Chapter 294 Unhappy Beginning of Year 6
So this week besides training Jake did nothing different, some asked about the move Jake had made in the last game and were impressed when Jake said it was no accident and that he had trained a lot to make that move.
After another two days of training they traveled to play the next game as a visitor, it was the third game of Regular Season and they had a win and a defeat, it was better to win this game and not lose more to get a good NCAA tournament ranking.
After a few hours, they arrived and went to do the pre-game warm-up exercises, just as the previous game Jake would still start on the bench, but no one doubted that he would still come in during the game to help the team.
The team they would be facing today was Virginia Cavaliers, it was a team that was not having a good season even though they had a well-balanced team, they had a three-point attack strategy with internal attacks.
So depending on the opponents they could have the upper hand or be dominated, perhaps in this game where Jake remembered that the Tar Heels team lost, they got lucky using the three-point attacking tactic and ended up winning.
But with Jake on the court, this was harder to do because he would nullify the opposing team"s PG and could still make some three-point plays, that was if he had enough time on the court that would depend on Coach Smith"s strategy.
After a few hours, both teams were ready for the game, the team opponent Tar Heels was the Virginia Cavaliers team which this year had a much weaker team than the previous opponents they had.
Even though Jake was apprehensive about this game, Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge were apprehensive because of Jake"s advice before the game, they hoped this could be an easy game, but it was better to be careful and not underestimate the opponent.
That"s why Coach Smith said several times in training for players to stay focused on this game, as Jake was also very serious in training the other players also began to feel an unknown pressure.
The Virginia Cavaliers team came with the team formed by Harold Deane as PG, Courtney Alexander as SG, Jamal Robinson in SF position, Norman Nolan in PF position and Colin Ducharme playing as Center.
In the early minutes of this game, the Tar Heels team played cautiously and worked the attacking moves well as the players struggled in defense, perhaps due to the caution of the team they eventually realized that the Virginia Cavaliers players were playing very well in the match today.
So much so that even playing as in training they could not open any advantage on the scoreboard and were equal with the team Virginia Cavaliers, if in other games they might not care about it and just go for the attack.
But from the unknown pressure caused by the coach and Jake in training, they became even more cautious and just did as in training, this continued until almost 7 minutes from the first half.
"We"re seeing an unexpected game here at University Hall today, the Virginia Cavaliers team has had a shaky season with some great games and other stumbles, but today they"re playing very well."
"The Tar Heels team that has had a great season with just two losses have not rushed either and have played a calm and well-controlled game, so we have an even game so far."
"True, in terms of individual talents, the Tar Heels team clearly has the upper hand, but as a team, today Virginia Cavaliers players are in great shape to keep the game that way."
"Maybe if the Tar Heels players did as in other games, it would be Virginia Cavaliers who would have the upper hand and then it would be hard to recover."
"I think the Tar Heels team is right not to hurry because Coach Smith still has Jake on the bench who can probably get in at any time in this part of the game."
Just as the commentators said Coach Smith was aware of what was happening on the court right now, he wondered what this game would be like if it wasn"t for Jake telling Coach Guthridge that.
They would probably have two losses in two Regular Season games and players would be very agitated thinking about winning the first game against a weak team like Virginia Cavaliers and losing the game.
So after 7 minutes of the first half, he decided it was finally time to put Jake on the court, Williams left after scoring 4 points and having a normal game and didn"t care because he would probably take Carter"s place again.
Jake was a.n.a.lyzing the game and the opponent while on the bench and saw that Virginia Cavaliers had no special strategy for that game, only that in this game their overall strength of their team was slightly stronger than the team Tar Heels.
As the Virginia Cavaliers team, this season was known for having a good defense, they would naturally win this game if it continued as it was, so Jake just had to do as in training.
Jake was soon to mark Courtney Alexander who was making the most three-point moves and Carter was to mark Harold Deane who was stronger on the inside plays, this was the way to disrupt the Virginia Cavaliers attack in that game.
