Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 55 - Two Is Better Than One?

The weekend quickly passed before Jason continued to lead Jefferson on a dominant win streak against the schools in the county.

- - -

On Wednesday Jefferson played a game where everyone was feeling it from behind the three. Matt beat his own personal record as he drained 5 three-pointers out of the 10 he attempted.

What was more surprising was that Udonis actually managed to make a three as they blew the other schoool out of the water with a score of 88-37. The only ones that didn't hit any were Kyle, Vince, and Trell.

In the bus ride home Udonis was all smiles as he teased Trell "Ain't you supposed to be the perimeter player bro? How you gonna let yo big man make more jumpers than you? Hahaha"

Trell stood up from his seat and yelled to Jason who was sitting a couple rows ahead of him "Yo Jaya! Next practice we workin on jumpers man. My handles are already good enough.

I don't need to do no crazy ankle snatchers like you. Not like I'll ever need to handle the ball with you on the team. I just need to start hittin my shots."

Jason had his arms pulled back inside the sleeves of his hoodie while his face was covered with the hood. This was Jason's signature move for napping on the bus.

He was still lazily leaning against the bus window when he answered "What are you complaining about? You have the second-highest field goal percentage on the team."

Trell complained "That's because all I do is dunk man! And it's not even like I can jam it on people. All I do is dunk in transition or off of cuts."

Jason replied "Alright man. We'll start working on your jumper more during practice. Just let me get some sleep. I was up late last night."

Trell rolled his eyes and chuckled "Yeah talking with Samantha." As soon as he said that the other guys on the team simultaneously went "oooh"

Jason didn't even bother to look back as he just laughed "Shut up you guys. I was just helping finish her math homework. Why she always waits until the last minute to do it is beyond me."

- - -

Friday evening. The team was sitting all together on the bench as they looked out at their packed bleachers.

Dj shook his head "I know this isn't our first time playing in front of a packed house but man. I still have a hard time believin it bro."

Vince nodded "Yeah man. Shit is wild. Last year the only ones who showed up to our games was our parents. But now even the other sports teams are coming to cheer us on."

Matt laughed "Of course they are. We're undefeated going into our 6th game of the season man.

Our basketball team is the best performing sports team in Jefferson's history. We're practically rockstars."

Udonis laughed "Hey it's good to enjoy the attention and praise. We done earned it for sure. But don't forget the reason why all this love is comin our way.

All this glory and shine is because we're winning and dominating. If we take our foot off the gas for even a second any team could swoop in and steal it all. Are we going to let that happen?"

The entire team stood up and yelled in unison "No!" Udonis yelled out "Where we at!?" The team yelled "Jefferson!"

Udonis yelled again "Whose house!?" the team shouted out "Our house!" Udonis smiled as he slapped Jason on the back "Then let's go show em!"

Jason couldn't help but smile as his heart rate started speeding up 'I gotta admit. When it comes to talking to the team and getting them pumped Udonis is definitely top class.'

Both teams made their way to the court as they then lined up and shook hands. Jason's gaze stopped as he shook hands with two particular players one after the other 'Twins?'

They looked almost like perfect copies of each other. They both had dark brown skin, both of them had their hair styled into short flat tops that had waves stenciled on the sides.

The only thing that made it so you could tell one person apart from the other was their body builds.

One twin was taller and had a stocky build while the other was shorter and thinner but had longer limbs in proportion to his height.

The taller twin was about 5'8 (1.72m) and was wearing number 1 on his jersey. While the shorter one was about 5'5 (1.65m) and wore number 2 on his.

Jason felt like their faces were familiar so he searched through his memories of his past life. After a split second of thinking he was stunned 'The Silva twins!?'

In Jason's past life these twins dominated the world of college ball for four straight years before getting drafted into the league.

The only reason that they never won any titles in college was because UCLA had Jason coming off the bench to help lockdown one of the brothers whenever he was on the floor.

'Shit! I didn't know that they played for this school. They only started getting some buzz around high school.'

Now that Jason knew that the Silva twins were playing for Verde Gardens middle school this game that was supposed to be a walk in the park just became a whole lot harder.

Jason used Heart's eye on the taller twin.

[Skills

Free throw: B

Lay Up: B

Dunking: C

Close Shot: B

Mid Range Shooting: B

Three Point Shooting: B

Dribbling: B-

Passing: C

Ball Handling: C

Play Making: C

Post Scoring: B

Rebounding: B

Post Control: B

Perimeter Defense: C+

Post Defense: C

Steals: C+

Blocks: C+

Athleticism: A ]

The taller brother was a dynamic scorer that could get a bucket at all three levels: The perimeter, mid-range, and the post. He was also a great athlete.

Jason then used Heart's eye on the smaller brother.

[Skills

Free throw: B

Lay Up: C+

Dunking: E

Close Shot: C

Mid Range Shooting: B-

Three Point Shooting: B

Dribbling: C

Passing: B

Ball Handling: B

Play Making: B

Post Scoring: D

Rebounding: D

Post Control: D

Perimeter Defense: A-

Post Defense: B-

Steals: B+

Blocks: C

Athleticism: B ]

The smaller brother was a lockdown defender who was also good at running the team's offense as well as knocking down the occasional open jumper.

- - -

The players from both teams got into position as they got ready for the tip-off. The opposing team's center was an inch taller than Kyle.

But instead of nervousness or tension, the only thing that could be seen from Kyle's face was concentration and focus.

As the ball left the referee's hand Kyle and the opposing Center locked onto the ball. Kyle was the first one to jump as he exploded toward the ball.

The opposing Center was still on his way up when Kyle slapped the ball toward Jason. As soon as he landed he stared his opponent down for a split second before making his way on offense. Jason caught the ball and began dribbling up the court.

Jason was being guarded by the shorter brother Alex. After Jason passed the half-court Alex began guarding him tightly.

He could feel Alex's concentration through his defense. Jason had to use his body to shield the ball as he scanned the court.

He saw that Trell was being guarded by the taller brother Danilo. Jason threw up a sign indicating that Kyle should set a screen for Trell.

Kyle nodded his head as he pretended to go up and set a screen for Matt who was on the left-wing. But before making contact he slipped the screen and ran toward Trell who was in the corner.

Trell used the screen and started cutting baseline toward the basket. Danilo wasn't prepared so he hit the screen pretty hard.

Trell saw that the paint was wide open. It would take some time for even the closest defender to reach him.

He picked up his dribble and launched into the air as he jumped off his left foot. He stretched his arm out and was ready for the dunk.

But somehow Danilo managed to leap into the air as well. He had managed to catch up to Trell despite getting hit with the screen.

The two of them were side by side in the air. Trell tried to swing his arm down to dunk the ball faster but Danilo swiped forward with his right hand.

Trell had the ball in his hand as it made contact with Danilo's palm. Trell felt the initial impact and then his body started tilting back as the ball flew out of his hand.

Trell landed awkwardly on his feet before falling on his butt. The referee blew his whistle indicating that it was still Jefferson's possession.

Danilo thumped his chest three times before looking down on Trell. He smiled and then walked back to his team. Trell had a blank look on his face as he sat on the floor.