Chapter 44

As the days went by, Ichigo found himself fully immersed in the life of a high school student once again. This time, however, things were different from his previous life. He became more active and involved in the school activities, particularly as a member of the basketball club. In contrast to his previous life, where he was just an ordinary student trying to get through high school and graduate, Ichigo now embraced a more vibrant and energetic role in school.

Although he was active in class, he was not at the top of the class because he wasn't very bright. However, despite not being the top student (that title belonging to Midorima), he was highly regarded as a model student athlete by his classmates.

While he may not have excelled academically, he was still above average compared to his peers. In addition, his perseverance in studying made him well-liked among his classmates.

Now, you might be thinking, "If he was already an adult in his past life, why wasn't he at the top of his class, since he had already graduated from high school?" Well, that's not how the world works, is it? Simply graduating from high school doesn't automatically make you smarter than all high school students.

Although Ichigo had the advantage of a mature mind, it didn't make him the smartest. It simply gave him an easier time understanding the topics. While it enhanced his cognitive development, it didn't mean he suddenly jumped into the realm of geniuses just because he had a mature mind. There were too many mature minds in our world that were dumber than a fifth-grader.

In addition to his academic commitments, the basketball club he belongs to continues to operate as usual. They consistently train their fundamental skills and practice the strategies set by the coach. Recently, the coach included a specific play designed for Midorima during their practice sessions.

Midorima's play involves him constantly moving around the court while his teammates set screens for him, creating opportunities for him to shoot. Coach Nakatani always emphasizes the importance of increasing his shooting speed to Midorima.

Although Midorima is already an exceptional long-range shooter, there is still room for improvement in his shooting speed. Despite his high-arching shot and tall stature making it difficult to block his shot, it is still possible to block him, as demonstrated by Ichigo during their practice sessions.

If executed with the right timing and length, Midorima's shot can be blocked, especially by players like Ichigo who possess strong leaping abilities. As Midorima shoots from a greater distance, his release becomes slower. While he is capable of making shots from anywhere on the court if he is open, coach Nakatani knows that it will be challenging for Midorima to create those open opportunities, especially against tough teams in the Interhigh Tournament.

Coach Nakatani anticipates that Midorima will be heavily targeted by opposing teams in the tournament due to his exceptional shooting ability, making it difficult for the other teams to overlook him.

Although Midorima was not currently the team's best player, as that title belonged to Ichigo, his three-point shooting ability posed the greatest threat on the team. Unlike Ichigo and Aomine, Midorima was not particularly renowned for his one-on-one skills, making him an easier target to guard. Simply preventing the passes from reaching Midorima would suffice in defending against him.

While Coach Nakatani was drawing plays for Midorima to get open, he also took caution in case there was a player like Ichigo who could make it harder for Midorima to contribute. This caution from Coach Nakatani stemmed from Ichigo's statement that if there was someone like him with a high leaping ability, it could pose a challenge for Midorima.

While Ichigo was talking about Kagami Taiga, Coach Nakatani mistakenly believed that Ichigo was referring to the other members of the Generation of Miracles, which Ichigo had completely forgotten. The offensive prowess of the Generation of Miracles often overshadowed their defensive abilities. Among the Generation of Miracles, Murasakibara was the only one renowned for his defensive skills, albeit due to his reluctance to participate in offense. As a result, people tended to overlook the defensive capabilities of the other players from the Generation of Miracles. Only those who had the opportunity to compete against them truly understood how formidable their defense was.

Take Midorima, for example. Although he wasn't widely recognized as a standout defender, he demonstrated his prowess in high school by showcasing his agility and quickness. Despite lacking the leaping ability of someone like Ichigo, Midorima utilized his height and length effectively, proving to be an effective shot blocker in help defense situations.

While Coach Nakatani primarily focuses on Midorima and his plays, he doesn't neglect the training of his other players, particularly Takao, who has proven to be a valuable addition to their team.

