3. FIRST STEP

March 10, 2012. Ogden, Utah. Kingston Drive.

"…son of a bitch."

"Whew. I think I'm gonna have to head out first."

"Already?"

"I have practice in the morning."

Barron got up from watching TV with a very disappointed look on his face. I looked at him as he made his way to the 2nd floor and focused back on the TV.

As "March Madness" began starting March 13, the "Big Sky" conference began their team drawings. WSU was drawn to Big Sky.

On March 9, WSU defeated Portland State 68-63, qualifying them for the finals. The finals were going to be against the University of Montana. This season the Grizzlies had a record of 15-1, surpassing WSU, who ended with a 14-2 season.

And today, they completely stomped WSU.

"Everyone doesn't seem to be in good condition today."

Montana didn't have an ace player on their team.

Instead, they had the backcourt duo Will Cherry and Kareem Jamar. Also, one of the highest regarded shooter forward Mathias Ward, creating a well-balanced powerful team.

With an average of around 70 points and a powerful defense, Big Sky conference's #1 team was Montana's pride, the Grizzlies.

These numbers were made known through ESPN 2's statistics.

"Leon's injury is huge. It doesn't seem possible for Lillard to face Montana alone."

"I need to go in. I can't stand this."

5 minutes until the game was over. The score extended 57 : 79.

Within 2 minutes of the start of the 2nd half, Leon had to leave the court because of a sprained ankle. He was sitting on the bench with ice on his ankle, with an upset expression clearly seen on his face.

He wanted to get up and play anyway.

If it was the Leon I knew, he was going to blame today's loss on himself. He was always a responsible person and was a very enthusiastic person.

The moment Leon left, all the weight of the offensive plays was on Lillard's shoulders.

.

.

.

(Brandon Shaw)

"Damian Lillard adds 2 points to the scoreboard. He's already scored 26 points, but he doesn't seem to be happy about it."

.

.

.

Lillard's 26 points. But these points were made from 30 field goal attempts.

If you just look at his success rate, it seemed like Lillard was having a hard time playing today. Only 9 of his attempts were successful, which summed up to be a 30% rate.

"Stanley isn't looking too happy today as well."

"…"

Anna's last words. She was summarizing how the today's game went.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ENDGAME RESULTS

WSU 66 VS 85 MONTANA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

March 12, 2012. Ogden, Utah. Harrison Blvd, Weber State University.

Following the frustration of the elimination, WSU had to play in a post-season tournament compiled of all the teams that lost.

Stanley seemed to be very busy today, trying to help the players who had lost motivation.

"Good, that's it! Use the flow! Keep moving and increase the tempo!"

"…"

Not sure if it was because of Stanley, but the more the players focused on the training, it seemed the brighter they became. Leon, who was also there with crutches, seemed to be a big source of positivity to the team as well.

Leon was not able to play in the post-season tournament at all due to his stretched ligament in his ankle.

"Does your body itch because you can't practice with us?"

"Hmm?"

Because the competition wasn't over yet, I still wasn't able to join WSU in practices.

As I turned my head to the voice, WSU's coach Colin Leicester came to me. Although we've been defeated just two days ago, Colin always proved to be a positive and happy person.

Because of this, Stanley and the players both had a lot of trust and confidence in him.

"Well, it is a bit disappointing, but it's all part of the NCAA. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, somewhat."

"Very good. Stanley won't shut up about you, he says you're a very clever player."

"Really?"

Finding out someone had heard about me from another person was a good yet awkward feeling. Especially when they're complimenting me, like now.

"Definitely. He said the ceiling is high. So, that means you have a lot of potential."

"Haha. I'll do my best then."

"Being a hard worker is great. But, that doesn't mean it's everything."

Colin told me American basketball is just a simple game.

"Basketball always proves to be an interesting sport. It grows every year, and no one can imagine who will emerge as the star in the fast-paced flow. In my opinion, the first thing you have to do isn't practice, but become part of this world. "

"What world?"

"The world of basketball."

It was difficult for me to understand him. What is he trying to say?

One thing that was true was that fact that he was kinder than Stanley.

"If it's difficult, start with the little things. Don't just simply look at it as practice but ask yourself why we are practicing like this."

"I'll work on that too."

"Hahaha. But don't overwork yourself. Everything is difficult at first."

Colin was saying it's okay to be relaxed, but I didn't want to do that. If I wanted to, I had plenty of time to leave America and head back to Korea.

I won't be able to participate in the team's practice until the post-season tournament was over anyway.

But I've chosen to stay here, I didn't have any plans to go back to Korea until vacation time. In order to survive here, I've made the best decision I could.

