Forbidden Link

32. Two Point Shoot

Even though Ezequiel had given hint after hint to the other players when they made up strategy, they still couldn't avoid an accident in the first two minutes of the match. Ezequiel stroked gently his belly and seemed intimidated by the dinosaur. But they need to be more optimism, so Ezequiel tried to distract his pain with the situation around the match. The match would resume when all the players are back on the field. Several dinosaurs began to make sounds as if mocking their enemy who had rested at the beginning of the game.

Compsognathus, the only dinosaur that used its hands to throw the ball, was now off the field. That dinosaur threw the ball at the other dinosaurs in the vicinity. Since other dinosaurs couldn't catch a ball, they only used their muzzle to throw the ball. And not long after the ball was in the out area. This fact had been told by Ezequiel already. Dinosaurs seemed to be playing around like in the kindergarten but the humans easily intimidated by them. So while the dinosaurs tossed their balls at random, Alex and friends used their weakness by waiting. They don't have to snatch the ball from the dinosaurs while the ball will always go off the field by itself. Alex also stood in the out line area and threw the ball at Zayden.

Zayden did not immediately dribble the ball. He noticed the movements of the dinosaurs that were directly approaching him, or rather approaching the person holding the ball. The basketball game that didn't take into account the time allowed Zayden to freely hold the ball long enough because he wouldn't be subject to a violation. Even so, Zayden had to act fast enough before the dinosaurs attacked him like compsognathus did with his brother.

The arrival of the tyrannosaur sounded intimidating as it walked towards Zayden and opened its mouth which had many fangs. Zayden looked up to notice the tyrannosaur's face and hand movements. When he felt the timing was right, he dribbled and ducked slightly as he passed the space between the tyrannosaur's legs. Zayden did it. He didn't manage to get hurt by one of the pretty gruesome dinosaurs in the film.

The tyrannosaurus lowered its head and almost ate Zayden if Zayden didn't move fast. Zayden's action captivated the audience so that some of them clapped and shouted. Regardless of the screams from the crowd or the threat from the dinosaurs, Zayden continued to dribble his basketball towards the front court.

"Ez! Bow down!”

Zayden shouted to Ezequiel who was standing at the two point line to receive the ball. Because screaming at Ezequiel, Zayden's dribble spontaneously stopped. Ezequiel looked back and immediately crouched down when he saw the brontosaurus tail pointing at him. Like a plane that couldn't be stopped, the huge brontosaurus tail floated and passed over Ezequiel's head. If Zayden didn't scream, then Ezequiel would get injured a second time.

"Zayden!" shouted Alex from the right so that Ezequiel threw the ball to Alex.

Alex's condition was quite safe because there are no dinosaurs around. But Alex still couldn't get into the two point area because the brontosaurus didn't budge in its place. While still holding the ball with both hands, Alex saw two dinosaurs rushing towards him from the back court.

After a moment of silence, Alex dribbled the ball towards the corner of the field where there was a brontosaurus forelegs. Ezequiel and Zayden looked at Alex in confusion. After all, doing a three-point shot blocked by the body of a brontosaurus is almost impossible. Although the brontosaurus has a fairly slow movement, its large body has obscured the view when shooting from the side.

Alex still continued to dribble his ball while looking at the conditions around him. Alex's gaze shifted from the compsognathus and tyrannosaurus that were walking fast towards him to the brontosaurus which was turning its head slowly and also to where Alex was standing. Just as one of the three dinosaurs was about to attack Alex, Alex threw his ball at Ezequiel. Ezequiel who realized that Zayden was in a strategic position immediately threw the ball to Zayden so that he was only an intermediary. Zayden, who was already in the two point area, immediately received the ball swiftly and threw it into the basketball hoop.

“Swoosh!”

The sound of the ball entering the basketball hoop sounded very beautiful to the ears of the players. It wasn't just the players who screamed at that time. Even the crowd got excited when they saw Zayden score two points. An achievement where previously the players only lasted less than five minutes without scoring at all.

Ezequiel immediately approached Zayden and hugged his sister. While Alex gave a high five to Zayden. Lakelynn just smiled from a distance at Alex. Meanwhile, Bianca was jumping up and down with joy from a further distance.

Two out of fifty points might not be a big deal. But a pretty good start made the players more optimistic. It turns out that fighting dinosaurs is not something impossible, unlike what people have imagined so far.

The whistle was blown again to signal the start of the match. Alex and his friends have decided to stay in the back court when the dinosaurs start to attack. If the ball is thrown far into the back court, at least they can catch the ball easily.

Estimates that dinosaurs threw carelessly turned out to be horribly wrong. After compsognathus threw the ball into the mouth of the brontosaurus, the brontosaurus slowly carried the ball from one end of the field to the other. With just two steps, the largest dinosaur easily carried the ball along the nearly thirty meter long field. No whistle blowing means no violation in the brontosaurus game.

Alex was silent when he saw the neck so long above his position. The brontosaurus still hasn't released the basketball at all, until the dinosaur's face is right above the basketball hoop in the back court of Alex's team and friends. The brontosaurus mouth opened and the basketball dropped and passed through the basketball hoop with ease. The numbers listed on the scoreboard became two equal in those few seconds. Everyone is still stunned by what the brontosaurus did. Including the five players who were standing still like statues.

"Didn't he break the rules?" asked Ezequiel still looking up and not believing what he saw.

"Apparently not. His forward footwork doesn't count as a violation if it looks like he's shooting a lay-up."

The statement from Alex made Ezequiel and Zayden gulp. Judging from the expressions of the two brothers, Alex could tell that they had never seen a brontosaurus with one eye. They just scored the hard way and it turns out that the dinosaurs could easily score in a fraction of a second.

Alex began to calculate the effort of himself and his four friends compared to the effort of the dinosaur. Nothing could hinder the movement of the brontosaurus as it traversed the field about thirty meters with ease earlier. And if this happens continuously, the mentality that has been built all this time will fall instantly.

"Let's just try again. Maybe they're not that smart to do it twice,” said Ezequiel, patting Alex on the shoulder who seemed unmoved.

Alex nodded. He didn't feel Ezequiel's words were true, but there was no point in staying silent like that. Alex and his four friends took an attacking position with Lakelynn throwing the ball from the out area.

This time there were no numbers added to Alex's team and friends. Zayden did not manage to get the ball into the ring. Unlike Ezequiel's prediction, the same thing happened again and again. Compsognathus threw the ball at the mouth of the brontosaurus, then slowly the brontosaurus lay up its wanna be easily. The number also increased from two to four. A defeat that was quite painful for Alex's team and friends.

Before his friends' mental breakdown got worse, Alex asked the referee for a break. Alex, Ezequiel and Zayden drank the mineral water provided on the bench. While the two women in the team just waited for Alex to speak while standing. The two women had not done anything significant to require water intake.

"Looks like they're going to use that tactic over and over again," Ezequiel said after drinking.

“Yeah, we still could do pass and receive things because they couldn't catch our movement too fast. But we can't use the same tactics over and over again either. Because it will definitely fail. "

Alex glanced at Lakelynn after giving his statement and hoped the girl would say something. Lakelyn shook her head. He couldn't find anything during the game.

“If only I could distract that dinosaur. But I haven't found it yet," said Lakelynn, looking at the dinosaurs, which seemed to have stopped moving during their break. "Unless we have sharp weapons, maybe we can try them on."