Jack sat in front of a computer in the library and pondered the Yellow Jacket game. He had been afraid that Coach Roderick would be angry with him for shifting out of the base defense in the final minute, but was surprised by the reaction he got. Coach Roderick had praised him for following his instinct in that situation. As Jack kept thinking about it he questioned if he really had basketball instincts. It seemed that he always knew precisely when to shoot a three point basket and how to get around a defender to get a shot off, but he didn't consider that instinct. The feeling was vexing and reaffirming all at the same time.
"You comin' country boy?...You thinkin' bout Amanda again?"
"Nah Ox...just thinking about the game."
"Dis one?"
"Yeah and last week too."
"We's got's a tough test dis week...we's playin' dem Sharks...last year we's almost lose."
"I know Ox...this is there chance to knock us out of the tournament before we get there."
"It be like coach says...We win and we in...Lose and we be out!"
"We just need to take it a day at a time this week. We'll be fine."
"Le's go den country boy...practice be startin' quick like."
Jack and Ox left the library and headed to practice. Jack continued to think about instincts and then his thoughts shifted to the Sharks. The only game the Sharks had lost so far was to the Hawks. They had secured the second seed in the tournament and clinched a bye for the first weekend of the tournament, but Jack was convinced they would be coming at full speed to knock Davis on its back and keep them from getting into the tournament. David showed the team on the league website how Davis had made the post season tournament every year that Manley Roderick had been the team's head coach. It had been six years since Davis joined the "All-Stars League" and Davis had been in the tournament all six years and won three tournament championships including the previous year.
After David had showed the team the league website Jack was sucked into it. While the rest of the team studied, Jack had collected a ton of information on the league he was playing in. The most interesting thing he found out was that Greg had started the league twelve years ago to promote a more competitive basketball league in the greater Denver area. Greg had assembled a governing board for the league and virtually ran the league until his sons became old enough to play. He stepped down from his duties of league commissioner to coach, but still held a spot on the board to stay involved in the league.
Jack was surprised to learn that the league was made up of twenty six premiere teams, which he played in, but the league also consisted of dozens of developmental teams who were broken into smaller divisions and represented with age ranges from seven to fourteen. The website though was primarily focused on the premiere teams. Jack learned that teams did not play each other every year. He also learned that the Hawks were the dominant team in the league over the leagues twelve year history. The Hawks had won seven tournament championships; the most recent was two years ago when Andy played. The Hawks decisively beat the Yellow Jackets who had beat Davis in the semifinals.
The website also chronicled stories from the current season. There was a small story about Keevan and Jack, there were more stories about Alan's undefeated team and the Sharks who had only lost to the Hawks. Jack also looked at the league standings and discovered that his team could technically claim the eighth or ninth seed if they beat the Sharks. If they lost there was still a chance they could get in as the tenth seed, but the Hawks would have to lose to one of the worst teams in the league, so Jack knew they needed to win or the season would be over.
Thoughts of the website and Coach Roderick's remarks swirled in and out of Jack's thoughts. By the time he made it to the gym he was grateful to let go of his thoughts and just practice. Coach Roderick continued to run a tight ship in the school gym, but he promised them a game of knock out if the team could get Leon to make three consecutive chest passes in warm up drills. David had been working with Leon for a week now and the team was convinced that today was the day Leon would make his passes.
Before the team started passing drills Keevan and Jack called for Coach to come watch Leon. Leon started off with two consecutive passes, but missed his third. Things got worse for a few more drills and then David gave some quick encouragement to Leon. Leon responded with five consecutive passes and was spontaneously mobbed by the team.
Coach Roderick made good on his promise and let the team play knock out. Jack and Keevan were the last two players in the game. The rest of the team razzed Jack and Keevan as they took shots from the free throw line. Jack at one point sunk nine consecutive free throws and Keevan matched eight of them. Unfortunately Jack wasn't fast enough to get back to the free throw line to knock Keevan out on his miss. The final pairing went head to head for at least five minutes before Jack capitalized on a rare miss by Keevan. Jack and Keevan stylishly embraced after the game and Coach Roderick smiled watching two great players enjoy the simplicity of the game of basketball.