"If you didn't already know, trash talking and skills on the court are a packaged deal with me." Michael said to Adrian.
"And if I could dish it, you best believe I could take it." Michael continued. "The guy I went against got cooked! And I mean well-done!"
"What you got? What you got?" Michael said, in front of the guy he was defending. Since he was 10, the lower-rank compared to 9, his opponent got the ball first. He hounded him on defense and caused him to miss badly.
"I'd love to see you when you start driving with handling like that." Michael said.
"Heh. And you think you could do better?" His opponent said with an accent. Michael could tell that he was French with the accent. He could also tell from the voice that he had already hit puberty. He had on a green and white jersey with the number 7 on it with matching sneakers, braided hair and a skin tone slightly lighter than Michael's.
"Think? I know." Michael said confidently as they checked the ball. And Michael backed up his talk. He scored three in a row, without ever giving his opponent the opportunity to possess the ball.
"And that's it! With a clean sweep, the Hawks secure a chance to compete in the tournament!" Wizard Kelly said.
Michael and his opponent shook hands in respect and patted Michael on the back, wishing him good luck if they got in.
The preliminaries continued. With Lynn being next.
"Go Lynn!" Leni said.
The opponent she was going against was clearly younger than she was, looking as if he was 11.
"You're going down!" The boy said. While he certainly had the right energy, it didn't translate into a win as he was defeated 3-1.
"Way to go Lynn!" Leni and Lori said.
"You did great!" Lincoln said, giving her a high five.
"Good job out there!" Lynn Sr. said, giving a high fiver to her as well.
The Ninjas, 13, defeated the Bulldogs,14 in a 3-0 win, ending with the 15 year-old laughing at the 11-year as he cried back to his coach.
The Bulls, 16 defeated the Penguins, 15 as their player landed two consecutive contested three-point shots(that count as 2).
The Wizards, 18, a team name that Wizard Kelly was fond of as a choice, defeated the Ducks, 17.
The Dragons, 20, defeated the War Beasts,19, 3-1.
In the game to 11, the youngest out of them all, an African-American girl with two braids was able to get to 11 first, beating out the second best player in the game, from the Bulls by 1 point. Although he was able to make 3 consecutive 3s in a row, he missed all but one of his future attempts, which was the one to knot him and the girl at 10.
"All right! Now that the preliminaries are done! Here are your eight teams participating in the 'Who's Got Game' Youth Tournament!" Wizard Kelly said.
He began to read off the team names. "The Warriors! The Angels! The Sharks! The Samurai! The Hawks! The Lions! The Ninjas! And the winner of the 3-player game, the Dragons!"
"Now, we're going to generate the tournament bracket! Randomly generated real time! Ain't technology incredible?" Wizard Kelley said as the names on each line randomized.
The coaches, players and the crowd that was there looked attentively to the screen. After several seconds, the randomization stopped.
"And here it is y'all! The matchups for the first round of the tournament!" Wizard Kelly said.
"So first up, we got the Warriors up against the Lions! Then, it's the Ninjas against the Dragons! For the third match, we've got the Angels against the Samurai! And for the fourth and final match of the first round, it's the Hawks against the Sharks!" Wizard Kelly said.
"The first game starts in 30 minutes! So go ahead and warm up and shoot around! Cause we're really about to see who's got game!" He said.
"I'll be honest, the first round was a lot spicier than I thought it'd be. That Lynn Loud. She's definitely got game." Michael said.
"When's Michael playin'?" Oscar asked.
"He's the last game." Penny said.
"Doesn't even make any sense to scout out the rest of the competition. These guys, and gals, look like wimps!" Oscar said.
"I mean look at that Lions team! They might as well call themselves the kittens! One of em's struggling to stay awake!" Oscar said.
"Hey, you never know. This team might be better than you think. Looks can be deceiving at times." Penny said, knowing from prior experience when she was underestimated for being a girl on the football field.
