bullyxtreme Chapter 285: Philippines vs Thailand (2)
Chapter 285: Philippines vs Thailand (2)
The loud warning buzzer for the start of the second quarter sounded like a heavy ship's foghorn cutting right through the hot, humid air of the basketball stadium.
Tristan Herrera stood up and looked directly at the giant electronic scoreboard hanging high above the center of the court. The bright red lights told the true story of the game so far.
Philippines 23 - Thailand 18
Coach Dante Baldomero stood firmly by the sideline boundary. His arms were tightly folded across his chest. He looked exactly like a strict army general carefully inspecting a messy battlefield where the smoke was just beginning to clear away.
"Second unit, get ready to check in," Coach Baldomero barked loudly over the noise of the crowd. "Listen to me carefully. Maintain our strict structure. Do not get sucked into a fast track meet. Play our heavy, slow game."
He pointed his fingers and quickly sent in the second-string rotation:
The Second Unit:
Point Guard: Tristan Herrera (Coach kept him in to control the speed and tempo of the game)
Shooting Guard: Aiden Robinson (The young, shooter)
Small Forward: Ash Galang (The reliable wing player)
Power Forward: Aekley Vicente (The strong rebounder)
Center: Carlo Bedia (The aggressive, physical enforcer)
On the exact opposite side of the court, the Thailand coach decided to counter this move by keeping their tired star player, Suphawat, on the wooden bench for a much-needed rest. Instead, they brought in their backup point guard. His name was Kiet, and he was a frantic, extremely short, but incredibly fast speedster.
The referee blew the whistle, and Thailand started the second quarter with the ball.
Kiet caught the inbound pass and tried to push the pace of the game immediately. He dribbled very low to the ground, weaving his small body dangerously through heavy traffic like a fast motorcycle trying to escape the famous Bangkok rush-hour traffic.
He saw Tristan standing in front of him and tried to drive right past the Philippine captain.
But Tristan did not fall for Kiet's fancy hesitation moves or quick shoulder fakes. Tristan simply bent his knees and used his long arms and heavy body to block the path, slowly funneling the smaller Kiet completely toward the sideline boundary.
Suddenly, Kiet was totally trapped. He picked up his dribble and had nowhere to go. Panicking, Kiet jumped into the air and threw a very risky, desperate pass all the way across the wide court.
Ash Galang jumped up and tipped the flying basketball with his fingertips. The ball tumbled loose and hit the floor, bouncing wildly.
"That is my ball!" Carlo Bedia screamed at the top of his lungs.
Without hesitating for a single second, the giant center dove completely flat onto the hard wooden floor. He slid painfully across the parquet wood, aggressively wrestling and ripping the loose basketball away from a diving Thai forward.
Twweeeet!
The referee blew his silver whistle sharply and pointed his thumbs up into the air. He signaled a jump ball. Because of the rules, the possession arrow pointed to the Philippines. It was their ball.
"That is fantastic hustle, Carlo!" Tristan yelled loudly, aggressively clapping his large hands together. "That is exactly how we demoralize them! We take their hope away!"
It was now the Philippines' possession.
Tristan caught the inbound pass. He slowly brought the basketball up the court, completely ignoring the loud boos from the angry Thai crowd. He stopped at the center circle and held one single fist high up into the air.
"Orbit Charlie!" Tristan commanded in a clear voice.
This specific play variation was designed specifically to get their best shooters completely open.
Tristan dribbled toward the right side. Suddenly, giant Carlo Bedia ran up and set a bone-crushing, painful screen on the wing area. He planted his huge feet and crossed his arms over his chest like a solid brick wall.
Aiden Robinson ran as fast as he could and curled tightly around Carlo's massive body.
The Thai defender chasing Aiden crashed right into Carlo's heavy hip. The defender groaned in pain and got completely stuck on the giant screen.
Aiden was suddenly wide open. Tristan saw the exact perfect angle. With incredible precision, Tristan threw a fast, flat chest pass that landed directly into Aiden's waiting shooting pocket.
Aiden caught the rough leather ball. The massive crowd instantly screamed, waving their red flags wildly, desperately trying to rattle the young boy's nerves.
Do not think about the noise, Aiden told himself. Just shoot the ball.
Aiden bent his knees, rose smoothly into the air, and released the ball with a high flick of his wrist.
Swish.
The net barely moved as the ball dropped perfectly through the center.
PHI 26 - THA 18
"Yes! Let's go!" Aiden screamed, pumping his fist hard as he turned around and sprinted back on defense.
