Chapter 28: Friendly competition

Jason continued to massage his head until his headache subsided. Afterwards he looked at Coach Swendel "Coach even if I try my best we won't be able to win too many games if our bench is trash. We need to do something"

Coach Swendel hesitated but eventually he nodded his head "We'll do things your way Jason. So what did you have in mind?"

Jason thought about the team composition 'I'm probably the only real consistent offensive option on the team. Udonis can make some shots from the post but I don't think we can rely on him to run the offense.'

Jason had to think about what would be the best way to run the offense 'When I'm with the rest of the starters I should probably play more of a play-maker role. And when I'm with the bench unit I can play more of a scoring role.'

The offense would be a very simple system. Jason would be the primary offensive option. And whenever he's on the bench Udonis would become the main point on offense. Everyone else will just play a supporting role.

Since their offense was going to be very simple that meant that their defense had to be strong enough to make up for it.

Jason told Coach Swendel "Call everyone together Coach. I'll take care of the rest." Coach Swendel nodded his head before blowing his whistle.

Everyone turned towards Coach Swendel and started walking over after hearing the whistle. In less than a minute everyone was gathered around the two of them.

Jason looked at the kids gathered around him "The doctors told me that I should avoid any type of intense activity for at least 10 days.

But I came here anyways just so that I could see what a day of practice looks like for you guys. I hate to say it but I completely regret doing that.

I thought that I would be able to learn something about all of you by watching your practice. But all I got was a massive headache. Well at least now I know why our school has been in very last place the last few years."

Jason added "Starting today we are going to do actual training and actual practice. Not the bullshit time wasting you've been doing until now."

Most of the boys looked down in shame but a few of them glared at Jason as they balled their fist. Jason stared back at the ones who seemed upset "What? Do you think I said anything wrong?"

One of the kids stepped up towards Jason. He was a tanned skinned Hispanic boy who looked to be around 5'7. His short brown hair was curly.

Udonis looked at the boy "Try and be calm Manny." Manny answered back "How you want me to be calm when this bitch is shit talking all of us!?"

Jason didn't remember the boy's name but he recognized him as one of the ones who complained about the starting lineup. He was also the one who argued with Trell during the game.

Manny glared at Jason "Listen up dickhead! Not everyone is as lucky as you. We don't have the talent that you do.

We can't dream about playing college or pro ball. For us normal people this is just a way for us to have fun. So I don't think there's anything wrong with how we spend our time during practice."

Jason could feel the vein in his head throbbing as his face got hotter by the second. Jason didn't have any talent in his last life.

He had to scrape and fight for every little thing. So the one thing he couldn't tolerate was when people used lack of talent as an excuse to not put in effort and to just accept mediocrity.

Jason pointed at all the boys who were staring at him in anger "You guys come here." He walked over and picked up a basketball.

Jason looked at Manny and the 4 other boys "I really shouldn't be doing this but you guys just pissed me off so fucking bad. Let's play a little game. King of the hill.

We take turns playing offense and defense. You get knocked out if you get scored on and the next person hops in.

If any of you guys can score on me I will quit the team. But if I win I don't want to hear anymore bitching from you guys.

I'll even give you guys an advantage. Every time I knock someone out I will start again on defense. You guys up for it? Or are you too scared to play against someone that just got out of the hospital?"

Udonis wanted to step in and say something but he was stopped by Manny. Manny looked at Jason "You're on."

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Jason gave the ball to the bench player and immediately started pressing him with his tight defense. Jason didn't even bother with trying to steal the ball.

Jason stayed tight against the other player and maintained constant contact. The bench player couldn't create any separation no matter what he tried.

The other player eventually decided to try and force his way to the rim. Jason shuffled his feet as he followed the player all the way to the paint.

The player picked up his dribble and got tried to shoot a lay up but Jason used the best angle possible to contest the shot. The ball ended up rolling off the rim.

Jason got the rebound and brought it outside of the three-point line. The bench player pressed against Jason as he tried to guard him tightly.

Jason started driving to the right at his full speed. The defender shuffled his feet as he followed Jason.

Unfortunately for him when Jason used a through the legs dribble to come to a stop he hit the ground. He fell while trying to turn his body to stay with Jason.

Jason stared him down for a second before letting the ball fly with his mid-range jumper. As the ball fell through the net Jason looked at the boys lined up to play against him "Who's next?"

The second bench player tried to surprise Jason with a three-pointer as soon as he got the ball. Unfortunately for him he didn't seem to be a the long range bomber he thought he was.

The ball flew to the right side of the basket completely failing to hit anything. On offense Jason was able to freeze his defender with a hesitation move that transitioned to a crossover.

The combo created enough space for Jason to take the ball all the way to the paint for an easy layup. After that Jason made short work of the other players as he drained 2 straight three-pointers.

Jason was panting slightly as he used his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. He tossed the ball forward before getting into a defensive stance "Looks like you're up Manny."

Manny caught the ball. He looked at Jason with a mix of emotions. Anger, jealousy, fear he couldn't tell what he was feeling more 'Let's see how much longer you can keep acting so smug.'

Manny was in triple threat position. He jabbed to the right but Jason didn't even flinch. He then started dribbling but no matter what he tried he couldn't create any space between him and Jason.

Jason laughed as he bodied up Manny "Looks like you're having a hard time there Manny. And you can't even use talent as an excuse this time because defense is 90% effort."

Manny clenched his teeth and started driving to the paint with Jason on his hip. Jason shuffled his feet as he followed Manny.

Jason was in the middle of stepping to the side to stay with Manny when he suddenly crumpled over. Coach Swendel blew his whistle "Offensive foul Manny!"

During the drive to the rim Manny had used the elbow closest to Jason to strike him in his gut. It knocked the air out of Jason as he was forced to double over and catch his breath.

Coach Swendel ran over to Jason "Are you okay? I knew this was a bad idea. I should have never let you do this. We are stopping this little game right now."

He then turned to Manny "What was that Manny!? You guys are teammates. This is just supposed to be friendly competition. There was no need to resort to a cheap and dirty foul like that."

Manny grinned as he looked at Jason "I don't think there was a foul right Jason? I'm sure our superstar here can take a little bit of contact. Or are you going to start bitching about a little bit of physicality?"

Jason took a few seconds to gather himself. After he got his breathing back under control he smiled and looked up at Manny "No harm no foul. Let's roll it back. Your ball."

Coach Swendel worriedly jumped in "I don't think so. Practice is over and this little game is over. I want you to stay behind Manny. I think I need to talk with you and your parents."

Jason straightened himself up and put his hand on Coach Swendel's shoulder "I told you Coach. No harm no foul. We're going to roll it back and I'm going to whoop his ass properly."

He looked at Manny with a twisted smile "This game ain't over. In fact I would say that it's just barely getting started."

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