King Arthur decided to go after the meat-shield center, so when he drove under the basket, he came to an abrupt stop.
He faked a shot, trying to get Baturu off the ground.
But Baturu had always been a ground-bound center. He hardly ever jumped.
Go ahead and shoot if you want, but you're not getting me off the ground.
He was experienced. He simply stood right in front of King Arthur with both arms raised high.
That left King Arthur at a loss.
He could only turn around and make it look like he was about to shoot.
Of course, that was still a fake. He was just trying to get Baturu to jump so he could shoot off a pump fake and a step-through.
But Baturu still didn't jump.
That really left King Arthur utterly helpless.
He wanted to pass, but the Raptors were playing man-to-man defense today.
He couldn't find a passing lane right away, so he had no choice but to shoot.
And because Baturu hadn't jumped when he turned around, by the time King Arthur tried to shoot, Batum was already right up on him. All he could do was jump backward as far as possible and shoot a fadeaway.
But his shot had never been very reliable, and in a situation like this, he missed.
That was when the benefit of Baturu not jumping became clear.
Since he hadn't left the ground while defending King Arthur, he could turn around and go for the rebound as soon as King Arthur shot.
Two Spider-Men nearby tried to get the rebound, but Baturu really did know how to rebound.
While the ball was still nowhere near coming down, he raised both arms and charged toward the basket.
But he didn't hold his arms straight up. Instead,