Travis Acton vs.
Randy Acton
One could call this battle "The
Irresistible Force vs. The Immovable Object." The
Acton brothers were the two titans of the court in days when
we played at Schurz court. However, their rivalry
started on their home driveway.
The two were very different players.
Travis was the defensive stopper; Randy was offensive
firepower. But one thing they had in common;
they loved the physical, brutal style of basketball.
They had great respect for each other, but great respect
meant that they had to fight that much harder to keep the
other from winning.
Randy would try to back Travis down all
the way to the low block. Once Randy would get there,
he was going to score with his post moves - unless, of
course, Travis made one of the stellar defensive plays he
was known for. Travis knew good and well what Randy
had planned - and he wasn't going to let him do it easily.
Bump-push, bump-push, bump-push - both Acton brothers would
fight for the upper hand - and only a wimp would call foul.
Eventually, Randy would get to the low block, turn, and use
his body to get Travis out of position. And Travis
would still block more than his fair share.
So then Travis would take the ball, and
move back and forth across the lane. Randy wanted to
deny Travis his right hook, but in doing so, was forced to
give position as Travis would take the ball deeper and
deeper. Bump-push, bump-push, bump-push - both Acton
brothers would fight for the upper hand - and only a wimp
would call foul. Once Travis got close enough, Randy
had to worry about other moves rather than just sit on the
hook, and as he'd try to deny the basket, Travis would take
a step through, and put up a nice little hook over Randy's
outstretched hands - not as accurate as Randy's shot, but
still a solid scoring threat.
So - who would win? Well, just on
general principle, the first one to call a foul LOSES.
Randy eventually developed a new strategy
- tell his brother, "You need to start powering the ball up
instead of using the hook." Travis often joked that
when Randy gave him this advice, he really believed Randy
was trying to help him, but all it really did was insure
that Travis couldn't beat Randy any more.
Randy would probably win the match-up,
since more of his shots will go in that Travis's, but
winning doesn't come any tougher than this.
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