Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Coach Swendel left the locker room first as he gave the boys a chance to talk to each other before the start of the game.

As Jason stood up all of the boys did the same as they gathered around him. Jason looked around at all of them.

"Just so you guys know I just had my first interview for Through the Hoops. I told them that we would dominate this game.

And I don't like being made a liar. Do you guys understand!?" They all shouted in unison "YES!" Jason nodded his head at their response before sticking his hand out.

All of the boys joined in as they all stacked their hands on top of Jason's.

"Then let's go out there and take care of business! Jefferson on the count of three!" They all counted in unison "ONE! TWO! THREE! JEFFERSON!"

They all threw their hands in the air before making their way out of the locker room. Sam was the last one out as he followed the boys out.

The boys all walked out of the locker room in a single file line as they followed Jason's lead.

As soon as Jason appeared the crowd erupted in to cheers as the thunderous sounds of applause intermingled with their excited voices.

Their voices could be heard as they all chanted "JAYA! JAYA! JAYA! JAYA!" Jason smiled as he waved at the crowd which caused them to go even crazier.

Sam gulped as he looked at the spirited crowd sitting all around the gym on the bleachers 'Is this really just a scrimmage? The atmosphere is already so intense. And they're all here for him'

As he was engrossed in the atmoshpere and observing the crowd around them he didn't realize that the person in front of him had come to a stop.

After bumping into the back of the person in front of him he rubbed his face as he gave a nervous smile "Sorry, my bad." He then followed the rest of the reserve players as they made their way to the bench.

In the NBA only 13 players were allowed to suit up and sit on the bench even though 15 roster spots were available to the team.

Luckily for Sam the current rules for middle school basketball allowed for the full roster to suit up for the games.

Even if he didn't get a chance to play just the experience of being able to observe the team during the game would prove to be beneficial for him.

He turned his head from the crowd to the court as he watched the starting five get in position for the tip off after shaking hands with the starting five of the opposing team.

As he shook hands with the opposing team's players the intensity behind Jason's eyes went up two notches as his mindset switched to game mode.

Despite knowing who they were playing against and mentally preparing themselves none of Mt. Vernon's players could look Jason straight in the eyes as they shook his hand.

As Kyle got in to position for the tip off he stared down the opposing team's Center which seemed to have unnerved him as he diverted his sight.

The referee looked at the two boys before tossing the ball in to the air. As the ball reached it's peak Kyle extended his legs as he catapulted off of the ground toward it.

He effortlessly beat his opponent to the ball as with a swing of his arm he tapped the ball to his team's side.

As soon as he landed he started sprinting toward the basket. Danilo caught the ball before quickly passing it back to Jason.

With a quick glance Jason was able to observe the whole court 'Looks like Mt. Vernon did their homework.'

He saw that there were already two defenders chasing after Kyle as he ran charged toward the basket.

'But if you think that we're the same team that we were a year ago, you've fucked up big time.' With two defenders focused on chasing after Kyle that meant that there were only three defenders left to guard Jefferson's four other players.

Seeing that the opposing team's defense hadn't had a chance to set up Jason revved up his engine as he started knifing his way down the court.

Jason's primary defender tried to reach for the ball in an attempt to steal the ball but all he ended up grabbing was air as Jason easily avoided his hand by throwing the ball ahead of him and through the defenders legs.

As Jason momentarily turned his speed up by a level he caught up with the ball and regained control as drove straight down the middle of the court.

The defender could only look on in a daze as he stared at Jason's back 'What kind of ball handling is that? Is he really just a middle schooler?'

Jason was happy knowing that he had made the right choice by making the Ankle Breaker badge one of his cores.

He could already tell that his ball handling ability was slightly better than what it had been during his time as a high school player. 

Although his current physical abilities were far behind what they had been in high school the fact that his ball handling was already better meant that the Player DNA function had really improved his rate of growth in that area.

As he entered the paint one of the defenders that had been guarding Kyle split away as he tried to contain Jason.

Seeing this Jason picked up his dribble as he bent his knees and jumped into the air. The defender responded by jumping straight up with his hands above his head as he tried to contest Jason's shot without fouling.

Jason twisted his body mid air. With the ball in his right hand he moved it under the defenders arms as he tried to avoid getting the ball knocked away.

He then flicked his wrist as it looked like he was going for a scoop layup. However the ball ended up on the left side of the rim.

Just as Mt. Vernon was about to let out a sigh of relief thinking that they had successfully prevented a basket two large hands encircled the ball like the jaws of a wolf clamping down on it's prey. 

Kyle then swung his hands down as he hammered in a two handed dunk. Without hanging on the rim Kyle landed back down on to the court as he bent his knees to absorb the impact.

As he stood up he pointed at Jason before turning to the crowd as he moved his arms up and down at his sides gesturing for them to make some noise.

The crowd immediately responded as their ecstatic voices filled the gym along with their clapping. Jason and Kyle both high fived each other as they made their way back on defense.

The individual level of defensive ability was already at a fairly high level for all of Jefferson's starting five as even their worst defender Matt was able to clamp down on his defensive assignment.

That combined with Jason's attention to detail and ability to direct his teammates made it impossible for Mt. Vernon to get an open look.

After having had to reset their offense multiple times they finally took the best shot that they could get which was still a fairly contested three pointer defended by Alex.

The ball went in a straight line toward the basket but it ended up hitting the front of the rim. The rebound actually fell straight into Danilo's hands as Jason yelled out "Push the fast break!"

From the top of the free throw line Danilo began sprinting toward the other end as he dribbled the ball. The opposing team's Power Forward proved to slow to keep up as he was soon left behind by Danilo.

This wasn't surprising as the position that he had played last year which was also his natural position was Small Forward.

As a former perimeter player he had a natural advantage over other Big Men in terms of ball handling and speed.

As he got closer to the paint the only defender in sight was a Guard. It was the Point Guard that had been defended by Alex when he had shot the three at the top of the perimeter.

As the two of them made contact at the top of the free throw line Danilo put his shoulder down as he gave the defender a bump.

After knocking the defender off balance Danilo heard the referee blow his whistle as he took one more step before putting up a short floater with his right hand.

After seeing the ball sink through the net Danilo copied Kyle as he turned toward the crowd. But instead of gesturing for them to make some noise he flexed his right arm as he slapped his bicep.

"And one! Let's goooo!"