Golden Week Training Camp End

After the team's lunch, it was already 2 PM, Hideki and Benjie are in the gym and Assistant Coach Suzuki gave them pointers for their drills which was a 2 on 1 fast break they were assisted by a second-string player. 

So Hideki and Benjie did the drill for 5 times and they saw that even though they had great chemistry they haven't had a perfect record against the second stringer, they only had 3 out of 5 good plays with the other one ended up in failure due to a misplay on Hideki's part, he tried to pass it under the defender's legs but it got kicked instead and was counted as a failure. Take note that in order for it to succeed they should score a basket.

But as the afternoon progressed, Hideki and Benjie improved every 5 sets up to the point where the defender is not able to guard it well.

4 PM came and the team had a scrimmage against the second stringers, as suggested by Benjie, Hideki was able to practice his communication skills with the team and how to make long sentences shorter. It does not necessarily means he should rap, but use shorter words such as hedging and switching.

Such examples of what Hideki was doing was when Kobayashi's (C) man screened Suzuki (PG) Hideki told Suzuki "Suzuki-senpai, screen under Center" meaning there's a screen between Suzuki and the basket and it's the opponent's Center, Hideki told Kobayashi to switch with him so Kobayashi could cover the Power Forward and Hideki could cover the point guard, meaning the opponent point guard couldn't make a quick play with a slower and taller player.

Coach Yoshida saw this and was amazed at Hideki's constantly evolving team play and saw this as an opportunity for Hideki to be the team's Ace Player, but of course his offense is still not at a considerable level. But it all changed when Hideki stole the ball and got an alley-oop from Benjie, which he slammed it down hard. Well it turns out, Hideki had a knack for finishing at the rim and is also talented at that department, so Hideki's offense is slowly evolving. 

Well to speed up the game Hideki's skills shone brightly in the team even the players saw it. Kanai couldn't watch the scrimmages as she has to prepare for the team's lunch and dinner, so she couldn't see how Hideki plays during practice. 

So after the scrimmage the team went and took a bath and ate dinner.

As the team was eating the table arrangement was first-string in a table, then the second-string then the staff and managers, plus Kanai. But it was quickly destroyed as Kanai and Megumi sat beside Hideki. Hideki looked at his mom with three question marks in his head and the same to Megumi. But in the end Hideki paid it no mind as the veterans talked about practice.

Tanaka-senpai talked first and said "So Hideki, how did it feel to dunk for the first time?" What Tanaka said was that Hideki dunked for the first time, even in practice, normally it should have been impossible but Hideki is tall and his arms are long so, it can be achieved. Hideki responded, "Well, it's kind of a surreal feeling to be able to dunk, but I will do it rarely to boost team morale during games, as repeated dunking won't really help and it's kind of painful too" Hideki chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. 

Kanai heard this and said, "Aww, my Hideki-kun had his first dunk? Mommy is sad she didn't see that" Kanai then pouted but Hideki hugged his mother and said "It's fine mom, you'll get to see my first dunk on my first official game, I promise you that, so you can take pictures of it." As Hideki said it he was grinning so Kanai hugged him too.

After dinner, Kanai helped the kitchen staff clean up the plates and the players were now allowed to do anything they want, such as additional training (not in the gym), light exercise or loitering, yes loitering. And with that, ends the first day of the Golden Week Training Camp. 

The remaining days passed by, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday passed as Hideki and Benjie continued to practice their duo skills, then on scrimmages Hideki continues to get better defensively, communicating with his team and now is able to survey the floor and come up to a decision in a second. 

In the last scrimmage that Friday, Hideki and Benjie forced turnovers from their opponents and torched them on transition, making them triple guess in transition defense. With the other starters, they also got better defensively with their training and Kurt's guidance on the court, making him their Anchor on Defense. 

After the scrimmage, Coach Yoshida called all of the players and talked them through their improvements, Coach Yoshida said "Okay, that's all for our Training Camp. I would like to thank all of you for participating this training camp, I liked your commitment and dedication to improve yourselves. As you may have noticed you all have improved." 

Coach Yoshida paused for a second and said "I would like to call the attention of Hideki, among all of you he is the one who I think improved tremendously, as he have shown improvements both in defense and especially offense." Everybody clapped for Hideki as they genuinely praised his improvements and dedication in this Training Camp. Hideki on the other hand was sheepish and thanked his coach and teammates for the acknowledgement.

Assistant Coach Suzuki mirrored Coach Yoshida's statement and said "Yes Hideki-kun, your showing on our scrimmages shown that you have tremendously improved on your offensive sense and this will be our big weapon in the Nationals." Again everybody clapped and Hideki got shier with his team's antics.

At the team dinner, everybody was rowdy as Training Camp ended, and shared their experiences throughout, and if in the first day there was seating arrangement, as the days progress, every meal time, that arrangement was getting more and more disarrayed, but the staff and coaches didn't mind this as that was just formality for the school, in this final dinner Hideki was seated with the other starting 5, and the staff, and his mom by his side. 

And as minutes passed by the coaches didn't avoid mentioning the team's future, Assistant Coach Suzuki told Coach Yoshida and the staff, "I think with this team, we can easily get into the Nationals. And the Championship will not be a pipe dream anymore." Team Captain Tanaka also shared the same sentiment "Yes Coach Suzuki, I also think so too. But in the far future, I think we can agree that Hideki will lead this team in the next 2 years." 

Hideki heard his name and was curious what the others were talking about him so he got uncomfortable and left the table, he doesn't want to disrupt their talking and maybe there's a topic where he doesn't have the clearance yet so he got up and go to where the managers are, Megumi and Ayumi were so Hideki sat there and Megumi saw Hideki and said "Oh hi Hideki-kun, you okay?" Hideki said, "I'm fine, I just left the table as they may talk about things where I don't have clearance." 

Ayumi continued with that direction and asked Hideki and Megumi "So how's your first camp guys?" Both Hideki and Megumi smiled and Hideki said "Well this is the first time I had vacation with other people, and yes I consider this a vacation as aside from my grandparents relatives in a far area, this is the first time I had a vacation with mom." Then Megumi answered, "I liked the camp too, I think I got to know everyone better and I got to know more about basketball"

Meanwhile on the table that Hideki left, Coach Yoshida said to the others, "Yeah, I gotta say about Hideki, He Got Game." Mr. Williams heard Coach Yoshida and said "Hey! I know that reference!" 

Coach Yoshida cleared his throat and said "Regarding Hideki, I've gotta say he outpaces all Middle Schoolers I know in talent and ability to grow, if he continues this growth, he'll be Japan's best player." 

Then Tanaka-sensei told them, "Hot take from me: After this year, this will be Hideki's team"

*Terms used:

Hedge/ing: Tell the Screen Defender to pick up the ball-handler to slow them down and prevent penetration. This is only temporary as the original defender should be able to get back, if not it is considered switching.

Switch/ing: Like hedging but on a screen, the screen defender should switch defensively against the ball handler