Capítulo 2: Chapter 2__: Yuuki Junior High (Edited)
AN__: Koganei was a Point Guard in his previous life. However, since he is taller than Yuuki Junior High's PG and the latter is great enough to be on that spot (uncrowned king level), he will only return to his original position later in the story. Or, I might keep him as an SG because his skillset matches that position well enough.
One more thing, Koganei knows about the plot of KnB. It is part of the memories he received. Still, that might not have much of an effect since this is a hybrid world with all basketball universes.
I will barely mention it during this series, but I just wanted you to know that information.
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"Ball!" Yelled Shinji as he got rid of his defender using a screen set by one of his teammates and ran to the left wing, his defender quickly trailing his steps.
*Pah*
Receiving the ball, he immediately started driving to the basket since the person defending him wasn't fast enough to catch up to him. Koganei is one of the fastest individuals on the team, after all. With a wide-open lane, Koganei noticed the opposite Center, running toward him as he approached the basket, making him stop near the elbow and with text-book-like form, throwing the ball to the basket and scoring two points for his team. Although the tall Center tried to contest the shot, he was too far away and too slow to affect the shot.
*Swish*
"Nice shot, Koganei!" Coach Kimura, sitting on the sideline with his assistant coach praised while the teammates around him looked surprised by Koganei's improvement. Around a month ago, the teenager could barely make a mid-range shot despite having an excellent shooting form. Today, however, the pick-up game just started and he already made two of the three shots he attempted.
Hearing his coach's words, Koganei smiled and gave him a thumbs-up while returning to defense. Running alongside him, a tall kid, around 186 Cm in height, looked at him weirdly before speaking to him in perfect English.
"Damn, OG. Since when could you shoot like this?" Asked Damien, a mixed Japanese-American in his second year of Junior High. The teenager had brown skin with an Afro. He also had a bandana on his head, an accessory he always wore while playing basketball.
Hearing Damien's question, Koganei frowned. "Didn't I tell you not to call me OG? I'm only a year older than you." He retorted in English, unhappy about his friend's way of calling him.
"I can't help it!" Exclaimed Damien, a slight smirk on his face. "You just move, sound, and act like an individual who has lived a long life." He added, shrugging his shoulders.
Due to the memories he received while he was a young child, Koganei has always been more mature than his peers. He had 80+ years of existence in his brain, after all. Still, that made it harder for him to gain friends as a young child. Fortunately, he is extroverted by nature and has amassed a lot of friends and acquaintances throughout his years of playing basketball in the youth league.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance after hearing his friend's explanation, Koganei ignored Damien and concentrated on the game while high-fiving his returning teammates.
Around three days passed since summer break ended and this practice session was Yuuki Junior High's first workout since the end of the Junior High School Inter High. In that competition, Yuuki Junior High reached the semi-finals and lost to Shoei Junior High with a score of 64 to 61, a pretty frustrating defeat.
Although they managed to reach the semi-finals, none of the players and coaches of Yuuki Junior High were content. They are recognized as a giant in the Junior High basketball world, after all. During the five decades they participated in the various competitions at that level, they had won the Inter-High and Winter Cup 14 times while winning the Nationals 8 times. That history made them one of the nation's most known and influential Junior High basketball teams.
However, the last time they won either of those three tournaments was three years ago when Shinji Koganei and Hideki Mori, their two star players were freshmen.
That year, Koganei showed himself as one of the best scorers in the nation by averaging 18.3 points per game throughout the tournament, including the preliminaries in Tokyo.
Unfortunately, a year later, the generation of miracles appeared on the scene and beat them narrowly in the Inter-High and Winter Cup finals. At the same time, they stopped Yuuki Junior HIgh from participating in the Nationals for the third consecutive time. Then, this year, they lost the right to enter the Nationals after losing to Teiko and the Generation of Miracles in the finals of the Tokyo Prefecture Inter-High preliminaries before losing to Shoei Junior High, another team from Tokyo, in the semi-finals of the Inter-High.
