Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason was sitting down on the bench drinking some water as the cameraman that had been filming him since this morning stood in front of him recording.

He touched his earpiece as someone seemed to be talking to him. After a few seconds he nodded his head before turning to Jason.

"So you just had a good game against the starting five that ranked second at Nationals. How do you feel?"

Jason took another swig from his sports bottle before answering "A win is a win. Whenever I step on the court my only goal is to walk away with the dub."

The cameraman added "Obviously winning feels good. But you just beat one of the strongest middle school teams in the country. Doesn't it feel a little extra special?"

Jason shook his head "I don't like to fall for narratives or storylines. Did my team just beat Central Park? Yes.

Was it just a warmup game in the middle of training camp? Once again the answer is yes. A win is a win and a loss is a loss.

I don't like to get too high on wins and I don't like to get too low on losses. Especially when the games don't count for anything."

He then turned to the camera and gave a smile "Maybe you can ask me again next season. If I beat Central Park at Nationals then you can see me do a little more celebrating."

On the sidelines Kyle was retying his shoes as one of the cameramen approached him "How did you feel during the game against Central Park?"

Kyle looked around before pointing to himself "Are you talking to me?" The cameraman nodded his head.

Kyle laughed "My bad. Uh- honestly I felt pretty good. My bounce is back to where it was before my ankle injury and I have a lot more confidence in my body now."

The cameraman then asked "So you guys were challenged by Amarion and Central Park so it made sense that you guys agreed to play them.

By why do you think that Jason issued his own challenge to Golden Oaks? And how do you feel about Jason doing that?

Was there any discussion beforehand that that was what you guys were going to do?" Kyle took a moment to think about the cameraman's questions.

"To answer the second part of your question no. We didn't make any plans or talk about challenging Golden Oaks. He kinda just did that on his own.

As for why he did it I'm pretty sure I know the reason. Jaya is the kind of guy that loves to hear people say that he can't do something.

He loves it when people count him out. But he doesn't just want to talk trash or debate you. He wants to convince you with his actions.

We all know that out of all the teams and players who were invited to attend this years training camp me and Jason don't really have the achievements or accolades that some of these other guys have.

And when Amarion issued that challenge to us saying that we needed to prove that we belong Golden Oaks didn't say anything.

So in Jaya's mind he probably took that to mean that they agreed with Amarion. So now Jaya is going after them too."

All of the other guys were experiencing the same thing as cameramen interviewed them trying to get their opinion on Jaya and on the upcoming game vs Golden Oaks.

Jason got up and started to put some shots up as he waited for Golden Oaks to finish warming up. As he put up his shots the cameraman continued to ask questions.

"Golden Oaks won the state title in California as well as the National title. Do you feel as though you're at a disadvantage?"

Jason answered while keeping his focus on his shots "No disrespect to Golden Oaks. They're a high level program that has made their way to the final round of Nationals multiple years in a row.

But if I'm being honest I feel like my team had what it took to take their place. Obviously injuries are a part of the game and I hate to play the what if game but that's how I really feel."

The cameraman took a couple seconds to digest what Jason had said before continuing "Central Park was lead by Amarion and Franky who were respectively ranked 13th and 16th in terms of best middle school players in the country.

In comparison Golden Oaks best player is Marvin Grant who was ranked as the 6th best player before the season ended.

He is often called the best scorer in the country as he lead all players in scoring during his National tournament run where he averaged 34 points per game against the highest level of competition.

With his combination of size and skill his most popular player comparison is Carmelo Anthony. Will you be guarding him despite your clear size disadvantage?

If not could you explain why? If you are, what are some of the challenges that you expect to see during your time spent guarding him?"

Once again Jason responded without turning to the camera as he continued to shoot the ball "One of my biggest strengths is my ability to defend at a high level so I will be taking on the challenge of guarding Marvin.

But that shouldn't surprise anyone that's used to seeing me play. I've always taken on the role of guarding the opposing team's best perimeter player.

The only thing that I expect to be a challenge will be guarding Marvin in the low and high post. I'm a few weight classes lower but I'll try to make up for that with my physicality and tenacity."

Jason had watched some film on Marvin seeing as how he was the highest ranked player that would attending the same camp as him.

But he had also used Heart's Eye on him earlier when they had passed by each other.

Marvin's skills:

[Skills

Free throw: B+

Lay Up: B

Dunking: C+

Close Shot: B

Mid Range Shooting: B-

Three Point Shooting: B-

Dribbling: B

Passing: B-

Ball Handling: B

Play Making: B-

Post Scoring: A

Rebounding: B

Post Control: B+

Perimeter Defense: B

Post Defense: B-

Steals: B-

Blocks: C

Athleticism: B+ ]

And he took a look at his badges.

[Post Scorer (Silver): Increases the level of technique for moves used to score in the post. Increases your ability to control post position on the offensive side of the ball.

Strong finisher (Silver): Increases your chance of making shots despite contact from a defender/s.]

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

Ankle Breaker (Bronze): Increases the effectiveness of your dribble moves in breaking down your defender.

Tough Shot Maker (Silver): Decreases the effect that defense will have against your shot by a small margin and increases the speed of your release when defense is close by.

Human Highlight Reel (Silver): Performing highlight plays will temporarily give you a slight boost to your abilities. Keep performing highlight plays to keep the boost active. But if you make a mistake or if a highlight is performed against you the boost disappears.]

The players began to make their way to the court as everything was set up. Just as Jason was about to make his way to everyone else the cameraman stopped him for one last question.

"One last question before you play. You're one of the best defenders at the middle school level and Marvin is one of the best scorers at the middle school level.

So my question to you is how many points will Marvin score against you in this game." Jason grinned as he put up both of his hands with all of his fingers up "Less than ten."