played together, being a great defensive duo on the court, defending both the interior and exterior game of the court without problems.
That single thought made Coach Calipari keep silence while his mind was going a mile a minute, thinking of tactical formations and plays that could be done with both on the court, while thinking that the vision he had could become reality in the season about to start.
Returning to the game, this time the team of the two Aarons was in possession of the ball, while the duo of Julius and Andrew took defensive positions, since they would not allow Aaron to penetrate with comfort again.
Looking thoroughly at the court, Aaron had the ball while giving it light bounces with his hand, while his mind went a mile a minute, thinking of ways to be able to basket the ball, knowing that trying to penetrate again would be a bad idea.
Andrew, upon seeing how Aaron did not move, decided that the best option in this case was to strip the ball from him himself. "If he doesn't come, I will go for him," was Andrew's thought while he immediately extended his hand, seeking to take Aaron unawares.
But Aaron quickly retracted his hand with the ball to then pass it toward his other hand and pass by the side of Andrew, who was caught unawares upon seeing how Aaron got past him quickly. "Watch out!" was the only thing he could say, seeing Julius approach toward him, seeking to keep him outside the perimeter.
Meanwhile, Andrew, recomposing himself completely, approached toward his brother, seeking to cut off any possible pass to Aaron while Julius and he faced each other.
On this occasion, Aaron did not try to penetrate Julius again; instead, he stayed outside of him, moving along the perimeter line while Julius was in front of him with his knees flexed and both arms extended, preventing Aaron from managing to penetrate through him easily.
But with calmness, Aaron did quite the opposite, since as soon as he saw that he had an opportunity, he immediately took a step backward while putting himself in a shooting position, and the ball left his fingers, heading toward the hoop.
"Shit, a step-back," Julius cursed while he jumped as high as he could, but even so, he didn't even manage to graze the ball with the tips of his fingers while it entered cleanly into the hoop.
"Didn't you see it coming?" Aaron told him with a smile, while his teammate approached toward him for a fist bump, while Andrew picked up the ball and prepared to restart the play.
Meanwhile, Andrew had already picked up the ball and quickly passed it toward Julius, who tried to attempt a penetration against Aaron again, making use of his superior physique.
Despite that, Aaron managed to uncomfortable him enough so that Julius had no choice but to pass the ball toward Andrew, who was heavily marked by his twin brother but who even so tried to force the shot.
Unfortunately, despite Andrew's best efforts, the ball ended up bouncing against the rim, causing the ball to come out for a rebound which Julius and Aaron fought to make theirs.
Fighting for dominance of the ball, Aaron managed to get hold of the ball, and no sooner had his feet touched the ground than he spun on his own axis to then be able to jump with force and slam the ball against the hoop again.
2-6 current score.
After that, the coaches began to write on their clipboards, writing notes frantically and thinking of possible lineups for the team.
"This season will be incredible," Orlando said with a smile, excited seeing the 4 players who were on the hardwood fighting among themselves.
"We will definitely give people something to talk about," Coach Calipari added with an excited smile on his face, knowing that his choice had been the most correct one and that he had gathered several players who would possibly give people something to talk about in the championship.
What excited him the most was that he could see flashes of synergy and connection among the 4, which would be something very important for the upcoming season that was approaching.
Authors thought's
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