Ball Game--Tim

Two minutes left in regulation. We’re up by eight, feeling as if we had won the game. We started to relax on defense. They take advantage of it. The made a layup. Up by six with one minute and forty-five seconds left. I bring the ball up the court. I pass to a teammate. Turnover. They score again. Up by four with a minute and thirty-seven seconds left. I bring the ball up the court again. I pass to a teammate. Then I set a screen. I cut to the basket. They pass the ball to me. I pass out to the corner to a teammate. They shoot the a wide-open three. Missed the shot. The opposing team gets the rebound and runs down the court. The opposing team makes a three-pointer.

A minute and twenty-five seconds left. The opponent plays full court defense on us. Another turnover. Another made layup by the opposing team. A minute and twenty seconds left in the game. Down by one. I quickly bring the ball up the court. I pass the ball and my teammate sets a screen for me. I get the ball back. I’m wide-open for three. I take the shot. The ball looks good and well on its way to the hoop. The ball hits the rim. Opposing team gets the rebound. They call a timeout with a minute left. How did I miss that wide-open shot? I’ve practiced that type of shot countless of times. Why did I miss that shot now? Why do these kinds of things happen?

As I walk to the bench with my head down, I thought the ball looked good when it was released from my hands. It looked as if it was going straight down the net. Wishing that I could get a second chance at another shot like that. They say that when the opportunity presents themselves, people need to grab that opportunity and make it theirs. But sometimes there are risks to take when an opportunity presents themselves. People may think that an opportunity as big as it is may never come by again. So they take the chance without thinking about what to do if they fail to accomplish their work.

They say that life is full of second chances. But everyone only has one life and sometimes will never get a second chance to redeem themselves on what they did. Sometimes people don’t even get a chance to show themselves. When people don’t get these chances, they can wonder if they are worth enough to even try at that point. People can get down on things like this happening to them. Not being able to capitalize on their chance, not receiving a chance, or not given a second chance at something can demoralizes a person.

In general, humans take these experiences and tell themselves that they aren’t cut out for these types of things. They allow the fact that things didn’t come out the way that they wanted to affect the way the feel and think. They don’t want to take the experience and learn from it. They allow doubt and fear to slowly dominate their choices. They soon begin to second guess themselves. They soon look at themselves and wonder if they are really enough or worth enough to try again.
Instead of allowing these experiences to demoralize humans, take these experiences to look at what to improve on. Use these experiences as motivation to bring back the confidence to say that “I will get my chance again.” This is how the great ones came to be. Kobe Bryant

missed so many important shots to win a game early in his career. People talked about how he shouldn’t have taken those shots or they say how he isn’t clutch enough. But Kobe uses those words and his experience to become better. That’s how he became as great as he is today. Although Kobe is so great, even he sometimes misses.

Walking back onto the court, it felt as if a fire had started in myself. The opponent passes the ball to their teammate that decides to shoot the ball with me as the defender. I block their shot. Pick up the ball and ran with it. Fifty-five seconds left. I stop and shoot a three. The ball went straight through the net. The opposing team brings the ball up the court. Forty-six seconds left. They drive and made a layup to tie the game.

Tied with twenty-six seconds left, I bring the ball up the court. My teammate sets a screen. A bigger and slower opponent switches onto me. I see the mismatch. Fifteen seconds left on the clock. I go between the legs once then twice. Thirteen seconds left. Crossover. Twelve seconds left. Behind-the-back. Ten seconds left. Step-back behind the arc, gaining some space. Nine seconds left. Puts up a three. The ball spins slowly in the air, forming a rainbow heading straight down the hoop. The ball finds itself on the bottom of the net with five seconds left in the game. The opposing team didn't have any timeouts remaining. They get the ball in and puts up a heavily contested three. They miss. Ball game. Chances like these don’t come often. But when they do, try to make them count. When you miss, just remember, we can’t make them all every time.