"Trust me, my eyes are working just fine, and I see a team that's about to be eaten alive!" Oscar said.
"Wanna bet on it?" Sugar Mama said.
"I know what you tryin' to do mama! You've been saying my sports predictions have been horrible for a while. This one I'm sure is right! I'll take that bet!" Oscar said. "Get ready to lose your money mama! I can't wait to see the dumb face you're gonna have once this game is over." Oscar said, smiling.
Three quarters later, it was Oscar who was dumbfounded. Lynn was singlehandedly scoring at will, with Lincoln and the others chipping in as well. The score was 55-40 with 2 minutes left.
He just handed Suga Mama the money, still looking on in shock.
"Oooooh weeee! That girl can ball!" Sugar Mama said before counting her money. "Easy money!" Sugar Mama said before laughing. "Here you go Papi." Suga Mama hands Papi some of the money.
"Well, at least I am getting something out of this." Papi said in Spanish before laughing.
The game was over, with the final score being 80-60.
"Oh she's good." Penny said.
"Game recognizes game. And that girl's definitely got a lot of it." Michael said.
"And then there was the second game. Seemed like there was a lot of beef between those two teams. Really wish someone could spill how it got heated. But no one ever got to find out." Present Michael said.
"All right ya cruddy teenagers! Prepare to be thrashed!" One of them said, in an Australian accent.
"The last kid team we went up against we sent home crying. We're gonna do the same thing to you!" One of them said.
The teens were the first ones to score, but the boy with the Australian accent scored right back.
"Ha! In your face!" He said.
The next play, one of the teens bumped him hard and knocked him down. Some of the crowd booed him for the cheap shot.
"You need a band-aid for that boo-boo?" The teen said, taunting.
He gets up. "No. But you're gonna need some!" The boy said. The game was physical. Before the second half ended, one of the kids heaved up a half-court shot and it went in. It was 35-29.
"Yay! I did it! I made the shot!" The girl said jumping everywhere.
"All right! Good job Kuk-" The kid with the Australian accent said, embracing her before he stop himself and lets go after realizing what he was doing.
He clears his throat. "Yes. Good job Kumi." He said.
"Aw thanks Wesley!" She said, hugging the boy.
He looked up at the crowd as he saw some of them say "awww." He looked over at his teammates who gave him sly looks.
"Let's hurry up and get to the locker room. We need to talk more plays." He said, clearing his throat again.
Inside the tunnel, three voices were heard giggling. "Shut up! That never happened!"
Inside the other locker room with the teenagers, they were all conferring with one another. "All right. Those kids are a lot tougher than we thought they'd be. And it's not anything to commend. It's annoying! Next half, let's send them home crying to their mommies." Their 18-year-old coach said with a sinister look on his face.
The second half started with the Ninjas inbounding the ball. As they went down the court, a hard screen was set, knocking down one of the kids. "Nick!" Wesley called out. One of the other teens from off the bench was able to score easily. It was now 35-31.
"I'll be fine. Just a hard screen." Nick said getting up and dusting himself off.
The next play, they tried to move the ball around to get a clean look. During a pass a Ninja stopped and bumped one of the Dragons. It was a chubby player with auburn hair. His name was Howie.
One of the referees blew the whistle, ruling it an offensive foul, but another ran in to waive it off. Possession restarted and it was a side-out for the Dragons.
With the inbound, Nick was able to make a pass to the girl they relied on to get into the tournament inside the lane, and she was able to do the rest, even with the hard contact. It was 37-31. "Well done, Ashley."
She nodded in acknowledgement before getting back on defense.
One of the players barreled into Wesley. But no foul was call.
Wesley raised his hands in the air. "Come on! The guy literally ran into me! How is that not a foul?"
And this contact was constant. Even when reserves with put in. They and the dragons were the only two teams that had a full team of ten players.
