Chapter 396 The Last Major Marathon 10
The media was also interested in knowing what the environment for the Tar Heels team was after Jake lost an important game as it was the last one, they expected Jake"s teammates to be nervous and stressed about him.
In addition, some sports experts said that Jake would not be in the best physical condition to play the next game, they knew well that having 32 hours by plane and running a marathon was not easy for anyone.
Even if someone did that, they would rest for more than a week before going back to exercise, so they thought that if Jake didn"t play in the next game the team"s environment would be even worse.
But contrary to what everyone expected, the team"s environment hadn"t changed because of Jake, he didn"t play in the last game and the team still winning made the media realize that Jake wasn"t the only one responsible for this winning streak and they were also instrumental in this achievement.
Jake was a friend of everyone on the team and if Coach Guthridge allowed Jake to lose the game to run that marathon, no one would question about it, besides, everyone knew how hard Jake was and had played 40 minutes in every game and that was what he struggled more in training.
They knew well that without Jake on the team they probably wouldn"t have this winning streak, Jake was also friends with all the players on the team and didn"t act differently from other players even though he was considered by the media the best College basketball player in his first season and also in the current season.
After a day of light training for Jake and the team, the day for the next game came, Jake was not in his best physical condition, but was in a position to play most of the game at a high level until he got tired.
Even so, his teammates were a little anxious about this game, in addition to the pressure of victory that they were already used to, there was Jake who was clearly not in his best condition and Williams who would not play in today"s game because Coach Guthridge saw that he could get hurt if he played.
In the last game, Shammond Williams had been the best player and for many games, he was always important for the team to win, so being out of that game made players uncomfortable.
This game was also as a visitor and they knew it would be a difficult game, luckily they were more confident because even if he was not in the best physical condition Jake was back in the team.
The opposing team in that game would be the Virginia Cavaliers team, the first game against that team this season had an easy win, in addition, the Virginia Cavaliers team was not having a good season and would feel a lot of pressure in that game too.
"Welcome to everyone who came to follow this game more from the ACC conference, the Tar Heels team comes from a victory in a difficult and very tiring game for the players in which Jake was not playing."
"Maybe that"s why Shammond Williams who was the best player in the last game is not on the team today, after an incredible game like that he can be very tired."
"Jake is back on the Tar Heels team for today"s game, but from what we"ve heard from some experts it"s impossible for him to be in perfect physical condition after his trips to Tokyo and also from the marathon."
"So Jake may not be able to play well in this game and his teammates are sure to be tired after the last game, it could be the chance for the Virginia Cavaliers team to win today"s game against the team that is first in the conference."
Just as commentators said, Jake realized that his teammates were tired after the last game, so he knew he had to take responsibility for that game and lead the team to victory.
Even though he wasn"t in his best physical condition as it was with the marathon, it didn"t mean he couldn"t perform at the game, it just meant he wasn"t doing as well as he normally did.
Jake knew he had to defend against Curtis Staples who was the best player in the Virginia Cavaliers team"s three-point shots, he could score multiple points with the three-point shots and he could count on Jamison and Carter for the team to score more points.
The Tar Heels team started pressing in the attack from the beginning of the game, even though they decided to press in the attack Jake did not increase the pace of the game so that the players would not get tired.
In the first 10 minutes of the 1st half Jake managed to make some three-point shots and got a good advantage for the Tar Heels team at the beginning of the game, Makhtar N"Diaye was playing in place of Shammond Williams who was resting, and even though he didn"t could help a lot in attack he was important in defense.
Jake defended against Staples outside the three-point line and also defended well within the three-point line by helping with steals, in another move Jake managed to intercept a Virginia Cavaliers pa.s.s and advanced to the attack with speed.
He was faster than his opponents, especially now that he had gained 1 more point of agility after winning the Tokyo marathon, so he managed to get to the painted area and made 2 more points for the Tar Heels team with a dunk.
In another move, Jake landed a block in an attempt by Staples to make a three-point shot and held the ball instead of running for the attack again, after a move in which almost all the players on the Tar Heels team partic.i.p.ated. Carter who made a dunk and 2 more points for the Tar Heels team.
With Jake running all over the court in the 1st half and playing very well as always, the Tar Heels team players were also excited and they managed to end up winning the 1st half with a good advantage against the Virginia Cavaliers team.
In this 1st half Jake played for 20 minutes and made 18 points, 6 a.s.sists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks, Jake had a great performance and even though he was in poor physical condition he still did the best he could in this 1st half.
"What a great 1st half for Jake so far, he didn"t seem to be in a bad physical condition as they said and is having a great performance in that game and is leading the Tar Heels team to victory."
"This is not an easy game because the Virginia Cavaliers team is also trying to win by taking advantage of the failures of the Tar Heels team, without Williams being important to the team in the last games, the Tar Heels team has to play more cautiously."
"Even more after a game in which the team had to go through overtime to get the win, so getting a good advantage in the 1st half is very good for the Tar Heels team."
"If Jake continues to perform well in the 2nd half, victory is almost guaranteed for the Tar Heels team."
The truth was that Jake had played very well even though he was in poor physical condition because he played without caring how he would play in the 2nd half of the game, even though everyone praised Jake for his performance so far many could see how breathless he was and very tired.
For Jake, who usually managed to play an entire game without looking tired, it was not normal and his teammates noticed, but no one said anything about it because it was clear that Jake was trying his best for the team.
At the beginning of the 2nd half of the game, the Virginia Cavaliers tried to press on the attack and increase the pace of the game to pressure Jake and the Tar Heels players to get more tired, this really made it difficult for the Tar Heels team to defend.
Fortunately Jake was an experienced PG and when the ball was with the Tar Heels team he attacked at a slower pace again which hindered the players of the Virginia Cavaliers who were not used to playing like that.
Jake continued to defend against Staples who was unable to hit many three-point shots because of this, after 6 minutes in the 2nd half the Tar Heels team was winning with a big advantage on the scoreboard.
Jake began to feel tired and saw that he could no longer perform at his best in the game, yet he did his best to hide his tiredness and asked Coach Guthridge to replace him for a few minutes.
Coach Guthridge was actually preparing Ed Cota to play in Jake"s place if he realized he was very tired, but he didn"t expect Jake to even ask to be replaced.
But he replaced Jake quickly and saw how Jake didn"t look too tired he should rest for a few minutes and then go back to the court, as soon as he sat down Jake took a bottle of water to drink and then ate a bar of stamina.
He didn"t do that in the marathons because it was a resistance sport and he felt like he was stealing, but he had no problem using it in basketball because that"s what he won over the system.
And basketball had a lot of things besides the resistance and he didn"t think he was stealing if he ate a stamina bar, after eating the stamina bar he felt the energy coming back to him and his tiredness lessened.
His muscles had no problem because his problem was different because of the long plane trips, yet all his muscles relaxed, he still rested for a while.
As Jake knew how to pretend well, n.o.body noticed that he had recovered all his energy after sitting for a few seconds, Jake stayed 2 minutes on the bench and in that short time the Virginia Cavaliers team managed to reduce the lead and the Tar Heels team lost two attacks.