Center Court Sting Read Online Free

coming down on Lou for giving
him
a hard time but only said, “Yes, sir. I will.”
    Coach Michaels finally smiled. “All right, then. See you tomorrow for practice.”
    Lynn and most of the other players had left already when Daren entered the lockerroom. But that was fine with Daren. Even if the coach believed he hadn’t pulled that dumb stunt with Lou’s shoes, most of
     the other Rangers probably thought he was the culprit. Lou was sure to have laid the blame on him. Maybe even Lynn thought
     so. Why else would Lynn not have waited to ride home with him?
    As he rode up his driveway, Daren heard his name called. He saw Gary Parnell standing by his driveway, his basketball under
     one arm and brand-new, fancy-looking sneakers on his feet.
    “Hi, Daren! I got new shoes!” Gary’s eyes were bright with excitement, and he wore a big, happy grin.
    Daren had forgotten about his agreement to help Judy’s little brother learn basketball, and he definitely didn’t feel like
     doing it — not now, at least. But he didn’t feel much like going in and facing his parents’ questions about practice, either. So he put away his bike and joined Gary in the Parnells’ yard.
    Gary’s dad had put up a backboard and basket over their garage door. Gary waited, bouncing the ball awkwardly on the driveway
     pavement, as Daren approached.
    “Can you show me how to do a jump shot?” asked Gary.
    Daren shook his head. “Let’s start with something simpler. Something important, though.”
    Gary looked a little disappointed, but he smiled and nodded. “Sure, Daren.”
    “Okay,” Daren said, trying to forget his bad mood. “Let’s work on dribbling, okay?”
    “Dribbling?” Gary’s face fell. “I already know how to dribble. Look!”
    He bounced the ball hard off the pavement, staring at it the whole time. After a few bounces, it hit his foot and bouncedinto the bushes by the house. Gary ran after it, returned with the ball, and started bouncing it again, never letting his
     eyes leave the ball.
    “See?” he said. “I dribble pretty good.”
    “Actually, you’re doing it wrong. You don’t want to watch the ball while you dribble. If your eyes are always on the ball,
     you can’t see the court,” Daren pointed out. “You can’t see where anyone else is, either, on your team or the other team.
     You have to dribble without watching. Here, I’ll show you.”
    He snatched Gary’s ball away in mid-bounce and started dribbling it, his eyes on Gary the whole time. He switched from right
     hand to left and back. He started with high, slow bounces, then speeded up, never looking at the ball.
    “See? I’m watching the court and theother players while I dribble. Otherwise, I won’t know when to pass or whether some guy is going to try to steal the ball
     away from me.”
    He turned away from Gary so that his body shielded the ball from the youngster. With one swift move, he pivoted, drove past
     Gary, and banked a soft layup off the backboard and through the hoop.
    “Wow! That was neat!” Gary stared at Daren in awe. “Let me try!”
    He bounced the basketball a few times, but his eyes stayed on the ball, and the third bounce went off his leg, straight to
     Daren.
    Daren grabbed the ball. “Whoa! Take it easy, kid. There’s a difference between bouncing a basketball and dribbling it. Right
     now, you’re just bouncing the ball.”
    He started bouncing the ball hard with his arm stiff and his palm flat.
    “See?” said Daren. “That’s you.”
    Gary blushed.
    “Your hand is flat, like a Ping-Pong paddle.
This
is dribbling.”
    Daren relaxed, his knees flexed, looking at Gary again.
    “See?” he asked as he dribbled. “Look at my hands. See how my fingers are bent? They’re controlling the ball. And I don’t
     move my arm a lot when I dribble. My wrist does most of the work. You were doing this.” Daren began to slap at the ball with
     his arm and wrist straight. He made it look as awkward as he could.
    Daren