"Stay focused right now!" Tristan reminded him sharply, pointing a finger. "Do not celebrate yet. Get ready for the next play!"
Thailand desperately tried to answer back immediately. Their shooting guard, Kittipong, ran wildly off a double screen and quickly fired a very deep three-pointer.
Clang.
The shot was completely rushed and hit the side of the metal rim.
Aekley Vicente used his strong body to push his man away and grabbed the heavy rebound out of the air.
Tristan took the outlet pass from Aekley. He looked down the court and saw that the entire Thai defense was confused and scrambling to find their men.
Tristan dribbled hard toward the left. He looked right at Aiden and faked a fast pass toward him. The entire Thai defense froze in place for one tiny second, fully expecting Aiden to shoot another three-pointer.
That one second was all Tristan needed. He pulled the ball back and drove straight down the open middle of the painted lane.
The Thai center realized his mistake and rotated over to block the shot, but he was way too late.
Tristan did not try to dunk it. Instead, he softly tossed a high floater way up into the air, aiming carefully for the white square on the glass backboard.
Kiss.
The ball bounced softly off the glass and dropped straight down into the net.
PHI 28 - THA 18
The lead was now pushed to double digits. The massive stadium was beginning to grow incredibly restless. The loud, proud "SU-SU!" chants were totally losing their rhythm and energy. Fear was starting to creep into the building.
The Thai head coach had seen absolutely enough. He could not wait any longer. He furiously signaled to the scorer's table.
Suphawat took his warmup shirt off and checked back into the game.
The crowd immediately roared loudly, desperate for their golden savior to rescue them.
Suphawat walked proudly onto the court, glaring dark daggers directly at Tristan. The Thai star looked fresh and energized from his rest, but there was a visible tightness in his jaw. He was highly stressed.
"Do you really think a lucky 10-point lead is enough to beat us in my home?" Suphawat sneered angrily as he took the inbound pass.
"I think you are already very tired," Tristan replied completely calmly. He stepped up and pressed Suphawat full court again.
Suphawat dribbled up the floor. He called for a high screen. But at the last second, he rejected the screen entirely, crossed over quickly, and darted hard to his left.
He was so incredibly fast.
He completely blew past Tristan's initial defensive stance in a blur of red motion.
But Tristan was not just strong; he was also deceptively fast.
[System Stat: Physical Speed - 90]
Tristan instantly recovered. He turned his hips and sprinted, staying right on Suphawat's side, shadowing his every move.
Suphawat got deep into the painted area. Carlo Bedia quickly stepped up, raising both of his massive hands to challenge the shot.
Suphawat leaped high into the air. He twisted his flexible body completely backward in mid-air to magically avoid Carlo's block, and at the absolute last second, he shoveled a tiny, hidden pass right to his center, Nattapong.
Nattapong caught the ball and slammed it down for an easy two-handed dunk.
PHI 28 - THA 20
The massive crowd absolutely exploded with joy. "THAI-LAND! THAI-LAND!" they screamed, completely energized by the beautiful pass.
But Tristan did not care about their cheering. He just jogged down the court.
On the next possession, Tristan held his hand up flat. He called for an isolation play.
He waved his free hand, telling all four of his teammates to move completely out of the way and stand flat on the far side of the court.
"Let us see if you can actually guard me down low," Tristan said coldly to Suphawat.
Tristan dribbled the ball directly to the low post block, right near the basket. He turned his back completely to the hoop.
The size difference was massive. Tristan was a heavily muscled 6'4". Suphawat was only 6'1" and visibly much lighter in weight.
It was time to play Bully Ball.
Tristan bent his knees and forcefully backed the Thai star down.
Bang.
Tristan slammed his heavy shoulder directly into Suphawat's chest. Suphawat grunted loudly, taking the painful hit.
Tristan took one dribble and aggressively bumped him again.
Bang.
Suphawat was helplessly sliding backward across the shiny floor. His shoes squeaked in protest. He simply could not hold his ground against Tristan's superior core strength.
Tristan felt the smaller defender leaning forward heavily, desperately trying to reach around and steal the basketball from his hands.
Tristan perfectly anticipated the gamble.
He executed a lightning-fast spin move. Tristan spun completely around the baseline, effectively sealing Suphawat behind his wide back like a heavy door closing shut.
Tristan jumped up completely unguarded and kissed the ball off the glass for the easiest layup of his life.
PHI 30 - THA 20
"You are way too small," Tristan stated plainly as he turned and ran back on defense. He did not say it as a mean insult; he said it as a simple, cold, factual observation.