Although Takao may not possess the same level of talent as players like Ichigo or Midorima, he brings immense value to the team, especially considering the vacancy at the point guard position left by the senior players who graduated last year.

Takao didn't require extensive training in terms of fundamentals since he already had a solid foundation. The areas that needed improvement were his physicality and honing his skills further. By doing so, Takao has the potential to become the perfect point guard for the team in the coming years.

On the other hand, Coach Nakatani didn't have much to offer in terms of teaching Ichigo. Instead, he assigned the senpais to share their knowledge and experiences from their time in high school. Most of the instruction came from one-on-one sessions with Ichigo.

Among the senpais, Otsubo was the one who taught Ichigo the most, followed by Miyaji Kiyoshi. Kimura didn't have much to contribute since Otsubo had already covered those lessons. Miyaji Yuya, being a freshman last year, didn't have much playing time and experience to share.

Though Ichigo didn't gain a vast amount of knowledge from them, he was grateful for their insights. Otsubo, in particular, helped him understand the intricacies of posting up, rebounding, and defending against larger players.

Although their overall game performance hasn't seen significant improvement in the past few days, the area that has improved the most is their team chemistry and understanding of the coach's strategies. This development, although not having a dramatic impact on their performance, is still a commendable achievement.

Particularly noteworthy is the progress made by Midorima, who was not previously known for being a team player. Coming from Teiko Junior High, which was notorious for its individualistic approach, it was a significant adjustment for him. However, he is gradually adapting to the concept and is making steady progress.

By the time the Interhigh Tournament begins, Midorima will have fully integrated into the team. This will be a significant advantage for Shutoku as the Kanto tournament, which serves as the preliminaries for Interhigh, is just around the corner.

As the three freshman players - Ichigo, Midorima, and Takao - were walking home together, which had become a routine after a long day in the club, Takao suddenly remembered something and shared it with them. "Hey, did you know that one of the members of the Generation of Miracles will be playing in a practice game tomorrow? They will be facing Seirin High, the dark horse from last year."

Curious, Ichigo asked where Takao got this news from, as he had no idea how Takao would come across such information. Takao replied, "I heard it from a friend at Kaijo High. He mentioned that Seirin High, the team who was also part of the Kanto tournament just like our team, was only formed last year. Despite that, they managed to make it to the final league of the preliminaries, where they were unfortunately defeated by the three Kings of Tokyo."

Takao added, "Also, based on my knowledge, their key player, Kiyoshi Teppei, got injured in their last game against Kirisaki Daichi High in the finals of their block. That's why they were beaten badly by the Three Kings of Tokyo. Interestingly, I heard that Kiyoshi Teppei was actually recruited by Coach Nakatani last year, but he declined and went on to form a new team at Seirin High." Takao shared this information in a hushed tone, as if revealing a secret.

Hearing Takao's words, Ichigo was not only surprised by the information itself but also by Takao's impressive sourcing abilities. In Ichigo's mind, gathering this kind of information was typically associated with private detectives.

"Hey Shin-chan, what do you say? How about we watch their game tomorrow?" Takao said to Midorima.

"Are you serious? We still have club activities tomorrow. Won't the coach be upset with us if we skip club?" Ichigo interjected before Midorima could reply.

"Don't worry about that. We can just say that we were scouting our opponents for the upcoming Regional preliminaries," reassured Takao to Ichigo. He then turned to Midorima and asked, "How about that Shin-chan? Do you want to go?"

Midorima pondered for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. After a few moments, he adjusted his glasses and nodded in agreement with Takao's suggestion.

Seeing Midorima nod, Takao became excited and turned to Ichigo. "See? Even Shin-chan is going. Don't you want to go?"

Reluctantly, Ichigo had no choice but to join. "Okay, but if the coach and seniors get mad at us for skipping, I'm going to throw you under the bus," Ichigo reluctantly agreed to Takao's suggestion.