Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason high fived all of his teammates as he made his way to the free throw line. He felt like a fish in water as he dribbled the ball once before starting his shooting motion. There wasn't an ounce of suspense as he easily drained the shot.

It was only the first minute of the game and Jefferson was already leading 5 to 0 as they came out to a hot start.

Zhaire was clenching his fist tightly at his side as his whole body was trembling in anger. He then took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down.

'Don't lose it Z. It's just the start of the game. You're leagues above that skinny Asian bitch. Just play your game.

He might be a good perimeter defender but you'll destroy him in the post.' His little self monologue seemed to have successfully cooled down his hot head as he decided to let his Point Guard bring the ball up instead of doing it himself when he saw Jason coming over to defend him full court again.

As Jason followed Zhaire down the court he continued to talk trash "Damn, you already lost your spirit?

What happened to all that rah rah shit talking you were doing before? I guess the big dog was all bark and no bite.

Kind of pathetic if you ask me. You told me to save the good luck for myself but it looks like you're going to need it more than me." 

Zhaire didn't say anything as he tried his best to ignore Jason 'Don't let him get to you. Keep it cool until you get a chance to post him up.

That'll be your chance to shut his hyperactive mouth up.' But Jason ignored his silence as he continued.

"Things will be boring if you play the silent game. Not that you could have done much to make this a challenge in the first place."

Zhaire continued to ignore Jason as he made his way to the left side of the court before making his way to the low block.

He then began to post Jason up. Too his surprise Jason was fighting him and preventing him from establishing good position.

They bumped and pushed as they fought for position on the block. Zhaire could feel his anger starting to boil once again.

'How the hell is he keeping me from getting in to position? I know that I'm stronger than this fucking twig!'

What he didn't know was that Jason had years of experience defending larger players in the post. Even when he was back in college Jason had always taken the best offensive player on the other team.

He knew how to make the most out of his small frame and how to utilize angles and positioning to play elite fundamental defense. The only positions that Jason didn't guard regularly were the Power Forward and Center spot.

Jason got in to a low defensive stance as he tried to use a low center of gravity to make up for the strength discrepancy.

Finally Zhaire settle for posting up further away from the basket than he had wanted. But before his Point Guard could pass him the ball Jason began to front him.

Jason fronted him halfway as he stuck his hands up to prevent a pass while pushing Zhaire back with his hip bone.

As their struggle in the post continued Zhaire finally lost control of himself as he shoved Jason away from him.

The referee blew his whistle as he pointed to Zhaire. Seeing this Jason began to clap his hands while vigorously nodding his head with a smile on his face.

The audience in attendance started to cheer as they were all excited by what they had seen so far. Jefferson had managed to steal two possessions in a row from Rosewood.

As the game progressed Jason didn't let up as he continued to pester Zhaire on the defensive end. He also didn't stop with his trash talking.

Part of Jason's strategy was to get Zhaire so infuriated that he would start to play out of control and get out of rhythm. 

It turned out to work even better than he had hoped. As the game continued Zhaire began to accumulate more and more fouls as he acted out of frustration and anger.

The worst part was that while Jason could lock down Zhaire he couldn't do the same to him. While he had only scored 7 points halfway through the 2nd quarter Jason had already scored 15 points while also dishing out assist and getting 2 steals.

With the ball in his hands Jason stared down Zhaire as he guarded him from the top of the perimeter.

Zhaire was pressing up against Jason as he tried to defend him tightly. With his back turned to him Jason laughed.

"You really trying to defend me huh? Guess I turned out to be more than you bargained for." Zhaire kept his hands up "Shut the fuck up man.

You might have a nice jumper but that's it." Jason smiled "For you that's all I need." Jason suddenly spun as he began to drive to the right.

Seeing this Zhaire began to slide his feet as he tried to maintain contact with Jason. Seeing how tightly he was being guarded Jason already knew what he had to do.

Just before they reached the paint Jason dipped his shoulder down and gave Zhaire a bump. Although he was weaker than his defender Jason's bump was perfectly timed.

He had managed to create a step of separation between him and Zhaire as he then shot the fall away jumper.

Seeing Jason get in to his shooting motion Zhaire lunged forward in an attempt to contest the shot. Unfortunately for him Jason had managed to get his shot off before he could make his way there to contest the shot.

But he had lunged with all his strength so his momentum ended up carrying him further than he had wanted.

With the ball already out of his hand Jason fell over as Zhaire ran into him. The referee blew his whistle for what had seemed to be the twentieth time so far as the crowd watched the ball fly through the air.

The ball sinking through the air seemed to be a cry of war as all of the crowd rose to their feet. The gym felt like it was shaking from all the noise that they were making.

Jason smiled 'The and one is nice but it's just icing on top of the cake. The real prize is that-' The referee pointed at Zhaire before putting up six fingers.

"Foul on number 23! Six fouls!" Zhaire stood there dazed as he seemed as though he couldn't accept what had just happened.

'I fouled out? Me!? Against that guy!?' Although it was only halfway through the second quarter he had already accumulated enough fouls to get kicked out of the game.

With Zhaire out of the game the results become even more certain than they were before as Jefferson created an absurd lead.

With Jason no longer having to shoulder the burden of running the offense by himself and creating scoring opportunities for everyone he could dedicate more energy to scoring his own points and playing even more intense defense.

Alex and Danilo were reliable scorers and in Danilo's case he could create his own shot without having to run a play specifically for him.

He was scoring in the post and from the perimeter as he played a well balanced brand of offense while Alex would initiate a lot of their plays and create good looks for the other players.

By the time that the third quarter had come to an end Jefferson lead by more than 60 points. It was as though a team of adults were playing against a team of children as they posed no threat.

Seeing their insurmountable lead Jason had the bench players play the entirety of the fourth quarter.

A lot of the guys were surprised to hear that Jason was still using the same strategy that he had used in the scrimmage against Mt. Vernon.

Even with the less skilled and experienced bench players playing the whole fourth quarter the lead that Jefferson held was impossible to overcome as they ended up winning with another lopsided score of 106 to 42.

As the teams lined up to shake hands after the end of the game Zhaire was the only one who stomped his way to the locker room ignoring Jefferson.

Jason chuckled 'Enjoy your suspension bitch. There's no way that the committee will let you do that without catching some heat.'

After they were done shaking hands with the opposing team Jason saw Greg with the camera in his hands still recording.

An idea popped into Jason's head as he made his way over with a bright smile on his face. He walked up close to the camera as he raised his hand up with one finger standing.

"One down twenty more to go. We're shooting for another undefeated season! Let's go Jefferson!"