Rebirth In Kurokonobasket - Chapter 135

By the time the ten-minute stretch was over, Shun was dripping with sweat, and his breathing was labored. When Albert sounded the whistle, Shun had his hands on his knees and was panting, trying to catch his breath.

Shun: ‘These guys’ physical level is really high. It is good that I am only playing in alternative stretches.’

Albert looked at Shun and then turned to the rest of the players.

Albert: “Ming switch with Shun and move to Team Red, and Leonal will join Team Yellow, and Shun, you are out for this stretch.

We will start in five minutes.”

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

Shun slumped into his chair with a towel over his face.

Sarah and some other players glanced at Shun and thought of the last ten minutes of gameplay.

Leonal was wondering about Shun’s reaction time.

Ming thought about Shun’s court-vision.

Roger thought about Shun trying to use his pro-hop.

Antony wasn’t thinking about Shun at all.

Sarah, who had seen everything from the sideline, and knew about all the players, was shocked after seeing Shun’s performance.

Sarah: ‘He wasn’t successful in any of the moves, but he was able to capture the essence of the moves accurately. And, his movements were identical to the original.

How did he do that? But, it’s not surprising to see him this exhausted, he did try to perform moves of players who have a much better physique than him.’

-*-*-*-

Shun, on the other hand, was replaying the original moves and his copies in his mind.

Shun: ‘Roger is fast for a center. It seems he sacrifices power for speed.

Antony’s playstyle might seem simple, but it turns out that he carefully plans his routes. I haven’t even gotten to the double-clutch part yet.

Ming is still better than me at playmaking. I need to watch more of him to see what he does differently than me.

I haven’t even got to try to copy other guys.’

-*-*-*-

He got up from his chair and moved his body a little to lighten up. He took a deep breath and introspected his current condition.

Shun: ‘I will not be able to play the full stretch if I continue copying these guys.’

Shun looked at the court and said to himself.

Shun: “I guess I can show them how I usually play.”

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

The third stretch of the practice game began, and Shun switched in for Rafael on Team Yellow.

Shun entered the court, walked towards Leonal, and spoke to him.

Shun: “Leonal, can you play as the playmaker for this stretch. I want to try something.”

Leonal stared at Shun for a while and then hummed in response.

Leonal: “Alright.”

After that, he walked away without a single word.

Shun looked at Leonal, walking away, and said to himself.

Shun: “Well, at least he didn’t say no.”

-*-*-*-

The game started, and in Team Yellow’s second possession, Shun got the ball.

Shun ran into the inside around the mid-range area and raised his hand for a pass.

Leonal looked at Shun and threw a c.h.e.s.t pass to him.

Shun ran into the low post and was about to charge to the basket for a layup, but Carlos appeared in his way to stop him.

Shun reflexes worked for him, and Shun jumped in the low-post, which was the maximum range he could manage.

Carlos: ‘Why is he jumping, there isn’t a shot that he can attempt from his current posture.’

Shun smiled as he used the move that would surprise anyone who saw it first. He used his formless shooting to free-shot the ball towards the basket.

Carlos was surprised when he saw that and said.

Carlos: “No way, that is going in.”

Then Carlos saw the ball bounce off the backboard, crash into the inside of the rim, and drop in the net.

His jaw dropped, and shock colored his face.

Carlos: “… That went in…”

-*-*-*-

Everybody on the court was shocked when they saw the ball go inside the basket.

Douglas didn’t mince words and said.

Douglas: “That was bullsh*t!”

Antony chuckled in surprise and said.

Antony: “Now that was a total circus shot.”

Ivan stared at Shun, with his usual stone-face, no one knew what he was thinking.

Coach Albert watched Shun as he fell back to defense and thought.

Albert: ‘There was no surprise on Shun’s face, which he meant he knew that the shot was going in.

Does that mean he can do that anytime? What are the limits? How is the accuracy of those shots?’

Many questions formed in Albert’s mind. Before this, Albert had information on all the players except Shun due to them being country representatives, but there wasn’t any information on Shun.

Albert: “I have to gather more information on him.”

Shun again got the ball after a while, and he was ready to score.

Shun looked at the players and saw that the three-point arc was free, and Ming was coming towards him to block him.

