He had to double or even triple his skills if he wanted to get a scholarship to Duke. This would to be hard to do because he was already good as it was, he just need to improve and get bigger. His strength was his biggest weakness right now and he hated it. He had tried to hit the weights, but he just didn't have the right attitude towards them. He felt like they ruined his jump shot and threw him off on everything else. In reality, they would help his game more if he did them right and practiced after he lifted. He also needed to improve his basketball IQ. This could only happen if he watched lots of film sessions of himself and took note of what he was doing wrong. His already knew that he need to improve his court vision so that he could see plays as they developed and hit the open teammates. To do this, he needed to work on keeping his head up at all times while dribbling and scanning the court as he came down. He also need to work on scanning the court to find open areas and go to them for an easy shot or an easy layup. A lot of this would only improve with game time, but he could work on these during scrimmages at practice. Sam was willing to do it though. He was determined to make the team next year and get better.It would be tough, but he knew it would be worth it in the end. He was excited because he knew he could get better and improve a lot.

They were down by one point with ten seconds left. Sam had twenty points and Travis had fifteen. If they win this game, they would advance to play in the Southern California freshman tournament. Sam wanted to win this one badly because the varsity coach was watching and he badly wanted to impress him and show that he had improved since the last time he saw him at the high school tryouts. Everyone knew the ball would be going into Sam's hands and it would be up to him how the game ended. This was a lot of pressure, but Sams pressure training and situational training had prepared him for this moment. Travis passed the ball in and Sam trotted across half court. Seven… Six…. Sam could hear the crowd chanting down the time left, but continued to watch the clock carefully. Five… Sam started to make his move. He drove right, and crossed left. Four… He was wide open for the shot, but continued to drive to the hole knowing what the low post defender was going to do before he even made his move. The low post defender came off of the guy he was guarding, Travis. Three… Sam dumped the ball off with a quick no look pass to Travis who put up an uncontested layup as time expired. The crowd went nuts as they stormed the court. Sam and another teammate picked up Travis and put him on their shoulders and carried him around the court. They celebrated as if they had just won the freshman state championship because Chappel Valley Jr. High had never made it to the region championship. This was a huge accomplishment for the team, but this was a bigger accomplishment for Sam because he had worked so hard this season and it got im here. Over the course of the season, he grew four inches, gained fifty pounds from growing and lifting and had worked on every weakness that he had. That night, he celebrated like he never had before. The team went to Texas Roadhouse after with dinner on the school. After, they had a movie night at the school. After that had all ended, Sam went with Travis to a friends house to hang out with some of their friends. Sam didn't get home till one in the morning and slept in till noon the next day. Sam woke up the next day with some of the best news he had ever heard in his life. “Sam, Coach Reynolds called this morning and asked that you call him back. He has some important news for you!” Sam thought his life couldn't get any better. And yet it did. Sam called Coach and heard the best news of his life! “Son, that was a fine game you played last night! You've improved a ton since I last saw you at the tryouts. Im glad that you took being cut the right way and made yourself better from it. That may have been the best thing for you because it gave you the motivation you needed to get better and make your weaknesses a strength. Now to why I called you. We are going to Vegas this weekend for a tournament and I would love to have you suit up for it. Im not sure if you would get playing time, but I think it would be a good learning experience for you. We will be playing some of the toughest teams in the nations and I think you could learn a lot from watching some of the best point guards in the nation!” “Coach, I would love to come down with you guys!” “Well Im glad to hear that Sam! We will be leaving on Tuesday at eight in the morning to drive there and will leave on Friday around four to head back home! Hope to see you then!” “I will definitely be there! Thanks Coach!” Sam was so excited for this opportunity to go with the team. He thought it would be an awesome experience for him to see some of the best in the country. His mom walked into the room and asked him what Coach had wanted. “What was the great news Sam?” asked his mom. “He invited me to go with him and the high school team to a tournament in Vegas. They leave on Tuesday and come back on Friday. Is it ok if I go?” “Don't you play your first game in the state tournament that night?” asked his mom. “Oh shoot, thats right. I totally forgot about that! Do you know where it is and at what time?!” “Yeah, its at eight that night. Its a home game at the high school!” “We should be back by then!” “You guys better be! Your coach would be super disappointed if you guys got back late and you missed the game. You sure you want to risk it Sam?” “Yes, I think it would be worth my time if I go down with them! Im willing to risk it.” After that, Sam left his mom and went to his room to watch film of the game last night. He had done this after every game as part of getting better. It helped him realize all the opportunities to score and help others that he was missing. He knew that if he watched these films, he would better be able to realize the patterns that he made and that his teammates made. He could also look at the defenses and see certain patterns in an opposing teams defense. Seeing these patterns would help him find the holes in the defense and direct his teammates to those spots. This was how his court vision had gotten so much better over the course of the season. He could visualize what defenders would do before they even made their move. This was a skill that most high school players didn't have. You only heard of the premier point guards in college and the NBA that had this ability and skill. As he was watching his films, Travis called him. “Bro, you want to go to the gym and put up some shots?” asked Travis. “Yeah, that sounds good! Meet you there in ten minutes?” “Yeah, Ill be there! See you in a few man!” As Sam was walking to the gym, he wondered if he should tell Travis about the trip with the high school team next week. He knew that he would eventually find out, he just didn't know if he should leave that up to him or if he should spill the beans. He was also worried that he would be mad about the fact that he might miss the game on Friday. The freshman tournament was a two game elimination tournament, so it wouldn't be a huge deal if he missed the game on Friday. But he knew that if he did miss it and they ended up losing, there would be a lot of people mad at him and he would feel super guilty. He thought Travis would take it well because he was a good friend like that and would understand the situation he was in. He decided that he would tell him and hope for the best. As he walked in, he saw Travis and could tell he was still in a good mood from the previous night. He checked in and went to the nearest bench to sit down and lace up his shoes. Travis walked over, so Sam spilled the beans about the talk with coach. “Your doing what?!” yelled Travis. “Dude, relax its not as bad as it sounds!” “Its not as bad as it sounds Sam?! You're risking the chance of us going to the state championship. We are ranked number two in the tournament! You cant do this to us! We need you!” “Travis, relax. Theres a small chance I will miss the game. I might be a little late, but I'll be there! I’ll even ask coach if we could leave an hour early. Im sure he would be totally fine with that.” “Lets stop talking about this and go to work. I feel as if I played like crap last night!” That got a good laugh out of Travis because everyone in town knew how well he had played last night. That Saturday, along with the rest of the weekend seemed to go by to fast to enjoy. He had family calling him to congratulate him, friends coming over and saying how good he was and how excited they were to watch him play next Friday. All this talk of next Friday made him feel guilty inside because no one knew about the Vegas tournament except for Travis and his mom. Monday, when he went back to school, he was getting high fives from basically every person he passed by in the hallways. He felt as if he was a rockstar with all the attention that he was getting. During his first period class, the intercom came on with the principal congratulating the team on the impressive win. He went on to tell them about Sam's amazing game, leaving him blushing like a tomato. At the end, he told them about the game at the high school on Friday. This made him even more guilty because everyone might show up and he might not even be there.