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We've run drills and cardio for the last hour and 30 minutes. It's 5 o'clock now. I'm not worried about being at school too much. I still remember everything I learned in high school, and my grades are even better this time around. So I don't worry about classes or tests, which means I'm not pressed for time at home. While Ellie might be getting worried about me, I know she'll wait till 5:30 to call me.
Coach Rodgers blows his whistle as the practice ends. We all slowly line up and wait for him to start talking. "Wonderful practice out their guys, and I hope we can show that effort on the court. I'll leave you guys to scrimmage if you want." We look around at each other, and we all start to nod our heads.
I can go for an actual game, but I don't know if I'll even be passed the ball after that I did to John. "We'll play 4 quarters, each one 4 minutes. 10-minute halftime." John leaves the lineup and starts to talk. Coach is already back on his way towards his office. "Kennedy." I turn my attention to John as he speaks. "A team win is much harder than an individual win, and as team captain, you must respect my authority." The dude is going as far as pulling rank to get some sort of win. I'm not really in the mood to drag this out. I just want to play. I nod my head and wait for teams to be selected. "We'll select teams now. Kenny, you pick a team, and I'll pick mine." I might be the last picked.
I haven't even learned the names of all my teammates. Both Kenny and John spend time picking their squads, and low and behold. I'm last picked. Since John picked first, Kenny gets me. I'm the same height as the tallest player on this team, which is John. So we'll probably be playing each other. We put on the practice jerseys, and Kenny's team is the first to inbound.
Kenny is around 6'3 and some change, so he is running shooting guard. I'm stuck running center, even though John is running point on his team. Guess I'm getting no time with the ball. It's whatever, though. I look at my matchup, and it's a 6'4 black kid. He looks at me and nods his head. I reciprocate, and we get in the low post.
Since we aren't going to be getting any playing time and just grabbing rebounds, I might as well try and talk to him. "So, what your name?" I ask him, and instead of answering me. He looks over to John for permission. He's too busy guarding Kenny. If I took Kenny's spot, he must have been playing small forward, which is weird since he's 6'3.
The small ball tactics have become much more common these days, though, and I can tell by Kenny's movement he is pretty fast. I turn my attention back to the kid that's guarding me and see that he isn't going to respond. "Fine, be that way." He doesn't respond, and we both watch as Kenny throws a bad shot up. The ball bounces off the rim and heads straight for us.
I jump off the ground and grab the board. "Pass the ball back up here!!" Kenny yells with his hands open. I have my back to the basket, and this kid is pushing on me hard. I give Kenny a look that says, yeah, right. I do a turnaround fadeaway on the left baseline and hit the shot for two points. "When your point guard says pass the ball to him, you pass it!!" John gets up in my face.
I guess they will be working together on this—the man I schooled in one-on-one and the man whose spot I took. I ignore him and make my way on defense. I take my assignment, and they completely ignore us.
This goes on for the duration of practice, and I shot 5/5. The only time I got to shoot was on rebounds. Kenny's team, the one I'm on, lost by two points. I look at all the exhausted players, and that's when I realize this team needs to really work on their cardio.
They aren't bad basketball players, but even after running drills and playing a scrimmage, they shouldn't be this tired. I get my basketball and place it in a separate bag that's attached to my backpack. "You're the reason we lost that game." I hear Kenny's voice behind me, I stand up straight with my back still turned to him, and I leave. Everyone knows that's a lie. He's just doing what John tells him to. I make my way outside, and that's when I see Ellie parked in the parking lot waiting for me.
She really needs to find another hobby other than working and me. I get in the car, and we drive home, talking about the days we had. Each practice is going to be like the one I just had. I'm glad I'll be playing small forward instead of center in the game.
~~~The day of the scrimmage game, Friday.~~~
The next week and a half pass, and our first scrimmage game is coming up, and it's a home one. While not an actual game, it's against our school's rival at Edwin High School. A lot of people are going to be coming to watch. That girl who was watching John and I play hadn't shown up to any other practices, but she'll probably be at the game. John will be ball-hogging if that's the case since he'll be running point at 6'5. Whenever he is benched is when I'll have to score. Now all I have to do is get through this school day.