Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason didn't know how to respond to Trell 'Am I in the wrong again? I'm just pushing for us to use the most effective gameplan to win.

If Trell was capable of defending Danilo one on one I would let him do it even if it meant giving up a couple baskets. But the problem is that he's completely outmatched.'

Udonis could sense the tension so he got up and walked to the two of them. He put his hand on Trell's shoulder.

"Come on Trell. That was a hell of a cheap shot and you know it. You know that Jaya was just doing what he thought was best for the team.

He didn't say that he didn't want you to play or that he didn't want you guarding Danilo. He just wants you to follow the gameplan and use some help. Can't you just trust in Jaya and follow his plan?"

Trell turned to Udonis "Sorry UD but last I check trust was a two-way street. I been trusting this dude since day one.

Ever since I been on the team you ain't heard any complaints from me. Now that I'm asking for y'all to trust me and give me anotha chance I can't even get that?"

Trell then turned to Jason "I ain't ever raised no noise like this before bro. I'm asking you to trust me.

I know that I got cooked the first quarter. Hell I'll probably get cooked a couple more times. But how the hell do you expect me to learn if you don't give me the chance to make a couple mistakes?

I promise you man. Just give me another chance to guard this guy. I feel like I'm slowly starting to get it."

Jason was struggling to make a decision 'Should I just let him guard Danilo? It's true that this is a great learning opportunity.

It's not every day that you get to guard such a good offensive player that has a combination of size, athleticism, and skill.

But it's not guaranteed that he'll be able to learn to stop him. And is it fair to everybody else to risk losing a game just so that Trell can develop as a player?

And there's still that mission where I need to win five games. If we lose today then that means that I'll fail. One of my skills will get demoted a whole letter grade if that happens.

Not to mention that Marcus gave me that vague threat of having to keep winning. Things are just starting to turn around for Tyreek.

It would crush him if his niece got mixed up in some bad stuff again. There's no way to tell what he might do if that happens.'

There were so many things that were riding on the team's success. After a few moments of struggling in his head, Jason finally came to a decision. He turned to Trell with a saddened expression.

"Trell this isn't a movie or one of those animes that Kyle watches. Just because you try your hardest it doesn't mean that things will go your way.

You can't just get a sudden boost during the middle of a game. You won't just all of a sudden become a lockdown defender that can stop that guy.

It's not just about you learning his scoring habits or getting used to his rhythm. What you're lacking is basic defensive principles and a solid foundation.

Those are things you can only improve through hours of practice. I admit that Verde Gardens' Small Forward is a great chance to learn and improve as a defender.

But the things that you'll pick up from guarding him won't be enough for you to stop him. You can still learn a lot even if you use some help defending him Trell. Can you please just follow the gameplan."

Trell shook his head "You can sugarcoat it all you want man but you basically sayin that you don't trust me."

He turned around "I should have known. I don't know why I was trickin myself into believin in all this 'We a team, we got each other's back, kumbaya' type shit."

Trell sat down and took off his Jersey "Y'all can play the rest of the game without me. And you ain't got to worry about me ruining the mood of the team cause after today I'm done man."

Everyone was stunned. They didn't expect this out of Trell. Besides Jason, Trell had been the one who had been working the hardest out of the team.

Udonis walked over and sat down beside Trell "Come on bro. You just angry right now and saying shit in the heat of the moment. We done came too far for you to just call it quits like this."

Trell looked at Udonis "I know I'm heated right now UD but I ain't just sayin shit for the sake of sayin it.

I done gave up so much to hoop with y'all and I can't even ask for a second chance? Y'all can just ball and it's a part of your life.

But for me I had to sacrifice to make it a part of mine. You know how many enemies I got? How many people just waitin to take they shot at me?

Everybody sayin that Trell got soft, Trell lackin nowadays, he ain't about that life no more, people fuckin with me now and I can't do shit!

It was cool scrappin and throwin hands before cause I didn't have shit to lose. But ever since I joined the team I had to cut that crap out otherwise I would have been kicked off.

I used to be out in the streets hustlin and grindin. But I had to change how I spent my time. I had to start studying to keep my grades up to stay on the team.

I had to spend time practicing and working out. That don't leave much time to get money." Trell then turned to Jason and Kyle.

"I'll let y'all in on a little secret. You ever wonder why I showed up to your party even though I ain't neva showed up to anything else you invited me to?

I really didn't give a fuck about your little TV debut. I swallowed my pride and showed up cause my stomach been empty for days!"

After everyone heard Trell say that the mood in the locker-room became strange. No one knew what they could say to help the situation.

Everyone sat in silence as the strange atmosphere filled the locker-room. Even Coach Swendel didn't know what to say.

'Jesus! This kid dropped one hell of a bomb. Why the fuck couldn't you just keep your mouth shut Trell?

You could have at least waited until the fucking game was over before making everyone depressed. I already bragged to the principle that we would go undefeated in the county this season! Shit!'

The ten-minute break felt both quick and long. Quick because everyone still felt tired, as though they didn't even rest. Long in the sense that every second kept them in that stuffy room.

