47 The New Tokiwadai

Tokiwadai basketball club, first-string, had taken a new route to train under the orders of their coach.

Shun had now become an instrument to train against for the rest of the first-string. One by one, the members of the team would try to stop Shun in a one-on-one, or even a two-on-one.

The coach was using Shun as a defense training equipment for the team, and Shun was simultaneously improving his dribbling skills, the repeated matchups helped Shun to gain more experience.

The coach would try to make it more difficult for Shun by adding restrictions on his movements.

The matchup against Shun also started to help the team as Shun's goal of freeform dribble didn't allow him to stick to the same patterns, and he would consciously try not to repeat any movements.

The members were forced to improve in the constant state of competition. The members became less afraid of making contact. They would stick close to each of their matchup and make their movement difficult.

The members of the team also improved greatly.

-*-*-*-*-

Aone trained with Otsubo for most of his time in the club. Otsubo was making Aone defend him. As Otsubo was taller and stronger than Aone, Aone learned to utilize his body better and gained more finesse.

Aone spent most of his time on defense training, he knew that the team didn't need offense, but needed defense as the team's average height had fallen.

The coach was also aware of this, and that was the reason why he had used Shun to train the team's defense.

Shun, Mibuchi, and Kaitani were all the offense Tokiwadai needed.

Aone was trying to re-invent himself by becoming a defensive player. He was not able to stop Nijimura in the finals, despite them being the same year.

Aone was single-mindedly training to be the corner-stone of the team's defense.

The coach had him train for rebounds as Mibuchi, Kaitani, and even Shun liked to shoot from away, and the rebounds would help the team immensely, and create a sense of confidence in the players to take shots without hesitation.

Aone was jumping as much as a volleyball player would jump in one of their practice sessions. Little by little, Aone's vertical reach was increasing with all the rebound training he was doing, and this also bought Aone closer and closer to being able to dunk.

-*-*-*-*-

Mibuchi Reo was a smart individual, he had a good basketball IQ, and that was what allowed him to have great progress in his shooting style.

Mibuchi chose shooting as his weapon of choice and built his entire craft around it.

Mibuchi felt that he needed another weapon to his arsenal to stand out from others. He headed to the one person that was able to give him correct advice every time he needed it.

Mibuchi walked to the place where the coach was instructing the members on footwork drills.

Mibuchi: "Coach, may I have a moment of your time?"

Coach turned towards Mibuchi and smiled.

Coach: "Ah, captain. Tell me what I can do for you?"

If Mibuchi was not here for some serious advice, then he would have taken part in the banter with the coach.

Mibuchi: "Coach, I need to further my shooting craft. Please tell me what should I do to improve my skills."

The coach looked at Mibuchi and thought about the time Mibuchi had spent in the club.

Coach: 'Mibuchi is extremely smart. His twin shooting styles are a marvel to see at this level of basketball. All I have done is to coach him on standard shooting, but he was able to develop his style on his own. He is good at defending because of his height. No matter how I look at him, he is developing to be an excellent shooting guard.'

Coach opened his mouth to ask Mibuchi a question.

Coach: "Mibuchi-kun, tell me what do you think that you should do to develop your playstyle. I want to know what you think before I tell you my opinion."

Mibuchi had an idea in mind, so he spoke up.

Mibuchi: "Coach, I want to add another shooting style to my playstyle, a trump card that can become a game-changer."

Coach nodded and gave his opinion to Mibuchi.

Coach: "Mibuchi-kun, I can't help you with developing a new style before you know what you want to do, it was the same with the two previous styles, you told me what you wanted to do, and then I guided you to accomplish your goals."

Mibuchi nodded the Heaven and Earth shot were Mibuchi's brainchildren, but the coach had guided him with the training to give them practicality and refine the shots.

The coach continued.

Coach: "Tell me, Mibuchi-kun, do you know about the types of shooters?"

Mibuchi shook his head as he didn't know that there were different types of shooters.

Coach: "There are two types of shooters. One, the shooter who move to a free space and wait for the ball to come to them, and then make the shoot from a stationary position. You fall under this category."

Mibuchi nodded at that. Generally, he would get away from his mark and then call for a pass.

Coach: "The next type is the ones who don't wait for their teammates to feed them the ball. They shoot off the dribble, which means they take the ball, make space between their defenders, and then shoot.

Look at Kageyama-kun, he is that type of shooter, he uses his dribbling skills to make space and then shoots."

Mibuchi had seen Kageyama shoot. When Kageyama went on offense, he didn't wait for the ball to be fed to him, he dribbled and made space between him and his mark.

Coach looked at Kageyama, who was dribbling one ball in each hand.

Coach: "Both types of shooters have their advantages and disadvantages. The first type has a greater range and accuracy as they have more time to shoot, but they are dependent upon passes from their teammates to score. The second type has more control over positioning and can score on their own, but their range and accuracy are lower as they don't have much time to take the shot.

Don't take Kageyama as an example. He has greater accuracy and range than most shooters."

Coach looked at Mibuchi and said.

Coach: "I want you to become independent in scoring. There is nothing wrong with the first type of shooting, but shooting off the dribble is a versatile skill."

