Rebound: A 2nd Chance

As the players went back on to the court for the 2nd quarter Jason was surprised to see that 3D was already getting back into the game.

'This doesn't make sense. Whenever he pours water on top of his head it always means that he's too tired and needs at least a full quarter to rest. Why is he getting back into the game so soon?'

Nashton Academy inbounded the ball to their Point Guard and had him bring the ball up the court. The Point Guard then called for a screen from 3D.

3D left the paint and came out to the perimeter to set a screen. Jason saw the screen coming and prepared himself to go under it.

As Jason was going under the screen the Point Guard hurried to take the three point shot in order to take advantage of the space.

Unfortunately for him Jason soon came back to him as he contested the shot. Jason stretched his arm out as he contested the shot from the best possible angle.

The Point Guard was able to get the shot off but the ball ended up hitting the right side of the backboard before falling back down.

Udonis grabbed the rebound and threw a outlet pass halfway up the court to Jason who was already running the fast break.

Jason caught the ball before quickly scanning the court. There were only 2 other people in the vicinity.

One was the Point Guard that took the three point shot and the other was Kyle who was brought out to the perimeter when he followed 3D as he went to set the screen.

Jason was running on the right as Kyle sandwiched the defender between them. As they got closer to the paint Jason softly tossed the ball into the air. The defender tried to intercept the ball but it was just too high for him.

Kyle planted his right foot before exploding off the ground. With his left hand extended as far as it could go he caught the ball after it bounced off the backboard.

Kyle slammed his left hand down into the basket as he thunderously dunked the ball. Kyle landed a little awkwardly but he was still able to absorb most of the impact by bending his knees at the right time.

Kyle got up and smiled as he quickly flexed for the crowd while they were going crazy for the dunk.

As Jason and Kyle were making their way back on defense they high fived and saluted each other before laughing.

- - -

Out in the crowd Billy was recording as Jason and Kyle ran the fast break. He smiled as he helplessly shook his head after watching Kyle cap off the fast break with another incredible dunk.

His attention was pulled away from the game when he felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turned his head and the smile quickly disappeared from his face.

"What are you doing here Troy? Shouldn't you have gotten enough scouting material?" Troy smiled as he looked at Billy.

"I could say the same thing to you Billy. What are you still doing here? You should know that you don't have a snowball's chance in hell of recruiting Jason."

Billy didn't even get upset at Troy's remark as he flatly answered "I'm not here as a scout. I'm just here as a fan of basketball."

Billy then gazed out into the court before glancing at Jason. Billy smiled "The kid has this weird way of getting your attention.

His charisma on the court is something I don't think I've experienced before. I heard my grandpa tell stories of Magic Johnson and he said that he had the same effect on people."

Troy was surprised by Billy's heartfelt answer. After a moment he took a seat beside Billy "I never thought there would be a day where I would agree with you."

Billy looked at Troy questioningly. Troy looked back at Billy and laughed "I'm here for the exact same reason as you.

I'm not here as Troy Gafford the assistant coach for McDaniels High School. I'm just here as Troy the basketball fan."

Billy paused for a second before nodding his head "So who do you think is going to win? I feel like this was the worst possible match up for Jefferson."

Troy nodded his head in agreement "Nashton Academy really was the worst possible match up. They have the ability to take advantage of Jefferson's only major weakness.

Jefferson has the best perimeter defense in the county and they also have the highest number of blocks per game out of any team in the county.

But when it comes to their post defense they actually don't have anyone that is great. Kyle has been able to do a decent job of guarding in the post because of his size advantage.

So far there hasn't been a player that was able to pressure Kyle on the inside because of his elite wingspan and his amazing bounce.

But to 3D Kyle is pretty much a little kid. He's taller than Kyle so his wingspan doesn't bother him as much as it did other players.

And his incredible strength and size allows him to easily move Kyle out of position making it hard for him to utilize his athleticism. 

And it's not like they have anyone else that is better suited to guarding him. Udonis might have better defensive fundamentals in the post and he's certainly stronger than Kyle.

But his height and reach is far shorter than Kyle's and he doesn't have the bounce that would allow him to at least bother 3D's shot like Kyle."

Billy processed what Troy said "How did they manage to beat Nashton Academy the first time around? I didn't watch the game but I did see the box score and it looked like they beat them pretty handily."

Troy went silent as he switched his attention back to the game which caused Billy to do the same.

The two of them watched on as 3D once again posted up Kyle down in the block. Kyle lowered his stance as he tried to leverage himself against 3D.

But despite Kyle's best efforts after a few seconds he found himself getting pushed underneath the basket.

3D drop stepped which forced Kyle out of position. And as 3D got into position to go up for the layup Kyle hurriedly tried to recover.

Kyle jumped up and stretched his right hand out in order to contest the shot but 3D's bulky frame kept Kyle from getting too close.

The shot went up but it quickly rolled off the rim. Kyle tried fighting 3D for the rebounding position.

But even though he had 3D boxed out he was moved to the side as 3D grabbed another offensive rebound.

3D didn't even bring the ball back down. As soon as it landed in his right hand he flipped it back up into the basket.

This time the ball fell through the net as Nashton Academy scored a basket. The score on the scoreboard was now 36-24.

Troy sighed before continuing where he had left off "Jefferson won their last game against Nashton Academy by running them out of the gym.

They pushed the tempo and kept things fast paced. Forcing Nashton Academy to play at a higher tempo than they were used to.

This caused their main weapon ,3D, to run out of gas quicker. During the gaps where 3D wasn't on the floor Jefferson built up their lead."

Billy nodded his head after hearing that "That sounds like a good strategy. Why can't they just do that again?"

Troy explained "They have been Billy. It looks to me like Jefferson has been making a concentrated attempt to push the pace.

But there is one problem with a strategy like that. Take a look at Jefferson's players and their bench."

Billy looked over at the court and noticed that besides Jason all the other players were breathing hard. Especially Kyle.

He then looked over at Jefferson's bench and it was the same thing. All the players were soaked in sweat and their breathing was noticeably labored.

Troy added "These kids have been playing games nonstop. The accumulative fatigue is starting to show.

And not only that tournament games are typically more mentally and physically exhausting than regular season games.

More fatigue with less time to rest in between is a quick recipe for draining and over taxing your players.

This problem is even worse for Jefferson as they only have 8 players on their roster. Their rotations are already short so the amount of time each player has to rest is even smaller.

Not only that. Right after this is the state tournament. If Jefferson pushes themselves too hard it could negatively impact their performance against the toughest teams the state has to offer.

Should they play it safe and risk losing to Nashton Academy? Or should they go all out tonight and make things harder for themselves at the state tournament? Neither one of those is an easy decision to make."