'American basketball, huh?'

This along with what Stanley has told me gave me a lot to think about.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

March 13, 2012. Ogden, Utah. Harrison Blvd. Weber State University. Dee Events Center.

FIRST HALF 3 : 11

WSU 4 VS 2 UTAH VALLEY

WSU's home court had a max capacity of 11,500 people. But today, there were only 2,000 people here. You can blame this on WSU being eliminated from March Madness.

And today, we were throwing our lead against Great West Conference's Utah Valley.

*SWOOSH*

"Nice!"

As Davion Berry successfully nailed a 3-pointer, I jumped out of my seat and threw 3 fingers in the air. As Leon looked at me surprised for the way I was reacting, he couldn't help but to let out a big smile.

Leon put his right hand out and clapped for Berry, who he has taught in many ways.

"That's it, D! That's it!"

Stanley looked at with a flustered look and shook his head from side to side and let out an uncomfortable laugh. But I knew he was feeling good too.

"Looking good."

"We need to be more enthusiastic."

After my conversation with Colin, I thought about what he said.

What are the small things I can do for the team? It was tiring to ask this question in every situation, but it was a good way to get used to a place I wasn't familiar with.

"He stole the ball!"

"That's it! Arty! Run for it!"

*BOOM*

"Yeah!!!!"

It may seem strange, but Artemis McRae was playing alongside WSU. It was a given since he hadn't graduated yet and all the players, including Stanley, treated him as if nothing happened.

Is this also a cultural difference? If it were Korea, there would be no way anyone would get along with him.

"Haha. Thanks to you, the mood is a lot better!"

"I can only try."

"Hahaha. Listen. Stanley originally brought you here today, just so you can watch."

Since I wasn't officially enrolled in WSU, I wasn't allowed to sit at the benches as an official player. Instead, Stanley decided to use me in the meantime as a staff member, giving me the authority to sit at the benches with the team.

My job was to bring players towels and water.

"Oh!"

I turned my head again as I was talking to Colin and people were once again giving a cheerful reaction to the game. It seemed like Lillard made a crazy play this time.

Utah Valley's guard Isaiah Williams fell to the floor as Lillard jumped over him and shot the ball.

As the ball once again went through the hoop, the buzzer went off and another timeout was called.

"I think it's your time now?"

"Huh? Oh, right!"

Korean came out of my mouth without realizing and, if David had seen this, I'd have to pay a fine to him.

In order to speed up my adjusting to America, if I used Korean, I would have to pay him a penalty.

I had already filled a glass jar with over 20 dollars and, according to David, he was going to spend that money on his own necessities. Although I didn't know why an expensive suit was a necessity.

"That was awesome! Good job!"

I quickly picked up all the towels and ran to the players that were coming to the bench and distributed them. Then I opened up drinks and gave them to the players.

Artemis would constantly complain, so I had made the decision to block him out. That seemed to upset him. It wasn't because I didn't like him, but it's because I knew that he had a habit to consistently complain about everything.

Lillard seemed to be entertained by the way I was treating Artemis.

"Yo, Arty! I don't think your complaints are going through?"

"Hahahaha."

Stanley walked toward us as he heard the laughter, then, relayed everything that the coaches were saying about to us. Everyone's been playing good so far, but it seemed like they were wasting too many opportunities.

Ever since Davion's 3-pointer was made, we made 7 attempts for 3 minutes.

Considering how short of a time it was, 7 attempts were a pretty good amount.

"Utah Valley is a pretty strong team. So, don't let your guard down. We have to shoot the ball carefully and sparingly. Remember, Leon isn't on the court right now. And Arty! Focus when you're going for rebounds!"

"Yessir."

I had always felt this way, but Stanley would always point out the simple facts. However, he was very accurate and particular. Since Dwayne coached in a similar manner, they were either both amazing coaches or the overall standard for American coaches was higher than Korea.

Although Utah Valley's forward Geddes Robinson was only 6'5", his rebound average per game was 10.2.

"There's no good in giving them free throws. Be careful not to foul."

Utah Valley's backcourt duo Isaiah Williams and Holton Hunsaker had a combined 80% free throw success rate.

The reason I knew this was because I spent the entire night learning stats on Utah Valley players. It would've been nice to see their games, but I didn't have that sort of time.

As the timeout ended, the players ran back to the court.

"Hey, Minhyuk!"

"Hmm?"

I heard Stanley and, when I turned my head, a blue towel was thrown at my face.

As I flinched and grabbed the towel, Stanley, who was in a good mood, was in front of me.

"Very good. Keep doing it like that."

"Haha."

'Compliments will make a whale dance.'

I'm a human, so what can I say?