Even when they were rewarding the children with free-throws they still continued to do it, which frustrated Wesley even while he was on the bench. The third quarter was about to come to a close. Even with the free throws given to the Dragons, the Ninjas were able to hang in and stay within striking distance, as it was 56-52.
"How the heck are they gettin' away with this? But if I do it, it's a foul." Wesley said.
One of the teens gave the kids a malicious grin before getting in the huddle with her coach.
Wesley noticed this and his anger started to rise. "Wait a second, they're doin' this on purpose!"
"We'll show them!" Wesley said.
"Don't let them get under your skin. They weren't playing like this in the first half. They're doing this because they're frustrated that we're winning and not rolling over and crying. We just have to hang in there. They're bound to crack eventually. They're teenagers. We may not have their strength, but we're younger and faster than they are. And we've got more energy. Now, here's the play..." The coach said.
"Once you get to the half-court, Ashley, I want you to handle the ball. More than likely, they're going to try and stop you from passing. Kumi, Nick, and Wesley, I want you to run circles around them! Keep moving and you're bound to get an open look! Howie! I need you to be ready for a rebound in case there's miss. In the odd chance that they double, you or Kumi are going to be one of the ones they're most likely to leave open. I need you two to be ready to take the shot when that happens. And Wesley..."
"What is it coach?" Wesley asked.
"If one of your teammates needs some space to work, don't be afraid to put one of them on the floor with a screen. Just don't foul." The coach said, grinning a little.
"Right." Wesley said, grinning back.
It was the start of the fourth quarter and the Dragons inbounded the ball. They followed the play to the T. And on cue, some of the teenagers got frustrated and one of them ended up committing a bad foul.
"Not the smartest foul there." The play-by-play announcer Mike Green said.
"You're being too nice Mike. That's an awful foul." Seth Van Bundy, the first color commentator said.
"I agree. It's not even a minute in and you've already committed a foul. That could mean the difference between you winning and losing this ball game, you gotta be smarter than that." Clark Hudson, the second color commentator said.
It is a side out. Kumi is the inbounder. She throws it in to Wesley, who thinks about bulldozing his way through but thinks twice and passes it to Nick. He takes two steps in closer to the goal before shooting a mid-range, which he makes. 58-52.
"A nice pass right there. You see he thought about bulldozing his way through to get a shot himself, but he passes it up so his team can get a better shot." Clark said.
"An errant pass, she almost loses it out of bounds." Mike calls out. "She regains her dribble. Defender doesn't look like he's going anywhere. Looks like she sees that too and she passes it to Sam who is outside the line in the corner." Sam pulls up but passes it back to Violet. "Thought about a three but he passes it back. 10 seconds to shoot. She passes it to Brad who's at the free throw line. Defender dares him to shoot as he's staying home in the paint. Takes the shot. And it rattles in and out! Rebound Dragons!"
"Ashley. Surveys. Passes it to her right to Kumi. She holds the ball, shielding it away from her defender so a play can develop. Wesley sets a pick. She drives in but is met by a defender. She passes it out to Howie who's outside. They're basically daring him to shoot. 7 seconds left on the shot clock. Takes the shot. Misses it. Rebound Ninjas."
"Passes it to Morgan. She takes a dribble before passing it to Drew. He fakes. Gets the defender up in the air before he takes the shot." The ball rattles in. "And he gets the roll. Drew Rosen cuts it to four with 5:45 left to go in regulation." 58-54.
Ashley takes the ball up again. This time her defender gets up on her airspace. She dribbles between her legs a few times before looking up as if she was about to pass, causing them to commit to their defenders more. Instead, she chooses to take the shot. It misses. There was a fight for the rebound and the Ninjas ended up securing it. Brad makes a pass to Violet who pulls up before passing it, getting the defender that was behind her to overcommit. They quickly pass it back to allow her to take a quick shot. It's good. 58-56.
