Invitation

Tokiwadai basketball team had come to their gym for a meeting, even though they had the day off.

The finals that they were going to play against was going to be the toughest game they would be playing.

Teiko Middle school, a powerhouse based in Tokyo, and the reigning champions, and they were Tokiwadai Middle School's eternal rivals.

And, this year, Generation Of Miracles were going against The King Of The Court.

The game between Teiko and Tokiwadai was the highlight game for this year's Tokyo preliminaries.

And, this game would be under the sight of the whole middle school basketball scene.

None of the players had changed into their sportswear and were in the gym in their school uniform.

Yuki and Shun were leaning against a wall in the gym, and talking with each other.

Yuki: "What do you think the coach is going to discuss today?"

Shun was looking at his fingers and nails to check if they needed maintenance, just like Midorima, Shun too took great care of his fingers, though he didn't tape his hands.

Shun: "Most probably about tomorrow's defense and offense strategies. We have been keeping track of the team members of Teiko's team, so I think the coach is going to tell us tomorrow's arrangement."

Yuki glanced at Shun, who was looking at his fingers.

Yuki: "How is your condition? We will need you at your best for tomorrow."

Shun looked at his friend and said.

Shun: "I am at my best. Since the day I say the tournament bracket, I have been controlling my life with the strictest standards."

Shun stretched his body and said.

Shun: "My body is at its peak health, and I will mentally prepared to give it my best tomorrow. The last year's close game will not happen this time. I will make sure that our score stays above their's with a comfortable margin throughout the game."

This time Shun asked a question.

Shun: "How are you feeling? Tomorrow, the team will need all the defense we can muster. Every member of their team is an offensive threat."

Yuki replied to the question about his condition.

Yuki: "I am feeling fine. Tomorrow, I will be concentrating solely on defense."

Yuki saw the coach enter the gym, so he nudged Shun.

Yuki: "Come on, the coach is here."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The coach dragged the whiteboard with him from the storeroom. He stopped in front of the gathered group and said.

Coach: "Sit down. We will be going over tomorrow's strategy."

Coach then turned to the whiteboard and wrote players' names on it.

The first name on the board was Aomine Daiki.

Coach: "Aomine Daiki, the power forward of the team, and the ace of the team. He is the main offensive force of the team. He doesn't take part in pass relays and only is on the receiving end of the passes. He comes in fast and strong."

He pointed at Shun and instructed.

Coach: "Shun will be the one who will guard Aomine Daiki. Shun, are you up for the job?"

Shun nodded and affirmed.

Shun: "Yeah, I am up for guarding Aomine Daiki, he is too unpredictable, but I am sure that I will be able to guard him."

The coach was satisfied with the response.

Coach: "Okay, let's move on. Next in line is Murasakibara Atsushi, he can only be held down by Aone on our team."

He looked at Hyakuzawa and said.

Coach: "Hyakuzawa, I am sorry to say this, but you won't be able to contend against Murasakibara, defending him will get too physical, and you still don't use your weight and height to the fullest."

Hyakuzawa, even though not satisfied, nodded his head.

Hyakuzawa: "Yes, Sir."

Coach wrote Midorima Shintaro on the board.

Coach: "Midorima Shintaro is a threat, and we can't let him shoot. If he shoots, then the shot will turn into score without doubt, that in itself is a huge problem.

So, to hinder him, we will be double-teaming him all the time."

He pointed at Mibuchi and Kaitani.

Coach: "You two will be defending Midorima, don't let him shoot easily. Make sure to look out for passes to him.

If the current double-team doesn't work, then we will switch Kaitani with Hyakuzawa."

Hyakuzawa and Kaitani looked at each other and nodded.

None of them wanted to be out of the court, and they were determined to make sure that they were the ones on the court.

Coach wrote Pack-Line defense on the board and put a cross on it.

Coach: "Pack-Line won't work. Midorima Shintaro will clobber us if we give him space by remaining in our Pack-Line, so for tomorrow, we will be switching to the standard man-to-man defense.

Recently, Midorima Shintaro has shown that he has increased his range a little, so we will have to expand the area of defense."

Shun had some thoughts regarding that.

Shun: 'If my guess is correct, then Midorima's range should be much longer than he has shown in this tournament. He will have to reveal his real range tomorrow. I need to put ample pressure on them to use the long-range shots.'

Shun didn't raise his thoughts of Midorima's long-range as he had no proof to back his thoughts, and he was sure that the coach would dismiss the idea of following Midorima through a large area of the half-court.

The coach was not finished and put up a problem for his students.

Coach: "Double-team means that one of their members will be free, and have no defender. The choices are Kise Ryota and Akashi Seijuro.

Which one do you think should we guard, and which one should be free?"

Shun raised his hand immediately.

Shun: "Coach, please leave Kise Ryota free. Akashi Seijuro is a higher risk than Kise Ryota."

The coach tilted his head, flipped through a stack of paper on a clipboard and questioned

Coach: "Why do you say that?

Kise Ryota scores more than Akashi Seijuro every game. I know Akashi Seijuro devotes more time to support and helps his team, Kise Ryota is the one who scores. If we defend him, then the scoring will go down on Teiko's side."

