Rebound: A 2nd Chance

As the boys went on to do their assessments they found themselves working with a bit of an edge as their competitive spirits came to life after being forced to go head to head against each other.

3D normally wouldn't have tried that hard since he himself knew that his ability to move laterally was far behind everyone else.

But after being paired up against Stax his own competitive drive wouldn't allow him to take it easy. As soon as the drill started he tried his best as he shuffled his feet as quickly as he could.

But despite his best efforts he found himself getting eliminated from the drill soon after the researcher began to toss tennis balls in his direction.

As he stepped to the left in order to turn off a light 3D saw a tennis ball falling in his right. The moment that 3D spent deciding what to do ended up costing him some crucial time as he just narrowly missed the ball as it brushed past his fingers.

3D stood up and wiped the sweat that was on his face "Damn! I was just a half step slow." Patricia walked toward 3D before pulling him to the side.

She did so as to not bother the other boy as she spoke with 3D about his results "Your results were one minute and twenty six seconds.

Honestly 3D you did very poorly. All of your steps were heavy and the amount of energy that you need to use to shift directions shows that your body mechanics are very inefficient.

And it's mostly because of your frame and weight. I understand that your massive size has proven to be a great advantage to you as a post player.

But in my opinion you would benefit more by losing some weight. Nowadays coaches and team executives aren't looking for dominant post players.

Obviously good post skills and the ability to generate offense from the post are a plus but if that's the only thing that you can offer as a Big Man in today's game then your value instantly takes a dive.

You risk being either a specialist that's hard to fit on a team or just a role player that comes out in very specific situations.

The most important thing for Big Men in today's game is defensive versatility and floor spacing. Even with your ability to pass the ball from the post I don't think that it's enough to overcome that fact.

According to all the footage that I've watched on you although your mid range jumper is decent you don't have the ability to stretch all the way out to the three point line.

And since your ability to stretch the floor isn't that great your lack of defensive versatility hurts that much more. What do you think?"

3D looked down at Patricia straight in the eyes "No offense Doc but Ima stick with what's gotten me this far.

You say that todays game isn't suited for players like me. But I see it another way. There just hasn't been a player good enough to change the game. At least not yet.

If Shaq was playing in todays game you wouldn't ask him to stand out on the perimeter and wait to shoot threes would you?

Of course not. He would post up on the block and destroy anyone that tried to guard him." Patricia chuckled as she looked at 3D.

"Are you saying that you're the next Shaq?" 3D shrugged his shoulders "I honestly think that I am. At every level that I've played at there hasn't been anyone that could guard me one on one."

Patricia laughed before clicking her pen and writing down some notes. She then looked at 3D with a smile on her face.

"Well I can't say if you're doing the right thing or not. But you are making a very interesting choice. I look forward to seeing where this road takes you."

3D nodded his head before heading back out to the group. Stax finished and he ended up lasting for two minutes and thirty-eight seconds.

All of the boys went and did their assessments while the researchers recorded all of their information down and spoke to them about their results.

Kyle ended up being the one with the second best results right behind Jason as he managed to last for five minutes and four seconds.

His long arms allowed him to reach the buttons and tennis balls with minimal movement and his huge hands gave him more leeway with catching the tennis balls.

That combined with his long strides that made it look effortless for him to move side to side made it no surprise that he did as well as he did.

Surprisingly the third best results didn't come from Rudy, Danilo, or from anyone from the Texas group.

The third best results came from Alex as he managed to perform the drill for four minutes and twenty-two seconds.

The thing that stood out the most from his performance was the striking similarity that he showed of Jason during his run with the drill.

He was in an extremely low defensive stance that closely resembled Jason. And the way that he maneuvered around the lights while keeping his head and eyes locked in front of him was similar to how Jason had done the drill. 

Patricia pulled Alex to the side as she went over his results with him "Well done Alex. You're ability to identify the best possible action and execute it with minimal time is elite for your age group.

