Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 177 - Slowing Down: Part-2

Jason held on to Tory's hand gently but firmly. Tory looked down and stared Jason in the eyes for a few seconds before relenting.

She sighed as she pulled out her phone "Fine. But don't tell Aunty or Uncle that I was the one that showed you.

Geez, I wish they would have told me that you didn't hear anything about this. Now it's my fault for putting my foot in my mouth."

After pulling out her phone she opened up the YouTube app and searched up 'Bobby Dean Podcast.' 

Jason waited as the video loaded up. The video opened with a pale skinned middle aged looking man sitting behind a desk with a mic set up in front of him.

His medium length blonde hair was slicked back as he wore a light blue button up long sleeve.

He smiled at the camera with his sparkling white teeth before waving hello "Thanks for tuning in for another episode of the Bobby Dean Podcast.

I'm your host the one and only Bobby Dean! For those of you tuning in for the first time let me tell you a little about myself.

Straight out of college I got an internship with the LA Daily Sports publication. I was on the floor covering everything from Basketball to hotdog eating competitions. 

After a decade of service and numerous awards and accolades I decided to part ways to make my own path.

We've only been independent for about two years now but because of your guys' support and dedication we are one of thee premier sports podcasts available on any platform.

Now for today's episode all of you who are basketball fans will be having a field day as today's main topic of discussion will be basketball related.

This time of the year in general is great isn't it? We have Christmas eve tomorrow and Christmas day the day after that.

That means Christmas day games in terms of basketball which have always been a big thing traditionally.

And this is the time of the year where all middle schools and high schools have their state tournaments. So that means even more basketball to watch.

Oh and let's not forget that today is Native American Heritage Day. A day that gives us a chance to recognize and celebrate all the great Native Americans in our history as well as recognizing the contributions that they have made to make our country as great as it is.

Now for today's first topic I thought that I would address something that a lot of my watchers and listeners have been pushing for.

The Golden Boy has officially fallen from grace. That's right folks we are here to break down and talk about Jason Yang and his anti-climactic finish in the state tournament.

Now don't get me wrong. I knew about this kid before 99% of other sports talks hosts or other talking heads. I was a huge fan.

I loved his grit, I loved his spirit, and I loved his story. Hometown kid from a small city puts his team on his back to do the impossible.

Great stuff. A grade movie material right? It just doesn't get any better than that when you're trying to come up with a story to go along with the sport.

But Jesus, the way that everyone was riding this kid's jock strap after winning one county title was getting to be a little too much.

Is this who we are now? Are these the times that we're living in? We are now putting middle school county titles at the same level as Olympic gold medals.

Or at least that's what it looked like. You had professional sports analysts spending actual on air time talking about this kid.

And I was just there sitting at home sipping on my hot coco like 'Excuse me?' they do know that this kid is still in middle school right?

Then to make things even worse you had retired players, Hall of Fame caliber players, talking this kid up like he was the second coming of LeBron or Luka.

I knew that things were getting out of hand when I saw five of the greatest Big Men in modern history talking about Jason as though he was a sure thing destined to make it to the NBA.

Jason Yang is a good player. He has an elite understanding of the game that doesn't match his age or experience.

He has tight handles, great shooting form, great court vision, and a pretty advanced bag of tricks that he uses to make some defenders look foolish.

But let's also recognize what he isn't. He isn't an amazing athlete, actually remove the amazing. He isn't a athlete in general.

Sure he has good body control and he has a pretty good motor. But you know how some athletes have side to side speed and others have front to back speed?

Jason Yang has no speed at all! He relies on his basketball IQ to play defense. If you watch him on that side of the ball you can see that he simply beats all of his opponents to their spots.

So although he's a great defender at the middle school level he is projected to be a bad to mediocre defender at the high school level.

The gap between his athletic ability and the athletic ability of his competitors will only grow as the boys that he's playing against begin to grow into men.

And this only makes things worse as he also relies on his basketball IQ to help him get the edge over his defenders on the offensive side of the ball.

Jason has a silky smooth style of play that includes his ball handling and his shooting. You almost never see any herky jerky movement from him.

His handles aren't the fastest and he doesn't pull off the craziest dribbles. He simply uses the move that best matches a situation and at the best possible timing.

This all sounds fine and dandy until you realize that once again, after he reaches the high school level and all of his competition are even better athletes than what they are now, he will lose his biggest advantage at the next level.

The only parts of his game that look like they might translate at the next stage of his career is his passing and his shooting.

But is that kind of player of the caliber to be receiving all of the praise that Jason has been receiving during the duration of his play at the state tournament?

Now let's take a look at the actual game where Jefferson suffered an embarrassing defeat to High Bridge.

I have seen a lot of Jason's fans from the Through the Hoops show saying that it's unfair that Jason gets so many negative comments based on his lack of size and athleticism.

But this game was the perfect example of why those things matter! Do me a favor and think about this for a moment.

Try and think back to the last time a player suffered not just one but two! Yes two! Major injuries during the course of one game.

Go ahead. I'm a generous guy with some time on my hands. I'll give you a couple minutes to try and think."

Bobby Dean leaned back and reclined his chair for a minute before sitting back up "Well how was it?

You couldn't think of anyone right? You want to know why that is? Because most players that make their way to the pro level have at least a bare minimum when it comes to the size department.

Muscles and bone density are what allow these players to do what they do on a night to night basis.

And I think that this tournament made one thing painfully obvious. Or at least it did for those of us who aren't die hard Jason fans.

Jason's lack of size and physical gifts make him fragile. That's right folks I said it. Slap a handle with care sticker on to Jason because this kid is made of glass.

How the hell do you dislocate your finger during a situation like that? And then right after that he rolls his ankle and hyper extends his knee?

Jesus, forget basketball this kid might be too soft for anything that doesn't involve being locked up in a padded room."

Jason was about to listen on and watch the rest of the segment from the Podcast when he heard Kyle's voice.

"Bro I told you to keep your Glorious Light for after we got the Gorgon to her second HP bar. Why is that so hard to understand?

Because of your bad timing we lost the Barbarian and the Paladin! How the hell are we supposed to clear the dungeon with just a Druid and a Cleric?"

Before he could continue he saw Jason and Tory standing in front of the doorway. He smiled as he used his crutch to make his way toward them.

He had a pink pair of gaming headphones on that had long rabbit ears on the top as they glowed with a pink light.

He dropped his crutch as he hugged Jason "Jaya! It's great to see you! You're alive!" Jason just chuckled as he patted Kyle on the back.

"Of course I'm alive dummy. I hurt my finger, ankle, and knee. It's not like I went to the hospital for anything crazy.

Besides, I just needed a few days to myself to process some things and to get over the game."