"A great play. You want to use your speed against us? We'll use it against you too. Makes the defender overcommit. Can't recover in time because of the momentum he had with his speed. Swishes it in." Clark said.
Nick, ball in his hands surveys before dribbling. He takes it up past the outstretched hands of his defender and it goes in. 60-56. 4:56 left.
The Ninjas make substitutions, subbing all of their starters back in but Brad. Their lineup was now Steven, Max, Brad, Kim, and Paul.
The Dragons also decide to make substitutions, subbing out Nick and Ashley for Jenny and Zach.
The Ninjas inbound. They try to take advantage of the opposing substitutions and attempt a three. Max makes it, cutting the lead to 1. Excitement from the crowd and from teenagers was heard as the shot went in.
Zach takes the ball up and directs his teammates on where to go. Kumi gets the ball and dribbles, causing her defender, Paul to stumble a little. She shoots, and it goes in! The crowd was in awe as the shot went in. 62-59.
The teen looked on at Kuki with anger in his face. As the Ninjas dribble the ball up, Kim knocks down Kumi, who is able to recover. However, this causes Howie to have to commit to two defenders, leaving one wide open for a three. Brad misses the shot but Howie fouls him on the attempt. Three free throws were going to be awarded.
After making two out of the three, the lead was back to 1. 62-61 with 3:25 left. Wesley has his mind made up to take advantage of a defense that was backing up and drive but his shot was blocked. Kumi grabs the rebound and passes it to Jenny, who waits for her to move to give her the ball back for a layup and a foul.
As she goes to the free throw line, Paul whispers in Kim's ear. They both turn to the coach who gives a thumbs up. After she makes the free throw, it was 65-61, with 3:10 left.
The children were hounding the kids defensively and didn't allow them to get a quality look. The shot that they got was close to the basket, but it was still well-contested. Even so, the shot went in, and it was 65-63 with 2:58 left. When Jenny brought the ball up, she passed it to Zach so he could survey. Until the whistle was blown.
"Owww!" Kumi said while on the ground.
"Oops." Kim said.
They took her out of the game and substituted in Jack for her.
"Are you all right?" Nick asked.
"I landed on my arm." She said, still in pain.
"Ku-ki?" Wesley said as he looked at her on the bench being tended to.
Wesley turned around to them and went to confront them. "You! You did that on purpose!"
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Kim said.
"Alright ya good for nothin' teenagers! If that's how ya wanna play it! Then let's rock!" Wesley said.
"Kids Next-" Wesley said before stopping himself. "Dragons! Let's go!"
"Kids Next Door? I knew those annoying voices sounded familiar." Brad said lower.
"Great. Now he's blown our cover." Ashley said.
"Welp, the jig is up I guess." Howie said.
"As long as the general public doesn't know we're fine." Nick said.
"Sub us back in. We've got a game to finish." Ashley said.
"Numbuh 1, Numbuh 5, Numbuh 2, Numbuh 54, you guys ready?" Wesley said low in a huddle in a place where no cameras or microphones could hear.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Numbuh 5 said.
"We stick to what we were doing before. They're getting more and more frustrated. They want annoying? We'll show them annoying." Numbuh 1 said.
The injury timeout was over.
"And as for you. I'm sure our voices do sound familiar, Chad!" Numbuh 4 said, revealing his ruse.
"Yeah. You got me. But so what? We're still gonna crush you in this game anyway." Chad said confidently.
"We'll see about that!" Numbuh 1 said.
"Let's do this! For Kuki!" Numbuh 4 said.
"2:53 left. Wesley gets the ball from Nick to let him go to work. He dribbles, step back. It's good! And the lead is back to four." Mike said. 67-63.
"Just a simple one-on-one isolation there. Got the shot he wanted and he makes it." Seth said.
Steven brings the ball up and runs their offense.
"I fully expect them to go to him again. After that last incident he's fired up." Clark said, referring to the last play.
