Chapter 411 Training for the Movie 5
Because of the defense of the Tar Heels team that was well in the game and with the good attack of the Tar Heels team, the Duke Blue Devils team was having difficulty to diminish the advantage that the Tar Heels team had in the game.
Even so with the good game in the 2nd half of the Duke Blue Devils players and several mistakes by the Tar Heels team players they managed to diminish the advantage, but with less than 10 minutes left in the game they realized they would not be able to win any more in that game.
The players of the Tar Heels team also realized this and were able to relax even more and managed to play even better without so much pressure, the only problem was the fatigue of the players and also because the Duke Blue Devils team did not give up the victory.
Even so, the Tar Heels team players continued to run really tired because they knew they would have more than 5 days to rest before the next game in the ACC tournament, so the game continued to be exciting even though the Tar Heels team had a good lead on the scoreboard.
In another play Jake advanced with the ball and passed the middle of the court and passed the ball to Carter from the left, Carter was playing well in that game even though he couldn't score as many points as Jake and Jamison.
Carter advanced until after the three-point line and passed the ball to Williams on the right, Williams was open on the right and the defense did not press because Williams did not try so many shots from outside when he played with Jake.
Williams passed the ball to Jamison on the left and the Duke Blue Devils team's defense immediately put pressure on him, Jamison tried the play and seeing that he couldn't move forward, he passed the ball to Jake who was coming back in the middle.
Jake was within the three-point line and had freedom because he had tricked a defender before receiving the ball, other players on the Duke Blue Devils team soon came to defend against Jake and he signaled to Carter.
Carter understood that Jake wanted to make the same move as the 1st half and came to make the screen, Carter hindered the player who was defending against Jake, so he can advance to the right and soon some players approached Jake to prevent him from making the mid-range shot.
What nobody expected was that Jake made a high pass for Carter to take the top and make a dunk and complete the alley-oop and make 2 more points for the Tar Heels team, after making the screen the defender who was defending against Carter went to defend against Jake so that Carter can enter the painted area alone and Jake did alley-oop with him.
This was a move that they trained a lot in the training of the basketball team, both knew that sometimes the opposing players would prefer to defend against Jake and so Carter would be free to do the dunk, in the 1st half it didn't happen and Jake took advantage of the space and hit the three-point shot.
With Jake playing so well and the Tar Heels team players were also performing well even though they were more tired, with the team so they managed to win this game more.
The Tar Heels team won the game by making 82 points against Duke Blue Devils' 72 points, with this victory the Tar Heels team had a sequence of 55 victories in a row, the players celebrated this a lot because they thought the greatest pressure they had decreased.
The Tar Heels team still had to win all the remaining games to win the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament, but all the teams had the same pressure on them and that would no longer be a problem for the players.
In that 2nd half, Jake played for 20 minutes and made 14 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 6 steals, with Jake's triple-double in that game he helped the Tar Heels team win this game that they would have lost if he didn't was playing like he did before Jake went back in time.
"And so another game of the season ends this year, the last game at the ACC conference before the start of the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels team achieved another good victory in this difficult game and thus managed to increase the sequence of victories for their team."
"This is very good because after this game all the opposing teams will also have the pressure of having to win because they will be eliminatory games and a defeat means the elimination of the ACC tournament."
"Players on the Tar Heels team will have more than 5 days to rest before the first game of the ACC tournament, so players can recover completely and if they play as well as today it is possible for them to win that game."
"It's true, the players of the Duke Blue Devils team played very well in that game and made it one of the most difficult games for the Tar Heels team to win this season, but with Jake's defense very strong and also Jake, Jamison, Williams, and Carter in the attack it was difficult for them to win this game."
"But we can see how the players on the Tar Heels team have a problem with their physical condition after several games in a row except for Jake, so if those teams face each other in the ACC tournament, another exciting game that the Duke Blue Devils team can achieve can happen. the victory."
Everyone could see that in this game even the players of the Tar Heels team performing well had it not been for Jake they would have lost this game, the physical condition of the players was a problem because everyone had to play many minutes in every game because the coach Guthridge was unable to place the reserves and risk the team losing the game.
In the reserve they had Makhtar N'Diaye who could be considered one of the main players of the team, the team also had Ed Cota who played very well and the young Brendan Haywood who had a good performance in training.
The problem was that N'Diaye and Haywood were players who had more defensive characteristics and that was contrary to the Tar Heels team's playing style this season, and Ed Cota who could be a starting player on any team couldn't get in because his highlight it was the assists that Jake did even better than he did.
If Ed Cota was still a player like Shammond Williams who scored a lot of points he could join Jake to help the team by making assists and points, but as he was not very skilled at scoring a lot of points he had no place on the team this season.
What Coach Guthridge thought was the same as Jake thought that these players would be very important in the next seasons with Team Tar Heels when Jake, Jamison, Williams, and Carter left.
Brendan Haywood would be one of the best players on the Tar Heels team for the next seasons and Ed Cota would also lead the team for his next two years at the university, the problem was that on this team they had no place to play.
Coach Guthridge was concerned that the Tar Heels team would have three games in a row if they reached the final of the ACC tournament and they thought the players would not be able to take those games in a row.
When Jake was considering joining the Tar Heels team to leave Cameron Indoor Stadium for them to return to the university, a reporter stopped Jake and asked to do a quick interview with him.
Jake usually didn't accept doing interviews, but after a good game and before the ACC tournament he was in a very good mood and agreed to do the interview with this reporter when Jake accepted he realized that the reporter didn't seem to expect him to accept, but soon prepared the questions.
"Mr. Smith, the Tar Heels team has been having one of the best seasons in the team's history and after that game, there are 55 games without losing, what do you feel about being part of a team that will surely be known in history?"
"I am very happy with this, it is an important moment in my career and I am happy to be in this team with my teammates, we always make our greatest effort in the games and that is why we are achieving this sequence of incredible games."
"Many members of the media and even basketball fans say that you are the best player on the current Tar Heels team and one of the best college basketball players in history, what do you think about that?"
"I'm happy when I get compliments from the sports media and Tar Heels team fans and basketball in general, but I don't think I can say I'm the best player on my team, we have a good team and I have good teammates that if they can't play a game for some reason the game would be much more difficult."
"I myself could not participate in a game and my team still managed to win showing that they do not depend on me to win, I believe that I am the best of my team and maybe in the whole College basketball playing as PG, but my teammates stand out in other positions as well."
The reporter was intelligent and asked questions that everyone wanted to know and that he knew Jake would not refuse to answer and also always asked the question indirectly so that Jake could easily give an answer that would not offend anyone as he was doing.
"And what do you think the Tar Heels team can achieve this season? Do you expect to win the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament again?"
"For sure, I believe that our team has the quality to win the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament and we will do our best to win, our goal is to win and I believe we are able to achieve that."
Jake did a quick interview and the reporter thanked him several times for his attention, Jake had said some things that could irritate some players and some teams, but he really had confidence that they would win and if the Tar Heels team really won he wouldn't be called an arrogant.