Chapter 80: Shaking things up

The team made their way into the locker-room. They all quickly took a seat and began drinking their water from their sports bottles.

Everyone looked tired but Udonis, Kyle, and Vince seemed especially gassed as they were breathing harder than the others.

Jason sat down next to them and smiled "You guys are getting a hell of a workout huh?" They all rolled their eyes.

Udonis laughed "Yeah we doin some real heavy liftin. Dude looks like they been feedin him cornbread and concrete as soon as he popped outta his momma. I ain't never seen no kid as big as him."

Vince nodded his head in agreement "Yeah, I thought Kyle was huge but next to that 3D guy he's practically a little kid.

His post ups are brutal man. My entire body was shaking every time he tried to back me down."

Kyle nodded his head as well "His body feels like a brick wall. I was already using my arm and my shoulder to cushion his pushes but it still felt like getting hit with a sledge hammer."

Jason felt bad for them. He wished that he was just a bit bigger so that he could help them guard 3D.

Jason could defend Udonis in the post because his defensive techniques and fundamentals were enough to overcome the slight size disadvantage.

But that wasn't the case with 3D. The size and power difference was so big that it didn't matter how good of a defender Jason was.

It would be like asking Scottie Pippen to guard Shaq. Even though Pippen was one of the best defenders to ever play the game he just didn't have the strength or size required to guard someone as physically imposing as Shaq.

Coach Swendel clapped his hands as he got his team's attention "Great job out there guys. We're playing faster than what we're used to but you guys haven't missed a beat.

I especially like what I saw from our front court. You guys played with some real heart during the first half.

Trell, I know that you're not used to playing the four but you've adapted well. Udonis, Vince, and Kyle, great job defending 3D so far.

I know that it isn't easy but I'm going to need you guys to keep doing what you've been doing." Jason raised his hand "Coach, can I say something?"

Coach Swendel nodded his head. Jason then began speaking "You guys have been great so far but one thing I've noticed is that Kyle is the only one who's been proactive.

You can't wait for 3D to catch the ball in the post. You need to bring the fight to him even before they get the ball across half court.

As hard as it might be, you need to make him fight for his post positioning. You need to try and keep him from establishing good position.

And if he does manage to establish a deep position you need to front him and deny the pass. Just be careful that they don't lob it over you.

As soon as you start fronting him and notice that they want to pass it overhead, you need to spin back and position yourself behind him again."

Coach Swendel was surprised by how good Jason's analysis of the game was. After a few seconds he coughed and cleared his throat "Good job Jason. I was just about to say the same thing."

Jason chuckled before raising his hand again "There's just one more thing I wanted to add. I think we should have Trell play Power Forward some more.

Just for tonight at least. I feel like we'll need to add Trell to the rotation of big men so that Udonis, Vince, and Kyle can focus more on guarding 3D."

Coach Swendel was silent for a moment as he thought about Jason's suggestion "But what about the back court?

If Trell slides up to the four then that means that Nick or Matt will have to spend more time playing the three.

You'll have less people to rotate in the back court. Won't you guys get tired? We still have two more quarters to go. We can't afford to have you guys empty out your tanks too early."

Jason shook his head "Some of us are going to get close to playing on empty. It's unavoidable because of our small roster.

But I think it's better to do it this way. Our front court is going to play the biggest part tonight.

So far our Guards haven't had to play as hard as our big men. I feel like they'll be able to hold out longer than our front court."

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The only thing that Jason was worried about was if Nick and Matt would be able to last the whole game.

He was confident in his own ability to conserve energy, play efficiently, and to play through fatigue.

His own stamina had been improving from all the minutes he's been playing as well as all the training that he had been doing outside of practice.

Jason was also confident in the system and his badges.

Workhorse (Bronze): Lowers the affects of fatigue on your performance. Allows you to play at your optimal level for short moments when low on stamina.]

Jason felt like he was going to be putting this badge to good use today.

Coach Swendel paused for a second before nodding his head "All right. We'll go with Jason's plan."

Coach Swendel then turned toward Trell "Is that okay with you? You'll be in the paint for most of the game."

Trell didn't hesitate to nod his head "Whatever. As long as it means that we get the dub. Hell, if you guys need me to I'll guard the fat ass myself. Show you guys what real muscle can do" The team laughed after hearing Trell's joke and seeing him flex.

Coach Swendel spent the rest of the halftime break massaging Udonis, Kyle, and Vince. He wanted to make sure that their legs were as fresh as could be before the start of the next quarter.

Jason spent the time resting and sorting through his memories from his past life. He wanted to make sure that he didn't overlook any information that could be useful for tonight's game.

The break felt short. Everyone was still resting when they heard the buzz indicating for them to walk back out.

The lineup that they were using to start the third quarter consisted of Jason at Point Guard, Nick at Shooting Guard, Matt at Small Forward. Vince at Power Forward, and Kyle at Center.

Nashton academy was trying to inbound the ball but Jason was suffocating their Point Guard. He wasn't giving them any space to throw a pass.

They ended up having to inbound the ball to their other guard to avoid getting the turnover for failing to inbound the ball in time.

But as soon as their Shooting Guard caught the ball Jason ran over and switched on to him. He began pressing him with his tight defense.

The Shooting Guard couldn't even pass the ball away because Jason was keeping his hands active and denying him the passing lanes.

Before he knew it Jason had his hands on the ball and was ripping it away from him. With the ball in one hand Jason used the other one to guard himself from the defender as he drove to the basket.

They were originally close to the basket so it didn't take long for Jason to reach a distance that was good for a shot.

Jason noticed the Shooting Guard reaching in, either out of frustration or desperation, Jason wrapped the ball around his body as he avoided getting stripped by the defender.

Jason took the swipe to the arm. And as he heard the referee blow his whistle he focused as he tossed the ball toward the rim.

The ball bounced a few times before finally sinking through the net. The crowd was going wild as they shouted out "JAYA! JAYA! JAYA!"

Jason flexed before smiling and shouting at the crowd "Yeah! This is our house!" Jason's teammates ran over to high-five him and hyped him up.

Jason wouldn't be able to pressure their ball handlers like that all game. But Jason did it anyway in order to shift the momentum more toward Jefferson.

He also wanted to plant that fear in Nashton academy. Now even if Jason didn't go all out in pressuring them they would still have a bit of doubt crawling in the back of their minds.

Jason walked to the free-throw line and took the ball from the referee. Jason took a deep breath before dribbling the ball once.

Jason then locked on to the basket as he got into his shooting motion 'This is the start of our attack. We're going all out.'

The ball swished through the net. Jason and the rest of the team made their way back on defense. Jefferson was now up 57-40.

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