Chapter 272 The Beginning of the Season at College Basketball 4
The game was tied and in the 15 minutes of the break the coaches just encouraged the players more, it was just the first game of the players of the season and the game was tied so there was no reason for the coaches to complain.
If there was any difference between the teams it was that Michael Bibby who was a freshman was getting more confidence from the coach and was excelling more in the game, Ed Cota just helped with assists and had little defensive presence.
When the second half started again Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison excelled in attacks, Shammond Williams was not having a good game and missed a lot of shots from outside, so in the first minutes of the second half, he could not do much.
After 10 minutes had passed in the second half the game was already different, Mike Bibby started to play much better in the second half and neither Ed Cota nor Shammond Williams was able to score it because they did not expect him to play so well.
Michael Dickerson was also playing very well in the second half and soon they opened a lead of 5 points on the scoreboard, and you could see that the Wildcats team was better prepared for this game.
Coach Smith naturally realized this and decided to give Jake a chance to play a few minutes in this game when he was called in by coach Jake was very happy and took off his jacket getting ready to play.
"The Wildcats team is dominating in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as the two teams are very much equal in the game a 5-point lead when only 10 minutes left can decide the outcome of the game."
"Really, Dickerson is playing especially well in the game and has already scored 3 three-point shots in 4 attempts, it seems that after seeing that he is fine he is gaining confidence for this endgame."
"Both teams are among the favorites to win the NCAA Tournament this year, I know it may be too early to speak, but as a freshman like Mark Bibby and a player like Dickerson they can be champions this year."
"It seems that Tar Heels coach Dean Smith has decided to make a change to try to regain the game's balance, he's putting on this year's freshman sensation Jake Smith, he's an Olympic medalist only in another sport."
"Hahaha, all the scouts gave Jake's top rating, he averages over 30 points per game and over 9 assists plus 6 steals, if he can do half of that at university we'll see a new genius."
Even though Jake always had good professional ratings many were skeptical about his basketball skills, Jake seemed to everyone to be devoting most of his time in marathons, so he has won almost everything and broken several records.
The experts were just reporting what they saw, Jake managed to lead an average team to two national championships in a row, proof of this was that he could be twice followed MVP championship.
Jake ended up replacing Ed Cota, Shammond Williams was having a bad game and was left in reserve, so the team was Jake as PG, Vince Carter in SG position, Antawn Jamison in SF position, Ademola Okulaja in PF position and Serge Zwikker in the position of Center.
Jake was defending against Mark Bibby who had already scored 16 points in the game and wanted more, Dickerson had scored 19 points and had hit 4 shots out of 5 attempts, so the end of the game would be much harder for Jake's team.
When Jake entered the opposing team was having another attack on Bibby with the ball, so Jake soon prepared to defend against Bibby, in the whole game Bibby was having more freedom to play and did not expect to face the pressure of Jake's defense.
Still, he didn't worry because, with 30 seconds of possession, Wildcats liked to circle the ball until someone had a chance to try the Field goal from any position.
Bibby passed the ball to Dickerson open from the left, so Dickerson protected the ball and dribbled into the three-point line and passed it to Simon who also played very well and was only overshadowed by the performances of Bibby and Dickerson.
Simon tried to force his way through Jamison's shot, but Jamison was defending well against Simon in that game so Simon passed the ball to Dickerson who was open from the left, Vince Carter was away from Dickerson and couldn't make it in time to block the attempted shot from outside Dickerson who was full of confidence.
Luckily this time Dickerson missed the shot and Jake went up to get the rebound, Jake protected the ball and then passed Carter on the right, Carter advanced to the attack line as Wildcats retreated to defense.
Carter advanced and passed the ball to Jake on his left side, Jake received the ball and accelerated while Bibby was fumbling for Carter, Jake quickly passed Bibby and when Simon tried to stop his advance Jake passed Jamison who was unmarked.
