Shooting Hoops

Posted on Mon Feb 5th, 2024 @ 12:34pm by Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad & Lieutenant Sava

2,765 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: The Gym
Timeline: TBD, 1800 hours

Johanna entered the gym. She was wearing a Team Sweden tank top and short shorts. She also wore tall blue and white socks and hi-top white tennis shoes. Her blonde hair was in a pony tail with bangs.

She had a red, white and blue ball. She liked the way the colors looked when you shot the ball. She started warming up, as usual, with a Maravich drill. Throw the ball between your legs as hard as possible and catch it behind your back. Then, reverse the process. This would limber up her arms.

She hoped the message she had sent to the general crew would attract more people.

Paisley came into the gym, dressed in her Fleet issued "gym" outfit-gold and black sports bra and leggings, with sturdy white sneakers. Her long, glossy black hair was pulled back-as it usually was-but this time, she let the braid down, without the fear of getting caught in a piece of machinery or something. For a woman who was into fashion and looking good, she sure had picked her career strangely. "Hey, Johanna," she said, setting the bottle of water she'd brought down on a bench. Her and Johanna were about the same height-an excellent match.

Johanna stopped her drill and rose to her full 74 inches. She had a few inches on Paisley but the Cardassian/Bajoran looked younger than she did. She might be quicker. Johanna shot a 16 footer towards a basket near the Engineer's current location. It banged off the left side of the rim. "Hey Paisley." Both were off duty; Johanna felt comfortable using first names right now.

Ryhl was one of the first to enter, smiling as he walked towards Johanna and Paisley. He sped up towards the basketball as it bounced away from them. Dark blue sneakers with a silvery sheen and neon green markings made his feet appear larger than normal. Long silver-blue shorts and a matching sleeveless tee covered his cerulean form.

"Afternoon.. Or evening is it." Ryhl greeted the others as he moved.

As Ryhl picked up the ball, he got a feel for his handle. He pumped it casually between his legs mid-step, studying the bounce of the ball and its texture. It went up high off the court's surface, feeling light in his hands as he aimed. He stepped into a shot, arms feeling loose but rusty. He over-aimed, ball slapping against the flat part connecting the rim to the backboard.

The Captain winced, making a correcting movement with his arms before jogging after the ball.

"Thanks for the invite. I'm glad I could finally make it out to a game." Ryhl stood two inches shorter than Johanna.

"Glad to see you could make it, Captain." Johanna did not even think the Captain's first name. "How much basketball have you played?"'

Paisley smiled. "Hey, Captain," she said. "Nice moves. I have actually never played before," she said. "Only a bit of flag football and Bajoran baseball," she said.

"Ah, we don't have to be so formal. Call me Ryhl", Ryhl said. "Thanks though. I've played a little since the Academy. A lot more when I was younger." He turned to Paisley. "Basketball takes a lot of practice, but it's simple enough once you get going."

"OK. There are two basic things about basketball." Johanna grabbed an extra ball from the rack. "First you have to dribble when you are moving with the ball." Johanna started dribbling with her right hand as she walked and talked. She switched to her left as she continued. "The other thing is shooting the ball into the hoop. It's 10 feet up, around three meters off the floor." Johanna bounced the ball back to her right hand and brought the ball up to a shooting position. She banked in a shot about 10 feet from the basket. "You don't have to bank it in. Most of the time, you shoot the ball directly into the hoop." She retrieved the ball and did a lay-up. "These very short shots are pretty easy, even for a beginner."

Paisley nodded, and took the ball, making a shot. It sailed through the air, but bounced off the rim. She shrugged. "Oh, well," she said. She wasn't worried-she was the type who liked to figure it out as she went, anyway.

"You hit the rim with your first shot. That's good for a beginner." Johanna grabbed the ball and dribbled to the top of the key. She did a jump shot. This was her spot. To her delight, the ball swished through the hoop. "This is about the limit of my accurate range. Anything farther, who knows if it will go in." Johanna's bad luck did not apply when she was playing basketball. She got about the same number of lucky and unlucky bounces as anybody else.

Ryhl took the rebound and passed it back to Johanna. It was custom to return a made shot to the shooter. He looked to the Chief Engineer. ''Try aiming for the link that the chain attaches to the rim with. You'll see them evenly spaced above the net.. I heard that once and it made a big difference." Ryhl began playing basketball in the Academy when it became harder to play Andorian sports like kochek, the 3 on 3 game played on ice without skates.

