Chapter 138: Power And Speed
From his first day at the summer camp, Shun found that his strategy of copying all of the guys at the same time was not efficient, and if he wanted to achieve his aim, he needed an alternative method of approach.
So, he decided to focus on players a couple of players at a time. And, his first targets were Bruno Muller and Antony Grigor.
Shun watched the two offensive players and analyzed their playstyles with the best of his ability.
First, he turned to Bruno Muller and watched the German power forward dunk the ball into the hoop with a powerful force behind it.
Shun: 'Let's think about Bruno Muller. What do I know about him? Okay, let's list the things one by one.
An offensive forward, who's playstyle revolves around the way he trained his physique.
He has a good height and a considerable amount of strength backing his moves.
What else stands out? Hmm. Ah, yes. His short run-up vertical reach.
That ability is a great asset in both offense and defense.'
Shun thought of the possibility, where he could imitate Bruno's short run-up jump with his current body.
Shun: 'Strain on the knees and calves, maybe even on the tendons. I can try to jump higher, but it would take me more time to set up the jump.
What about his mid-air posture? Yes, I can work with that.'
Bruno's mid-air posture made him lean his body behind his attacking hand. It helped him put extra power behind his attacking hand.
Shun: 'Weakness of his posture?'
Shun tilted his head and dived into his memories and pulled out the times Bruno's mid-air posture failed.
Shun: 'It limits his options, the more he leans for power, the more he ends up restricting his options.'
-*-*-*-
Shun walked to the court, determined that by the time he left the court, he would be a step closer to the player known as Bruno Muller.
Albert looked at Shun and ordered him.
Albert: "Shun, you would be playing offense, so be ready to get passes. I need you to target the basket aggressively."
Shun nodded and responded.
Shun: "Yes, Sir!"
-*-*-*-
Shun's approach to copying Bruno was to play in the post.
Shun: 'Staying in the post will force me to use Bruno's style rather than instinctively reverting to my own style.
I can't stop God-Speed Impulse from working, but I can shut out everything else.'
Shun took a deep breath and waited. He waited for the ball to come to him, ready to become Bruno Muller.
-*-*-*-
Ming passed the ball to Shun. He caught the pass, and Roger was immediately on Shun.
Shun posted up and was ready to begin his move.
Shun had his back to the basket and Roger. He immediately did a drop step to get behind Roger and squared up to the basket.
Shun didn't have a run-up, and just like Bruno, he jumped up for the dunk and put extra stress on his legs to jump higher. He bent his knees and then released all the extra force to jump higher than he was comfortable doing.
Shun felt that his jump was good, and he could dunk the ball into the basket, but then he saw a glimpse of Roger's hand. Shun clicked his tongue and thought.
Shun: 'I knew it! The jump was slow! He caught up.'
Shun's god-speed impulse worked as he immediately passed the ball to Gilbert, who was also in the post.
Gilbert showed that he wasn't called a high jumper for no reason. He didn't even move from his position and jumped to the basket, and successfully dunked the ball.
Gilbert: "Oh, that felt good!"
Shun ran back to his side of the court for defense and thought.
Shun: 'No step jump won't work, I have to have at least one step for a viable jump to the basket.'
-*-*-*-
Shun got the ball, and this time Rafael was in his way. He did a small pump-fake and immediately passed him, and with a single step run-up jumped at the basket, and with his teammates screening the others, he successfully dunked the ball.
Sarah looked at Shun and thought.
Sarah: 'That was a short run-up.'
She thought of Bruno and immediately connected the dots.
Sarah: 'By putting extra strength in his legs, he propelled himself higher than usual.'
-*-*-*-
Shun didn't stop there and choose an appropriate moment to copy Bruno's mid-air posture.
Shun got the ball and in front of him was Carlos.
Shun dribbled the ball once to reset his step count, and with a two-step run-up, he jumped to the basket.
He had the ball in both of his hands, and he put his body weight behind his dunk.
Carlos also jumped to block Shun, and when the ball met his hands, he felt the force behind the dunk.
Carlos: 'Oh, it's heavier than usual!'
Carlos was sure that Shun didn't have this much strength, so he was surprised by the sudden force behind the dunk, but.
Carlos: "It is not enough."
Shun couldn't force apart Carlos's hands. And, the shot ended up getting blocked.
Shun and Carlos got to the ground, and Shun couldn't help up sighing as he put his hands on his waist.
Carlos patted Shun's shoulder and said.
Carlos: "Man, that was stronger than usual."
-*-*-*-
Bruno, on the other hand, noticed Shun's form and thought.
Bruno: 'That was like mine.'
He stared at Shun and pondered.
Bruno: 'His posture was correct, but he doesn't have the muscles and physique for it.'
He closed his eyes for a moment and thought over something. Bruno made up his mind and walked over to Shun and tapped his shoulder.
Shun turned towards him, and Bruno spoke.
Bruno: "You need to work on you standing vertical, and your abdominal muscles. You require them to be able to move in mid-air.
Plus, use the flexibility in your shoulders, the wider motion will help put more force behind the ball."
