Samsara Online-Novel

Inside the court.

The referee of this match was one of the professors of the University of Shanghai. Basketball was a well-known sport so almost any teenager or adult knows the rules of the game. Therefore, it was not necessary to have a professional referee for a game between students of the same institution.

What’s more, everyone present saw this as a joke, after all, the third-year business class team didn’t even have a coach. On the other hand, the official basketball team and the coach had just arrived at the gym.

Although the coach and the starting team seemed a little upset about what happened, neither of them seemed worried. Naturally, they had their reasons.

After a few words from the coach, the team of 5 substitutes approached the middle of the court and stood in front of the business class team.

Yue Kai had a nasty face and was looking at the opposing team with clear anger in his face.

"Usually you are pretty calm and well behaved, what’s wrong with you today man," Hu Chen couldn’t help but ask him when he saw his attitude.

"I just find these guys’ behavior disrespectful, so I won’t put on a good face. You saw them too, they were talking about girls and laughing casually to one side, but when we wanted to use the empty court, they came to attack like mad dogs". Yue Kai clenched his teeth and his eyes seemed to be able to spit out flames, "We definitely cannot lose, no matter what, we have to win".

"I have no intention to lose. Much less with so many people watching, we can’t let our whole class be ridiculed because of us". Zhu Zhihao said. He was the tallest of the team of 5, being about 6 feet tall. "Leave the pivot position to me. I’ll do my best not to let any rebound escape".

Pivot or Center. Generally, it is a position occupied by the tallest and most corpulent of the team. In this position, the weight and physical strength of the player plays a major role.

"Well, please leave the point guard position to me. Although I am not as tall as Zhu Zhihao, I am confident in giving good instructions on the court". Du Shun said. His appearance was that of a normal 20-year-old adult with glasses. He looked like a studious guy.

Base or Point Guard. The player in this position is the one who controls the rhythm of the game. His or her functions are to organize, lead, and control the rhythm of the game and adapt to the changes that occur within the court.

"Yeah, leave the shooting guard position to me then. I will support the team in everything that is within my reach... but don’t blame me if I do something wrong". Qian Luoyang said. He looked like a shy guy, as he constantly looked around the court as if he was worried about the number of people looking at him.

Shooting guard. The characteristics of a good shooting guard are that they usually support almost the whole team, like a joker. The difference to the point guard is that they usually score more points during the game.

"Don’t say such depressing things before you start the game, man... Let me be the pivot wing. I’m pretty confident about letting his defense eat the dust". Said Hu Chen as he punched Qian Luoyang in the back.

Pivot wing or power forward. They have a powerful physique, although not as powerful as the pivot. When they are 4 or 5 meters from the rim they usually have a good success rate and are usually good at 1 vs 1.

"Well, I guess that leaves me with the small forward position for me. All right, let’s do this thing right!". Said Yue Kai, to which the team of 4 nodded.

Eaves or small forward. They tend to be fast players, although not as fast as the point guard and center. They usually play on the edge of the field and support both the attack and defense.

***

The referee looked at Du Shun and asked, "Heads or tails?".

Du Shun: "Heads".

Seeing that the opposing team’s base had no problem, the referee flipped the coin. When he caught it again, he showed it to both of them and it came out heads, so Du Shun had the right to choose the side of the court he liked best.

"Down". Du Shun said.

In consideration of the two teams already seated, and the teams already positioned, he chose the side they were on so that they would not have to waste any more time.

***

(N/A: Team 1= Reserve basketball team / Team 2= Business class team)

Referee: "Jumpers to the center".

The pivots of both teams approached the center of the court and prepared to throw the ball towards their team.

The referee looked at the two jumpers and, seeing both of them ready, he threw the ball up so that they both fought for it.

Zhu Zhihao jumped to get the ball first and with a push sent it to Du Shun.

Du Shun, the point guard for team 2, caught the ball and trotted away while watching the court. After a quick look, he saw Yue Kai moving around the edge of the court. With a quick movement, the ball fell into the hands of his teammate.

Yue Kai caught the ball without problems and saw Hu Chen running towards the baseline. So he dribbled the ball and passed it to Hu Chen before he went too deep.

Hu Chen caught the ball and with an intelligent movement, turned his body and successfully eluded the base of team 1.

After breaking free from the defense, he jumped high with the intention of making a dunk.

However, when he was in the air, the team 1 point guard that Hu Chen had just left behind suddenly appeared in front of him again.

With a fast but powerful movement, the base of team 1 hit the ball that had just left Hu Chen’s hands. The ball was deflected to one side and the shooting forward of team 1 caught it easily.

"What the fuck?". Hu Chen was stunned, but when he saw the enemy point guard running to attack with the rest of Team 1, he quickly backed down.

Qian Luoyang, the shooting forward of team 2 went forward and blocked the way of team 1’s base.

"I’m sorry, senior, but your defense really sucks". Before Qian Luoyang could even say anything, the enemy point guard dribbled the ball hard and advanced his body.

For a split second, Qian Luoyang thought he was going to hit the enemy and unconsciously stepped back to the right.

Team 1 point guard smiled mockingly and moved the ball to the left while saying aloud, "One less piece of crap".

Leaving Qian Luoyang slightly behind, the point guard of team 1 angled his body forward and his right arm backward. Then, as he charged his lungs with air and used his right arm like a whip, he threw the ball with all his strength to the other side of the court.

Team 1’s shooting guard successfully took the ball in his hands and advanced.

Seeing two enemy players heading towards him, instead of trying to show off and penetrate in between, Team 1’s shooting guard passed the ball to his right.

The pivot of team 1 caught the ball and advanced towards Yue Kai and Du Shun.

One on the right and one on the left.

The enemy pivot stopped for a moment and observed the movement of the feet of the two opposing players.

Suddenly, he saw Yue Kai take a step forward. With a skillful movement, the pivot dribbled the ball between his legs and caught it with his left hand.

Yue Kai leaned his body to the other side quickly, but the pivot of team 1 dribbled the ball between his legs again and as he advanced he caught it with his right hand.

Yue Kai tried to return to his position again but lost the balance and fell to the ground. The enemy pivot took advantage of that break and as he passed by, he said: "Instead of sharpening that woman’s tongue of yours, how about learning to play basketball so you don’t embarrass yourself in the future".

Having left behind 4 out of 5 players, team 1 easily overtook Zhu Zhihao and scored the first two points of the game.

***

Du Shun reached out his hand and helped Yue Kai to stand up, "Hey, are you okay?", he asked.

After standing up again, Yue Kai said nothing and backed up to defend. But Du Shun noticed that he was clenching his fists in anger.

_____________

In the team 2 substitute bench.

"Yue Kai looks furious". Xiao Luo said.

Xie Feng could clearly hear the stand mocking his teammates. It would be a lie to say that he was not a bit upset.

Although the game started quickly and the opposing team took the lead without too much trouble, it’s only two points difference, no big deal.

’The problem is...’.

Xie Feng saw that Yue Kai didn’t seem to be too focused on the game. Clearly, the commentary of the other team and the words from the stands, along with what happened before he got here, had made him lose his mind a little.

’I guess it will be my turn soon’.

Xie Feng decided to wait a little longer and see how it went, but he was sure that soon it would be his turn to take the court.