Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason was breathing hard as he sat on the bench with a cold towel half over his face. He stared at High Bridge's bench silently as he focused on one player.

'Who the hell is this kid? A player with the defensive skills and intuition that this kid has would have made at least a little bit of noise in my past life.

Not to mention his elite size and athleticism. This kid has all the tools to be a top level recruit. It just doesn't make sense.'

Udonis was sitting right next to him when he saw Jason staring over at High Bridge's bench. He let out a chuckle.

"What's up? This the first time I seen you this interested in a player from the other team. You wasn't acting this way even when Trell was getting cooked by one of the twins."

Jason raised up his sport's bottle and took a big gulp "Hehe you got a point UD. I think I'm just surprised to meet a defender that actually made me work this much."

Udonis laughed but then he felt something off 'Hold up... Jason just said that this kid was that good?'

Udonis knew that Nate was a good defender. He didn't get dropped by Jason and he managed to chase him around the court without losing him.

But because he was focused on his own responsibilities he didn't get a chance to watch him in action closely.

Udonis had a serious look on his face "He's that good? Like for real?" Jason took another drink from his sports bottle before pouring some of it over his head.

"Yeah bro. He's that good. This dude is probably the best defender that I've faced so far. Better than both of the twins. He's making me work for every bucket."

Udonis was shaken a bit after hearing Jason say that. Jason had still been able to score and keep their offense from stagnating so he thought that the defender was good but that was it.

Now that he heard Jason say first hand how good of a defender the other kid was Udonis felt a little worried.

Ever since the first time he had seen Jason with a ball in his hands he knew one thing for certain and that was that Jason was a walking bucket.

It didn't matter who tried to defend him Jason would always find a way to score a basket. Even after Jason started to make some noise and other schools started to watch film on him and try to game plan for him.

Jason always seemed to be in control. It always felt like he was two steps ahead of his defender and that he was toying with them.

This was the first time he had ever heard Jason compliment a defender like this. No matter what kind of situation the team was in Jason would call for the ball and solve all of their problems.

Udonis gulped nervously before taking another look at High Bridge's bench 'Looks like things ain't gon be easy tonight.'

- - -

Over at High Bridge's bench. Coach Kaminsky had a couple Xs and Os drawn on his clipboard as he faced his players.

"Good job guys. Don't worry about being down a few baskets. We knew that our offense would take a hit with Rudy off the floor but it's something we had to do.

Rudy is a great scorer but he doesn't have the juice to play a whole game like Jason. If we want to win then we need to treat this game as a marathon and not a sprint. We are just pacing ourselves for now."

Rudy raised his hand as he complained "Hey! I don't like the way you said that Coach K. It's not that I can't play the whole game. I just don't want to. Getting that gassed just doesn't feel good."

Coach Kaminsky just chuckled before waving his hand "Sure sure Rudy. Whatever you say. My bad."

Everyone nervously watched. They only gave a collective sigh of relief after seeing Coach Kaminsky laugh off Rudy's remark.

Coach Kaminsky was a strict and serious coach. No one on the team would even imagine talking back to him like that.

Rudy was the only one who had the skills and the courage to talk to Coach Kaminsky like that.

And Rudy was the only player that Coach Kaminsky would let do that. If it was anyone else they would have gotten their ears yelled off.

Coach Kaminsky finished explaining the mistakes that the players had made during one of their plays. He looked at the figure that was sitting to the side.

"Did you catch that Nate?" Nate looked back at Coach Kaminsky before silently nodding his head.

Coach Kaminsky looked at Nate "Just let us know if we need to repeat something or if you need more of an explanation."

Rudy laughed before patting Coaching Kaminsky on the shoulder "Ain't no paint Coach K. You should just save your O2 for something productive. 

You know how Nate is. This dude ain't said nothing this whole season. He the silent but strong typa dude. The perfect side kick for an MC."

Coach Kaminsky ignored Rudy as he continued to look at Nate "So how was it? How did it feel to go head to head with your idol?"

A few seconds of silence passed by. Rudy was about to bust out laughing and say 'I told you so.' But before he could an unexpected voice spoke out.