You also utilize your wingspan and frame very well. Your energy efficiency is also very good. Very minimal wasted movement.

I would say that the only thing that you need to work on right now is your conditioning. If you had the stamina I could very easily see you performing close to Jason's level at least on the defensive end."

Alex nodded his head as sweat streamed down his face "Thank you Doctor Miller. I'll keep that in mind during the training camp."

He then gave her a nod before making his way back to the group. The next few drills were all endurance based.

The researchers had the boys perform multiple different variations of drills that used battling ropes. With each of which Jason recorded the best results.

During the last drill with the battling ropes Jason was moving side to side as he swung the ropes up and down.

Rudy looked at Jason with a bit of a confused expression on his face "Is it just me or is Jaya looking a little paler than usual?"

3D scoffed "I'm guessing that you didn't notice him chowing down on all those protein bars in between drills?"

Rudy shrugged his shoulders "Doesn't he do that all the time? Jaya's always snacking on something."

Kyle shook his head after hearing Rudy say that "This time it's different. Jaya always eats a lot but that's because of two things.

The first being that he really wants to grow. He hears it all the time from sports analysts and other players, that he has a small body and thin frame.

So he eats a ton hoping that it will help him grow and fill out his body. The second reason why he eats so much is because he always pushes his motor to a hundred and ten percent.

Going that hard uses up a ton of fuel." 3D nodded his head before adding "You could see it during the drills.

His face is pale, his arms and legs are trembling. That doesn't seem like it's just because of fatigue from doing the drills.

The dude is probably really hungry and running off of fumes right now." Rudy thought back to how Jason had given his extra sandwiches to him and Alex.

After Jason had finished doing the last of the battling ropes exercises Patricia walked to the front of the two groups.

"Excellent work gentlemen. Go ahead and take a five minute breather and then we'll be moving on to our next part of the assessment."

Rudy hesitated for a moment but he ended up raising his hand. Patricia turned and looked at him 

"Oh? Did you have a question Rudy?"

Rudy coughed to clear his throat "I uh- actually... I was wondering if we could take a bit of a longer break?"

Patricia's expression turned cold and serious "And why would that be?" Under the pressure of her intense gaze it was hard for Rudy to speak up.

"That's because I um- I'm feeling really hungry after all the drills that we did. Just a short break would be enough for me to grab a bite to-"

He was interrupted by Patricia "I believe that we gave you an hour for lunch. That should have been a suitable amount of time to get something to eat.

I don't know if you know this but Nike is investing a lot into this training camp. Do you think that you're so important as to be worth delaying the camp for everybody?"

Rudy began to feel uneasy as all of the researchers turned to look at him as well as the cameramen and the boys from Texas.

Just as he was struggling to think of what to say next he heard Jason's voice speak out "Sorry Doc. He was just trying to stick up for me.

I forgot to eat during the hour break that you gave us." Instantly everyone's focus shifted to Jason who was still wiping off his sweat.

Patricia turned to Jason with her cold and stern face "I have to say that I am disappointed in you Jason.

I thought that a young man as mature as you would understand just how precious of an opportunity this is for you.

With the amount of sports doctors and researchers that are involved each minute of this camp is worth hundreds of dollars.

You should have used your time in a responsible manner. We cannot delay the camp just for the sake of one athlete.

If you feel that you are unable to continue participating in the assessment then you are free to sit back and do whatever you want.

Just know that you will be unable to do your assessment at a later time. There is a strict schedule designed for the camp."

The more that Jason was reprimanded the worst that Rudy felt 'Jaya didn't do anything wrong. It was all me. I can't let him take the heat like this.

Even if it means getting in trouble I can't let Jason miss out because of me.' Just as he was about to speak up and say something he once again heard Jason's voice.

"Understood Doctor. I'll make sure to use my time more wisely in the future. Don't worry about me. I'll continue the assessment."