Jamison did not miss the opportunity and advanced to layup and 2 points more for the Tar Heels team, so with a rebound and assistance from Jake they reduced the advantage to 6 points, the advantage was 8 points before Jake came in when Dickerson hit Another shot from outside.
Coach Smith applauded Jake's ability in the play, even though he was an amateur he showed personality and led the play, it seems that it had been the right decision to bring Jake into this game, he wasn't sure of Jake's abilities as he had not personally seen in-game.
Coach Guthridge who brought Jake from high school was delighted to see Jake playing so easily at an important moment in the game, he went against the idea of Coach Smith putting Ed Cota instead on him, both were freshmen and Jake was clearly superior even in training.
After this play the opponents became more cautious with Jake in the game, they knew Bibby was a freshman and could play so well so they had no intention of underestimating Jake's skills.
After a few moves Dickerson had hit another three-point shot and now had 7 attempts and 5 hits, so the lead increased to 9 points and was now the attack of the Tar Heels team.
Jake broke off with the ball dominated and soon passed to Carter on the right, he and Vince Carter were closer in training and so made several plays together in training, Carter soon passed the ball to Jamison forward with who also had a lot of rapport.
Jake broke off with the ball dominated and soon passed to Carter on the right, he and Vince Carter were closer in training and so made several plays together in training, Carter soon passed the ball to Jamison forward with who also had a lot of rapport.
Jamison set off for individual play on Simon, after a feint he managed to get past Simon and tried to move inside, Dickerson had returned to assist in the defense with the intention of making Jamison back off, Bibby was defending against Carter who was more important.
So Jamison did not hesitate to pass the ball to Jake who was behind free, Jake received the ball off the three-point line and did not hesitate and tried a shot from outside and the ball went in to increase the score by 3 for Tar Heels and return the difference in the scoreboard to 6 points.
Soon after the Wildcats team made a quick and organized move through several players and stopping at Dickerson's hands again who tried another shot from outside to make three more points and increase the lead to 9 points again.
"This season-opening game for these two teams is very exciting, one attack after another and the Wildcats team retain the 9-point lead, Dickerson has been making a historic game and has 6 hits out of 8 3-point shooting attempts."
"Indeed, after Jake joined the Tar Heels team, he has found the right way to react, but Dickerson is taking all chances of the Tar Heels team reacting."
"Jake really got on very well, he made an assist and 3 points with a shot from outside, plus a rebound in just 3 minutes of play, Bibby couldn't make any points after Jake came in."
"It's really a shame for Tar Heels fans that Jake didn't get into this game before, another result could be showing right now."
"We couldn't predict either Coach, Dean Smith, that even though Carter was so good at the attack so far his defense left a lot to be allowed allowing Dickerson the freedom to hit so many 3-point shots."
"See what an engaging play from team Tar Heels now, after the ball goes through many players Jake got an excellent pass for Carter to make 2 more points with a dunk and thus narrow that gap to 7 points again."
"With less than 7 minutes to go, we'll see if we have a reaction from the Tar Heels team at the end of the game."
After Jake made the pass for Carter to make 2 more points he returned to defense, Wildcats seemed to be in no hurry to attack, they had to spend 30 seconds of possession to find an opportunity and increase the lead again.
After a few exchanges, the ball went back to Mark Bibby who was full of confidence after having a great debut as a freshman, unfortunately, in that debut, he also made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of turnovers.
Bibby tried to pass the ball quickly at the end of possession, and Jake intercepted the pass that would go to Simon, Bibby could not imagine that Jake was leaving a purposeful opening so he could intercept the pass.
So Jake was in no hurry and returned the ball with Jamison who was behind him, Jamison advanced with the ball and passed to Carter when he reached the court, Carter advanced and passed to Jake again.
Jake again used his agility to slip past Bibby easily into the inner area, the defense tightened and Jake passed the ball in style to Center Zwikker.
Zwikker was free and did not miss the opportunity and made the layup to make 2 more points for Tar Heels and reduce the lead to 5 points.