To the basketball fans who pay attention to Junior High-level competition, it seemed like Yuuki Junior High was declining. That frustrated them and prompted the players to train harder during summer break, making most of them improve their skills by miles. At this point, their only goal was to win the Winter Cup and prove themselves.
Back on the court, Hideki Mori, the captain and other star player of the team dribbled the ball up the court while squinting his eyes at the player defending him. Hideki stood around 178 cm in height, kind of tall for a Japanese point guard at the Junior High level. However, he doesn't have a lot of muscle mass, putting him at a disadvantage whenever they face star guards like Shinichi Maki or Fujima Kenji. Still, he is much faster than them and can play against them to a standstill, most of the time.
Passing the half-court line, Hideki called for a high-ball screen, prompting Suzuki Asuma, the starting Center of Yuuki Junior High to go up and set a pretty solid screen for him.
"On your left!" Yelled Koganei, prompting his pg to react in advance and try to bypass the incoming screen. However, by the time he squeezed through, Hideki was already driving to the basket. The Center on Koganei's team didn't react fast enough to delay Hideki, making the latter bypass him with a swift in-and-out dribble move and rush to the basket at full speed.
Koganei and Damien couldn't collapse to the basket as both of their defenders were good enough shooters. However, Mitobe, who was on the left block, hurriedly intercepted Hideki, making him stop at the free-throw line.
Unfortunately, with a quick bounce pass, Hideki passed the ball to the open PF and allowed the latter to score an easy layup.
"Nice pass!" Yelled the happy Suzuki while high-fiving Hideki while returning to his side of the court. He also didn't forget to secretly flip his middle finger at Koganei, while the coaches weren't looking, unhappy because the latter scored a mid-range over him last possession.
Seeing his friend trying to rile him up, Koganei couldn't help shaking his head while receiving the ball from Mitobe.
"Good try! You almost deflected the ball." He praised, surprised at how much his best friend had improved during this summer break.
Hearing his best friend's praise, Mitobe weirdly looked at Koganei while the two of them were running up the court. "We play at the park together every day. Haven't you seen me guard against grown men before? Why is this surprising?" Asked Mitobe, not understanding why Koganei was so impressed about him almost deflecting a pass.
Looking at Mitobe with a dumbfounded look, Koganei shook his head. "You right, I'm tripping." He answered, prompting Mitobe to look even more confused while speeding up to the frontcourt.
'This guy is hopeless...' Thought Koganei, shaking his head in disappointment. 'I hope his future girlfriend is a great communicator. Otherwise, they will get into a lot of arguments due to misunderstandings created by this guy.' He continued before quickly shaking his head and speeding up the court.
Passing the midcourt line, Koganei moved to the wing and glanced at Mitobe, making the latter move to the free-throw line. Then, in a quick series of actions, Mitobe set an excellent screen for Koganei, allowing the latter to bypass his defender and smoothly drive to the basket, his speed not being slower than Hideki's.
Reaching the free-throw line, the opposing team immediately collapsed on him with their small forward coming to cut him off. However, that just allowed Damien to cut to the basket from the baseline.
Noticing his teammate's movements, Koganei suddenly lobbed the ball toward the basket and watched with a smile as Damien grabbed the ball in the air with his 186 cm tall, 8% body fat, and freakishly athletic body and smashed the ball into the basket.
...
"What do you think?" Asked Kimura as he looked at his partners with a smile on his face. Although he wasn't surprised by his players' performances, he was delighted that they improved after losing a winnable game and falling short of reaching the Inter-High finals for the third time in a row, especially after winning the previous tournament.
Hearing Kimura's question, Tanaka Takeshi, Kimura's assistant coach didn't answer right away but tried to organize his words. A couple of seconds later, he started responding while looking at the game raging on. "I don't think we have enough pieces to beat a team like Teiko." He said, prompting Kimura to nod his head in agreement.
"You're right." Calmly responded Kimura, pausing for a few seconds before continuing. "Except for Koganei and Hideki, every other position is a mismatch for Teiko players. Damien is talented, but he's not mature enough to face up against that Aomine kid. Nijimura is too athletic for somebody like Mitobe, even though the kid is a damn good defender. And, let's not talk about Atsushi. He had 43 of Teiko's 87 points the last time we played against them. Nobody on our squad could stop him." Analyzed Kimura, feeling more and more that his wish of winning the Winter Cup might not come true this year.
