The Final Shot

Chapter 7: Pick And Roll

During the next scrimmage, Coach Auerbach noticed something and called Lex over. He wanted Lex's opinion on this new strategy before they started it. Coach Auerbach asked Lex.

"Lex, do you know what pick and roll is?"

Lex nodded.

"Do you think that it would be appropriate for this team to use it? We could have Michael, King and Carter Williams, the centre to set the screen. It would work well. Even if they didn't score in the paint, they could always pass it out to Carl for the three."

Lex thought for a moment before answering carefully.

"It could work in theory, but we should test it out in our next game before we actually use it. Our next game is against the Leopards. Last year, they were number 10 in the Southern Conference. We'll probably win anyways, so we should be able to test things out."

Auerbach agreed. He told Carter, Michael, King, Carl, and Jake to test it out in the next game against the Leopards. Though the Leopards were one of the worst teams in the league, they still had a core player who was a strong individual. Their situation was like Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards or Karl Anthony-Towns/Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their core player was Joe Smith. He was a great centre, and was chosen for the All-Star game last year. He was a reserve for the All-Star game, but anyone who made the All-Star game didn't have such a large gap in skill. It was only popularity that really separated them, as the game was 40% fan voting, 20% player voting, 20% coach voting, and 20% commissioner voting. The commissioners were the people who ran the whole league. Their votes were always based on true strength, not just numbers. If you averaged 5.7 points a game, but made many clutch shots throughout the season, it is likely that the commissioners would vote for you. Joe Smith's university just didn't have that many supporters. Before the game, Coach Auerbach told Michael to defend Joe Smith, and if he felt like he won't have enough energy for offense, then let someone else handle that, limiting Joe Smith was the key to this game. The first quarter was going great for the Braves, and they were leading the Leopards by seven points at the end of the first quarter, 25-18. It seemed like without Joe Smith, the Leopards were atrocious. Not only were they down in points, they didn't even compete at all in anything. The Leopards seemed dejected when it was halftime, as the Braves expanded their lead, making it 56-31. Joe Smith had scored 8 points so far, but it was based on a 3-of-10 field goal attempt. The Leopards had only regressed after halftime, and with only 3 seconds remaining, it was already 105-72. It would be a blowout win for the Braves. The Leopards already knew the outcome, and didn't even try to score. They just held the ball out until the timer showed zero. The next day, everyone was happy for the review. The pick and roll strategy had worked out perfectly, and approximately half of the Braves' points came from it. It was decided that it would be continued. At .500 and 1-1, the Braves were now number 6 in their own conference. It would be a great season for the Braves.