Shun jogged to the three-point arc and stopped in front of Ming.

Both looked at each other and Ming was ready for Shun to charge inside, he knew that Shun had scored very well in his shooting test, but Shun hadn’t tried to score from the outside, so he eliminated that possibility for now.

Of course, Shun was going to use outside shooting, and he was going to use it now.

Shun looked calmly at Ming and then smiled. Ming furrowed his brows slightly, but then they went up when Ming saw Shun jumping away from him.

Shun had jumped up for a shot, and he had used his favorite shot, and that was the ‘Heaven’ shot.

Ming tried to block, but because Shun’s shooting far was so high and far away, he wasn’t able to reach the ball.

Shun shot the ball, and it landed into the net with a swish.

Shun: “Alright!”

-*-*-*-

Sarah on the sideline thought.

Sarah: ‘That makes it from the perimeter, and the outside. His range is increasing, let’s see if he can finish at the rim.’

-*-*-*-

Shun didn’t disappoint as he decided to do something that he usually didn’t do in his official games.

Shun moved to the post and posted-up when Douglas came to defend him.

Douglas frowned as he spoke to Shun.

Douglas: “You do not think that you would win in this, do you?”

Shun smiled and said.

Shun: “I know I will lose if I go against anyone of you in the post, so that is why I am going to pass.”

Immediately after saying that, Shun entered the pass motion to the left, and Douglas moved in the same direction to get a hand on the ball, but the pass was fake as Shun did a spin-move to the right and dribbled past Douglas.

Douglas: “Aah!”

Shun: “I know I can’t win against you in physique, but I can trick you and get past you.”

Shun dribbled to the basket and jumped for a layup at the basket, but his reflexes blared as he saw Gilbert closing in on him from the side.

Shun immediately tried to change the course of the ball to the basket, by changing the layup and released the ball.

Shun was sure that it would go in, but he was wrong as Gilbert smacked the ball out of its path regardless.

Shun: “Oh, crap!”

When they got to the ground, Gilbert looked at Shun and said.

Gilbert: “Well, now is the time to get serious.”

Shun stared into Gilbert’s eyes and saw he was serious.

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

After that, Gilbert got into his rhythm. And, forget Shun, even Ivan had difficulty scoring from the inside.

Gilbert would chase down anyone who tried to score on the inside and smack the ball in mid-air.

And, that made Team Yellow switch their tactics to outside scoring.

-*-*-*-

Shun ran to the mid-range and got the ball from Leonal.

Ming came to guard Shun. Shun was sure of what he was going to do.

Shun held the ball in both of his hands and raised them for a mid-range jump-shot.

Ming jumped for a block, and Shun smiled as he delayed his jump and drew a foul from Ming, using the ‘Earth’ shot.

Shun shot the ball, and at the same time, Albert blew a whistle for the foul.

The ball went to the rim, rotated on the rim, and dropped into the net.

Shun smiled and said.

Shun: “Let’s try for a third point, shall we?”

Shun walked to the free-throw line and made his free-throw and completed a three-point play.

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

Shun was right when he said that he wouldn’t last ten minutes if he continued his copying play.

Because right now, the ten-minute stretch was over, and Shun was on the floor on the sideline feeling really tired.

He had played quite well in the last ten minutes, but playing at the pace of the other players was too taxing for Shun, and he was barely able to complete the stretch.

Shun panted as he said to himself.

Shun: “Oh my god, this is really tough. I have to do this for eighteen more days.”

Shun g.r.o.a.n.e.d as he got up and got up to sit in his chair.

Sarah looked at Shun and said.

Sarah: “Shun, if you want to rest, you can leave and rest. I don’t think you would be able to play anymore today.”

Shun was tempted, but he shook his head and said.

Shun: “No, it’s alright, I want to stay here watch the game. Just seeing the game is good for me.”

He thought of something and asked Sarah.

Shun: “You said that we could watch the games, right?”

Sarah nodded and asked.

Sarah: “Yeah, why?”

Shun looked at the court and said.

Shun: “Can I get a copy of the game videos?”

Sarah nodded and replied.

Sarah: “Yeah, we can arrange that. Do you need them?”

Shun nodded and said.

Shun: “Yeah, they will be really useful.”