by Fresh8 on Sat Jul 29, 2006 12:16 am
Chapter 18
Kevin Garnett picked himself off of the floor. The Wolves had had a long night, fighting back from double digits down for much of it. Coach Mark Moore paced the sideline with his arms folded on his chest. Will Sit sat on the bench right next to Michael Olowokandi.
“Damn Kandi, get some deodorant!” Sit pinched his nose and shook his head, “You smell really bad.”
The big man looked down Sit and patted him on the back, hard.
“Ouch, what was that for?” Sit shouted.
“Hey boss,” Kandi laughed, “Just being friendly with you but if you get on my mean side, I will hurt you worse.”
Sit felt his back starting to get sore and stood up and walked over to Moore on the sideline.
“That guy is annoying me, he really stinks.”
Mark nodded, “I know Kandi isn’t the best player…”
Sit shouted, “No no, he reeks!”
Mark laughed, “Can’t do anything about it.”
Then the ref blew his whistle loud and motioned for a travel committed by the visiting Detroit Pistons and the crowd agreed by cheering even louder. Garnett slapped Marko Jaric’s backside before screaming out something Sit couldn’t hear.
“What did he say?” Sit asked as he turned to the Wolves’ bench.
Madsen joked, “He wants your babies!”
Billups held the ball in his hands and shielded it away from the reach of Troy Hudson. In the corner of his eye he spotted Trenton Hassell headed his way. Out of instinct, Billups dribbled to his right and into the centre of the key. He caught Hudson off guard and split the Wolves defence. Garnett recognised Billups’ move and rotated onto the speedy point guard who then lifted himself into the air. Billups wrapped the ball around his body and passed behind his back to his left. The ball fell right into the hands of an open Rip Hamilton. Hassell turned and sprinted at the Pistons’ sharpshooter who pump faked once before taking two dribbles towards the elbow. Hamilton stopped for a jump shot and flicked his wrists launching the ball towards the hoop. The ball seemed to spin through the air towards it target. It hit the inside of the rim and came right back out towards Kevin Garnett. He rebounded and turned to throw the ball down court. Eddie Griffin picked the ball out of the air and took a few dribbles before taking a step and then dunking it. Everyone in the Target Centre was on their feet as the Wolves increased their lead to 9 points.
“Second win in a row baby!” shouted Garnett as he pointed his finger into the air.
The Wolves were celebrating after their second win, this one against the Pistons and the last was against the Heat. The Pistons headed towards the tunnel that would lead them to the change rooms. Billups and Rasheed Wallace were shaking their hands as they couldn’t believe that they had let the Wolves get away with a win. Furthermore, the Pistons would remain tied with the Cavs for the lead of their Division. Flip Saunders waited for the rest of his coaching staff to catch up with him, then they all left the court hurriedly. The Wolves were still on the court celebrating as the fans were on their feet cheering. Sit smiled and walked with Mark towards the tunnel leading to the press conference room. At the entrance to the tunnel, Peter Robinson was waiting.
“Hey man, what up?” Sit asked, giving him a high five.
Robinson, known as the ‘Cable Guy’ around the NBA because of his affiliation with ESPN, gestured to the young man next to him, “Sit, this is Alex Buckley. I think he would thrive in your Public Relations office.”
“He’s a bit young, you sure he would be a good guy for the job?” Sit questioned him.
“You’re a bit young for being a GM?” Robinson argued back.
“You got a point,” Sit nodded, “So kid, what you do?”
“Philadelphia Inquirer Sir,” Buckley replied, “Sports writer.”
“I know you!” Mark suddenly interrupted, “You have your own column? I remember, you’re the dude who said you were tired of Webber and Iverson not working together.”
Buckley nodded, “That was me Sir.”
Mark laughed, “That was a good article kid. Good work.”
Mark left them for the press room before Peter and Alex looked at Sit.
Sit shrugged, “Whatever kid, I will get someone to give you a ring for an interview. Just don’t get too excited.”
Sit followed Mark for the press room as Peter and Alex did the same but making sure Sit didn’t know they were also going.
* * *
“This is the NCAA Final featuring the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils! We are here live in Indianapolis for this NCAA Final, which should serve as a very exciting rematch of the Atlantic Coast Conference finalists,” the ESPN sports reporter announced, “Tonight, Moses Chara plays his last game for Duke and looks motivated to beat the red-hot North Carolina squad. The Tar Heels are lead by freshman Reshawn Tyson who set a record 59 points only a few nights ago. Tyson’s future is still undecided as of now but many believe he may not declare for the NBA!”
A lady then appeared on screen and started to speak, “And tonight, we may also witness a future rivalry between two stars. Tyson and Chara have played against each other before and in their last meeting, it was Chara who had the last laugh.”
“So sit tight at home folks,” the man continued, “We’re in for a thrilling NCAA Final tonight on ESPN!”
Moses Chara stood at half court next to another man who was dressed in a suit. There were no other players there and the only people on the court were guys who were setting up cameras and media equipment. Flo sat next to Mark in the second row. The two watched what was going on as Duke Fans gave their star Senior a standing ovation.
“It’s going to be a good game,” Flo said to Mark, “I think Moses will win it for Duke.”
Mark agreed, “Yeah, I think he’s a better choice hey? If we need to draft a player, I would pick him.”
“He can contribute right away. If we want to keep Kevin happy, we have to pick him and plus, he’s not a bad player.”
Mark nodded, “I guess he’s perfect for us. He can play the guard and forward spots and maybe even some time at the centre.”
Then a big boned man sat down in the empty seat next to them. He was handcuffed and was joined by another guy who was wearing a uniform of some sort.