"Five seconds to shoot. Max, drives, kick to Brad who's well defended. Has to put it up. Stepback jumper! IT'S GOOD! The lead has been cut back to 1!" Mike said as the crowd goes wild. 67-66.
"Great defense but better offense. Steps back to get some space. Rises up. Nothing but net!" Clark said.
"Ashley. Looks. Allows Wesley to cut and she passes to him. He looks at his defender. Jab-step. Drives and challenges his defender. Goes up for the layup and gets it to go! With contact! 69-66."
The Ninjas take the ball up the court.
"They're lucky they didn't call that a foul. Because contact was there." Seth said.
"They've got two timeouts remaining but they're choosing not to use them as we come up to 2 minutes left in the 4th." Mike said.
"Even with them not taking a timeout, there's still time left in this game for them to catch up. Just get a quality shot, doesn't have to be a three." Clark said.
"Shot clock at ten. Kim. Drives. Finger-roll layup is no good! Rebound Dragons! Ashley. Keeps the ball to try and melt some clock. 1:43 left in regulation."
"And you do not have to foul here. But you do have to be disciplined defensively." Seth said.
"And they do just that. They're not fouling, opting to play defense, try and get a stop. She's looking for Wesley but they're doing a good job in cutting him off. Shot clock at 13. Look at that constant movement."
"Stand still you little pest." Paul said, having to fight through a screen from Howie, and another screen from Nick who he ends up barreling over, more out of frustration than anything else.
"And that's gonna be a foul. It's their first in the last two minutes, so they've got one foul to give." Mike said.
They showed the replay on the jumbotron and on the TVs that aired at home. "It's like you said earlier Mike. Look at the movement. That's what caused the foul. The constant motion. Saw he was being denied. Didn't give up in pursuing the ball. His teammates provided him screens and the defender commits the foul out of frustration." Seth said.
The referee hands Jack the ball. "Inbounds it to Howie. Back towards the rim. Turns, jump hook misses. Rebound Wesley! He takes it back. Dribbles, hesitates. Passes it back to Howie. Wide open for three. PUTS IT IN! And the lead is extended to six! 72-66! With a little over a minute to go!"
"Kim. Takes it up the court. Passes it to Paul who's calling for it. He's got Ashley on him. Sizes her up. Stepback. No good. 53 seconds remaining. And they use their foul to give to stop the clock. It'll be a side-out with 50 and 6 tenths of a second remaining."
"I don't like that shot. Well-defended. Tried to force up one instead of looking for a quality look. Even if it used more clock, you get a good look and then you live with the result of whether it goes in." Clark said.
"So they throw it in. Nick has the ball. They try to get more aggressive without fouling. And they take the foul after being unsuccessful in getting a turnover. 42.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of this second game. Ashley steps up to the free-throw line." The referee hands her the ball. She dribble once before shooting. "She makes the first one to extend it to seven points." She dribbles again before shooting the second. "And she makes both. This lead is now 8 points. A timeout called for the ninjas as the situation looks grim for the teenage team." 74-66
Replays are shown on TV, the highlights of Wesley.
"If the Dragons go on to win this game, we need to talk about what this kid has done in the late fourth. Up 2. The ninjas didn't look like they were going away. They were getting more and more physical as time went on. One of your starters gets hurt and has to come out. Makes a stepback to increase the lead back to 4. And then the next offensive possession. Up one, after Brad makes a tough, big-time shot. He comes back and moves toward the ball to get it. He could have taken another jumper since he made the last one out of sheer confidence, but he goes inside and finishes with contact. Increases it back to 3. This time, defense adjusts. They don't allow him to get the ball via a conventional pass. So again, he moves. Doesn't give up, doesn't stop searching for the ball. Solid screens. Leads to a defensive foul. And finally, Howie. Missed the last three he attempted. Missed the last inside shot he attempted. Three point lead. Who wants it more? He goes and outworks everyone on the opposing team and gets the rebound. He's one-on-one. He made the last two for the team. He could have taken another. But instead, he trusts his teammate. Gets him on a wide-open shot. And that trust is rewarded. Absolutely fantastic." Seth said.
