4 Chapter 4__: Junior High School (4)
AN__: I want to make the basketball in this novel feel realistic. Of course, there will be certain players with abilities. The generation of miracles, for example, will retain their skills, but they will be exponentially reduced.
I will give a non-lethal spoiler to explain that.
Let me take Kise as an example. He can copy someone's movements in no time due to his visual comprehension skills. He only has to see a technique one time to completely copy it and make it his own. His copying ability doesn't stop there as he copies the technique but plays it with more power and speed than the original. That's the original Kise.
In this fanfiction, Kise will retain his incredible visual comprehension skills. He will immediately understand how to do a play after seeing it twice or three times. However, he must build the necessary muscle memory to effectively use that skill.
Another example is Akashi's emperor's eyes which allow him to observe every movement of his opponent, thus predicting the opponent's next move. That isn't as overpowered as I thought it was, but Tadatoshi Fujimaki used it in an over-the-top manner. I will not change the skill, but will reduce the effect of its use.
Anyway,
I hope you enjoy reading this novel. If you have ideas you want me to implement in the story, original characters you want me to introduce, or fictional characters you want to see in the novel, please tell me in the comments section.
Thank you for reading this novel.
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"Mitobe, what did I tell you before the game?" Asked Kimura with an ugly face. Four minutes were left before the end of the second quarter, and Yuuki Junior High was leading by 8 points. However, Kimura was not satisfied with how the players, especially one of his better players, Mitobe, acted on the court.
"You told me to avoid entangling with the opposite C and use my mid-distance shots more." Responded Mitobe with a guilty face. He hasn't followed his coach's instructions and almost pitted the team. If Shinji and Hideki didn't step up at the right time, the team wouldn't be leading the opponent by much.
Although Mitobe is usually calm and collected, the two months of training with Shinji and his height growth got to his head, stopping him from playing as calmly as he used to. At this moment, the teenager finally recognized his out-of-character playing style and was deeply ashamed.
'I need to control myself better!' He thought, a guilty expression on his face. He knew he had become arrogant because of his basketball level's increase. However, he will try his best to keep himself down to earth from now on.
Seeing Mitobe's guilty face, Kimura got even more mad as he yelled. "He's taller and stronger than you. Why are you trying to compete with him physically? Can't you use your brain when playing basketball?" Mitobe could only drop his head in shame. However, determination could still be seen if someone looked closely at his eyes.
Kimura took a deep breath and calmed down before looking at his players.
"If we continue playing like this, don't even think about beating Teiko. We might not make it to the semi-finals. Do you want that to happen?" He asked with a solemn expression. However, after hearing his players say a loud 'no!', he relaxed and gave precise instructions to each player.
"Mitobe, don't try to compete with him physically. Use your superior agility and speed to make him run. He is big and doesn't have much stamina. Get him out of the three-second zone and make him run after you. If he doesn't come out, shoot that ball. You've been training your shooting for this moment." Kimura finished and looked at Mitobe for a few seconds. However, after seeing the determined young man nod in understanding, he smiled and looked at the other players.
(AN__: Mitobe is playing the C position for this game.)
"Hideki, I need you to speed the game up. The opposite players aren't as fast and don't have as much stamina as you. So, I want you to accelerate the game's pace for the remaining four minutes. Try to score within the first 12 seconds of your possession time while defending them on the full court. Can you do that?" He finished, calmly glancing at his captain.
The teenager nodded, expressing his willingness to follow the plan. Of course, whether he was willing or not was not the question. Kimura can keep him on the bench if he doesn't do well. However, Hideki felt guilty while looking at Mitobe.
As a point guard, he is supposed to control the team and distribute the ball on the court. But, he had indulged Mitobe a little too much.
At the beginning of the game, his team's Center was blocked two times in a row by the opposite Center, hurting the confident Mitobe. To help his teammate regain face, he has been feeding him the ball, giving him 1v1 opportunities.
Kimura noticed it, but he didn't address it. He only gave Hideki a cold stare and let him continue playing. In Kimura's cognition, his captain is smart enough to understand his fault. Plus, not every player needs to be reminded of what to do. Some grow faster if they experience things without anybody giving them advice.
Smiling while looking at his captain in the corner of his eye, Kimura glanced at Koganei and spoke.
"I need you to turn your scoring mode on, Koganei. You only scored 9 points. That's way too reserved compared to your skills." He started, shaking his head. Although he likes that Shinji isn't a selfish dickhead who wants to score his team's every point. Kimura is tired of having to tell him to score. In his understanding, Koganei doesn't feel the need or desire to score against a weaker opponent.
The same thing happened last game. Koganei scored 8 points in the first half and was content with that. Kimura had to pressure him to make him play at full strength in the second half.
'How can you grow while acting like this?' He thought, shaking his head for the nth time during this game.
'He turns into Micheal Jordan during the team's practice games but becomes Dennis Rodman in official matches. Why are you getting 7 rebounds in the first half.' Complained Kimura as he dejectedly looked at Koganei, who was walking to the court alongside his teammates. The timeout has ended, and the referee urged the players on both sides to return to court.
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*Sound of the ball entering the net*
Seeing his three-pointer go through the rim, Shinji smiled and advanced, not giving the opposite players space to receive the ball. Alongside Hideki and his team's shooting guard, Shinji pressed the opponent, making them unable to serve the ball and violating the five-second rule.
In the last four minutes of the second quarter, the opposing team violated that rule three times, lost the ball before passing the half-court line four times, exhausted their possession time without scoring two times, and didn't score a single point, allowing Yuuki Junior High to lead by 21 points before half time. They were beaten 13-00 in four minutes, scaring everybody watching the game.
