Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 49 - Kyle's Battle

For the first time in a while Kyle was feeling somewhat intimidated as he stood face to face with the opposing teams Center.

Vista Height's center was the same height as Kyle but he had broader shoulders and more meat on his bones.

Although Vista Height's Center wasn't as athletic as him, for the first time Kyle lost the tip-off.

It looked as though he had mistimed his jump 'Get your head right Kyle. You need to focus!'

The opposing team's Point Guard brought the ball up the court. He waited for the rest of his team to get into position before calling out a play.

Jason was focused on the PG but he also scanned the rest of the floor with his peripheral vision. He saw Trell's man attempting to cut backdoor and called out "Trell! Backdoor cut!"

Trell was paying attention to the other player that was coming up to set a screen that he didn't notice that his defensive assignment had already started cutting to the basket.

After he heard Jason's warning he exploded forward and caught up with his man. He put his hands up and closed off any passing lanes.

The opposing Point Guard was frustrated at the ruined play but he kept his cool and had the team reset. He then called for a screen from their Center.

Jason went under the screen and instructed Kyle to stay with his man. Jason was confident that with his ability that he could contain his opponent even after giving him a bit of space.

Vista Heights showed why they were a step above a school like Bell View. Even after having their offense stifled by Jason's on the floor coaching and man to man defense they kept calm and didn't commit any dumb mistakes.

Two minutes passed as both teams were still scoreless. Jason had the team completely focused and locked in on the defensive end.

Then as the other team's Point Guard was attempting to throw a pass to their Shooting Guard who had gotten open from a screen Jason poked the ball loose.

Jason scooped the ball up and ran down the court as fast as he could. There were no defenders close by except for his own who was chasing after him.

Jason could feel that his defender was hot on his tracks as he made his way closer to the paint. Finally he picked up his dribble as he was just a few steps away from the basket and shot the layup.

The defender that was chasing after him was just a half step too slow to do anything as Jason successfully scored the first basket of the night.

Jason continued to anchor Jefferson's defense against Vista Heights's offense as he helped to slow down their offense.

After three minutes had passed Coach Swendel called for a timeout. He subbed Nick and DJ in for Jason and Matt.

As Jason took his seat on the bench he looked at the scoreboard. Jefferson was up 12-4. This game was a low scoring one so far.

All of Jefferson's points were either scored by Jason in isolation or off of his assist after he broke down their defense.

So far the opposing team was doing a good job guarding against all of their different plays. Luckily Jefferson was able to depend on their incredible defense to build a lead.

In the past two games the bench unit had done a pretty good job of keeping up the intensity on the defensive side of the ball without Jason.

Although there was still a clear drop in the quality of their defense without Jason on the floor to orchestrate things.

They had been able to make things hard for the opposing team's offense. The same held true for this game.

With Udonis slowing down the tempo by running the offense through the post not only were they able to create scoring opportunities without Jason.

The slow tempo and offensive rebounds made it so that they could limit the amount of possessions that the opposing team had. This made it easier for them to defend as well.

Only two minutes had passed since Jason had been subbed out. There were still three more minutes to go until the end of the quarter.

Jefferson had done a good job as a whole on the defensive end as they were up 19-10. Jason watched as Vista Heights tried something new on offense.

The entire game so far Vista Heights had started most of their offense from out in the perimeter.

But this time they fed the ball directly to their Center down in the post. Their Center backed down Kyle as they bumped down low.

As the Center pushed Kyle back he found himself in a good position under the net. He then hit Kyle with the drop-step before going up strong and laying the ball into the basket. The score was now 19-12.

Jason watched the sequence and complained "Shit! Kyle what are you doing?' Jason noticed that something was wrong with Kyle.

'I hope I'm not too late. Hopefully the other team didn't notice yet.' Jason turned to Coach Swendel "Call a timeout Coach. Sub out Kyle and Udonis. Put me and Vince in."

Coach Swendel was slightly surprised "Are you sure? It's a little earlier than usual. Normally we would let them play for another minute before doing another rotation."

