Chapter 396 - The Last Major Marathon 10 (1/2)

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 V.i.r.g.i.nia Cavaliers team, the first game against that team this season had an easy win, in addition, the V.i.r.g.i.nia 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 V.i.r.g.i.nia 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 V.i.r.g.i.nia 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 V.i.r.g.i.nia Cavaliers pass and advanced to the attack with speed.