"It was fun." Everyone turned their heads in surprise. What they saw almost killed them from the shock.

Nate had a smile on his face "It was really fun. I want to keep playing. He's the real deal." This was the first time that the guys on the team had seen any hint of emotion on Nate's face.

Nate had been forced to join the team after the coach approached his mom one day after school.

Coach Kaminsky had spoken to Nate's mother and had told her that it would be a waste of Nate's god given talents to not play basketball.

And so he ended up joining the team. But even though he was technically on the team he didn't show up to practices and he didn't show up to the games.

It wasn't until he saw an episode of Through the Hoops that his life would change. In that episode they introduced Jason.

And while everyone was busy talking about Jason's advanced offensive skillset or the fact that he was Asian Nate was obsessed with his defensive highlights. 

Ever since then he became a huge fan of Jason. He would regularly watch the newest episodes of Through the Hoops and he would regularly search up Jason's defensive highlights.

The clock buzzed indicating the end of the timeout. Both teams got ready as they both sent their players back to the court.

- - -

The quarter passed by as Jefferson and High Bridge kept the game close. Jefferson wasn't able to grow the lead any further but High Bridge wasn't able to close it down either.

Nate would end up playing high minutes this quarter as he chased Jason all around the court. He fought through screens and did his best to stay in front of him during isolation plays.

Although he wasn't able to really put a stop to Jason's scoring he did manage to lower his efficiency and force him to do more work for each of his baskets.

It was close to the last minute of the game. There was only a minute and twelve seconds left on the clock as Jefferson held the ball.

Jason managed to create a bit of separation between him and Nate as he crossed over left to right before using a hesitation move.

Nate bit on the hesi as he stepped toward the right. Jason saw this and quickly pulled the ball back as he began to drive left.

Jason managed to get a step and a half away from him but Nate turned around and started chasing after him.

Jason had called for an iso play so all of the guys were standing around the perimeter to keep the paint open.

As Jason got closer to the hoop he could feel Nate's presence behind him 'Let's see if you can get to this.'

Jason picked up his dribbled and jumped for the layup. Nate saw this and jumped up to block the shot.

'There's no one here for him to pass the ball to. There's no way this is a fake. He has to be going for the layup.'

Nate was about to reach toward the ball as it sat in Jason's right hand. But after his hand started to swing toward the ball Jason moved the ball back down.

Jason had swung the ball back down, moved it over to his left hand, and swung it back up for the scoop layup.

Jason and Nate both looked up as they watched in anticipation. The ball landed on the left side of the rim.

Unfortunately there was just a bit of power missing as the ball ended up leaning and falling off the rim.

Nate jumped up and reached for the ball. As he landed he looked up and started looking for someone to pass the ball up to.

But he had forgotten that he wasn't alone. In that split second where his attention was away from the basketball Jason had jumped forward and reached for the ball.

By the time that Nate had realized what was happening it was too late. He and Jason were now fighting for possession of the ball.

Before the referee could jump in and call a jump ball Nate had managed to rip the ball free from Jason's grasp.

He was about to run and dribbled the ball up the court when he heard the referee blow his whistle 'Huh?'

He turned around and his heart sank as he saw Jason hunched over and grasping at his left hand in pain.

- - -

Tony was looking at the court in excitement "Just a little over a minute left in the second quarter folks.

Jason waves the screen away as he calls for an isolation play. Jason versus Nate. This has proved to be a great match up thus far.

Cross over hesitation! Jason managed to blow by Nate. He's driving straight down the paint! Jason goes up for the layup and so does Nate!

Jason just switched hands mid air! And the shot barely falls off the rim. Now we have a battle for possession under the basket.

Oh no folks! It looks like we might have an injury on the floor." Tony then gasped as he saw Jason stand up.

"This might not suitable for all audiences. If you have a weak stomach or are faint of heart I would recommend looking away for a few minutes.

It looks like Jason's finger is dislocated. Not only that, it looks like it was twisted invertedly. The fingerprint on his finger is facing outward!"