Shun stared at Bruno for a while, before nodding and replying.
Shun: "Thank you."
Bruno nodded in response and walked away.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
If Bruno used power to make his way to the basket, then Antony Grigor made use of speed and quick drives to the basket to achieve the same.
Shun looked at Antony and frowned, he had seen Antony drive to the basket many times, and Shun could do the same now, but no matter what route he took, he couldn't get results.
Shun: 'What am I missing?'
He watched Antony once again getting the ball.
Antony waited with a smile on his face and said just before taking off.
Antony: "Hey! Hey! Hey! Here I go!"
Then the Russian small forward charged to the basket, he followed a curve on the court, and for some reason, Antony didn't meet a single player in his way.
At the basket, Gilbert jumped to block Antony, but Antony didn't slow down one bit. He just smiled and said, before jumping.
Antony: "Why are all of you guys here all so tall? Kinda irritates me."
Even though Antony complained, he didn't pass the ball, and spun mid-air, used his arm to bar out Gilbert, and laid the ball in with extreme control.
Gilbert was a little irritated at Antony.
Gilbert: "Why is this guy so nimble?"
Antony got to the floor and celebrated.
Antony: "Oh, Yeah! As I thought, I am so awesome!"
Gilbert groaned and added.
Gilbert: "And, so hyperactive. Just looking at him makes me tired."
-*-*-*-
Shun sighed as he reviewed what he knew about Antony.
Shun: 'Antony drives straight to the basket, and scores at the rim, and he can't drive to the basket, he shoots from the perimeter.
His attack timing is always quick. He doesn't give the defense to get into position. Even his defender has difficulty getting used to his timing.
For moves, he is adept at double-clutches, and mid-range shots.
I think he prefers layup to dunks, even though he can do both.
His dribbles are quick and rely on sharp direction change.'
Shun grumbled in irritation, as he still couldn't get figure out the reason why Antony could get past the ground defenders, but he couldn't.
Shun stared at Antony for a while and decided.
Shun: 'I should just go and ask him.'
Shun approached Antony and asked.
Shun: "Antony, how do you not get caught by defenders on the ground?"
Antony turned to Shun and replied.
Antony: "Well, I look where others are and then run where they aren't. It's really simple."
Shun sighed as he didn't get any information from the statement.
Antony chuckled and spoke.
Antony: "Young Shun. I know you are trying to copy me, but you are going at it in the wrong way."
Shun frowned as he asked.
Shun: "What do you mean?"
Antony: "What do you look for when you decide where you dribble to?"
Shun thought for a second and answered.
Shun: "I look at the positions of the defenders and find the most optimal route to the basket."
Antony smiled softly and responded.
Antony: "It is not about choosing the optimal path by looking at the defenders.
You have to see if your teammates are ready to screen the defenders. It is possible to charge your way to the basket, but you won't be able to do it every time.
I don't take the optimal route. I take the route that my teammates make for me.
Screens are the way to direct charge to the basket. All I do is work at the rim. The rest of it is just teamwork.
So, don't just take the defenders into account, you need to take your teammates into account as well."
Shun took the advice and decided to look for routes that are being cleared by screens.
As Shun walked away, he slapped himself at the back of his head and thought.
Shun: 'Screens! I forgot about the screens! Of course, screens would be able to secure better paths.'
Shun's current approach was to look for paths that were already cleared, but he didn't take in the paths that could be cleared by screens by the time he got to the point.
Shun took a deep breath and said to himself.
Shun: "Let's try this."
-*-*-*-
Shun got the ball on the right side of the court, outside of the three-point arc.
Shun looked at the positions of the players. He discarded the most obvious path and looked for the route that would be the most stable one backed up by screens by his teammates.
Shun: 'Got one.'
-*-*-*-
At the route that Shun had chosen, Antony stood and looked at Shun.
He saw Shun looking at the path, and thought.
Antony: 'Come, I will pave a path for you.'
As soon as Shun moved, Antony set up a screen and blocked Ivan from interfering with Shun.
He grinned as Shun dashed past him.
Antony: "Excellent."
-*-*-*-
Shun dribbled past Antony and Ivan. And, at the basket, he got into the Dee, and Rafael jumped for a block.
Shun instincts commanded him to use the formless shot to put the ball in, but his mind was in control, and it told him to become Antony Grigor.
Shun twisted in mid-air, used his arm to bar-out Rafael, and put the ball into the net with a double-clutch.
Rafael just for a fleeting moment saw Antony in the shadow of Shun.
-*-*-*-
Antony looked at Shun's score and spoke.
Antony: "Now, that was awesome."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
FictionOnlyReader
FictionOnlyReader I didn't enjoy this chapter.
I only enjoyed the end of this chapter.
I only enjoyed writing the last bit, and that was 'cos I think Antony/Bokuto is a really cool character.
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I have interesting things in mind for Carlos and Leonal, and maybe even Ming.
But, for the rest of the guys, I might have to resort to technical things.
I also have a cool thing for the last day of the camp.
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Just like always,
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