Chapter 84 An Unexpected Game 2
Realizing this all of Jake's team were shocked for a moment, from where the Lions teams got the idea that Jake for some reason could not score points after all this was just a normal game.
But what Jake did not know was that many teams were discussing why Jake did not try to score a point in any game, although many thought he had no particular reason some thought differently.
Many teams that included the Lions thought they had a different reason for it and this reason could be either an injury that would stop him from forcing the body or anything of the sort, the important thing was that after the flaw was discovered in the game style of Jake and what a solution to that was scoring by zone many saw this as an opportunity.
If for some reason Jake really could not score any point he could pull a player out of his mark to score another player in double could be the key to winning the game, and if Jake were replaced there would be no need to defend by zone.
And if Jake could score normally it was just back to normal defense, the reason that many did not do this before is that they knew that if Jake could even score and was forced to start making points, the Elite team's greatest strength would be active.
Because so far no player has been seen who could stop Jake, even in the game he was eliminated last year Carter who was one of the best in defense stood defenseless in the defense against him.
But this game was the final, so the Lions team had to risk everything, when Jake received the ball from Harrison he saw that the PG was not coming even to mark it, Jake did not necessarily need to score, he could just pass the ball to another player as he did before giving the pass to Mark.
But for him, it was unacceptable to let other players on his team get pressured on his whim, so Jake got the ball and shot the 3-point line.
When they saw that the joy and confidence that had the coach and the Lions team had ended while the opponents who had lost to the Elite team rejoiced in secret after all they would also think that they had lost a chance to win the game if they knew that Jake really could not score.
So the Elite team scored another 3 points and the Lions team went to the attack tenser, Daniel who was setting up another attack realized the distraction of David and was shot off to make 3 more points.
Despite not having an advantage in the attack he was not weak in defense either, Jake went to the attack again and gave a pass to David who this time did not receive a double mark and when he took a step back he shot outside and did another 3 points for the team.
The crowd was excited by this game filled with 3-point baskets which was rare to see in a Middle School game, who was not happy about it were the Lions who increasingly lost their previous confidence in the victory.
They knew that Jake could shoot 3, but did not know that David could as well, so they would not have any advantage, so the game continued excited and at the end of the first period Jake's team won by 5 points.
The two teams could get 3-point shots, so it was to see who missed before when the Lions team missed an attack, Jake only organized a normal attack and his team would get the 2 points, but when the Lions hit the 3 points Jake and David tried to reciprocate.
But it was a fact that David's aim was greater than that of the Lions players and Jake was even better, so any strategy that could be for an absolute victory has now been broken, so it was a game of friction.
Jake and his team-mates were also surprised by the tenacity and skill of the Lions, they were having a difficult game at the end, which means that the Lions could do well this year in the national championship if it were not for the Elite team.
Jake really felt a little bad because thanks to him going back in time the Lions lost two state championship trophies and his players missed the chance to make good memories.
He knew it would be like that in the future, he himself was a walking butterfly effect, he would change several things and change the lives of some people for the better and without wanting the lives of other people for the worse.
He knew this, but it would not change anything, it was how the system told him before he went back to the past, he was just recovering what he lost and deserved.
Of course, he would be sure to do good as much as he could, but he would never harm himself just to not interfere in the future, so he would get as much as he could and that would be until the day he stopped playing basketball.
So Jake's team continued to dominate the game, the 3-point shots depended on both skill and luck, in NBA games as the team defenses have a minimum level that is already too high teams usually miss many attacks.
As the team can normally miss even a layup, dunk or 2-point shot players are much more free to try 3 shots if they have the skill and space required.
But at Middle School and high school, it was different, as the teams did not have much defensive strength, usually, 2-point attacks and layups always hit, so 3-point shots were a riskier bet.
So Jake even though he was very confident would not try many 3-point shots in easy games and also prevented David from doing it recklessly, so only if a team was so confident in their attack within their defense he could do many shots of 3.
The Lions team was like that, in the previous games they were confident in their defense and even if Daniel and Tobey missed some attacks and hit others, the points were the same at the end, not to mention that team morale increases when 3 points are made.
But their strong defense did not work very well with Jake's team when David was being scored the most heavily the ball was passed to Harrison and from time to time he had a Jake pass for Mark or Carter when the defense was distracted.
The Lions team coach himself saw today what a difference Jake played as a PG on a strong team and weak team, Jake's passes had now gained color and we're not just to make room for himself to shoot.
The reporters, of course, today realized perfectly this difference and no one else said that Jake should be an SG or SF, he also stood out as PG and he would not be in that position with the quality of his pass and organize nor the team would be a waste.
So the second period of the game ended with Jake's team-leading by 12 points, but in the third period the Lions still believed in victory and did not give up.
The Elite team continued to play strong and David also made several points of 3 and the Lions PG could not score correctly Jake, David ended up being the most marked player, so Harrison had more opportunities to make his plays.
Although Harrison had not been criticized in previous games he was still seen by reporters and other teams as the weakest player in the Elite team, as he did not score too many points and was also the weakest in the defense.
But despite knowing he was the weakest along with Carter, his biggest highlight was in the offense, and if it was not for David doing a few 3-pointer shots he would be the best scorer in the final game.
Of course, all this was orchestrated by Jake who knew that Harrison felt unhappy in the last few games, how he could score the same points by giving the passes to Mark or to Harrison he chose the last one who was having confidence issues.
It was much more challenging for Jake to be a captain of a stronger team than he was this year than last year the team was weaker, last year Jake just needed to maintain team morale and unity and set an example in a block and everything was fine.
But with a stronger team, this year was more difficult, the morale of most of the team was always high, and worse, sometimes he had to ask his teammates to hold their animation and play more calmly what it was like throwing water on the animation of their companions.
Not to mention that if it were not for Jake being lucky that everyone on his team was cooler he could not guarantee the union with such a strong group, they all had very strong individual characteristics that did not mix easily.