Off the Bench

Off the Bench — page 3 — Chapter 1 MORNING PRACTICE Daniel Friedland looked down at his sneakers He inched up until his toes were close to the foul line painted in white on the blacktop He held his basketball in front of him and spun it between his palms When he took a deep breath the air was cold and his nose stung Slowly he breathed out through his mouth He looked at the basket through the cloud of vapor Then he pulled back the ball and shot Swish

Off the Bench — page 4 — Daniel let himself smile After months of coming down to the public courts every morning to practice his foul shot he rarely missed Daniel pulled up the zipper of his hooded sweatshirt It was still very cold this early in the morning The bell to begin homeroom over at Westfield Middle School wouldn't ring for another hour He jogged over to the basket and grabbed the ball before it rolled onto the grass Then he quickly walked back to the foul line I think I'm as good as Dwayne Illy now Daniel muttered to himself At least from the foul line Dwayne Illy was the starting small forward and the top scorer on the team Most of his points though were from the foul line Daniel lifted the ball to take another shot If I'm ever going to start at small forward he said to

Off the Bench — page 5 — himself I need to be better from the line than Dwayne Daniel released the ball Swish He jogged to the basket and grabbed the ball as it dropped from the hoop Quickly he jumped up and went for a layup The ball hit the corner of the rim and the backboard and fell back to the blacktop Daniel's shoulders sagged Aw who am I kidding Daniel muttered Coach T will never start me not with Dwayne Illy on the team Dejected he put the ball under his arm and headed home to shower before school

Off the Bench — page 6 — Chapter 2 BRICK Later that week Daniel sat on the bench as the Wildcats played the Hornets from Josette Junior High The first half had been very close so Coach T started the five top players in the second too That meant not Daniel Dwayne Illy drove hard to the basket and was fouled From the line he got two points The second half was starting just how the coach wanted On the next drive Isaac Roth starting point guard stopped at the top of the key

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