Rebound: A 2nd Chance

After the halftime break Jason and the rest of the boys from Jefferson walked out of the locker room as they made their way back on to the court.

Because of their amazing performance throughout the first half they were all in high spirits as they headed back out to the court.

All around the gym the people in attendance cheered and clapped as soon as they saw Jason walking back out.

Sam could feel his heartbeat through his ears as he could feel his pulse racing from the sensory overload that had overtaken him when he had taken his first step on to the court.

'There's so many people here. It looked a lot less back when I was sitting on the bench. And I can feel all of their eyes on me. And it feels like they're even louder than they were before.'

He gulped 'How the hell do Jaya and the other guys do it? They all look so calm and at home when they were playing. Is it because they've been on the team before?

Or they just used to it? Fuck, am I the only one feeling like this? Is it because I've never played in organized sports before? I'm the only new guy that never played on a team before.'

Contrary to Sam's thoughts it wasn't just because he had never played organized sports before as even Frank was showing some signs of nervousness.

He licked his lips as he could feel his lips and mouth drying while he watched the energized crowd cheering for them.

'Damn! Is this really just a scrimmage? This kind of atmosphere is way more intense than anything I've ever felt playing baseball.'

However, a moment later they were all stunned as they watched Jason and some of the newer players step out on to the court.

For the first two quarters Jason and the starters had played every minute so far. Jason was famed for his endurance and all of the other starters looked like they were still full of energy so no one had expected the team to make a change in their lineup.

Coach Swendel had a helpless smile on his face as he saw the crowd's reaction 'Trust me, I feel the same way you all do.

This kid really wants to turn us in to the heels of the basketball world. And this isn't even the craziest part of his plan. I just hope none of this comes back to bite us in the ass.'

Jefferson's current lineup looked like this; Donte at Point Guard, Sam at Shooting Guard, Jason at Small Forward, Vince at Power Forward, and Frank at Center.

Mt. Vernon's players look slightly confused as well but their coach's voice helped to make them regain their focus "Don't worry about their lineup! Just play!"

Hearing that, their Center inbounded the ball to their Point Guard who then began to dribble the ball down the court. 

But as soon as he crossed half court Donte began to press him with his arms up and to the side. Seeing this Mt. Vernon's coach almost burst a blood vessel as his head began to throb.

'They're playing an even more intense defense now!? What the hell are they trying to do!? They're up by more than 40 points!' He was furious at the sight.

But despite the aggressive defense from Donte Mt. Vernon's Point Guard breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that it was less suffocating than what he had experienced in the last two quarters.

'Jefferson was so good that first half that I almost forgot that all of their new players are 7th graders who just joined the team.

This guy's defense is easier to deal with than their starting Point Guard's defense.' He was able to start their play without too much difficulty as he passed the ball to the right wing where their Shooting Guard was.

Seeing that his defensive assignment now had the ball Sam did his best to push any irrelevant thoughts to the back of his head as he tried to lock in on the play.

He clapped his hands before spreading his arms open as he got ready to play defense. He focused on his man as he tried to catch any small movements.

He shifted to the right and started sliding his feet as the opposing Shooting Guard did a quick crossover before driving in that direction.

As he was pressing up against the ball handler he suddenly came to a stop with a hard dribble before doing another crossover to change directions.

Sam turned his hips as he began to run in order to catch back up with him. That was when he heard Jason's voice "On ball screen!"

'Huh?' But before he could process what Jason had said he felt a strong impact spread throughout his body as he ran straight into a screen set by the opposing team's Center.

Getting blindsided by the screen Sam fell to the floor as he landed on his back which knocked the air out of him. His vision was slightly blurred and shaky as he looked up at the ceiling of the gym.

Seeing Sam on the floor Frank didn't know what to do as he hesitated between tagging the screener and moving up to contain the ball handler.

Once again Jason's voice rang out "Close out!" Hearing that Frank began to dash forward but it was already too late.

By the time he was two steps away the ball handler had already gotten in to his shooting motion. With a flick of his wrist the ball was flying toward the basket.

The ball ended up hitting the rim but Mt. Vernon's Shooting Guard was lucky as the bounces ended up falling in his favor.

As the ball sank through the net Frank shook his head before putting his hand up "Sorry guys. That was my bad."

Jason walked sprinted over and helped to pull Sam back up to his feet. He looked at Sam and Frank "Don't sweat it guys.

This is what scrimmages are for. Don't let this get you down. You guys have practiced this dozens of times before. You know what to do. It's all about letting it become a natural part of you.

Don't let the atmosphere get to your heads." Jason looked at Sam "You were too focused on the ball handler. You need to pay attention to what's going on around you. You can't get tunnel vision."

He then looked at Frank "You just need more reps. You're lack of in game situational awareness is something that all new hoopers have to deal with.

Vince was still in the paint guarding their Power Forward. The most important thing was to close out on the perimeter player because even if the roller made his way to the basket Vince would be able to rotate over and help cover for you."

This time Jason looked at the both of them and smiled "Got it?" Sam and Frank both nodded their heads. Jason slapped the two of them on the back as they continued the game.

For the first few minutes things looked rough as Frank and Sam showed their lack of experience while the team as a whole showed a lack of chemistry besides the plays involving Jason and Vince.

But after that things started to smoothen out as their feel for the game developed some more and they began to get a feel for each other out on the court.

The baskets that they gave up became less and less while their offense started to regain its traction. 

Jason would allow Donte to run the offense as he initiated most of the plays. He would only call for the ball when the shot clock was getting low and they still hadn't managed to get a good look.

After the third quarter although they had given up more points than they had during the entire first half they still held an insurmountable lead.

Jason grinned as he sat on the bench wiping the sweat off of his face 'Looks like it's time to move on to the next phase of the plan.

Jason walked over and sat down next to Donte "Alright. It's time to move on to the next part of the plan. You ready?"

Donte didn't say anything but he nodded his head. Jason smiled as he clapped Donte on the shoulder "You're the only one who can take charge. Do your best."

As surprised as the crowd was when they saw Jason take to the court with a bunch of their new players nothing could have prepared them for what Jefferson did to start off the fourth quarter.

The crowd watched on in amazement as three new players came in to substitute for Jason, DJ, and Vince.

Now their entire lineup consisted of new players that had just joined the team a week ago. Just like the beginning of the third quarter the team came to a rough start in the fourth.

But with Jason shouting on the sidelines and him coaching them during the timeouts they eventually began to get in rhythm.

Although they were nowhere near the level of the starting lineup and even fell short compared to Mt. Vernon's starting five all of the new players played to the best of their ability as they only allowed the opposing team to close the lead slightly.

Even up to the final seconds Jason was shouting from the sidelines pushing his teammates to play hard and not take any possessions off.

Finally, as the clock ticked down to the final seconds and buzzed indicating the end of the game Jason couldn't help but smile as he looked at the scoreboard.

With a score of 84 to 47 Jefferson put their dominance on full display. Even with their starting five having played less than half the game and even having Jason sit out the whole fourth quarter they had easily destroyed their opposition.

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