First Game of the Season III

{This story is ready to read on my P-a-t-r-e-o-n. If you wish to read ahead then the link is https://www.p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/easyread. Be sure to remove the dashes. I hope to see plenty of you there and enjoying this novel.}

{This story is going on hold for a while as I write for a new one on P-a-t-r-e-o-n.}

~~~(POV: Coach Rodgers)~~~

~~~(Date: October 28th, 2025)~~~

~~~(Time: 5:06 PM)~~~

~~~(Location: Nicolas-John Highschool)~~~

Ulysses is really focused right now, locked into the game. Letting his frustration out. The team shifts back on defense after Lenny's 3. The score is 8-3 after that bucket, and Ulysses has gotten his first assist. I watch the NJ team bring the ball down the court, and Ulysses stays attached to their tallest member in the post.

The NJ team is similar to ours in they are mostly small ball except for one or two players. Ulysses is the tallest player on the court, and he is causing lots of problems for NJ's team. They run a pick and roll, and Ulysses shifts from guarding the center to guarding the shooter.

[A/N: NJ is an abbreviation of Nicolas-James.]

Ulysses is too long and tall to shot over or get around, so he has to pass the ball away from the play. Effectively making that play useless this time. The clock shot is running down, and they need to put up a shot.

Their power forward gets the ball next to the elbow and puts up a Hookshot. It bounces in and back out. Ulysses jumps up and grabs the rebound. Marking his first rebound of the game. Lenny and Laden are already running up court, and Ulysses passes it perfectly to Lenny, who's the closest to the basket. He gets an easy layup.

Ulysses has 5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 1 block. He's 2/2 from the field and 1/1 from the free-throw line. Ulysses stays where he's at as NJ inbounds the ball from the other side of the court. Once the point guard brings it back up, they start to run a play, and it's basically a passing party.

They are moving the ball around so well, no one on our team except Ulysses can keep up. The score is 10-3, but that's going to change after this play. They get an open three, and no one is there to contest it. Ulysses tries to run from the top of the key to the wing, but he's too far.

They score the basket making the score 10-6. "C'MON!! DON'T MAKE HIM DO ALL THE WORK!!" I can't stop myself from standing up and yelling at my players. Ulysses is the only one really doing anything. I'm hoping my yelling will motivate them, but many look at the ground or roll their eyes.

I curse to myself over and over, seeing these reactions. They need to be tougher mentally, and I'll have to fix this come next practice. None of them can have the same mentality as Ulysses, but I can get them stronger than most for high schoolers.

Laden inbounds the ball to Ulysses, and I look at the rest of the team. They're going to let Ulysses do all the work, not if I can help it. "LADEN!! HELP HIM RUN SCREENS AND GET HIM FREE!!" I shouldn't have to yell the obvious, but they get the gist of it. As Ulysses passes half court with the ball, my players finally move around and screen Ulysses's defenders.

Instead of giving him isolation, they're actually helping. Ulysses comes off a screen and steps behind the arch. He puts up a beautiful shot, and it sinks. Making the score 13-6.

I can hear Ellie cheering from here. The crowd is silent and trying to get over how well Ulysses is already doing. He's made leaps and bounds since last year. Not to mention his growth spurt. He's got 8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 1 block. He's 3/3 from the field, 1/1 from 3 point, and 1/1 from the line.

They shift back on defense, and I have yet to sit down again. My voice is going to be gone after this game. NJ has way better teamwork than we do. Ulysses is special, but he can't win a 1v5 situation. So, come next practice, I'm going to have to really step it up.

Ulysses continues guarding the center and looking to get rebounds for the team. NJ starts running a pick and pop, resulting in an easy goal due to Tyler getting in the way of Ulysses. I see red for a second. "DAMN IT, TYLER!! SHIFT WITH THE DEFENSE!! MOVE THOSE FEET!!" The score is now 13-8, and I'm not liking what I'm seeing. Ulysses gets the ball and quickly inbounds it to Laden.

Laden calls for a pick and roll with Tyler, and Ulysses is ready and waiting if a rebound shows up. They run the play successfully, resulting in another 2 points for us. I take a sigh of relief. The score is 15-8.