Suphawat was absolutely furious. His face turned bright red. He loudly demanded the basketball from his point guard.
He dribbled furiously straight down the center of the court. He was so angry that he did not even bother to look at any of his open teammates.
He just stopped running and forcefully pulled up for a wild jump shot from 30 feet away.
Clang.
The ball hit the very front of the metal rim. The angry shot was way too short.
Tristan jumped up and easily grabbed the heavy rebound with two hands.
"Slow it down right now," Tristan commanded loudly, holding the ball high in the air so his teammates could hear him over the crowd.
The Philippines slowly moved into their highly structured half-court set. They began to pass the ball around the perimeter in a beautiful, boring, perfect circle.
Tristan passed it firmly to Ash. Ash quickly swung it to Aiden. Aiden passed it down to Aekley. Aekley instantly threw it right back out to Tristan.
The entire Thai defense was desperately chasing the flying basketball, running back and forth until they were getting completely dizzy and out of breath.
There were only 10 seconds left on the shot clock.
Tristan caught the ball and immediately attacked the scrambling defender. He drove hard into the paint, forcing two Thai players to jump in front of him to help.
Tristan did not shoot. He kicked a perfect, fast pass straight to the deep corner.
Ash Galang was standing completely wide open, his feet already perfectly set.
He caught the ball and shot the three-pointer.
Swish.
PHI 33 - THA 20
The Thai head coach aggressively slammed his plastic clipboard onto the hard wooden floor. It shattered. He screamed for a timeout.
Coach Baldomero calmly wiped his glasses with a white towel as his players sat down on the bench.
"They are finally cracking into tiny pieces," Baldomero said in a quiet, scary voice. "Their golden boy, Suphawat, is desperately trying to win the entire game all by himself. He is angry, and he is taking terrible, selfish shots. Do not bail him out by making silly fouls."
Baldomero looked down the line at the bench.
"Lagman, Gumaba, Palencia. Check back into the game right now. The starters will finish this half. Go out there and step directly on their throats."
Tristan sat heavily on the wooden bench for just a moment, gratefully sipping his cold water.
"He is incredibly fast, Coach," Tristan admitted, wiping sweat from his eyes. "But he relies too much on his instincts. He gambles on defense every single time I make a move."
"If he gambles," Baldomero said simply, "then you must punish his gamble. Use the back door and cut his heart out."
The loud horn sounded. The game resumed. The massive crowd was desperately trying to rally their team, but the heavy 13-point deficit hung thickly over the giant arena like a dark, suffocating storm cloud.
Thailand came out of their timeout with a strictly drawn set play.
Suphawat drove hard to the basket and kicked a nice pass out to Kittipong.
Kittipong caught the ball, used a smart pump fake to make the defender fly past him, stepped inside the line, and hit a very smooth mid-range jumper.
PHI 33 - THA 22
It was the Philippines' ball again.
Joco Palencia had the ball far out on the right wing.
Suphawat was guarding Tristan incredibly aggressively, leaning heavily on him, desperately trying to force a steal to ignite the silent crowd.
Tristan saw exactly what was happening. He quickly made direct eye contact with Palencia.
It was the look.
Tristan was standing at the top of the key. He suddenly cut very hard straight toward the basketball, acting exactly as if he was going to receive a simple hand-off pass.
Suphawat's eyes lit up. He saw his chance. He jumped wildly into the passing lane, fully anticipating the hand-off so he could steal it and run for an easy dunk.
It was a deadly trap. The back door was now wide open.
Tristan planted his right foot incredibly hard into the floor and instantly cut completely backward, sprinting sharply straight toward the unguarded rim.
Palencia threw a completely perfect, hard bounce pass right onto the open floor.
Tristan caught the ball beautifully in stride. There was absolutely no one standing in front of him.
He rose high into the air and forcefully slammed the ball through the hoop with two angry hands.
WHAM.
PHI 35 - THA 22
Suphawat was so embarrassed and furious that he violently kicked the padded stanchion of the basketball hoop. The referee blew his whistle and gave the Thai star a strict verbal warning.
After that play, Thailand's entire offensive system completely devolved into chaotic hero ball.
Suphawat stubbornly drove the ball directly into triple coverage. He leaped into the air, completely surrounded by blue jerseys, and tried a wild, spinning, circus layup.
Giant Gab Lagman was waiting for him. Gab swung his massive arm and viciously swatted the basketball perfectly against the glass backboard.
"Get that weak garbage out of here!" Gab roared loudly, his deep voice echoing in the arena.
Marco Gumaba grabbed the loose rebound.
It was a transition play.