“Man X! Long time no see!” Mark shouted at the man who had just sat down.
Flo looked at the two, “You know him?”
Mark laughed, “We used to ball in high school? Oh man, what’s with the handcuffs… something you’ve never told me about? Maybe sexual preference by any chance?”
Andrew Watson laughed, “Even if I was homosexual, I wouldn’t be with this dude. He’s scum.”
The guy next to him took a little device and pressed a button as Watson yelped in pain.
“Take that man, I got this taser and I’m going to use it whenever you’re being an ass to me,” he said.
Watson stammered, “That’s abuse. Why am I treated like this? All I did was fraud.”
“Ouch!” Watson called out in pain, “Don’t do that!”
“Respect my authority bitch!” the guy yelled.
Flo and Mark looked horrified as the two kept arguing and the guy next to Watson kept using the taser on him. Flo peaked at the name tag on the man’s uniform and saw his surname: Srbija.
Then a loud voice boomed over the PA system and the main lights went out.
“Now, please welcome Jerry Colangelo of USA Basketball for a special presentation involving Duke’s Moses Chara,” the announcement was made over the PA system and everyone in the stadium was up on their feet.
Jerry Colangelo was the man in the suit and he began to speak into the mic, “It is with great pleasure that I present Moses Chara with a Team USA jersey. I hope that you will accept this gift with pride and accept our invitation for you to join our national team program.”
Everyone began to chant his name and cheer out as Chara shook hands, took the jersey and put it on before taking the mic to say a few words.
Meanwhile, Reshawn Tyson was stretching in the changing room. His childhood friend Rocky Akonnor was getting his ankles strapped while Coach Williams watched Moses Chara live on a TV screen in the room. Sit quietly slipped into the room but before he could tap Tyson on his shoulder, Bobby the team trainer grabbed Sit and swung him into a bed.
“Hey man, get your hands off me!” Sit yelled in anger and pain.
Bobby shouted, “What are you doing sunshine?”
“I’m here to see Ty,” Sit shook his head and screamed, “Let me go!”
Another man in a business suit walked out, “Let him go Bobby, I think he’s important.”
Bobby let Sit go and Sit dusted his suit off, “Next time, pick on someone you can afford to bash.”
Sit shook hands with the other man in the suit and introduced himself.
“I’m Thierry, nice to meet you,” the man said in a deep French accent, “I am the agent of Mr Tyson. We should have a few words about my client no?”
Sit nodded and the pair left the room to speak about Tyson’s future. Sit trudged to his seat next to Mark in the stadium. The players were just warming up on the court and Sit had just had his talk with Tyson’s agent.
“You look gutted,” Mark said.
“Yeah, Tyson’s agent is a bit retarded. He wants me to guarantee Tyson would be picked up by our team if we had a top three pick,” Sit responded.
“What if you don’t guarantee?” Mark asked.
“Tyson will stay in college for next season,” Sit said, “I can’t make any guarantees especially since its a few more months till the freaking draft.”
Flo joined in the conversation, “We should really pick Chara. After all, he’s trying out for USA too now. So he is really our guy!”
Sit didn’t look too happy, “I don’t know. This is all getting more difficult. We just need to get them in for workouts first. Then I will decide. Stupid Frenchman…”
Sit looked over past Flo and saw Watson, “Oh Andrew, welcome back out of prison. Hope shorty over there isn’t too much of a burden?”
Andrew chose his words carefully, “No, it is a fine night tonight. I like to go out with prison guards.”
Srbija kept a close eye on Watson as Sit said to the big man, “Ok Andrew. Your job as a player scout for us is track the statistics of tonight’s game. The NCAA stat keepers do a horrible job so can you do it for us?”
Andrew nodded, “Don’t worry. Keeping stats and analysing them is my specialty.”
Flo laughed, “After impersonating and cheating the government.”
“I am not a fraud!” yelled Andrew.
Srbija jabbed his taser into Watson as the New Zealander cried in pain.
Moses Chara proudly stood near half way, this time in his Duke jersey. Reshawn Tyson walked over and shook his hand.
“Good luck,” Tyson said to Chara.
“You will need it freshman,” Chara laughed.
“Hey man, I’m just trying to be nice!” Tyson angrily responded.
Chara shook his head, “This ain’t the time to be sucking up buddy. And it’s not the time to try to be nice.”
Tyson was getting angry, “Man, you’re overrated. I’m just being a good sport.”
“Do it after the game,” Chara shouted, “Oh wait. After the game, you will be crying because you won’t be able to hack it that my team is going to win.”
Tyson shoved Chara backwards but the taller senior stood his ground. Tyson swung his fists at Chara and Chara blocked him with his arms. The refs and other players saw what was happening and rushed to separate the pair. Rocky grabbed Tyson back by his collar and tried to calm him down and took him back to their bench.
Roy Williams was fuming, “Don’t fall for that boy. They’re trying to rile you up so you can do crazy shit like what you just did.”
Akonner whispered into Ty’s ears, “Show him what you got on the court boy.”
Tyson drank some water and wipe his head with a towel and nodded. He returned back onto the court amid the booing that greeted him.
The ref walked up to Tyson, “That’s your first and final warning. Any more funny stuff and you will be ejected ok?”
Tyson was about to protest the call but he kept quiet before the ref bounced the ball a few times. He was at the mid-court circle and ready to throw it up for the jump ball. Chara stood across from Tyson and mouthed a few words at him.
Tyson mouthed back, “Screw you.”
In his head the young guard kept repeating to himself, “Tonight, it’s my time to shine. Moses, you’re going down.”
The ref blew his whistle and the ball went up.
Last edited by
Fresh8 on Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.