Chapter 11 - Monster
With 1 minute 46 seconds left in the first quarter, Shinil High called a timeout. The score was 23-19, us up by 4.
"Grraah! This is the taste!"
I chugged from my water bottle, quenching my throat. Physically, I wasn't tired at all, but since it was my debut game, the psychological tension had my body buzzing with excitement.
It's been a while since I felt this.
Arms and legs itching to do something. Heart pounding as adrenaline surged. The thrill I'd never felt as a veteran. Just as I was lost in the euphoria, Chang-min approached. The others were standing around awkwardly, clueless, so he'd come as the representative.
"Hey, Lee Seojun. What the hell are you?"
"Oh, dropping the concept? Fine by me if you wanna keep calling me Shin Hyun-chul."
"This isn't the time! Seriously, what are you?"
"What else? A pro-aspiring prospect, just like you."
"...!?"
"If you're wondering why a total noob who couldn't dribble joined so late, it's 'cause I've only been playing basketball for a month. Sure, I kept training with the soccer team, though."
"Soccer...?"
"Hard to believe, but I was pretty damn good. Good enough to make every age-group national team."
Chang-min furrowed his brow in disbelief. But with the reality right in front of him, he didn't dig deeper, trying to accept it.
"Let's win the game first and talk later. And Lee Seojun—you. Don't provoke the other team again. One more technical and you're ejected straight up."
"You told me to commit to the concept."
"Yeah, but...! Anyway, if you get tossed, we're screwed. Show some restraint, please!"
Maybe seeing a chance in what we'd written off as a lost game. Chang-min clung desperately, ditching his own concept. Unlike him, Shin Subin stayed quiet. He seemed shocked by my existence too, but he was laser-focused on the game. Timeout ending in 6 seconds.
Clap clap! Chang-min clapped and yelled.
"They'll probably switch tactics. I'll call the counters, so stay sharp and follow my lead! Fight!"
The game resumed with Shinil High's possession. Just as Chang-min predicted, they tried to flip the momentum with new tactics. Starting on offense.
Shinil High judged they couldn't break me with Lee Sang-ho's iso plays. At the same time, they figured my rim protection made cut-in plays to the basket too risky. So they decided to drag me out to the perimeter.
"Come up!"
At the point guard's signal, screech! Lee Sang-ho popped to the top. He set a screen there to create a chance for his teammate point guard, Kim Hye-jun.
Pick-and-roll!
Basketball's most basic—and most powerful—2-on-2 tactic. If I didn't follow, Kim Hye-jun got an open look from outside. I scrambled after Lee Sang-ho to the perimeter. Then thump! Chang-min got caught on Lee Sang-ho's screen. He yelled urgently.
"Switch!"
I instantly took Kim Hye-jun, and Lee Sang-ho drove to the rim. Chang-min figured chasing Lee Sang-ho baseline wouldn't help anyway, so he tried switching back to Kim Hye-jun. Defensive breakdown.
What would Kevin Garnett do here?
My defensive role model. Garnett was a brilliantly smart defender. Especially at exploiting mismatches with big-man hunting and handling pick-and-rolls better than anyone. He had patterns for this.
If the screened teammate tries to recover...
Pressure the ball-handler hard to buy recovery time. If the handler drove or hit the rolling big, it'd be chaos—but Garnett's elite athleticism and defensive instincts for a big made that rare.
Let's try it!
While I pressured to delay the play, Chang-min broke through the screen for a double-team.
"Ngh!?"
Kim Hye-jun panicked. He tried passing to the rolling Lee Sang-ho, but I swiped to cut the passing lane, leaving him stranded.
This is blitz defense.
I could've crushed him with the double, but sticking to no overreaching, I backpedaled warily to mark Lee Sang-ho at the rim. This was hedge-and-recover: momentary pressure on the handler to give the screened guy recovery time.
"Nice D! Good!!"
Chang-min cheered the successful stop. The ball was still theirs, but wrecking their set had value. Shot clock down to 7 seconds, they panicked into a forced drive and a jumper near the free-throw line. At the same time, crunch! Under the basket, my box-out battle with Lee Sang-ho raged.
"Shit...!"
He tried grabbing position, but got shoved back by my lower back, grimacing. He flailed wildly for the rebound, but it wasn't enough. Ting! Miss.
"Hup!"
I snagged it with my right palm, clutched it two-handed, and landed. Passed to Chang-min, but...
Tweet! Whistle.
"Huh!?"
Thought it was my foul again and flinched—but the ref pointed at Lee Sang-ho.
"Loose ball foul! Shinil High #4!"
Whew, close call. I patted my chest and jogged to their side. The crowd murmured in awe.
