After Jake left the basketball court he regretted saying that to coach Guthridge, he always liked the coach very much and was liking the Tar Heels team and the university, so when he knew he wouldn't play he decided to say it because it was the reality he knew in his past life.

So he said it without thinking why maybe coach Guthridge could warn coach Smith and the team would have a chance not to lose this game, but he understood after saying that and seeing coach Guthridge furious that he shouldn't have said it because it seemed too much arrogant.

It was a shame, but as he had already said it was no use going back, the team could lose that game if he didn't play and what Jake said would be on coach Guthridge's mind, he hoped coach Guthridge and coach Smith wouldn't be resentful of it and their teammates didn't know.

The other day before the start of training he apologized to coach Guthridge and coach Smith, he said in apologies that he spoke without thinking, he was not forgiven, but the coaches were no longer so angry.

Jake made a point of saying in his apology that he "spoke without thinking" and not that he made a mistake and told a lie, so the coaches didn't forgive him, yet he didn't want to lie saying he didn't think what he said because it was the reality.

The next day was the day of the first game of the year, it was another visitor game from the Tar Heels team and all the players were used to it, they had a straight 9 wins in 10 games and were rested after spending almost two weeks without playing.

Everyone was in top form, it was ACC's first Regular Season game, and everyone wanted to win to get well, Jake talked a lot with his friends who, although they found it odd that Jake didn't start playing, didn't think much about it.

While they prepared coach Smith repeatedly emphasized that they would not underestimate their opponents even though they were in a 9-win streak after all the opponent also came from a 9-win streak without losing a game in the season.

Even though coach Smith and coach Guthridge did not like Jake to say that without him on the team they would lose this game, they could not deny that the opponent was really too difficult.

The opposing team in this game would be Wake Forest Demon Deacons, it was a team with whom Tar Heels had a rivalry for playing at the same conference, as coach Smith had already warned this was one of the best seasons starts for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons team.

The main player and highlight of this team are Tim Duncan who would be a great star and one of the best players in NBA history for years to come, 5-time NBA champion and 2-time NBA MVP of the season.

Duncan was a versatile player who could play as Center and as PF, in games like this, he would play as PF so Loren Woods who was expected to replace Duncan could play as well.

After all this year Tim Duncan would go to the NBA, so Jake was so sure that the team would lose this game without himself if the future could change, both teams were very confident of having a winning streak, but Duncan could do a lot. difference in a game like this.

Coach Smith probably underestimated the importance of Duncan in this game as he did not know the future of this NBA star, this would probably be the reason for the team's defeat, as both teams had the same offensive style of play.

Both teams preferred the internal attack taking advantage of their players' ability to attack and catch rebounds if they could make a mistake, and in such a game this would certainly favor the Wake Forest Demon Deacons team that had Duncan in attack and defense.

Meanwhile, the weakness of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were the outsiders and the team's PG and SG, of course, they had the skill and made many points for three-point play attempts.

But in a high-level competition playing was usually the same as a flaw, so if coach Smith considered Duncan to be an elite player he would have switched the team to a three-point play strategy as well.

If it had been in Jake's past life this could also be considered a weakness of the Tar Heels team who only relied on Shammond Williams as their top scorer on the outside shots let alone Carter and Okulaja.

However, this season was different because the Tar Heels team could count on Jake who had an average of 72 percent in the hit rate of three-point shots because the team played in an internal play style.

If coach Smith asked Jake he could try 9 or more three-point play in this game, not to mention that he guaranteed 65 percent of hits, along with Shammond Williams they could use a different style of play to try to beat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons team.

Even so Jake couldn't guarantee they would win, without him on team Jake saw no chance for team Tar Heels to win this game that was not won in his past life, just a few months after fully adapting to college basketball Jake could guarantee victory.

After a few more hours the two teams were almost ready for the game, the Tar Heels team had a different starting lineup before the end of last year, Shammond Williams was PG, Vince Carter SG, Antawn Jamison SF, Ademola Okulaja as PF and Serge Zwikker as Center.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons team came with Jerry Braswell as PG, Tony Rutland as SG, Ricky Peral as SF, Tim Duncan as PF and Loren Woods playing as Center, the coach decided on this lineup to better defend against attacks by Team Tar Heels and gain an advantage in attack.

Everyone was confused as to why Jake, who had been the star of the team, was out of the starting lineup in this difficult game, yet the crowd and the audience were expecting a good game and soon they would find out which of those teams with excellent campaigns this season would continue with victories interrupted.

What everyone expected was the favoritism of the Tar Heels team that had both Carter and Jamison attacking inside as well as Jake and Williams attacking outside, in this game this versatility would be very important.

In the early minutes, Wake Forest led the game and the score with relative ease, they attacked very well and efficiently without making a lot of mistakes, and in defense, they managed to block some attacks from Team Tar Heels.

Duncan was being the name of the game and was controlling the rebound by winning in both offensive and defensive contests, he was winning in disputes against Jamison and Zwikker who were the most rebounding players after Jake.

"If more than 4 minutes have passed and the lead is entire with the Wake Forest team, they dominate both attacking and defending, Duncan instead playing an incredible game and using his height to win rebounds."

"It's not just the height advantage, it's a talent test to catch so many rebounds like that, Tar Heels's Jake is nowhere near the top of the team and has the average rebounding advantage in games."

"You're right, talking about Jake I miss him in this game, with Jake the Tar Heels team could make much better use of the ball in offense and would be strengthened in defense."

"Soon I think coach Smith will put him in this game, see it looks like Williams will be replaced."

Willians wasn't having a good game that day because he didn't get many balls to try the shot on and off and he had to organize the plays, so after more than 4 minutes he left but it wasn't Jake who came in is Ed Cota In his place coach Smith wanted to insist on internal strikes and Cota was better on the pass.

Even though in the next few minutes the result of the match did not change with the entrance of Ed Cota, the team could not make good plays and even if he hit the passes his teammates still failed to score points against the strong defense of Wake Forest.

In addition to Tim Duncan, Woods and Rutland were also having a great game, even though Carter and Jamison were also playing well they were missing compared to the opposing defense in that game.

Serge Zwikker and Okulaja were even worse off in both attack and defense, it should be said that Wake Forest was doing very well in this match, so just after 13 minutes, Jake entered on the court.

"Coach Smith put Jake Smith in the game after 13 minutes, I don't know what the coach was thinking, I even suspected Jake was injured and couldn't play in today's game."

"I confess I thought the same, I don't know the cause, but putting the best player of the team in these last games just after 13 minutes is inexplicable for me, now the Wake Forest team is almost 9 points ahead on the scoreboard, I don't know if Jake can make a lot of difference."

Jake also did not expect coach Smith to be so radical in his punishment and to put Jake in just 13 minutes of play, and coach Smith clearly gave the message that he wanted to keep trying the inside game and it wasn't for Jake to just insist on shots from 3 points.

Jake didn't know what coach Smith was thinking, but he was a pro and would play his best at this game and do what the coach asked, if the team lost that game he would leave with the quiet conscience that he did his best.

After a play with a mistake by Wake Forest, Jake received the ball to work on his first play in the game, he soon passed the ball to Carter who did not seem so excited about that game, Carter advanced and passed the ball to Okulaja who had to leave the three-point line to get out of Duncan's defense and receive the pass.

Okulaja soon felt the pressure of Duncan's defense and passed the ball back to Jake further back, Jake received and made a feint and tricked the opposing defense and passed, when another defender left Jake passed the ball to Jamison who ripped the defense.