After a few moves, Zwikker caught a defensive rebound and then pa.s.sed the ball to Jake to set up the counterattack, Jake this time not accelerating the play but just waiting for the team to go normally for the attack.
When the team was all in attack Jake pa.s.sed the ball to Carter who was behind him, Carter received the ball and attempted a feint on the opposing player and managed to pa.s.s through the left, inside the three-point line Carter pa.s.sed the ball diagonally to Jamison on the right.
Jamison received the ball and then pa.s.sed it back to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and made a deep throw for Zwikker who made his free-kick inside, Zwikker received the pa.s.s and then dunk to make 2 points for the team Tar Heels.
In another move after making the move, Jake received Jamison"s pa.s.s further back and feigned an outside shot to count in and drive to the basket to lay up and 2 points for the Tar Heels team.
At the end of the first half, Jake landed a steal intercepting an opponent"s pa.s.s and making a counterattack that ended in a Carter dunk after receiving Jamison"s pa.s.s when Jake drew all the opposing defense.
In the first half of this game Jake played for 13 minutes and scored 12 points, 5 a.s.sists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, it was a great game where Jake worked harder to a.s.sist his teammates when he was well scored.
After all Jake was the team"s top scorer with an average of over 22 points per game, it was normal for him to get special defense attention, as Jake was a PG he took advantage of that special defense attention to create more opportunities for his teammates.
"This first half was completely dominated by the Tar Heels team, especially after Jake came in before the first half."
"True, it was a well-balanced game played between the two teams until Jake came in and broke the balance completely bringing the advantage to the Tar Heels team."
"It"s interesting to see how Jake uses the opposing defense to create more opportunities for his teammates, he"s a PG that all teams would want to have."
"We hope Coach Smith will keep Jake early in the second half to have a more exciting game and we"ll see if the home team can react to that game."
"I find it hard to do that, the difference is 6 points after the end of the first half and the Virginia Cavaliers team is already playing the best they can in that first half."
"We"ll have to keep watching to see what happens, which is why I say college basketball is so exciting, anything can happen before the end of the game."
Coach Smith naturally realized how important Jake was in this game and didn"t think for a moment about taking him off the team, after a few minutes of the second half Jake got another steal and used his speed to counterattack.
This time he was alone against just one Virginia Cavaliers defender, so he bet on his speed and after the three-point line was just behind the defender who couldn"t find the right time to try the steal.
When Alexander thought of missing Jake to stop the move Jake tried a high-speed crossover to fool Alexander, as Alexander thought of missing, he was not fooled by Jake"s dribbling and didn"t get the foul.
Jake was surprised that his dribbling went awry, but soon recovered and made the unstoppable Spin Move which was LeBron James" special move and after turning on Alexander ended the move with a dunk.
"What an amazing move we saw now, Jake"s wonderful move scoring 2 points for the Tar Heels team after a steal."
"Really an amazing play that just happened by luck as Alexander tried to foul and didn"t fall on Jake"s quick crossover."
"It was a powerful move, after a high-speed play and a failed crossover. Jake made the turn and soon finished the dunk, this is a game that requires a lot of the player"s knee and requires a lot of strength in addition to agility."
"I"m sure the home audience loved the play as well as the people who came to watch the game here in Charlottesville, Virginia while cheering for the Virginia Cavaliers team are standing up for this amazing move."
After this move while Jake was praised the game continued, after a few more moves Jake caught a defensive rebound and after making the move went to Jamison who came in alone to score 2 points for the Tar Heels team.
Just when the game was 3 minutes to end, Coach Smith took Jake to put Ed Cota, in that second half Jake played for 17 minutes and scored 26 points, 7 a.s.sists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals.
An amazing double-double that brought applause in the stands in the game, seeing that Coach Smith decided that while Jake was playing well and not behaving badly he would keep playing.