"Took a loose ball foul and still grabbed the rebound...?"
"How tough is this guy!?"
Shinil High's bench: their coach rushed the sideline, screaming.
"I told you to manage your fouls, you idiot! That's two already!"
Then he glared daggers at me before retreating. Game on with our inbound.
Here, we saw Shinil High's defensive shift.
What the hell?
The paint zoned in a tight U: two on the left, two on the right, one on the free-throw line. Chang-min shouted.
"Zone defense!"
The intent was clear: contain me. As I went short corner for my usual backdown, the guy at the FT corner edge zipped over for a double.
"Wha...!?"
Back-to-the-basket dribbles and straight drives? Fine. But steals from the side? Not used to it. Judging ball security risky, I hurriedly returned to Chang-min.
They're targeting me outright.
Double on any backdown. Passing left at 45 degrees gave a wide-open three—but they wanted that. Better than me scoring inside. Chang-min hesitated too, passing back. Wouldn't shoot the open three. The double-teamer reset to FT corner edge, lightly contesting Chang-min from distance.
Now what?
Zone opened the perimeter. But paint was locked. Doubles hit my post-ups instantly. Solutions: organic passing or threes. No confident three-point shooters on our team. Chang-min lacked confidence beyond the arc; Shin Subin favored drives and midrange mids, rarely shooting threes. The other two athletic specialists? Forget it.
Guess it's on me!
I felt it. Spaced from Lee Sang-ho in the corner, demanding the ball. Shot clock at 8.
"Gimme!"
"...!"
Chang-min hesitated, then passed. Lee Sang-ho fixated on my drive, didn't budge. Figured moving created drive gaps. Convinced my only weapon was post-up. Wide-open chance, no contest.
"Hoo..."
Problem: could I make it?
Still gotta try.
Gut said: miss this, and the momentum stalls long-term. Grit! Clenched teeth. Pressure worlds beyond practice. Open shot, but the openness amped the must-make obsession. Shot clock 4.
Here goes... Cover bro, help me out!
Swish! Leaped. Body a bit stiff, but locked on the rim, smooth shooting motion. Pushed with right hand. Swoosh! Arcing beautifully.
Go in... Go in... Go in... Go in...
Like a hallucination. Swish!! Net rippling with sweet friction. My first career three.
"COME OOOON──!!"
The roar burst out. A three that nullified their zone. Shinil High panicked hard.
Seojun drained the three. Shinil High chalked it to luck, sticking with zone—but Seojun, on fire and in rhythm, hit back-to-back threes to shatter it.
"He's got threes too!?"
Park Eun-ho shivered. Wide-open no-contest, sure—but a big hitting threes changed everything.
Take Sangwon High's hedge-and-recover just now. Seojun pressured the handler successfully, but if they'd run pick-and-pop? Big screens out, spacing perimeter? Easier passing lanes; even doubled, kick to the big for wide-open three. Most bigs brick those—but if he hits? No more hedging; forces switch-everything.
That's why NBA loves stretch bigs now.
Kevin Love, Channing Frye, Trevor Ariza. Dirk Nowitzki, the OG three-point big, too.
"Beyond expectations. Might be a bigger diamond in the rough than I thought..."
First quarter ended with Seojun's two threes. Score 29-19, 10-point lead. Shinil High's bench erupted preparing Q2.
"Get your heads in the game! You think we're folding here? Then why train!?"
The coach knew Seojun was a monster but couldn't quit. Fired up the team, tweaking offense and D. Q2 started with Shinil: shooting guard Lee Hyun-woo off Lee Sang-ho screen for quick elbow jumper. Miss, but right-corner guy offensive rebound, score. Drag Seojun out, quick shot, rebound hunt. Chang-min urged rebounding, countered fast—but unsustainable.
Sangwon High's counter at 29-21. Shinil zone persisted, but tweaked: Lee Sang-ho stepped up slightly on corner Seojun.
Stopgap, but not bad.
Park Eun-ho thought. Threes less likely. Post-up? Double as before.
Others need to move. Wonder how they'll...
Bang! Seojun faced up, blew right past Lee Sang-ho. Spotted the zone gap as Lee Sang-ho edged up for three contest. Plus, longer drive runway boosted speed.
"You fucking...!"
Lee Sang-ho slid laterally, desperate. Elbow defender Kim Sang-hyuk helped—Seojun sandwiched. Still, step-step! Gather, two strides, leap.
"Hup...!!"
BAM!! Powered through contact for one-hand dunk. Tweet! Lee Sang-ho foul, and-one.
"Uh, ah...!?"
Brutal drive shredding defense raw power. Even Park Eun-ho was speechless.