Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Even though Jason had chosen to use the words that he knew would trigger his haters the most that didn't mean that he was lying.

Jason thought about his current state and couldn't see any way that they would lose.

[Free throw: SS+

Lay Up: S -> SS+

Dunking: E -> E+

Close Shot: S -> SS+

Mid Range Shooting: SS -> SS+

Three Point Shooting: SS -> SS+

Dribbling: SS -> SS+

Passing: SS -> SS+

Ball Handling: SS -> SS+

Play Making: SS+

Post Scoring: B -> A+

Rebounding: B -> A+

Post Control: A -> S+

Perimeter Defense: SS -> SS+

Post Defense: A -> S+

Steals: SS -> SS+

Blocks: B+ -> A+

Athleticism: B ]

Over the summer Jason had finally managed to free himself from all of the restrictions on his skills. He could now use them to their fullest potential.

And Jason had also made improvements in his badges.

[Ironman (Silver) -> (Gold): Gives you a tougher body. You will be less likely to experience an injury as well as recover from injuries at an improved rate. Effectiveness decided by badge rank.

Defensive Anchor (Silver) -> (Gold): Your presence on the court inspires your teammates to do their best on defense. Your teammates will be more focused on the defensive side of the ball.

Your teammates will play defense with more energy and be less likely to commit small mistakes. Effect only applies to teammates while you are on the court.

Lock Down Defender (Silver) -> (Gold): Lowers the effectiveness of your opponents offensive badges and increases your ability to not fall for different fakes and moves.

Clamps (Silver) -> (Gold): Increases your ability to stick with your defensive assignment. Also improves your ability to recover after being broken down on defense.

Pick Pocket (Silver) -> (Gold): Increases your ability to steal the ball away from the ball handler. Decreases your chances of being called for a reach in foul.

Hustle (Silver) -> (Gold): Increases your chances of success when diving/fighting for loose balls. Slightly increases rebounding.

Workhorse (Silver) -> (Gold): Lowers the affects of fatigue on your performance. Allows you to play at your optimal level for short moments when low on stamina.

Ankle Breaker (Silver) -> (Gold): Increases the effectiveness of your dribble moves in breaking down your defender.

If you manage to make your defender fall or stumble you will get a momentary boost to your shot making.

Tight Handles (Silver) -> (Gold): Increases your ability to dribble through traffic without losing the ball. Decreases your chances of having the ball stripped away while dribbling.

Dimer (Silver) -> (Gold): Slightly increases your ability to throw accurate passes. Gives a slight boost to your teammates scoring ability if they attempt to score right after receiving a pass from you.

Pick And Roll Ball Handler (Silver) -> (Gold): Increases your ability to pass to the roll man during a pick and roll.

Also slightly increases your scoring ability momentarily after coming off a screen after performing a pick and roll.

Floor General (Bronze) -> (Silver): Your presence on the court gives your teammates the confidence to perform to the best of their ability. Your teammates will be tuned in on offense.

Your teammates will gain a small boost to their offensive abilities and be less likely to perform small mistakes. Effect only applies to teammates while you are on the court.

Sniper (Silver) -> (Gold): Gives a slight bonus to your ability to make shots from the three-point line. Slightly lowers the energy used to attempt a long distance shot. ]

Off The Dribble Shot Maker (Bronze): Increases the users chance of making a shot when taking it off of the dribble.

Box Out King (Silver): Increases the users ability to box out opponents when fighting for rebounds. Slightly improves post control ability.

Jason was slightly disappointed that the reward that he had gotten from the mission involving Tyreek ended up being the Box Out King badge.

Although it was a helpful badge it wouldn't really make that much of a difference to Jason because he was a perimeter player and not a Big.

However he was happy that he had managed to unlock the Off The Dribble Shot Maker badge over the summer.

It was something that would make a big impact on his game as he would be even more confident when attempting a shot off the dribble.

The leap in his skill grades and the improvements that he had made with his badges was the reason why Jason was so confident in the varsity team.

The reason why he was confident about the junior varsity team as well was because he had personally overseen their training for the past few days.

He knew what level the junior varsity team was at and was confident that they would be able to put up a decent fight at the very least.

And even if they lost they had only been playing together for a few days unlike the school they would be competing against.

Jason grinned at the camera as he continued "No offense to Mt. Vernon but we beat them pretty bad last year.

Now that we had a whole season under our belt to gel together and our team chemistry is even better I just don't see how they stand a chance."

Mt. Vernon was once again going to be their first opponent to start off the year. They were a nearby middle school and over the years it had become a tradition of sorts for the two schools to start off the season with a scrimmage.

- - -

Saturday afternoon. It was 1 p.m. as the gym at Jefferson was filled to the brim with excited fans. Even though it was only a scrimmage the enthusiasm of the people in attendance was abundant. 

In the locker room Coach Swendel was looking at the boys as they sat down getting ready for the game.

Jason put his headband on and tied his hair up in to a manbun before lacing up his shoes. After he was done he turned to the side and smiled at Kyle "You ready bro?"

Kyle finished up lacing his shoes and smiled back at Jason "You already know Jaya. I'm so pumped! It's been months since we got to play against a different school."

A few seats away DJ laughed "Man, you a completely different person compared to last year Kyle. I still remember how you were shaking like a leaf before our scrimmage against Mt. Vernon."

Matt laughed as he added "And don't forgot how sick he looked. I thought for sure he would blow chunks before even stepping out on to the court."

Kyle rolled his eyes "Ha ha very fun. I wasn't that bad. I mean, sure I remember the shaking part but I definitely wasn't going to throw up."

All of the boys laughed after hearing Kyle's response. Frank shook his head as he looked at Kyle "I can't imagine Kyle being scared.

Whenever I saw him on TV he always looked so intimidating whenever he swatted a shot away or threw down a monster dunk."

DJ smirked as he pointed to Kyle "Don't let the big guy trick you. When we first met him he was the biggest scaredy-cat at Jefferson.

He woulda been scared of his own shadow if it ain't been with him since day one." Once again the boys laughed at Kyle's expense.

But despise the teasing Kyle didn't seem to mind as he himself laughed when thinking about how much he had changed in just a year.

Coach Swendel clapped his hands together to get the boys attention "Alright boys. Even though this is just a scrimmage that won't have any impact on our record I still want us to play right and play hard.

The starting lineup will be as follows. Alex at Point Guard, Matt at Shooting Guard, Jaya at Small Forward, Danilo at Power Forward, and Kyle at Center."

This was the lineup that Jason had suggested to Coach Swendel after hours of contemplation and deliberation.

Jason wanted to space the floor out as much as possible after seeing how their lack of floor spacing had been one of their biggest weaknesses at the state tournament.

By sliding Danilo up by one position they now had a stretch big who could pull the opposing team's Power Forward out of the paint.

And the reason why Jason had thought to move two positions up and play Small Forward was because he was the one with the best combination of height and defensive ability.

Whether his opponent was a Small Forward adept at playing from out in the perimeter or a Small Forward who utilized his size to post up and play from the inside he would be able to defend them and lock them up.

After hearing Coach Swendel announce the starting lineup all of the boys nodded their heads in acknowledgment.

Coach Swendel smiled as he scanned the group of boys "The gym is packed today even though it's just a scrimmage because our fans want to see us dominate and kick some ass.

So let's go out there and give them what they want!"