Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 162 - Game 3 Of The State Tournament

The teams were all on the floor and in position for the tip off. Udonis stood face to face against the Center from High Bridge.

The Center looked to be an inch taller than Kyle so he was probably 6'2 (1.87m). And he looked to be fairly athletic.

His long dreads were together as he bent his knees and faced off against Udonis. The referee threw the ball up into the air after making sure that both Centers were ready.

Udonis did his best to time his jump to the best moment and to get off of the floor as quickly as he could.

But he still couldn't manage to win the tip off as the Center from High Bridge tapped the ball over to his team's side.

The player that caught the ball immediately passed it over to Rudy. With the ball in his hands he began to make his way up the court.

Jefferson got into position for defense. Jason called it out "I got Rudy, I got Rudy. Lock up the paint guys."

Rudy crossed the half court and smiled at Jason as he gave his team a moment to get into position to run a play.

"You ready to get stomped bro?" after hearing Rudy say that Jason coldly responded back "Only one getting stomped tonight is you and your team."

Rudy didn't even answer back with a verbal jab. He didn't wait to call out a play. From three feet away from the three point line Rudy got into his shooting motion.

Jason hadn't expected Rudy to try such a difficult shot from so far from the three point line. He had also been trying to conserve some energy to start the game as he hadn't been pressing Rudy tightly.

The two steps of space in between them was quickly covered as Jason closed out on Rudy as soon as he saw him getting into his shooting motion.

Jason just managed to get his hand in Rudy's face as the ball was about to fly out of his hand. Rudy had a fairly high release point.

Rudy had a two motion jump shot and his release point was fairly high as well. That combined with his high jump for his jump shot made it incredibly difficult for Jason to challenge the shot.

Jason turned to watch the ball. Everyone's attention was on the ball as it flew across the court. The arc was fairly flat unlike the high arc that Jason's shots have.

A large portion of the people in attendance began to boo as they saw the ball fall through the net. Rudy high fived his teammates after seeing his shot go in.

"Ay yo someone go call the police. We got a sniper all up in the building haha!" He then made his way back on defense along with the rest of his team.

Udonis inbounded the ball to Jason as he said "Don't mind it bro. That was a lucky shot." Jason nodded his head as he caught the ball.

He dribbled the ball up the court and immediately called for a screen from the trailing Udonis. This caused the Center that was originally taking it easy in the paint to scramble as he ran to the perimeter.

Udonis set the screen on Jason's right side. Jason then drove in that direction forcing Rudy to run into the screen.

Rudy actually did a pretty decent job of recovering after getting hit with the screen. His Center had dropped low in order to contain Jason while Rudy came from the back and began to pressure him.

Jason didn't seem to mind the defensive pressure. Instead of panicking and trying to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible Jason continued attacking.

Jason sealed Rudy away with his hip as he kept him behind him. He continued to slowly force his way toward the basket.

After having dragged both of the defenders a fair distance away Jason didn't even look back as he threw a bounce pass to somewhere behind him.

The ball flew in between Rudy's legs before landing in the hands of Udonis who had opted to not roll toward the basket after the pick and roll.

There was a defender trying to make his way to Udonis after having left Matt alone on the wing. But he wasn't fast enough as Udonis let the jump shot go from mid range.

Udonis' feet barely left the ground as he shot his jumper but the arc on his shot was pretty high. The ball rattled around the rim a few times before finally falling through the net.

Udonis pointed to Jason before walking toward him and high fiving him "Nice pass Jaya." Jason answered back "Nice shot UD."

This time as soon as Rudy had crossed the half court Jason began to press him tightly with his defense.

Rudy chuckled "Damn son. I got you that scared after just one shot?" Jason answered as he continued to press him tightly with his hands up and to the side.

"You wish bro. Ain't nobody scared of you. This just some bare minimum respect. You actually made me respect your jumper.

You should be proud. Not everybody gets to see my lockdown defense. Now let's see if you can get any work done."

Rudy called for a screen from his Center. The Center left the paint as he then made his way out to the perimeter. This caused Udonis to follow him.

He set the screen on Rudy's left side. Rudy began to drive in that direction. He saw Jason get hit with the screen as he also yelled out "Close out on him UD!"

Udonis heard Jason's voice and prepared himself to defend Rudy. Rudy saw this and instead of attacking Udonis by continuing to drive to the left he decided to try and split the pick and roll by switching directions and driving right.

Rudy had just pulled off a crazy fast crossover bringing the ball from his left hand to his right. He was about to attack the paint by going straight down the middle of the court when he felt the ball disappear from his hands.

Jason had been prepared as he predicted that Rudy would choose to try and split the pick and roll. When Rudy dribbled the ball across for the crossover Jason had stabbed his hand through the path of the ball and stole it.

Jason began to run up the court as he tried to push the fast break. There were two defenders chasing after him as well as Udonis who trailed slightly behind.

The defenders' attention was completely focused on Jason as he continued to run down the court. Jason saw Rudy on his left but he was surprised to see that the Center was actually able to keep up as he was right behind him.

With the two defenders on him Jason focused as he picked up his dribble in preparation for his attack. Jason tucked the ball underneath his right armpit before pulling off the spin move.

He spun into Rudy and managed to lose him as he made his way around him. The opposing team's Center saw this and immediately jumped after seeing Jason get into the air for his shot.

But instead of throwing up a layup or any other type of shot Jason threw another behind the back pass to Udonis who had been trailing behind the three of them.

There was a good bit of force behind the pass as Udonis just barely managed to catch it and maintain control. He was about to go up for the shot but Rudy had the awareness to foul him.

Rudy whacked Udonis right on the wrist as he was about to go up and shoot the ball. Udonis dropped the ball and the referee blew his whistle.

"Foul on number 1! Two free throws for Jefferson." Udonis high fived Jason "Damn bro. That's two clean ass passes in a row." Jason smiled as he responded.

"Gotta feed the Big right? If my Big Man is running with everything he got then I have to reward him."

Both teams got into position for the free throws. Udonis accepted the ball from the referee and took a quick breathe before dribbling the ball once.

He looked at the ball and then at the hoop 'Come on UD. You got this. You make these bitches all the time at practice. You gotta help set the tone for the team.'

He dried his hands on his shorts to make sure that there was no sweat. After fixing his hold on the ball he finally bent his knees as he started his shooting motion.

Swish, the first shit hit nothing but net 'One down UD. Just one more to go.' He went through his routine one more time as he got ready for his second free throw.

The ball left his hand as he focused his attention on its flight path. It looked good as it was going in a straight line toward the hoop. But his heart stopped when the ball ended up just short as it landed in the front of the rim.

Bounce, bounce, bounce, after what seemed like an eternity the fate of the ball was finally decided when it just so happened to lean on one side long enough for it to fall through the net.

It had only been a little more than a minute and Jefferson was now in the lead with a score of 4 to 3.