Slam Dunk by Matt Christopher, Robert Hirschfeld Read Free Book Online Page A

Cal and could have turned and shot. But the drill called for five passes. So Julian faked to his right side, turned the other way, and threw a bounce pass to Warren, who was standing in the left corner near the baseline. Warren flicked a chest pass to Grady, who had managed to get away from Len behind the key. Grady threw a high pass to Julian. Julian fired the ball straight back to Grady and slid in toward the basket. Cal tried to block the lane, planting himself behind Julian’s inside shoulder. But Julian wheeled away to the baseline, and Grady found him with a soft, arching pass. Cal lunged desperately to keep Julian from shooting, but Julian put up a baseline shot that swished through the net.
    “All right!” said Grady.
    Julian found himself grinning. This was the way it should be. But the other squad now put the ball in play from midcourt, and Julian had to guard Cal. Though Julian had a few inches on the thinner boy, Cal proved to be surprisingly quick on his feet. He worked free to take a pass from Mick. Cal dropped a bounce pass behind him to Len and drifted inside. Len lobbed the ball to Cal, who fired it back to Len. Len bounced it to Mick, who had an open shot from fifteen feet. Julian launched himself toward him, hands extended to block a shot. But instead of shooting, Mick threw a well-timed pass to Cal. Unguarded, Cal dropped in an easy layup.
    Julian knew right away that he’d made a mistake — he’d left his man free for an easy bucket to try to block a low-percentage outside shot. The coach whistled play to a stop. “What happened?” he asked Julian.
    “I should have stayed with my man inside instead of worrying about the long jumper,” Julian said. “I shouldn’t give him the high-percentage shot.”
    “Good,” said the coach. “That’s how we learn. Okay, back to work.”
    A minute later, after Warren had missed a ten-foot jumper, Mick took a crosscourt pass from Len and went up for his own jump shot. Julian jumped, stretched out an arm, and just managed to get a couple of finger-tips on the ball, spoiling a good shot opportunity.
    “Nice move, Julian,” the coach called. “Let’s have some other people on the floor.”
    When Julian went to the sideline, Grady turned and said, “Nice block.”
    Julian wiped his face with a towel. “Good assist back there.”
    It was almost like last year.
    A few minutes later, the coach told the team to relax and left the gym for a minute. When he returned, he said, “Can I have your attention? I thought you’d want to know that Barry Streeter had his surgery earlier today. His father says it went well, but there’s still no word on what happens next. Tomorrow’s Saturday, and he’ll be ready for company. We don’t practice until midafter-noon, so you have time to drop by if you want to.”
    Julian and Grady exchanged looks.
    “Want to go?” Julian asked.
    “Absolutely,” Grady replied.
    Julian said, “He’s going to be fine. You’ll see.” He wished he felt as sure as he sounded.

8
    T he next morning, Julian and Grady were on their way down the hall toward Barry’s room when someone called Julian’s name. Mrs. Streeter waved to them from the visitors’ lounge. She stood up and hugged each of them in turn. She looked very tired.
    “Barry will be happy to see you,” she said. “Sit down. They only let in two visitors at a time, and Barry’s dad and Coach Valenti are in there. But they’ll be out soon.”
    “How is he?” asked Grady.
    Mrs. Streeter sat back down with a sigh. “He’s doing well, all things considered. He’ll be out of the hospital tomorrow, and he’ll begin physical therapy in a few days.”
    “That’s great,” Julian said.
    She smiled. “He keeps talking about how he wishes he could play ball.”
    “We really miss him, too,” said Julian.
    Grady nodded. “But the main thing is, he’s going to get better, right?”
    Before Mrs. Streeter could reply, the coach and Mr. Streeter walked into the