After the time was up the team made their way out of the locker-room and back to the court. As they stepped back on to the hardwood it was clear that everyone's spirits were down.

Jason looked around at his team 'Shit! We still have two more quarters to play. There's no way we can win with the team like this. What can I do to get everyone pumped again?'

Jason felt like the burden of fixing this situation was on him as the most mature person with the most life experience.

The only problem was that he didn't know how. As much as he complained about never having been the star of the team and having been stuck as just a cog in the machine it came with it's own perks.

When the team loses no one blames the role-players. When a situation is getting out of hand everyone looks to the Jordans, Kobes, and LeBrons. They don't look to Ron Harper or Derek Fisher to fix things.

As a defensive specialist, Jason had only ever had to worry about doing his job and filling his role.

He always left it to the star players of the team to make the motivational speeches and to control the mood of the team.

And as much as Jason would hate to admit it, Trell's words were still lingering in his heart. Almost making him hesitant to act like he was the captain.

It was at that moment when they were walking towards the court that Udonis walked to the front "Before we get on the court guys you need to fix your heads.

I know we just had a lousy halftime break. But now is not the time to worry about that. When we're on the court that's the only time we can forget about everything else.

Out on the court, the only thing that matters is playing the sport that we love. So let's save the problems for after the game. Right now all we need to do is play our hearts out."

Udonis stuck his arm out "I want you guys screaming your lungs out. Jefferson on the count of three."

The rest of the guys smiled as they put their hands out on top of each other. They were all in sync "ONE! TWO! THREE! JEFFERSON!"

With the team brought back to life they were able to confidently walk back out on the court. Verde Gardens switched up their offensive gameplan.

They seemed focused on draining Jason's energy as much as possible. As they had Danilo post up in the paint rather than iso on the perimeter.

And whenever Kyle would come over to help on defense Danilo would just kick the ball back out and then rinse and repeat.

Having to take the brunt of Danilo's physical playstyle and frame in the post proved to be more tiring as Jason could feel his legs turning to jelly as the quarter passed.

And on the defensive end, they were beginning to double Udonis whenever he began attacking in the post.

If Kyle had a decent jumper even from the mid-range this wouldn't have been a problem but Kyle was still raw as a basketball player in terms of skills.

The best Udonis could do is try and pass the ball to Kyle as he would cut to the paint. But the paint was so congested that it was hard for Kyle to make his shots.

It became a gritty battle down low as Udonis and Kyle fought against their opponents for rebounds and put-backs.

As the quarter was halfway done the score was 48-36. Jason was trying his best to keep Danilo from simply bullying his way into the paint.

Jason was leaning his whole body against Danilo as he continued to back him down. Then out of the blue Jason just felt all the strength leave his legs.

His legs became soft like jelly as he fell to the floor. Danilo was in the middle of backing him down and wasn't expecting him to stop resisting so he ended up falling as well.

Danilo ended up falling on top of Jason. The referee blew his whistle as he called a dead ball and signaled that the possession was now Jefferson's.

Even though they had just stolen the possession from Verde Gardens no one was happy or smiling. They ran over to Jason.

Danilo got off of Jason and walked back to his team. Kyle was the first one to reach Jason "You okay man?"

Jason was laying on the ground. He smiled "I'm okay. Just had the wind knocked out of me." Jason reached out to Kyle's outstretched hand.

Jason tried to stand up but as soon as he was on his legs he wobbled before falling back down. Luckily Kyle was quick and managed to put his arm under Jason's shoulder as he held him up.

Jason frowned 'Shit! My legs have no strength left. I can't even stand up straight.' Udonis saw Jason's expression and quickly crossed his hands as he called for a timeout.

Udonis and Kyle had Jason's arm over their shoulders as they carried him to the bench. Coach Swendel had a worried expression. Everyone except for Trell were looking at Jason worriedly.

"Are you okay Jason? Did you feel a pop in your knee!? Please dear god tell me you didn't feel a pop in your knee!"

Jason shook his head "I'm good Coach. I didn't tear anything. My legs are just jelly right now. I can't put any strength into them."

Coach Swendel sighed in relief before turning to DJ "DJ you're in. Get some rest Jason. The quarter is halfway done. We should be able to hold out until some time into the next quarter."

As the last half of the remaining quarter played out Jason's frown got worse and worse. Danilo was a better athlete than Jason and he didn't really expend that much energy when Jason was out on the court.

He looked fine as he attacked in a multitude of different ways. And on offense things weren't looking much better.

Kyle and Udonis seemed to be hitting their limit. Kyle's normally quick jumps were taking getting slower and Udonis was breathing heavily as posted up his opponent in the paint.

With one minute left in the quarter, the score was 56-49. Jason tapped on Coach Swendel's shoulder.

Coach Swendel turned his attention from the court to Jason "What is it Jason? Are your legs getting worse!?"

Jason shook his head "They still feel like jelly but they haven't gotten worse. But I think I need to jump back in Coach." Coach Swendel was shocked "Didn't you say that your legs still felt like jelly?"

Jason leaned toward Coach Swendel "If you tape up my legs real tight I think I can at least play into the middle of the 4th quarter."