Marco looked down the court and saw Tristan already streaking toward the other basket. Marco threw a massive, long outlet pass over everyone's heads.
Tristan caught the long pass perfectly.
But Suphawat refused to give up. He was running behind Tristan like a crazy person, desperately chasing him down, completely intent on getting a highlight chase-down block.
Tristan could hear Suphawat's heavy footsteps slapping against the wood. He could physically sense the anger right behind him.
Instead of going all the way to the rim for an easy, expected layup, Tristan stopped running completely abruptly right at the three-point line.
Because Suphawat was running at absolute maximum speed and completely out of control, he could not stop his momentum. Suphawat flew completely past Tristan in the air, helplessly landing all the way out of bounds and crashing into the photographers.
Tristan stood completely alone and wide open at the three-point arc.
He slowly took a deep breath. He calmly looked at the rim.
He shot the ball with perfect, beautiful mechanics.
Swish.
PHI 38 - THA 22
The silence inside the giant Nimibutr Stadium was absolutely profound and heavy. Even the loud, tribal drums had completely stopped beating.
"Finish the half strong!" Baldomero yelled from the sideline.
Thailand finally managed to get a lucky bucket when their big center, Nattapong, grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in.
PHI 38 - THA 24
Tristan checked the giant game clock. There was exactly 1:15 remaining in the second quarter.
He held up his fingers and called for the play known as Orbit Delta.
This specific play was a confusing weave action, entirely designed to force the defense to make messy switches and communicate poorly.
Tristan dribbled the ball and handed it off smoothly to Marco. Marco quickly dribbled and handed it off to Palencia. Palencia immediately handed it completely back to Tristan.
The Thai defenders were getting dizzy. They were panicking and communicating very poorly.
"Switch your man! No, wait, stay right there!" they yelled confusingly at each other.
Tristan clearly saw their total confusion. He immediately attacked the tiny seam in the broken defense.
He got deep into the painted area.
The terrified defense fully collapsed inward to stop him.
Tristan cleverly wrapped a soft bounce pass completely around his own waist, feeding the ball perfectly to Gab Lagman standing secretly in the dunker's spot.
Gab went up strong for the layup.
He was fouled incredibly hard across the arms by Nattapong.
Twweeeet!
The whistle blew. Gab was sent to the free-throw line for two shots.
The crowd suddenly woke up and booed as loudly as they possibly could.
Gab released the first heavy shot. It missed.
"Just focus on the rim, Wall," Tristan whispered quietly to his big man, patting him on the shoulder.
Gab took a long, deep breath. He aimed carefully and made the second free throw perfectly.
PHI 39 - THA 24
Thailand took possession of the ball. There were exactly 25 seconds left on the game clock. They wanted to hold the ball and make absolutely sure they took the very last shot of the half.
Suphawat calmly held the basketball right near the half-court line, waiting for the clock to tick down.
Tristan slowly walked up and crouched deeply in his defensive stance right at the three-point line.
"Come on then," Tristan whispered softly, staring directly into Suphawat's dark eyes. "Dance for me right now."
The clock ticked down slowly. 10 seconds.
Suphawat finally attacked.
He executed a wildly fast crossover to the right, then snapped the ball immediately back to the left.
Tristan did not fall for the trick. He slid his feet perfectly side to side.
Feeling the pressure, Suphawat tried to use his famous fast spin move once again to escape.
But Tristan fully anticipated the exact move. As soon as Suphawat turned his back to spin, Tristan reached his long arm out and perfectly poked the basketball loose.
Steal.
5 seconds left.
Tristan grabbed the loose ball off the floor.
He quickly looked up at the giant red clock above the basket.
He was currently standing all the way back at his own half-court line.
He put his head down and took two massive, fast dribbles forward.
3 seconds left.
He was now standing exactly on the giant painted logo in the middle of the court.
He looked to his side and saw Suphawat desperately sprinting toward him, intending to forcefully foul Tristan so he could not even attempt a final shot.
Tristan did not wait to get fouled. He planted his feet completely perfectly on the logo, gathered the heavy ball, and forcefully pulled up for a massive jump shot from 35 feet away.
It was the absolute dagger.
The ball left his fingertips. The loud, red buzzer sounded throughout the arena while the orange sphere was still floating high at the very apex of its massive arc.
BZZZZT.
The entire stadium held its collective breath. Fifty thousand people completely stopped talking. They all just watched the orange sphere rotate backward through the hot air.
It fell down heavily and hit the back of the metal rim.
It violently bounced straight up into the air.
It fell back down and gently hit the front of the rim.