"You've been rather pessimistic these past few days, that doesn't sound like you. What's going on?" Asked Takeshi, looking worried about his old friend's state of mind.
"Don't look at me like I'm stressed. I've played in three B-league Championship games and won two of them. How could a mere Junior High league stress me out?" Retorted Kimura, feeling offended about his friend's assumption.
Hearing that, Takeshi couldn't help smiling as he asked. "What's going on then?"
"I'm thinking of resigning from this position after this tournament. The principal gave me an ultimatum to win this tournament. Otherwise, I might get sacked."
"Why? We've been doing pretty well. One Inter-High and two Winter Cup championships in five years is excellent."
"It looks like his cousin, that little Omiro guy, has returned from overseas and is looking for a job."
"Omiro? You're talking about that Osaka asshole? He could barely play in the second division. What is the principal doing firing a Hall of Famer for a guy kicked out of the league because he wasn't good enough?"
"I don't know. However, I won't be here next year with Teiko looking like they're about to take over Japan."
"You know the parents are gonna be pissed too, right. You've got a lot of fans among them."
"He gotta deal with that, not me. At least I'll be able to rest for a few years before taking over another job."
"Haven't you received offers from High School teams? I heard Seiho High is looking for a new coach. If you apply you'll be chosen."
"Where is the challenge in that? They're already one of the strongest teams in Tokyo, taking it over wouldn't prove anything for me."
"Well, taking over Yuuki wasn't a challenge, was it? They were already giants before you came here."
Hearing that coming out of his friend's mouth, Kimura felt like slapping him. "Bitch I made them a giant. Wasn't I the first to bring them a trophy at the national level? I felt obligated to do the thing as a coach. That's why I took over the job."
"You're right, my bad." Responded Takeshi, scratching the back of his head. "Sometimes I forget your muddle-head self went through school that's why I don't remember things like that." He added, a smirk appearing on his face.
As an annoyed Kimura was preparing to respond, a sudden sound passed through his ears, making the both of them look at the court at the same time.
As soon as they did that, they saw Koganei trapping and snatching the ball from his defender's hand before flying toward the other side of the court, nobody being near him.
Seeing that he was alone, Koganei made sure he reached past the free-throw line and took a heavy step before jumping with all his strength and extending his hand holding the ball backward. Then with a large swing motion, he slammed it using all his strength into the rim, making it shake a little and prompting all the reserve players watching outside the court to collectively gasp in amazement.
Landing, Koganei roared to the sky, excited about his series of actions. His teammates and even some players on the opposite team roared alongside him, hyped about the situation.
While that was going on, Kimura and Takeshi looked at each other before smiling. "With him on the team, we will at least reach the finals." Concluded Kimura, a warm smile on his face.
...
"Alright, huddle up!" Yelled the coach, prompting the players to gather around him. Seeing that everybody was present, he started speaking.
"I can see that most of you didn't slack off during vacation, and I'm happy with that." He started and looked at Shinji for a second before continuing his speech. "There are still two months before the start of the Winter Cup preliminaries. So, we need to strengthen the cooperation between our two core players." He stopped and let the players think about what he said for a couple of seconds before continuing.
"Just like before, our offensive system is the pick-and-roll. You already understand that concept, so I will not waste time right now. However, I wasn't happy with your display of it during our game against Shoei Junior High. It was horrendous." He said, looking rather disappointed.
Hearing his words, the players held their heads down in shame while reminiscing about that game. None of them were having a good day and they lost to a team that was not on their level. Although Shoei has two extremely talented players in Teppei Kiyoshi and Akira Sendo, that's all they had. The remaining players were nowhere as good as them.
Seeing his players looking downcast, Kimura internally smiled as he continued. "Still, you have to forget about the past. Starting tomorrow, we will start working on our tactics and make sure they can be well executed on both ends of the court. While doing that, your basketball skills and IQ will be trained at the same time. Are you okay with that?" He asked, prompting the players to nod in understanding.