He began to stretch, one blue palm pressing into his back as his elbow rose behind his head. His other hand pulled down on the elbow to provide resistance. After several seconds, he switched.

Paisley watched both carefully. It should be easy enough to copy. She nodded. "Alright," she said, and took the ball. Again, she moved forward a bit, and then took her shot. It went through. She smiled.

"NICE".

"It's a lot more difficult when you are being guarded, of course." Johanna went over to Paisley and stood in front of her. She raised her right hand in the air and kept her left hand down.

"Great shot", said Ryhl as he jogged for the rebound. He bounced the pass off the ground to skip and curve around Johanna. It rose towards Paisley's arm level. "Let me show you something." Ryhl sprinted, stopping next to Johanna. "Run around me and let me block Jo's movement", then take your shot as soon as you have space. "It's a pick and roll. So just run past me and shoot." He knew it would be hard for Paisley to shoot over the CSO, who was even taller than he was.

Paisley nodded at Johanna. "Indeed," she said. Luckily, what she lacked in height compared to Johanna, she made up for in muscle mass and sheer tenacity. She pulled herself through slipstreams and Jeffries Tubes every day, she was very fit. She still managed to shoot the ball, but did fall short of her target.

Johanna, almost instinctively, spun away from Ryhl to retrieve the missed shot. She dribbled up to the top of the key. "We need more people for three on three."

Ryhl started to jog after the ball but broke off. He continued his stretches, rotating his arms in large circles. He moved to stand in front of Johanna. "It's still early yet. Let's hope some more show up soon. I know some said they would." His arms fell to his side, hips rotating next as he flexed to stretch.

Johanna nodded to Ryhl as she drove towards the basket. She jumped up and tried to finger-roll the ball into the hoop. The ball rolled around the rim and headed down to the floor, bouncing near Paisley. "Nuts!" exclaimed Johanna. "That used to be automatic." She definitely was out of practice.

Paisley grabbed the ball as it bounced near her. She tossed it, sailing it over the heads of the others. With a satisfied "swoosh," it entered the net. Nice!

Sava too had received the invitation to come and play. She would've loved to drop everything for that, but alas she received the message mid shift and had had to wait till the end of the day - but now that she was off duty she was eager to get stuck in. She'd run all the way back to her quarters (past several confused engineers), changed and made straight for the gym; she'd even put on her old basketball jersey with her name and number on the back. She wasn't as willowy as she'd been as a teen anymore and so the green and gold garment was a little tighter on her body, but it fit.

She was a bit disappointed to see a game already in progress when she arrived, but that was fine by her. Sava settled down on a bench nearby and sipped from her water bottle as she observed... for now.

Ryhl noticed the tall Kelpien immediately walk towards the bench. His right arm beckoned frantically towards the court. "We're just warming up", he said to Sava. "Please join us. We're looking for more players. Hopefully we can get at least two others." Ryhl put his hands on his knee and twisted them to round out his rotations. He wanted to get a good stretch in before the game, sensing a potentially fast pace.

"Gladly." Sava stood and stretched her arms. "I didn't pin you for a basketball player, captain." She stated, smiling at the Andorian.

"I was always big into sports. I was really more of a kochek player." The Andorian game was played on ice, but without skates. It took extreme grace and skill to complete the violent challenges on the frozen pitch. "There are certain parts of our game which are similar.. For example, the ice jump.. Ball bounce relays." Ryhl continued to stretch, putting his right leg forward and leaning back. "A lot of Andorians pick up basketball at the Academy."

Ryhl chuckled to himself as he pictured a human roommate, cadet Avery Smythe. He introduced Ryhl to Northeastern African-American culture. It was through Avery that Ryhl learned about different sports, food and music. He'd even taught Ryhl a few streetball moves. "Your height would be so useful on the court though, Sav."

Ryhl had resigned to giving everyone a nickname while on the court. He still oddly felt uncomfortable using first names proper. But christening each player with a court-side nickname just seemed fitting.

Johanna saw Paisley can the short shot. "Beginner's luck." She bounced the ball back to Paisley. "Try it about 5 steps back."

Paisley nodded. "Probably," she said. "Ok," she said. She took the ball and stepped back a few feet, launched it, and watch it bounce off the rim.

Johanna was near the rim and she jumped to get the rebound. Her jumping ability was good but not spectacular, just over 2 feet. "Sava, heads up!" She bounced the ball in the Kelpian's general direction.

Talk about being caught slightly off guard. And here she thought they hadn't started yet. The Kelpien plucked the ball out of the air and spun it on her fingertip. She seemed a bit dismayed when it fell off, though. "Oh, dear. I used to be good at that when I was girl." She mused. "Well then. Have we decided on who's on whose teams?"