[A/N - 1: Midorima is the first type of shooter.]

The coach left Mibuchi with a lot to think about.

-*-*-*-*-

The coach was overseeing Kaitani's progress, as he tried to pass-through Yuki's defense.

Coach: "Kaitani-kun, you have the speed and agility, so use it properly, don't just try to drive past your defender."

Kaitani did a jump stop, side-stepped, and cut past beside Yuki.

The coach looked at Yuki and yelled a piece of advice.

Coach: "Yuki-kun, Kaitani-kun was looking at the direction he was going. Try to look at their line of sight; players often give away their direction with their eyes."

The coach called over Kaitani and said a bit of truth to him.

Coach: "Kaitani-kun you are short."

Kaitani was stunned by the sudden words of the coach, the coach saw the expression of Kaitani's face but continued anyway.

Coach: "Your short height is a disadvantage in scoring at the rim. Short players have to become extremely skilled at finishing skills to become a scorer who scores from the inside. You are short, and to be honest, you don't have the sufficient skills to score at the basket."

Kaitani kept looking towards the coach without saying a word.

Coach: "You do have a weapon of your own, and that is your speed, but you aren't using it properly."

Kaitani opened his mouth for the first time in the conversation.

Kaitani: "What should I do, coach?"

Coach nodded at the determination in Kaitani's eyes.

Coach: "Do you know that the position of a small forward and a shooting guard are very similar in the offense part of the game. To overcome the disadvantage of your height, I need you to start shooting from mid-range more often.

I need you to learn floaters and all its variations, I need you to learn to control your body mid-air so that you can extend however you like.

You need to utilize that speed and roam the court as you please. That speed will make you untouchable on the ground, and the hard work will carry you through in the air.

From now onwards, you will be learning all the skills that are needed to overcome tall players.

If you learn them well, people may even start calling you the Giant Killer."

Kaitani repeated the words that the coach said at the end.

Kaitani: "Gaint Killer, huh."

Kaitani looked at the coach and smiled with a fire in his eyes.

Kaitani: "I like it. Coach, please guide me."

Coach patted Kaitani's shoulders and then explained what his routine was going to be like from now onwards. By the end of the coach's explanation, Kaitani thought.

Kaitani: 'I might be killed by this routine before I can become a Giant-killer.'

-*-*-*-*-

Yuki Tetsuya was a person, who was worked hard on the things he set his mind to, and currently, he was in love with basketball.

Yuki did exercises and drills like an unfeeling machine until he was satisfied with this progress, but the thing with Yuki was that he didn't just work hard, he knew what to work hard.

Yuki worked hard with extreme efficiency, which gave him much larger results than any other person who worked as hard him.

[A/N - 2: He is like an extremely downgraded version of Yu IlHan from Everyone Else Is A Returnee. To those who get this reference. Noice.]

Yuki Tetsuya put his hands on his knees after completing a set of suicide runs. Yuki thought about the enlightening talk he had with the coach a few days earlier.

(Flashback)

Coach and Yuki were standing on the sideline, watching Aone trying to guard Otsubo.

Coach asked Yuki while looking at Aone and Otsubo.

Coach: "Yuki-kun, what do you think the team currently needs?"

Yuki thought about the team and the members in it.

Yuki: 'Aone-senpai is working on his rebounds and post defense, Mibuchi-senpai is an excellent scorer, and his defense is nothing to be scoffed at, Kaitani-kun is working on becoming an all offensive player, and Kageyama-kun is just all over the court.

What is needed for the team? Hmm...'

Yuki decided his answer and spoke up.

Yuki: "We need a good contact defender, to choke out the players on the other team. A contact defender will cause the players to panic as it is difficult to move when a defender is extremely close to you.

The decreased movement will put pressure on the player, and they will make mistakes trying to score."

Coach nodded and replied.

Coach: "Exactly the team lacks a player that can do that, Aone needs to be in the post, Kaitani is an all-offensive player, Mibuchi doesn't have enough time to train defense like that as he is concentrating on his shooting, and Kageyama-kun can do that, but he needs to be quick trying to steal the ball.

I need a player who can move to defense immediately, and doesn't allow fast breaks or transition plays."

Yuki looked at the coach and asked.

Yuki: "So, you are asking me to become that kind player."

Coach nodded and explained.

Coach: "Yuki-kun, you can single-mindedly focus on tasks without letting the pressure get to you. A defender needs to have the desire to defend, and that quality of yours is excellent for a defender.

I think you can stick to the players like glue, no matter how tricky they try to be, little by little they will crack under pressure, and the opposite team will lose one player on the court.

Please consider my advice and come to me when you have decided what kind of player you want to be."

(Flashback Ends)

Yuki had finally come to a decision. He was going to follow the coach's advice and become a defensive player.

Yuki: "If the team needs it, then I will give the team what it needs."

Yuki made up his mind and headed towards the coach to tell him the decision.

-*-*-*-*-

A new Tokiwadai was born, and all of them were trying their best to become contributing members of the team.

Each member was going through a transformation of their own, and no one was willing to be left behind.