Jason shook his head "I don't have time to explain right now Coach. It's just important that you sub us in now."

Coach Swendel didn't hesitate to call for the time out as soon as he heard Jason say that. He took Kyle and Udonis out as Jason and Vince made their way on to the court.

With Jason back on the floor it was like the whole team got an energy boost. On offense scoring opportunities were much easier to find with Jason breaking down the opponent's defense.

While on defense everyone was more focused and effective as Jason called out instructions to ruin Vista Heights's plays.

As the first quarter came to a close Jason managed to widen their lead to 24-12. Although he had to expend more energy than he expected at this point.

Jason took a seat next to Kyle. He hesitated for a moment but then he decided to just say it outright.

"Kyle. I want you to be honest with me okay? Are you scared of their Center?" Kyle was shocked by Jason's question.

He didn't think that Jason would have noticed. After a moment Kyle answered "I thought I was over letting other people scare me.

Ever since you got me to start playing basketball I haven't felt like the old Kyle. At least until now.

Going against someone that is equal to me in height and even has an advantage in strength made me feel like the old Kyle. Like there's nothing I can do."

Jason patted Kyle on the back and smiled "Okay. Now that I know the problem I'm going to help you fix it."

Kyle looked at Jason questioningly "How are you going to do that?" Jason thumped his chest "By showing you that size doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if he's the same height as you or that he's stronger than you. It's not about the size of the dog in the fight. It's about the size of the fight in the dog."

The break ended as both the teams stood up and made their way back out on to the court. Jason was pumped upped 'Let's do this.'

On offense Jason continued to run the show the same as usual. But on defense Jefferson made a change that shocked the whole audience.

Jason was being posted up as he guarded the opposing team's Center. He got down low into a defensive stance.

Not only did Jason not shy away from the contact and physicality. He was fighting back. For every push and shove that he took Jason tried his best to dish it back.

Jason was able to make it surprisingly difficult for the Center to establish deep post position. He eventually decided to give up.

He put his hand out as he asked for the ball. But as soon as he did that Jason started fronting him and denying him the ball.

It was a battle for positioning as the Center tried to get himself open while Jason fought to stay in front of him. Jason also kept his hands active in order to make it difficult to throw any passes their way.

After having their offense stopped and then giving up a quick bucket in transition Vista Heights called a timeout.

During the timeout Jason talked with Kyle "Did you see that? I'm way smaller than you but I was still able to stop that guy.

It's all about heart Kyle. You gave up half the fight before it even started. All you need to do is believe in yourself and not back down."

Kyle took a moment to take in what Jason had said. Afterward he nodded his head and smiled "You're right Jason. I can do this! This isn't my final form!"

Jason didn't understand the last part of what Kyle said but he seemed to be pretty hyped up and he didn't want to ruin that so he didn't question it.

Jason slapped Kyle on the back and cheered him on as they made their way back on to the court.

With Kyle focused and motivated Jefferson performed a lot better than before. Kyle was more effective in defending the opposing team's Center.

He also did a better job in protecting the paint. With his newfound focus Kyle had a monster game on the defensive side of the ball as he swatted shots away left and right.

It ended up being a low scoring game but Jefferson pulled out the win thanks to their defense. The final score was 52-30.

Jason led the way as he put in 20 pts, 10 ast, 4 reb, and 3 stl. Although Kyle didn't have a huge scoring night there was no denying that he contributed the most behind Jason as he put in 9 pts, 8 reb and 6 blk.

The team lined up as they shook hands with Vista Heights once the game was finished. Jason was about to make his way to his parents when he saw Javier walking over to him.

Javier smiled as he pointed to Greg behind him "Great game Jason. I mean all your games so far have been great but this one in particular gave us some great shots. Right Greg?"

Greg gave a thumbs-up as he continued to record with the camera. Javier continued "Anyways I just wanted to congratulate you on another good win.

Oh and I also have a few pieces of good news. First is that the station gave me the green light. They said it was okay for Tyreek to join and live with us.

They even said that his story might boost our ratings. Second piece of news is that they gave me a date for when your first episode will air. It's going to be this Friday!"