And then, it finally dropped perfectly into the white net.
HALFTIME SCORE
PHILIPPINES: 42
THAILAND: 24
Tristan stood perfectly still on the center logo. His right hand was still held high in the air, holding the textbook follow-through pose.
He slowly lowered his arm to his side.
He looked directly across the court at Suphawat.
The famous Thai Ace was standing alone, completely bent over with both of his hands resting heavily on his knees. His chest was heaving up and down as he gasped for air. He was just blankly staring down at the wooden floor. It was the absolute, total body language of a man with a completely broken rhythm.
Tristan slowly turned around and calmly walked toward his own team's bench.
His excited teammates violently mobbed him.
"That was incredibly cold-blooded!" young Aiden screamed wildly, forcefully grabbing the front of Tristan's blue jersey.
"Logo Tristan is in the building!" Marco yelled happily, laughing loud enough for the crowd to hear.
Coach Baldomero was quietly waiting at the dark entrance to the tunnel.
He did not smile. He never smiled. But he gave a slow, respectful nod of his head.
"It is an eighteen-point lead at halftime," Coach Baldomero said softly. "The absolute silence of this giant building is a beautiful thing, isn't it?"
"It is very quiet out here," Tristan agreed, slowly walking past his coach and stepping into the dark, cool tunnel. "But they are definitely not dead yet, Coach. Suphawat is a very proud player. He will come out swinging wildly in the third quarter."
"If he comes out swinging," Baldomero said coldly, walking behind him, "then we will be completely ready to knock him out permanently."
The heavy locker room door closed tightly, completely shutting out the quiet, nervous murmurs of the stunned crowd outside.
Tristan sat down heavily at his assigned wooden locker. He took a deep breath, and as his heart rate slowed down, he mentally checked the blue System interface floating in front of his vision.
[System Match Status: Halftime Reached]
[Current Score: PHI 42 - THA 24]
[Personal Stats: 18 Points, 6 Assists, 4 Rebounds, 2 Steals]
[Target Status (Suphawat): 12 Points, 4 Turnovers, Physical Fatigue: Medium]
[Current Mission Objective: Completely Silence the Crowd - PROGRESS: 85%]
Tristan closed the menu and began to drink his cold electrolyte mix.
Giant Gab Lagman sat down heavily on the bench right next to him, wiping thick sweat off his forehead with a large white towel.
"Man, that specific spin move you did on Suphawat down in the paint... you completely bullied that poor boy," Gab said, shaking his head in amazement.
"He is much too light to guard me down there," Tristan said simply, tying his right shoe tighter. "He completely relies on his amazing speed. If you take his running space away and put him in a box, he has absolutely no physical leverage."
Marco walked over and chimed into the conversation. "Their giant crowd is completely stunned right now. I literally saw hundreds of them leaving their seats to go buy snacks, and they looked like they were not planning on coming back."
"Do not get too cocky, Marco," Joco Palencia warned sternly from all the way across the room. "An 18-point lead is absolutely nothing in modern basketball. If they hit three fast three-pointers and we make a couple of stupid turnovers, suddenly it is a single-digit game again."
Tristan looked over at Palencia and nodded his head. He deeply respected the defensive player's caution.
"Joco is completely right," Tristan said loudly so the whole room could hear. "The third quarter is the true 'make or break' moment of this game. If we push this lead to 25 points, they will lose all hope and completely quit. But if they cut the lead down to 10 points, that massive crowd will wake right back up and become dangerous again."
Coach Baldomero suddenly clapped his hands together very loudly, demanding total absolute silence in the locker room.
"Listen up, boys. Gather around the whiteboard. Here is our master adjustment for the second half."
Baldomero picked up a black marker and drew an unusual shape on the board.
"We are going to completely switch our defensive strategy," Baldomero announced strictly. "Right now, they fully expect us to come out and play standard man-to-man defense. Instead, we are going to shock them. We will show them a heavy Box-and-One defense specifically focused on Suphawat. Palencia, listen to me. You are the designated chaser. Your only job in life right now is to relentlessly deny him the basketball. Do not let him breathe. The rest of you four, you will stand together and form an unbreakable wall near the paint."
Baldomero looked at every single player in their eyes.
"We are going to completely lock up their star, and make the other four average players try to beat us," Baldomero concluded coldly. "Let us see if they can actually shoot the ball when the heavy pressure of their entire nation is resting solely on their shoulders."
Tristan finished drinking his water and tightly double-knotted his heavy shoelaces.
The dangerous second half was coming quickly.
The Monster was definitely not done eating yet.