Chapter 35: First practice back

The week passes by quickly. Every day at practice Jason had the team run their plays. Afterward he would have them do drills and work on their defense.

During the weekend Jason went with his parents to the bank to open up a bank account. On Saturday they deposited the money that they got from Giorgio.

Jason was surprised at the 6,000 dollars. He asked his parents where the money came from and was surprised to find out that Giorgio had given them extra money.

After listening to his parent's lecture about how to be responsible with money they signed a paper with the bank that would allow him to have a debit card.

The first thing he did was ask his parents to take him to the mall so that he could finally get a haircut and buy some new clothes for school.

The barber cut the sides of Jason's hair short while keeping the top long. Jason liked the way the taper fade looked. Jason's parents complimented him on his new comb-over.

Next his parents took him to buy some new clothes as well as shoes. Jason bought some more stylish clothes than what his mom would normally buy.

He bought some joggers and graphic tees. He also picked up some nice jeans and some hoodies. When he got to the shoe store Jason started salivating.

Sneakers were closely tied to basketball culture and Jason was a huge sneakerhead in his past life. He bought a couple pairs of the newest releases for when he felt like looking good.

And for playing basketball Jason chose a couple pairs of the more practical shoes 'Ooh this one has pretty good traction. And this one has good support. Damn that's a nice colorway!'

Jason enjoyed his day out with his parents. He also enjoyed breaking in his brand new debit card.

The next day Jason organized another study session. This time they met up at Kyle's house to study. Kyle's mom happily welcomed them in.

Everyone was able to get through all of their homework during the study session. Kyle's mom hugged everybody on their way out.

Monday morning. Jason was smiling and whistling as he walked to his next class with Kyle "Dang Jason did something good happen? I don't think I've ever seen you this happy."

Jason had a huge smile on his face as he turned to Kyle "Do you know what today is?" Kyle thought about it for a second "Um... Monday?"

Jason happily shook his head "Yeah it's Monday but most importantly today is the day I can start playing again!"

Jason walked out of the locker room in his shorts and practice jersey "It's been a while since I've put this bad boy on."

Udonis walked up to Jason and high-fived him "Yo Jason. Today's the day you start playing again?" Jason nodded "Yup"

After Udonis saw that everyone was there he looked at Coach Swendel who then gave him a thumbs up. After seeing that Udonis walked up to the front and looked at everybody.

"Alright guys. We played well against Mt. Vernon and managed to beat one of the better teams in the county. But I don't want to see anyone slacking because of that.

Because that was just a practice game. Our first official game of the season is against Cider Grove. They're usually close to us when it comes to ranking but that doesn't mean that we can take it easy.

I want everyone shooting for the stars this season. This is our year! And that county championship is ours!"

Everyone was pumped up by Udonis's speech. They were all fist-pumping and yelling. Udonis waited until their excitement died down.

"Unfortunately we lost some teammates this year but we can't let that stop us. I talked with Coach Swendel today and we came to an agreement.

Starting from today we will be holding mandatory practice during the weekends. From 2 in the afternoon until 5. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

Udonis looked around but everyone was silent. There were no complaints. Udonis smiled "If no one's got anything to say then let's get started."

This was the first time that Jason was able to practice running the plays with the guys on the court. Jason called out "Horns! Horns!"

Jason ran his defender into the screen set by Kyle. Then he passed the ball to Matt who was running to him from the corner before setting a screen for him.

Matt caught the ball and ran passed Jason. He was about to shoot when Jason stopped the play "Stop! Matt you ran passed me with too big of a gap.

If you had a defender he would still be on you. You need to squeeze by me that way your defender would be forced to run into the screen. Let's run it back guys."

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Matt nodded his head as he replayed Jason's words in his head. They ran the same play again. This time when Matt ran passed Jason they brushed shoulders.

Jason didn't stop the play this time as Matt went by Jason and took a three-pointer from the wing. The shot bounced off the rim but Jason was smiling "Don't worry about missing the shot.

What's important is that we learn how to run the plays properly. That was good Matt. Keep it up."

They practiced all the different plays that Jason came up with for their new playbook. They practiced iso plays, post plays, and inbound plays.

After running their plays for over two hours everyone was sweating and tired. Jason wiped the sweat off his face with a towel before drinking half of his bottle of water in one go.

Udonis looked around with a satisfied smile on his face 'Everybody was giving it a hundred the whole time but no one looks like they're done.'

Udonis clapped his hands to get everyone's attention "Good job on the plays today guys. If any of you feel like you need to rest or stop then go ahead. You can go home now."

There was just silence as everyone looked at Udonis. After a few seconds Udonis laughed "That's what I thought. Now let's work on some defense."

They ran a drill that Jason recommended. One player starts off defending in the post against another player.

After that he has to defend the rim against someone slashing to the paint for a layup. The last part of the drill is closing out on a perimeter player and guarding him.

After defending all three positions you reset the drill until you get scored on. This drill is useful for getting your body used to the different movements involved in defending on three different levels.

The drill also helps mimic the chaoticness and disorder of when the offense is able to break down your defense and you're forced to scramble and recover.

Kyle was the first one up. He had to defend Udonis in the post. Udonis started backing him down. Even though Kyle was taller than Udonis it looked like Udonis beat him in terms of strength.

Kyle got backed down until they were close to the basket. Udonis faked a hook shot but Kyle didn't jump. He just kept his hands straight up.

Udonis was in a good position to score but Kyle's length was a hard wall to overcome 'Damn this kid is long! I don't think he even needs to jump to block my shot!'

After a few more fakes that didn't work Udonis was forced to settle for a fade-away jump-shot from the post. The ball bounced off the backboard and on the rim a couple of times before rolling off.

As soon as the ball hit the floor Trell was already running towards the basket "How you gonna block this!?"

Trell pushed off the ground as hard as he could jumping off of his right leg. He stretched out his arm for the dunk.

Kyle was surprised but before he could even think his body moved completely on its own. Kyle jumped straight up off of both of his feet.

His arms extended straight up. Trell's right hand was slamming the ball towards the rim when the ball slammed into Kyle's hand instead.

Then as the two were still in the air both of their bodies collided. After the initial impact Kyle's other hand reached toward the ball as he then grabbed it with both hands and snatched it from Trell.

Trell managed to correct his balance while he was in the air landing properly on both his feet. Kyle on the other hand landed on one leg before losing balance and crashing his butt to the floor.

Kyle's face was hot with excitement 'I just did that? I just did that!' Kyle was pumping his fist while sitting on the floor "YEAH!!!"

Jason laughed while looking at an excited Kyle on the floor "Don't get so excited. You're celebrating a little early."

Kyle was brought back to his senses after hearing Jason. He looked around and saw that Matt was on the perimeter with a ball in his hands.

'Shit!' Kyle jumped to his feet and ran as hard as he could to close out on Matt. But before he could get within a few feet Matt had shot the ball.

The ball flew in a straight arc toward the basket and swished through the net. Matt kept his hand up from the follow-through of the shot "Oh yeah."

Jason laughed before walking up to Kyle and patting him on the shoulder "Alright Kyle's out. Who's next?'

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