Yukigaoka vs. Tokiwadai; Part 1

It had been a minute since Shun's first score, and the ball was once again in Tokiwadai's position.

Shun received the inbounded ball and jogged to the half-court line, Shun looked at the position of the players and moved to the weak side.

Shun picked up space at the half-court line and moved to the right side of the court.

Yukigaoka's point guard arrived towards Shun when he entered Yukigaoka's defense range.

He looked at Shun and declared.

Yukigaok's PG: "Our coach thinks that we can't stop you guys with our defense, but I disagree, I will stop you here and prove my point."

Shun didn't say anything and leaned forward and begin dribbling the ball, after a few seconds of no action, Shun moved.

Shun did a left-to-right crossover and followed that by a side-step to further right.

Yukigaoka's point guard had reacted to the left fake, and he wouldn't wasn't able to catch up to Shun, who had moved to the right, and then further side-stepped, to create plenty space.

The people in the stands were impressed by Shun's sharp crossover.

Person A: "Ooh, that was a good move. He fell for it hook-line-and-sinker."

Shun dribbled two steps to arrive at the three-point arc and jumped up for a three-pointer.

The ball dropped into the net without a hitch, and Tokiwadai scored once again.

Yukigaoka's coach swung in his seat.

Yukigaoka's Coach: "As I feared, Kageyama Shun is going on the offense."

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

But that was only a part of his problem. Shun being on offense didn't mean others were standing around.

Shun had gained a lot of experience as a point guard. He was able to move the ball efficiently among his teammates.

In the next possession, Shun passed the ball to Aone in a lob pass to the low post.

Aone caught the ball and backed his way underneath the basket by pushing Yukigaoka's center back, who couldn't even slow down.

Yukigaoka's C: 'He is too strong, I can't stop him.'

When Aone reached the Dee, Aone did a front turn and dunked the ball in a two-handed dunk.

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

Yukigaoka's offense was volume shooting. They didn't care if the shot missed, they just shot.

Yukigaoka's power forward and center setup twin-screens to hinder Yuki and Mibuchi, and cleared up a path for their small forward.

The small forward dribbled through the gap and jumped for a mid-range shot.

Aone was near him, so he ran to block the shot, but it didn't work as he was too late for the contest.

The ball went into the net, and Yukigaoka showcased their shooting offense.

Shun, who saw Yukigaoka's offense, was sure that all of their players would become shooting guards when they reached high school.

Shun sighed and stated.

Shun: "But, such an unbalanced team won't work."

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

Next offense Shun dribbled to the three-point line and stopped there.

Yukigaoka's point guard was guarding Shun, and he thought.

Yukigaoka's PG: 'He stopped, is he going to pass, or is he going to shoot.'

He moved closer to Shun for shot contesting, and other Yukigaoka's members also had similar thoughts as they neared their marks, in case they got a pass.

Shun smiled as he said.

Shun: "You guys are making my job easy."

Yukigaoka's point guard was confused and spoke.

Yukigaoka's PG: "Huh, what are you talking-"

But, he wasn't able to complete his sentence as Shun suddenly charged and got past him.

Yukigaoka's PG: "Oh, crap!"

Yukigaoka's center saw Shun getting past his teammate, so he left his mark and arrived in the Dee to block Shun, but Shun didn't even close in as he hopped two steps away from him, and shot the ball with a floater.

Both the point guard and center's timing was off as Shun had used a floater at the worst moment possible.

Shun had confirmed the position of the players with Hawk-Eyes and then reacted with his supernatural reflexes to act on that information.

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

On the bench, Sora looked at Shun and sighed in wonder.

Sora: "We have the same ability, but I can't still do things that Shun-senpai does in the court."

The coach looked at Sora and said.

Coach: "Kageyama indeed has the same court vision as you, but that wasn't always the case."

Sora turned to his coach and questioned.

Sora: "What do you mean by that coach?"

Coach followed Shun with his eyes and continued.

Coach: "When Kageyama entered Middle School, his vision only could see a part of the court, Kageyama first learned to work with that, it was only this year that he was able to see the full court, and then he adjusted his play style to that.

His progress was gradual, he first learned to cover the weakness of his limited vision, and when his vision increased, the skills he acquired to solve the vision stayed with him and bolstered his playstyle.

Those coverups don't become useless, they stay with him.

Shun doesn't work on his strengths, he covers up his weaknesses first and then moves on to building up strengths."

Sora intently listened to his coach.

Ch: "The main difference between you and Kageyama is his reflexes and physique. Kageyama's reflexes borderline of supernatural, those reflexes allow him to react to anything he sees."

Coach pointed at Shun, who just caught up to the defender with astonishing speed.

Coach: "Kageyama's physique helps him to utilize his reflexes and skills.

Plus, Kageyama has been playing basketball for a long time, and his other ability to copy others has gained a high skill level over the years.

He copies moves, but he doesn't use them. He trains hard to adapt the moves to himself and expands his style.

That process takes time, but in the end, he obtains an efficient style that suits his physique and reflexes."

The coach glanced at Shun and said.

Coach: "In short, what I am trying to say is that Kageyama is smart, and he knows how to play the game.

He has been playing basketball a lot longer than anybody in our club. So, the time he has put in the sport is by far more than anybody else.

Don't compare yourselves to him, but try to learn how he trains and improves, that will get you more benefits."

Sora turned to look at Shun and saw him using the 'Earth' shot from mid-range and drawing a foul.

He took coach's advice to heart and joined the rest of the bench players to cheer for Shun for a three-point play.