He thought that Gramps had been quieter than usual on the twenty-minute ride from Claremont to Sheridan. But Lucas had to remind himself that Gramps did tire sometimes, that he did act his age, especially if the pain in his knees had prevented him from getting a good night’s sleep.

He just hoped that the closer they got to the game, the more Gramps’s disposition would improve. And that’s exactly what had happened by the time he gathered the Wolves around him in front of their bench, a few minutes before the ref would hand Lucas the ball.

“Just gonna give you boys one thought before we start today,” Gramps said, smiling his Santa Claus smile. “You all can handle one thought, right?”

“Unless we count that question as a second thought,” Ryan said.

Gramps raised an eyebrow and looked at Lucas.

“The truly amazing thing,” he said to Gramps, “is that he actually thinks he’s funnier than me.”

“I’m just trying to keep my mind off guarding a guy who looks as big as Zion Williamson,” Ryan said.

“Anyway,” Gramps said, “here’s the thought: Let’s not wait until the second quarter to start playing our best ball this Saturday the way we did last Saturday.”

The Wolves didn’t.

This Saturday they came out hot. Smoking hot. And it all started with their defense. Ryan made it his mission not just to stay in front of Robbie, but to bother him in every way he could, whether he had the ball in his hands or not. Every chance he got, he forced Robbie into one of Lucas’s double teams. He boxed him out on missed shots at both ends of the court, beating Robbie to his spot time after time as a way of beating him to the ball.

Every once in a while Robbie would reach over him and come out with the ball.

Not very often.

Ryan had told Lucas that he didn’t care if he scored a single point today. He wasn’t going to let the big guy beat them. But Ryan did get his points, mostly because of the outlet passes he was making, and the way he kept busting it to fill lanes on the fast break.

The Wolves were ahead by ten points at the end of the first quarter. They were ahead by fifteen at halftime. Up and down their lineup, no matter which five was on the court at a particular time, they looked exactly like the team Lucas had imagined they would be coming into the season. It wasn’t just Ryan on defense; they were all D-ing up, all over the court. They were sharing the ball on offense, and making their share of shots from the outside, starting with Lucas, who’d even made one over Robbie when Robbie had his arms in the air and looked as tall as a Christmas tree.