"We should pair our best player with our worst player." answered Johanna. "Or our tallest player with our smallest player."

"Well, height isn't everything", replied Ryhl. "I can guard Sav.. And leadership is always a challenge on the court. I tell you what. Paise and I against you and Sav", Ryhl said to Johanna. "Two on two at least to start." Ryhl knew both Johanna and Sava were taller than Paisley and himself. He figured they both underestimated the ability of Andorians to jump and run in spring-like fashion. "It's all for fun anyway."

Ryhl genuinely wanted the Chief Engineer on his team. He could tell Johanna wasn't just talented, but hungry to perform. She and Sava would make for quite a challenge.

Paisley nodded. "Sounds good to me," she said, sauntering over to the Captain's side. "I'll let you go first and just copy what you do," she said, with a laugh.

Sava had the ball, so Johanna moved to the wing, about 10 feet out from the basket. She should be able to bank in a shot from here.

Ryhl moved to guard Sava. He lifted an arm in the direction of the basket, while stepping inside of her path towards it. He bent his knees and stayed ready to shift in either direction. He tried to force Sava to her left, away from the basket while also putting his arm in the passing lane. "Guard Jo close", Ryhl broadcast loudly as his arm continued to wave.

On the court Sava seemed to have springs built into her feet. She feinted left, then right, then zipped around the captain in a few strong bounds. The advantages of having digitigrade feet! She beelined for the hoop. zeroed in on the basket just a few feet above her head...

Johanna broke off from guarding Paisley to try to disrupt Sava's shot. She leaped up, arm outstretched to try to block the shot as it came out of Sava's hand. She ended ramming into the taller Sava.

Paisley startled a moment when Johanna jumped up. What was happening?! OH. A block-y thing. Ok. She moved away, but watched as the two other women ran into each other. Oof. "Do we need medical?" She asked. She looked at Rhyl.

Ryhl chuckled at Paisley's words, having chased Sava towards the basket. He broke off his pursuit as Johanna seemed to jump in the way after Sava. "I think I must not have spoken clearly. Pasie is on my team. You're with Sav." He moved to help Johanna up.

Johanna looked back at Sava. "Sorry about that." Johanna, with Ryhl's help, got back on her feet.

"Let's start over", Ryhl said as he picked up the basketball. "Take it back out from the start." This time Ryhl would not be so easily sidestepped. If he had to, he would step in front of Sava's path and take the charge. As the players reset at the top of the key, Ryhl passed the ball to Sava. "Stick close to her, Paise.. Just keep a hand in her face and interrupt." Ryhl again moved to cut Sava off from the basket, lowering himself so that he could quickly shift in front of the Kelpian's path.

With Paisley guarding her, Johanna stood off to the side, clearing the lane for Sava. The Captain was pretty strong and could really jump. She wondered if Sava could take him strong to the hoop.

Paisley looked silly trying to guard the very tall science officer. Still, she was very determined, so she took it seriously, and moved and bobbed and jumped as needed as the Kelpien moved the ball up and down the court. "Get her!!" she called out. Was that right?! Oh, well, she was going with it!!

Johanna was ready in case Sava wanted to pass her the ball. There was a good chance she could make the shot over Paisley. Unless Paisley had insane jumping ability.

Sava once again tried to take the ball out with a similar move. In a moment of hesitation, Ryhl snatched the ball after it bounced. With tight dribbles, he circled around Sava with a hop. His shoulder movements were exaggerated as he crossed the ball between his legs. He shifted his hips, feeling a slight pop in his joints as he threw his body at an angle. Ryhl quickly bounced a pass around Sava to Paisley, who was inside of Johanna's path after playing defense.

The pass would catch Paisley fairly close to the basket, turned slightly away from it

Johanna was caught slightly off-guard by Ryhl's pass to Paisley. She would not have a big window to shoot before Johanna was in her face again.

The game went for about a half hour. Paisley picked up the game very quickly, though Johanna had to explain the concept of fouls. Sava proved tough to defend inside though Ryhl gave it his all.

Afterwards, Johanna was tired and sore. She hadn't played this hard in years. "Enough." she said. "Let's call it here. I need a shower."

Ryhl looked to the officers around him and laughed happily. He was covered in sweat but was happy to be in the presence of people he really cared about. "Good game everyone. That was fun. We'll have to do that more often."

"See you all on the bridge", the captain said warmly.

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