Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason lead his teammates as they all walked back on to the court to shake hands with the players of Mt. Vernon.

Now that the game was over Jason had flipped the switch and changed back to his regular mindset as he said a few words of encouragement to the opposing players while shaking their hands.

Jason knew that some people would criticize what he had done today but he didn't really care. 'It was just a scrimmage, why did you play so hard?'

Jason could already hear the excuses that people would come up with to criticize him. But to Jason none of that made sense.

'It doesn't matter if its just a scrimmage. If you're going to step on to the court in front of all of your supporters and fans you owe it to them and yourself to play with everything you have.'

After having shaken hands with the opposing team Jason turned to Kyle and the others "Alright. Good game out there guys.

I would say some more but we need to hit the showers and get changed quick. We only have fifteen minutes until the junior varsity team starts their game.

And we need to be there to cheer them on." All of the guys on the team nodded their heads as they made their way to the showers.

- - -

A week quickly passed after Jefferson's first scrimmage. Now it wasn't just Jason and Kyle that got the Rock Star treatment as all of the boys were able to get some recognition after that weekend.

During the week Jason had changed up the composition of their practices. Early morning practice was still required for the varsity team but Jason began to introduce running plays and sets from their playbook.

Jason did the same for the junior varsity team as well. He explained to them the principles behind their defensive schemes as well as the different ways the plays could branch out.

While Jason took charge of the training for the varsity team's fundamentals he left it to Coach Swendel to do the same for the junior varsity team.

Kyle and the others weren't the only ones who had grown after a year. After having spent a whole season being exposed to Jason's savant like understanding of the game and picking his brain Coach Swendel had grown tremendously as a coach.

His own understanding of the game and his ability to recognize in game situations as well as his ability to adapt and make changes went up by several levels.

But that wasn't all. He was now able to help correct problems with players shooting forms and impart defensive fundamentals to a more than adequate degree.

Friday night. Valentino's was packed as all of the players and their parents filled up the entirety of the restaurant.

Jason saw a familiar shining bald head and sparkling smile. He walked over and shook his hand "Thanks for letting us celebrate here Mr. Valentino. Now that Kyle and his mom moved into the apartment we don't really have the space to throw big parties like this."

Just last year he was still a good amount taller than Jason. Now after only just a year he and Jason were looking at each other eye to eye.

Valentino laughed as he firmly grasped Jason's hand "Nonsense. If anything I'm the one who should be thanking you. 

You and the boys really put on one hell of a show during the scrimmage. The energy in the gym made it feel like it was a state tournament game haha.

Besides, this will make for a great brag story. I get to watch the first episode of Through the Hoops newest season with one of their biggest stars in my restaurant."

Tonight was the night that Through the Hoops would air their first episode of their new season. Valentino's was the first place that Jason thought of to throw the party at.

When Valentino heard Jason's request over the phone he enthusiastically agreed right away. In fact he had wanted to host the party at his restaurant for free.

But Jason and his parents strongly refused. They had thirty players and all of their parents would be attending too.

It was too much for them to allow Valentino to spend so much money treating them. After some convincing by Jason Valentino had agreed to let them pay.

Of course, that is after giving them a very generous discount. At the price that he was charging them it was only enough to cover the cost of labor and ingredients.

Valentino told Jason and his parents that he refused to make a penny off of Riverside's very own hometown hero.

After confirming the venue Jason had all of the players parents chip in to pay for the expenses. Now here they were ready to celebrate and watch the newest episode of Through the Hoops.

Kyle excitedly yelled out as he pointed to the TV "It's starting guys! The show is starting!" Everyone found a seat and sat down as they turned their attention to the large paper thin flat screen that was hanging on the wall.

For the first thirty minutes they introduced some of their new players that were making their debut on the show as well as talking about some of the players that had been on the show but were now playing professionally after being drafted.

Then it was finally the moment that everyone there was waiting for. The black screen slowly transitioned to show Jason sitting on the lowest level of the bleachers in the gym.

He was dressed in his practice gear with a headband and his hair tied up in to a manbun as Javier stood in front of him.

"Is it just me or have you grown a ton since last year?" Jason laughed "Haha I'm really happy that you noticed Javier.

I actually grew four inches (10.16cm). I was 5'4 (1.6m) at the start of the year. Now I'm around 5'8 (1.7m).

But I didn't just grow in height. Thanks to the Nike training camp that I attended during the summer I was able to pack on a decent amount of weight.

But that's enough talking about that. Did you want to move to some questions that are more about basketball?"

He smiled at Jason "Alright, I guess we should." Javier paused for a second before continuing "So you guys actually have a full roster now. Not just that, you actually have enough players to form a junior varsity team.

How do you feel about this years new batch of players?" Jason cracked a small smile as he nodded his head.

"They're good. Real good Javier. Obviously the biggest names that people will think of first are the Silva twins.

Even last year when they were just sixth graders they managed to put up a real fight against us. Now that they're on our side it's a lot easier to appreciate their talent.

But we have a few stand outs among the new guys." Javier's brow raised "Oh? And who would those players be?"

Jason wagged his finger "I can't just tell you. What would be the fun that? I'll let you guys find out by watching us this season."

Javier shook his head while smiling as the screen once again transitioned to black. Then they began to play some footage from tryouts and the scrimmages that decided the varsity spots.

They showed the good and the bad. Everything from David falling to the ground and crying when he heard that he had made the final cut to one of the boys raising his objection to Sam getting the final varsity spot.

They added some background music to the scene where Jason explained why he had given Sam the final varsity spot. The music made the scene more dramatic than it actually was.

David was smiling brightly as he turned to his parents "Did you guys see that!? I was on TV!"

The screen transitioned multiple times as they showed a variety of clips from throughout the week. They showed some scenes of Jason practicing in the morning as well as him eating with his parents and Shania as all three of them were asked simple questions.

And finally they got to the juiciest part.

Once again Javier was interviewing Jason in the gym "So Jaya. You have your very first scrimmage tomorrow.

How do you feel the varsity team and junior varsity team will perform?" Jason took a second to wipe the sweat off of his face with his towel.

After he was done drying himself off the view zoomed in on Jason's face as he smirked while staring straight in to the camera "We're going to do what we always do, dominate."

And with that the screen went black as the music that signaled the end of the episode began to play.

All of the parents were excitedly clapping and cheering as they felt ecstatic from seeing their kids on the show.

Jason couldn't help but crack a small smile as he thought to himself 'If you guys thought that was exciting just wait a few weeks.

The episode after our first official game of the season is going to feel like a shot of lightning hahaha.'