Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Nav and the rest of the group turned to Jason as though they were asking for his opinion on the matter.

Jason thought for a moment 'I guess playing the three on three is the only way? At the very least I don't see how it could do any harm.'

Jason nodded his "Sure I'm down. Who else is gonna be on our team?" Nav raised his hand "I feel like playing. Should make for a good warm up before the next set of drills."

Next was Ricky who stepped forward "This sounds like fun. I'm down for a quick three on three."

And with that Jason's team was decided. It would be him, Ricky, and Nav. Darnell went back to his side and brought back two other people.

Nav told Jason that their names were James and Mack. James was the second tallest one in his group as he was 6'2 (1.87m).

Mack was the shortest and the skinniest one on the team as he looked to be around 5'11 (1.8m) and 160 pounds (72.5kg).

Ricky looked like he had a small growth spurt since Jason had last saw him. He looked to have grown two inches as he was now around 5'10 (1.77m).

Jason was curious to know about his teammates skills so before the game started he checked out Ricky with Heart's eye.

[Skills

Free throw: B+

Lay Up: B+

Dunking: B+

Close Shot: B+

Mid Range Shooting: B+

Three Point Shooting: B+

Dribbling: B+

Passing: B

Ball Handling: B+

Play Making: B

Post Scoring: B

Rebounding: B

Post Control: B

Perimeter Defense: B+

Post Defense: B

Steals: B

Blocks: B

Athleticism: A- ]

Jason was impressed that Ricky had managed to make improvements in all areas of his game in only a few months.

Jason then checked out Nav with Heart's eye.

[Skills

Free throw: A+

Lay Up: A+

Dunking: A

Close Shot: A+

Mid Range Shooting: A+

Three Point Shooting: A+

Dribbling: A+

Passing: A

Ball Handling: A+

Play Making: A

Post Scoring: A

Rebounding: A

Post Control: A

Perimeter Defense: A+

Post Defense: A

Steals: A+

Blocks: A+

Athleticism: AA+ ]

Jason was a little disappointed after seeing Nav's skill grades. They looked impressive with their high grades but that was in comparison to the middle school level.

Jason was half expecting to see a list of skills comparable to Tyreek's where everything was well beyond the middle school level.

'I guess I had my expectations set a little high. There's a reason why Tyreek was projected to be an NBA level talent.'

- - -

The rest of the gym watched as Jason, Ricky, and Nav stepped onto one of the courts and started warming up.

After a few minutes of dribbling and shooting around they all felt like they were ready. They told the other team and they began to shoot for first possession.

Jason was selected to be the shooter for their team while Mack was chosen to shoot for his team. First to 21 wins or if they don't have enough time highest score wins. They were playing by 2s and 3s.

Jason was the first to shoot. He walked up to the free-throw line before taking a deep breathe.

Jason focused on the basket as he bent his knees down and began his shooting motion. With his forearm and elbow aligned with the basket Jason flicked his wrist as the ball went flying.

His form was still the perfect textbook example of good shooting mechanics and yet it seemed even smoother than before.

The ball flew in a high arc before swishing through the net. Jason smiled as he walked away to let Mack shoot his shot.

Mack's shot was very unorthodox as his hand that was supporting the ball was positioned toward the middle of his torso.

And when he began to shoot his elbow flared out to the right as his release point was low. He let go of the ball before it even got past his face.

But despite how unpleasant his shooting form was to look at the ball managed to reach the basket and go in. 

Jason and Mack went blow for blow as they continued their shootout. Finally, in the sixth round of shooting Jason managed to gain first possession as he sunk his shot while Mack's bounced off the front of the rim.

With the first possession Jason started off with the ball. Without having played with Nav or Ricky before Jason decided to feel things out first.

He called for a screen from Nav who then started making his way toward him. After seeing both defenders focusing on the screen before it was in place Jason decided to skip the screen and drive to the basket.

Jason caught both defenders off guard with his sudden drive in the opposite direction of where the screen was being set.

But despite the factor of surprise Jason's lack of explosiveness gave Ricky's defender enough time to meet him in the paint.

But that was what Jason had wanted. After seeing that the defender had committed to switching on to him in the pain Jason kicked the ball out to a wide open Ricky.

The pass was spot on as Ricky was able to catch the ball and start his shooting motion all in one fluid movement. He didn't have to readjust or reposition himself at all.

The ball flew out of his hand and toward the basket. The ball bounced against the rim before hitting the backboard as the shot missed.

Ricky had an awkward smile on his face as he shouted out "Damn! I can't believe I missed that. My bad y'all."

Jason and Nav just laughed it off. Even pro players didn't make all the shots they took. Jason and his team positioned themselves on defense as it was now the other team's chance to attack.

Jason guarded Mack as Ricky was matched up with James and Nav guarded Darnell. Jason wasn't worried about Ricky.

Despite the height disadvantage Ricky's elite wingspan and athleticism gave Jason a lot of confidence in him as a defender.

Jason didn't know the exact measurement for Ricky's wingspan but if he had to guess he would think that it was in the range of 6'2 (1.87m) or 6'3 (1.9m).

The match up that worried Jason the most was actually Nav and Darnell. Nav was definitely in good shape but he was on the leaner side while Darnell had a height and weight advantage.

Things ended up just as Jason had suspected. The other team tossed the ball to Darnell in the post as soon as they got the ball.

Darnell backed down Nav a couple of times before turning over his right shoulder as he drove baseline toward the basket.

Jason had to give Nav credit though because he didn't let Darnell have an easy time. Nav stuck with Darnell after the spin move.

As they approached the basket Darnell jumped as he attempted a reverse layup. Nav jumped as well as he tried his best to contest the shot.

With his clear height advantage Darnell was able to keep the ball safe and away from Nav as he softly dropped it into the basket.

After making the shot Darnell stared down Nav "I thought y'all said we was dry as a bone? Cause from where I'm standin it looks like we the ones with the sauce."

Nav chuckled "That was one basket Darnell. I wouldn't be celebrating too much over it cause you bout to see us get a whole lotta those."

Jason started off with the ball again but this time Nav was calling for the ball. Jason nodded his head as he threw a pass to him.

With the ball in his hands Nav began to slowly find his rhythm as he dribbled while sizing up Darnell out on the perimeter.

Darnell was down in a defensive stance with his arms spread apart as he watched Nav begin to dribble.

Nav exploded to the right with an amazing first step. Darnell tried his best to slide toward him as he moved his feet in a hurry.

But just as they were about to make contact Nav came to a sudden stop with a behind the back dribble.

The sudden stop created some space as Darnell was still moving to the right. By the time that he was able to try and fix his positioning Nav had already let a three-pointer fly.

Jason was impressed as he saw the ball clank around the rim a few times before going in. Nav's explosiveness combined with his shifty handles and shooting made him a legitimate weapon on offense.

A few more possessions passed as the flow was easy to see. Darnell's team scored mostly on the inside from his post ups and cuts.

While Jason's team were able to score out on the perimeter and slowly build up a lead by making three-pointers.

- - -

The doors to the gym opened as a few people walked in. But everyone's attention was on the game taking place on one of the basketball courts so they didn't notice the new people.

"Huh? Looks like we're little late. They started the party without us Huh heh HAEHH heh."