Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 174 - Speed Bumps And Rough Rides: Part-3

Jason had just signaled for a screen. Vince sees Jason and nods his head as he begins to make his way from the low block out to the perimeter.

After the pick and roll Rudy leaves Jason as he begins to tag and follow Vince as he rolls towards the rim.

Out on the perimeter is Jason as he stands face to face with High Bridge's starting Center 'I don't know why they keep on switching but it's good for me. Time to attack.'

Ben gulps as Jason begins to slowly get into his rhythm with a few simple dribbles 'Why the hell does Rudy keep forcing a switch? He didn't even try to fight through the screen.'

Even though he was grumbling in his head he was still getting himself ready as he lowered his knees and got into an athletic stance.

He locked eyes with Jason 'Don't think I'll let you have it easy. I might not be able to lock you down but I'm going to make you work for it.'

Ben tried his best to keep his hands up and disruptive while also keeping his feet active. Jason began his attack.

Hard dribble to the right, hesitation move, crossover to the left. Ben had managed to follow Jason until his crossover to the left.

He fell for the move as he took a step toward the left before stopping as he realized that Jason was still standing in place.

With a step of space now between them Jason took it a step further as he took one more dribble before stepping back diagonally toward the right.

With even more space in between them Jason dipped the ball slightly before bringing it right back up for the shot.

Ben gritted his teeth tightly as he saw Jason getting ready to fire off the three pointer 'God damn it! You ain't turning me into another highlight!'

Ben pushed off of his foot as hard as he could as he tried to close the distance between him and Jason.

Jason could feel that the shot was off even before the ball had left his hand. The pain in his left hand was messing up the alignment of his shots.

But before he could worry about how to follow up his missed three pointer Jason saw as Ben got closer and closer to him.

As his body began to make it's way down Jason felt his ankle roll as his left foot landed on something.

After rolling his ankle his body continued to come down as his left knee began to flew inward slightly because of the displacement of his ankle and foot.

The referee blew his whistle but Jason couldn't pay attention to that. He was on the floor clutching at his ankle and knee.

A hot throbbing pain was setting his ankle on fire while a sharp pain coming from his knee made it hard for him to stretch and extend.

Jason pounded the floor next to him with one of his hands as he clutched at his leg with the other.

It took everything he had to not burst into tears as he laid on the floor. He had been injured countless times in his past life.

In his past life he played the role of a hard nosed defender. He was an energy and hustle type of player.

Playing that way made it so that unless you were lucky you were bound to get injured. Jason knew that he wouldn't be able to play after this.

Udonis crouched down to Jason "You okay man? Is it serious? Do you need some help?" Jason looked up at Udonis.

His voice wavered as he tried to stay as calm as he could. He gulped as his throat felt dry "I-I don't think I can play UD. My ankle and my knee.... It's bad."

Udonis' eyes went wide after hearing Jason say that. He was stunned for a moment before cracking a small smile.

He patted Jason on the back "Don't worry about that bro. You brought us this far. Just watch us take care of the rest."

With the game paused Udonis and Trell helped to get Jason off of the floor. They were about to take him back to the bench when they were stopped by the referee.

"He still has to shoot his free throws. If he can't shoot them for himself then we can have a different player substitute for him but then he'll be unable to come back in after."

Trell was about to open his mouth and say something when he was stopped by Jason "Okay. I'll shoot the free throws."

Udonis and Trell both looked at Jason questioningly. Udonis asked "You sure you up for it? You can just have Matt or Nick shoot for you."

Jason shook his head side to side "This might be my last chance to stand on the court with you guys. I want to be on the floor for as long as I can."

Udonis and Trell were both stunned after hearing Jason say that. They both nodded their heads as they helped Jason up to the free throw line before getting into position themselves.

Just standing upright by himself was hard enough. He had to try and place as much of the weight on his right as he could.

The referee handed Jason the ball. Jason took the ball and took a deep breathe before dribbling the ball.

Jason thought back to the beginning of the year as he brought the ball down before bringing it back up.

He thought about how he had met Kyle and how his relationship with Trell had been full of tension and animosity.

The ball swished through the net as Jason successfully made his first free throw despite the pain in his hand.

Jason repeated his free throw routine as he took another deep breathe before dribbling the ball once again.

This time he was thinking about all the hours he spent practicing with the team. And all of the memories that they had made during those times. The second shot went in.

This time as Jason was getting ready for his third shot his head was relatively empty and his mind was calm.

He mechanically went through the motions for his shot. It wasn't until he saw the third and final free throw go in that a spark of emotion came to life in the back of his head.

Udonis and Trell walked up to Jason as they helped him make his way over to the bench. During that time Jason couldn't help but think back to this year as a whole.

He thought back to his first encounter with Matt, his first encounter with Samantha, and his first encounter with Coach Swendel.

He thought about how this was Udonis' and Trell's last year at Jefferson Middle School and how they wouldn't be on the team next year.

Jason wanted to believe in his teammates. He wanted to believe that they would be able to pull through and win the game without him.

He wanted to believe that. He wanted nothing more than the ability to tell his mind to believe in his teammates.

But while one side of his brain wanted to believe in the smallest chance of a miracle happening the other more realistic side of his mind wouldn't let him.

He analyzed all of the data that he had gotten from the beginning of the game up until now and he tried thinking through every possible scenario.

He tried to simulate the game in his mind while taking every single thing into consideration. And even in the best case scenarios he couldn't find one where the team would come out on top.

Jason put a towel over his head as he sat hunched forward on the bench 'It's over. This year is over. There isn't a second chance. There's no game two. It's all just... over.'