Shun shook his head and gave his reasoning.

Shun: "Kise Ryota indeed scores more, but I am thinking with our defense in context.

Kise Ryota scores from the inside, he doesn't try to score from the outside.

Whereas, even though Akashi Siejuro also scores from inside, he has passable outside shooting skills.

If we put a defender on Akashi Seijuro, then we can cut him off from the inside and also be able to hinder his choices of passes."

Shun pointed at himself and spoke.

Shun: "Kise Ryota and Aomine Daiki are rim finishers, they like to score at the basket, which means they will come at the basket more often, so while I am defending Aomine Daiki, I can at the same time defend Kise Ryota."

Shun raised his hand when the coach tried to speak.

Shun: "I know you are thinking if we eliminate Kise Ryota by putting a guard on him, rather than allowing two players with partial advantages play on the court, but think about it, what an unguarded skilled point guard could accomplish if we leave him free."

Shun looked at the coach and seriously stated.

Shun: "If we leave Akashi Seijuro alone, then he would be free to design plays as likes, whereas if we leave Kise Ryota alone, I can guard him while guarding Aomine Daiki.

I can't defend Aomine Daiki and Akashi Seijuro at the same time. Aomine Daiki is already ready to attack when Akashi is at the half-court line.

I can't be at two places at the same time, but with Kise Ryota free, I can guard him when he tries to score near the basket."

The coach paced up and down and asked.

Coach: "Yuki, are you up for defending Akashi Seijuro?"

Yuki sat up straight and replied.

Yuki: "Absolutely, sir."

Coach nodded and said.

Coach: "You can't let Akashi Seijuro enter the three-point arc, and the inside area, if he does score, then it should be from the outside."

Yuki nodded and accepted the instructions.

Yuki: "Understood, Sir."

Coach then wrote Kuroko Tetsuya on the board and pointed at Sora.

Coach: "Sora would be the one to guard Teiko's invisible-boy, or as Shun likes to call the phantom sixth-man."

Shun looked at Sora and said.

Shun: "Sora, it won't be difficult. Without his invisibility, Kuroko Tetsuya is a below-average player. You, who possess the Hawk-Eyes, would be able to guard him with ease."

Sora nodded with determination in his eyes. Kuroko had been the reason he was in the club, he was going to make sure that Kuroko felt that he was being watched on the court.

Sora: "Alright, Sir. I will guard Kuroko Tetsuya with all my might."

Coach nodded and said.

Coach: "Good, now everybody knows their assignments. Let's move on..."

Coach and the team discussed other things, and in the end, when everyone was leaving, he called out to Shun.

Coach: "Kageyama. I have something to discuss with you, follow me to the faculty office."

Shun looked at the others to ask if they knew what was that about.

All of them shook their head.

Shun: 'Did I do something wrong?'

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shun and the coach reached the faculty office, and the coach asked.

Coach: "Sit down, Shun. Pull up a seat."

Shun did as he was told, and pulled a seat from the nearby work station, and asked.

Shun: "Coach, what is this about. Am I in trouble?"

Coach chuckled and said.

Coach: "No, it's nothing like that. It's just that I have some news that I want to share, and I don't want to make it public till everything is decided."

Shun was getting confused by the second.

The coach opened a desk drawer and pulled out some pamphlets and documents. He put them in front of Shun and explained.

Coach: "As you know, FIBA; The International Basketball Federation governs the sport of basketball worldwide."

He slid one of the pamphlets to Shun and tapped on it.

Coach: "They are also responsible for promoting basketball throughout the globe."

Shun picked up the pamphlet and saw that it was about an international youth training camp.

Coach: "FIBA is organizing a training camp for players of ages between sixteen and eighteen. So the camp is for high schoolers."

Shun looked up from the pamphlet and asked.

Shun: "But I am still thirteen, I turn fourteen next month."

The coach smiled and said.

Coach: "Of course, I know that. I had a teammate in my university days, and then we played together in the B.League. When he retired, he joined FIBA, and now handles Japan's FIBA operations.

When I heard that FIBA would be organizing this training camp, I sent some of your footage to him and asked if he would make an exception and bring you in.

Even though the chanced were slim, he agreed to it. You are invited to the training camp."

Shun raised his hand to ask for a pause.

Shun: "Coach, this a lot of information to take in."

He looked at the papers on the desk and then looked up at the coach.

Shun: "So, you would need to talk to my parents."

The coach nodded and said.

Coach: "I will be needing their consent."

Shun took a deep breath and said.

Shun: "Okay, so let's not talk about this for now. I want to concentrate on the game tomorrow. The more I listen, the more I would get distracted with this.

How about this, I would arrange a meeting between you and my parents, and then you can tell me about this training camp when you are explaining to them.

For now, I would like to just think about the game tomorrow."

Coach Kortsuji smiled and spoke.

Coach: "That is fine, I would've to explain all of this again to your parents, three heads would be able to ask more questions than one."

Shun left the pamphlets and other printouts with the coach, he was sure that if he took them home, he would end up looking at them the whole time.

As he walked home, he said out loud.

Shun: "I should concentrate on the game tomorrow."

Shun sighed as he thought about the coming few days.