As one of the stronger teams in Tokyo, almost every team would come to watch their game before the start of the groupings alongside the many spectators and fans of both teams. A gymnasium that could accommodate 3,000 people was packed.
"Aren't they stronger compared to the Inter-high?" Asked Taichi, the vice-captain of Shoei Junior High, one of the few teams that could compete equally with the current Yuuki Junior High. Next to him, a tall teenager, around 192 Cm tall, nodded his head as he watched the game with extreme concentration.
His name is Teppei Kiyoshi, the captain of Shoei Junior High and the current second-best C in the country.
After finishing their second preliminary game early in the morning, they rushed to this gymnasium to watch one of their few rivals. However, they were shocked and scared by the strength of Yuuki Junior High. Kiyoshi especially looked at the team's numbers 10 and 7 for a long time. They are respectively, Shinji Koganei and Hideki Watanabe.
'They are strong. Not comparable to those monsters, but the exceed the level of most Junor High School players.' Thought Kiyoshi, smiling as he tried to simulate a game between Shoei and Yuuki in his mind.
He likes to do that before every game to prepare himself. However, he still couldn't think of ways their team could beat the current Yuuki junior high. 'Unless I guard personally guard number 10!' He thought again, his smile broadening, excited to play against great competition. Although he has been losing to Teiko every time they play against each other for the last two and half years, those losses can't affect his determination to play basketball.
'I hope we can meet in the semi-finals.' He thought, knowing that none of their teams could beat the current Teiko.
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*Pah*
Catching the ball on the wing, Shinji immediately accelerated past his defender, not giving the latter time to defend. Using his speed, Shinji ran alongside the baseline toward the basket. However, he noticed that none of the opposing team's inside players came to defend him. They both stayed near the three-second zone, waiting for him to drive to the basket while avoiding leaving their man open.
Shaking his head, Shinji suddenly stopped and shot the ball mid-distance, boosting his score to 23 points.
While returning to defense, Shinji looked at the scoreboard and sighed, knowing he would soon exit the game. He knew Kimura would call a timeout if they regained possession of the ball. It's been a tradition in this team. Every time the team leads by more than 20 points, the starting players will be substituted out of the court. The bench players have to play too, after all.
The score was 68-33, with 7 minutes remaining in the game.
*Sound of someone whistling!*
Just as Mitobe accepted his 12 rebounds of the game, the referee whistled and signaled that Yuuki Junior High called for a timeout. Seeing that, the opposite players sighed in relief. They knew the starting players on the other side would go out, and so could they. Although they enjoy playing basketball, the game becomes uninteresting if they meet opponents far more skillful than them. Few people get excited while playing people stronger than them. Those people are usually masochists.
Walking out of the court, Shinji and his teammates heard Kimura's praises with smiles on their faces.
Sitting down, Shinji put his hoodie on and approached Kimura, ready to resume his 'find a coach!' plan.
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*Sound of someone whistling!*
A week has passed since the Winter Cup started. After Yuuki Junior High qualified to the top 16, they didn't grow conceited but worked harder than before. 'The real competition would start from the groupings!' thought the players as they heard their coach, Kimura, whistle, signaling the end of today's training.
Hearing the sound, the players dropped the ball on their hands and quickly ran to the coach's side, waiting for him to speak. Any outsider could feel that the man was very respected by his players. Even Shinji, a former professional player and trainer, had to respect the man.
'Although he's not top-level, he's willing to listen and learn from others. I don't doubt he will become one of the best coaches in Japan.' Thought Shinji, thinking of the many suggestions he gave to Kimura. Most of them were accepted and implemented, making Kimura admire Shinji more.
Shinji also admires Kimura a lot. Few coaches could accept suggestions from their players. Shinji was a world-renowned trainer. He never listened to anybody's propositions unless they were better or had higher qualifications than him. So, the man's attitude made Shinji ashamed of his past self, vowing to improve his mentality and attitude toward learning in this life.
Seeing the players in front of him, Kimura nodded to express his satisfaction before taking a piece of paper from his trouser pocket. "The groupings have come out!" He started, prompting excited yells to exit his disciple's mouths. Anybody could see that they had been waiting for this and could no longer restrain themselves.
Waiting for a few seconds, Kimura clapped his hands, signaling the teenagers to stop talking. Immediately, everybody closed their mouths, waiting for their coach to speak. Noddin again, Kimura continued his speech.
"We have been assigned to group C. After coming out of the group, we will face the winner of group B. Fortunately, Teiko and Shoei are in groups A and D. We will only meet them in the finals." Hearing that, the players clapped for a few seconds, showing their contentment with this year's groupings. They will have a higher chance of reaching the finals this year. 'Winning it is another issue, though.' They thought, thinking about Teiko.
Kimura waited for the players to calm down before continuing. "Satsue Junior High, Sayo Junior High, and Yuuha Junior High will be in Group C with us. Although they aren't as strong as us, we must be vigilant and avoid mistakes. Otherwise, we will regret it." He finished, scanned the player's eyes, and smiled. They all had determined looks in their eyes. Nobody grew conceited after easily reaching this stage. God finally gave them a chance to reach the finals. Of course, they're going to take it. Whoever stands in their way will pay the price.
Satisfied with the player's attitude, Kimura smiled. "That's all for today. You can go home and rest for the rest of the day. The next game will be in a week. So, training intensity will be doubled starting tomorrow. I hope you're all ready for it."