"And as we return, with about ten seconds left in the timeout. You've got 42.4 seconds left in the game. You've got one timeout left. You're down eight and you've got no fouls to give with possession of the ball right now. Clark, Seth, if you were the coach of that team, what would you suggest they do?" Mike asks them.
"Well for starters, I would try to get a quick shot up. You're not in the situation where it needs to be a three yet. If you get a good look from three, then take it. But you need to make a shot here or this game is pretty much out of reach." Clark said as the players exit the timeout.
"And also, expect the defense to be a little softer than usual. They're not in the penalty but they're going to try and not make a mistake, foul and give free throw attempts. Which the worst case-scenario would be them making the shot, AND getting the free throw. But if you see a defender with their hand in the cookie jar, take advantage of it and get some points while the clock is stopped." Seth said.
"So they get the inbound in. Brad. Defender makes an initial move to stop him but quickly lets him go. He gets the layup. The lead is back to six with 38.1 seconds left." 74-68
"That's exactly what I was talking about with the defense. They made the initial move, but they let him go afterwards. They weren't going to risk fouling him." Seth said.
They tried extending the game, but the children refused to miss at the charity stripe. The game ends with a score of 80-70.
"Mission accomplished." Numbuh 1 said.
"Now that we stopped those cruddy teenagers from winning and bullying the kids back home with it, I say we try and win the whole dang thing!" Numbuh 4 said.
"I don't mind. Numbuh 5 loves to win." Numbuh 5 said.
"Then it's settled! We continue to participate in the tournament as our aliases. Once the tournament ends, we are done here." Numbuh 1 said.
"Oh Wally! That was so sweet!" Numbuh 3 said.
"Huh? What are ya talkin about?" Numbuh 4 said, trying to feign ignorance out of embarrassment from all the people.
"When I got hurt. You played harder because of me! I'm fine now by the way. " She said.
"Ah. It was nothing. I would have done the same for any other teammate if they were hurt too." Numbuh 4 said.
"Sure you would." Numbuh 2 said.
"But I would have! Honest!" Numbuh 4 said.
In the third game, the Samurai defeated the Angels 70-66.
"And of course there was the game with my team." Michael said.
"All right! We're up! I've already told you what we need to do to win this game so I shouldn't have to repeat myself. Now. All in!" Coach Collins said, as they all put their hands in and yell out "Hawks!"
"Hey Michael! You ready man?" Omar asked.
"I was born ready." Michael said.
"Let's ball out man." Tookie said, giving him a fist bump.
And the ball was up.
"Let's go Michael!" Penny yelled out.
"Michael. Brings the ball up to the free throw line. Drives and scores! And the Hawks are on the board first." Mike said.
Michael drove by his defender and scored the first points of the game. And it was all downhill from there. Although it close for most of the game, the Sharks could never take the lead. And Michael was trash talking the entire time. He never took it too far to the point that it was taunting, as it was mostly friendly banter.
They pulled away at the end, ultimately leading to a 18 point victory, 86-68.
"Man, that boy shot them out of the gym!" Suga Mama commented.
"Now if only there was a way he could get you out of the gym too." Papi said in Spanish before laughing.
"Mm-hm." Suga Mama said, agreeing with him, thinking he was saying something similar even though she had no idea what he actually said.
"As much as I did all of that talking, I never taunted, or made fun of anyone." Michael said.
"But it was the second round that was real juicy. And had problems, in more ways than one." He continued.
A/N: The KND playing basketball was inspired by the Toon Hoops and KND S.L.A.M. D.U.N.K. flash games. I used to play those games a lot. Not to mention that Numbuh 4 has been great in sports too, so it was a great opportunity to include them in the story as well.
The commentators are a play on the ESPN commentators Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
