Bounce Back

Chapter 50

Ryan's POV

The team opened their conference games with a home game against Stanford. I think that a lot of players were glad to be back on the court even though the break was short.

Alex had decided to watch the game so that we could compare notes. I wasn't sure what to expect because I've been doing this for years so I wasn't sure how he was going to go. I had always watched the opposition warm up and this game wasn't any different.

They looked not too bad and but I thought that UCLA looked better. Soon enough the game started and the team started well. I could see a couple of missed opportunities but there were some good plays made.

The first quarter was good and UCLA finished it with an eight point lead already.

"Anything to say?" Coach asked.

I told them all a couple of things that I had spotted. In particular that one of their top players was a terrible defender and so to try and get a favourable matchup. They all nodded and Coach told them a couple more things before the break was over.

The players took the court and I started writing again. Immediately the team went on a run and the eight point lead was stretched to a 15 point lead. The rest of the game then became a bit boring because the win wasn't in doubt and the team seemed to play quite well.

Once the game was finished the players headed into the locker room. Everyone was upbeat as they headed off the court and I continued to sit there. I focused on typing up my notes and was just finishing them as Coach came back out.

"Can I have a read of your notes now?" he asked.

I nodded and handed him my laptop. He hummed a couple of times as he read my notes and he didn't say much as he handed it back to me.

"It looks good. You have got insight," Coach said.

I smiled at him and I shut my laptop and grabbed the rest of my stuff to head out.

"I'll see you later," I said.

"Yeah. Will you be at training tomorrow?" he asked.

"Do you want me to be?"

"Yes, please," he smiled.

I nodded and then actually headed out. I had to walk past the locker room and I stopped for a second. The door was open and pretty much all the guys were standing and talking together. Tyler had a smile on his face and I have to move past so that no one noticed me.

I sent a text to Alex asking if we could meet up after practice tomorrow. I was too exhausted to talk about the game tonight and practice was at ten and I wasn't going to meet before that. I got a reply just as I was opening the dorm room and he agreed.

I had a very long shower and so I wasn't surprised when I saw Tyler stretched out on the bed. When he noticed me come in he stood up and headed into the bathroom. Like last night I spent a while on my laptop and Tyler fell asleep before me.

I woke the next morning and decided to head to the library for a while before practice to get out of the dorm. I didn't bring any work with me. Instead I grabbed a book and let myself relax as I read. it was really nice since I didn't have classes it was easier to relax.

After a couple of hours I had to head to the gym and most of the team was already there and starting to warm up. I didn't always come to practice; it depended on what I had to do so I didn't have a routine or a specific place to sit.

I moved to join the Coaches and Coach smiled at me.

"I saw your finished notes. Can we talk about it after practice?" he asked.

I nodded and he called to start practice. For the most part I just watched and added small notes when Coach asked for them. Occasionally he would ask for my opinion on a drill but mostly I watched and learnt more about the players.

Coach held me back after everything finished and the players headed to change.

"I just wanted to ask what you thought about a couple of players," he said.

"Of course. Ask away," I told him.

We then talked about a few different players and the last person that he asked me about was Tyler. I had to pause for a second before I could say anything.

"He's a good player and he pays attention to coaching well and inputs it into his game," I started.

He hummed and I continued to talk about Tyler's skills and weaknesses.

"Thanks Tyler. I'll talk to you more later," he said once we finished talking.

I nodded, packed up and headed out to meet Alex. He agreed to meet at one of the cafes on campus and I knew that he wouldn't have made it out of bed until he had to meet me so I knew that he would want coffee and honestly I needed some too.

I'd spent too much time in Tyler's company recently it was starting to fray my nerves a little bit. If I was to snap I wasn't even sure what I would do. Alex was already waiting for me and he had a coffee and plenty of pieces of paper so I joined him once I had my own cup.

"It's a bit of a mess but I don't have a fancy computer program like you," he explained.

I laughed and moved around so that we could both see each other's notes. I was slightly surprised that Alex had really good notes given that he hadn't done this before. It meant that I had some differing opinions and it was really nice.

Alex and I worked really well together and I added his points to my own that I hadn't noticed. It was funny how different people saw different things. We were just about finished when Alex jabbed me in the ribs, making me look up.

Tyler walked in and if I was honestly it looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet. I quickly ducked my head so that he wouldn't notice me looking.

"Do you want to go?" Alex asked me.

I nodded because right now I couldn't deal with this so we headed out together.

"Are you really sure that you can keep living together?" Alex asked once we were outside.

"I'll be fine. Something just feels weird at the moment and I don't know if it is me or him or both," I said.

He hummed slightly and we headed to the library instead and stopped talking about Tyler which was a relief. I just wanted a break from it at the moment.

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The Wise One