Chapter 168 Luck Or Skill?
"What do you think? You haven't lost yet?"r
Damien had previously been dumbfounded when Jack scored from such a distance. It had to be known that even he himself wasn't sure if he could get the ball into the hoop, not to mention as perfectly as Jack did. So, he was indeed surprised that Jack managed to score.r
"Humph, that must have been a lucky shot." Damien replied as his teammates already began passing and dribbling the ball. Knowing that there was no more time to waste, he left Jack alone and went to his side to wait for the ball.r
After he received the ball, he made sure to face Jack directly. Currently, they were already 29-5 after Jack scored. So, they were still in front. But even so, Damien dared not to be lax because he knew that this was still the second quarter and it had just began.r
So, he was going to make sure that he would be able to get past Jack's defense as soon as possible before scoring.r
Tad! Tad! Tad!r
The ball bounced off the court as Damien headed towards Jack. On the other hand, Jack simply waited. He didn't do anything and stood there motionlessly as he observed Damien's moves.r
Damien moved to the right before switching back to the left. He tried making Jack think that he had passed the ball but it was still in his hands.r
But surprisingly, no matter what he did, Jack didn't budge at all. It was like he was rooted to the spot. The only thing that could be seen moving would be his eyes as they followed the ball's movements.r
Jack saw that there was no reason for him to actually try doing things like bending down and getting ready to snatch the ball. To him, as long as Damien dared to try passing the ball where he was, he would be able to steal it from him.r
Damien got flustered when he saw that none of his feigned moves were able to make Jack move and give him the space that he so wanted. And, although Jack was simply standing there without moving, he was actually giving him a lot of pressure.r
After a few seconds of trying but seeing that Jack did not react, Damien thought that perhaps Jack didn't know how to defend. So, he dribbled the ball with the intention of getting past him.r
He was using his full speed as he thought that it was one of his advantages. But, the moment that he got past Jack, he found his hands empty. He was flabbergasted.r
It was also at that moment that he heard the sound of the ball bouncing off the court behind him. It turned out that the moment that he got past Jack, Jack had actually managed to steal the ball from him without knowing.r
Of course Jack wasn't using his advantage, the professional combat ability. Instead, he was simply using the normal speed, just like the one that Damien was using. It was just that, his reaction and timing were sharp, enabling him to snatch the ball away easily.r
"Since you believed that the previous one was a lucky shot, let me prove it to you." Jack stated before he shot from where he was without taking a step forward.r
Tad! Tad! Tad! Tad!r
The sound of the ball bouncing was heard again. But this time, as the ball bounced off the court, the hearts of all those that were watching beat alongside it.r
There was complete silence once again as there was disbelief in the faces of those who were watching. The reason for that being simple, they couldn't believe their eyes. If there was somewhere where they could borrow new eyes, they would have.r
They had seen it again. Damien had been defeated for the second time. The first one was that he failed to block Jack. The second was that he failed to actually get past Jack. And, each and every time that he lost, he lost badly.r
Now, they began doubting if it was true that Damien was a professional player. If he was, how could he be dealt with so easily.r
"Go ahead, I would like to see your skills since you believe that you haven't lost." Jack stated as he waited for Damien and his team to make a move.r
Roosters on the other hand were so excited that they were almost laughing maniacally in the court. It was just that they dared not to laugh because they were worried that Jack had only done this due to luck.r
Then, they began again. Just like before, the opponents passed the ball to Damien as fast as they could. When he received the ball, Damien looked cautiously at Jack.r
Although he too would like to believe that it was true that Jack had done the previous defend and attack due to luck, as a basketball player who had a lot of experience, he knew that it was true that Jack had skills. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he had to be extremely serious when facing Jack.r
And just like always, Jack was standing motionlessly as he looked at Damien. Taking a deep breath, Damien dribbled the ball while heading towards Jack. This time, he feigned going to the left, before turning to the right only to go back to the left.r
The moment that he got to Jack's left, he dribbled as he had the intention of getting past Jack. But, the moment that he got past Jack, he no longer had the ball on his hand. Just then, he heard the sound of the ball bouncing in the distance.r
It was obvious that Jack had already scored once again. And, the gap that was existing between them before was being closed so fast. Currently, they were already 29-11. Jack had already gotten nine points while Damien's team had gotten nothing.r
Now, there was nobody in the entire arena that dared to believe that what Jack was doing was simply due to luck and not his skills. That was nonsense. To be able to snatch the ball twice and score three consecutive perfect 3 pointers, who would believe that there was actually someone that lucky?r
The guy who was competing against baldy was already sweating. He had previously thought that he had already gotten the project. Who knew that things would turn this way the moment that the star of the Roosters came in?r
Damien was actually being toyed like a junior that knew nothing about basketball at all. This made his expression darken. He had gone through a lot just to be able to make Damien to come and play for him. He had never expected that there would actually be a person that was stronger than him even though this person was unknown.r
Baldy on the other hand, although it was true that the Roosters were closing the gap, he was sweating as his heart beat faster. The more Jack performed, the more distressed he got.r
Just from the way that Jack was playing, it was a show of his capabilities. So, he was learning just how terrifying Jack was in real sense. He wondered if Celine would actually tell Jack that he had been trying to hit on her.r
Although he had expected that as long as Jack was sure that he knew how to play the game, he would be able to easily deal with Damien, Johnathan had never expected that he would be this strong.r
There was a show of skills in the way that he handled the ball. And, Johnathan could tell that Jack wasn't using the advantage of being strong to bully Damien. It was just that Jack was reacting at the right time to get the ball.r
Celine's eyes were already glittering from the excitement as she watched as Jack continued scoring one after the other. Now, she could understand why Jack never took Collin's challenge to heart at all.r
It wasn't because he was afraid, it was simply because he was too skilled in that he didn't want to play with rookies that didn't even know some of the rules of basketball.r
The more she watched him, the more she loved him. Had it been possible, perhaps her eyes would have already been shining with the heart shape by now.r
As the Roosters got more and more excited, their opponents were lamenting. They were now deliberating on whether they were actually supposed to pass the ball to Damien or not.r
After all, as long as Damien touched the ball, it was counted as a loss. Although they knew that Damien was currently their best player in the court, he had now become their liability.r
Although they would have liked to substitute him, they knew that even if they did so, who could guarantee that Jack would also leave the court? There was no guarantee and so, it was better to have Damien continue trying his best as he was the only one in the whole team that had the highest chance of stopping Jack.r
As the closing quarter was coming close to the end, Jack didn't do much other than scoring from the distance just like before. The current score was already at 31-32. In total , Jack had already scored ten times in this quarter. And each and every shot was a 3-pointer.r
The opposing team stood sweating in need of a break and water. Their coach only called timeouts when necessary and when he called it, everyone on the team sighed. They all had a much needed break to rest their throbbing hearts. The pressure that was coming from Jack was definitely not something that they could handle easily.r
Jack blocked out everything as long as it was related to Damien. No matter what he did, Damien didn't manage to get past Jack. All of this made their morale to drop.r
On the other hand, the Roosters were so enthusiastic in that, they all made sure to get the ball even if the opponents didn't want to pass the ball to Damien. In this way, they would be able to get the ball to Jack and he would score.r
The opposing side had managed to score twice because they used other players. And this was only because Jack didn't care about them as he let the Roosters handle that group of people.r
"Not satisfied yet?" Jack asked once again after the second quarter ended.r
"I don't believe it. It is simply because you didn't get me at my peak. Just after half time, I'll show you that I'm not that easy to beat." Damien snorted as he left the court.r