"Alright, then. I'll see you guys tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Anybody who comes late will be kicked out of practice." He said, clapping his hands while his players responded with a loud "Yes, coach!"
...
"I didn't expect you to improve your shooting so much." Said Tomori, Yuuki Junior High's backup Small Forward as he walked alongside Koganei and their other friends. Practice had just ended and they were all on their way back home.
"That's right. You made four of the seven mid-range shots you took today. How did you do it?" Interjected Asuma, asking a question of his own. Multiple times in this game, he switched to defend Koganei but was too far away and gave up an open mid-range. He was too used to the latter not being able to make his shots and that made him adjust a little later than he would have liked.
Then, when he adjusted, Koganei started using his speed to blow past him if he were too close, keeping Asuma and his frontcourt partner on their toes at all times during the game. Plus, both Damien and Mitobe were good at cutting to the basket, making the team's offense extremely unpredictable as the danger can come from anywhere.
Hearing his friend's questions, Koganei shook his head while answering. "That's because Kotaro was on me. You know that guy's awful on the defensive end." He said, prompting all of them, including Mitobe to nod their head in agreement.
Kotaro Hayama is the backup Shooting Guard and sixth man of the team. He is different from the Hayama playing in Azuki Junior High. That guy is a monster who can play on par with both Koganei and Hideki, giving them problems throughout the game.
This Kotaro on the other hand, is a liability on defense. Most of the time, when he leads the bench unit, the coach has to always send somebody to help him on the defensive end, forcing Yuuki Junior High to play Zone defense whenever he is on the court.
Still, he's capable of rivaling Koganei on the offensive end with his shooting prowess. He's great at handling the ball and creating spaces, and with his shooting abilities, few people can guard him. If it weren't for his weakness on the defensive end, he would have thrown the immature Damien out of the starting five.
As the group of friends (Koganei, Mitobe, Asuma, and Tomori) were discussing this year's Winter Cup while heading home, Mitobe, the quieter guy in the group suddenly asked. "Can we start training with you? Although we play pick-up at the open gym together, It might be better to go all out."
Hearing the question, Koganei smiled wryly. "I don't think you guys have the commitment to practice with me every day." He said, immediately dissatisfying all three of his friends.
"Who don't?!?" Tomori and Asuma asked at the same time, looking like they were ready to fight. Even Mitobe looked like he had problems with those words, even though he didn't say anything.
Seeing their reaction, Koganei caved in. "Alright, I'll give you a chance. So, starting tomorrow, we will meet at the gym every day at 5 in the morning. I have keys to the gym so entering will not be a problem."
"Alright bet."
"I don't wanna hear no bitching. The first person who complains will be thrown out of practice." Exclaimed Koganei, pointing his hand at Asuma, clearly talking about him.
"You've been having out with our coach way too much. You even sound like him." Complained Asuma, having PTSD from his freshman year. As a certified lazy person, he had a lot of problems getting into the coach's good grades. Still, to be able to become a starter by his second year, he had to work harder than a lot of people.
As Asuma and Koganei were arguing with each other, Tomori suddenly thought of something and asked. "Are the workouts going to be filmed?"
"You're talking about the YouTube channel?" Responded to Koganei with a question.
"Yeah! All you're recent videos are vlogs and small snippets of your various workouts with big sis Akane. So, I was just wondering." Tomori responded, looking forward to the answer. However, before Koganei could say anything Asma interjected.
"How many subscribers do you have now? Last time I checked it was around 20 thousand."
"First of all, yes it will be filmed. We can use it for content and to see the areas we need to improve on. It's very useful." He said, prompting Tomori to nod in understanding.
Around the start of the year, Koganei suddenly decided to start a YouTube channel about his basketball journey. Most people didn't understand why he chose to do that, but it worked quite well for him as he posted videos of him and his friends playing pick-up games at the rec center.
With those videos, he gained a lot of fans at the school and around the Shibuya area, making their team well-liked. That's why their games are always filled with people, making them the most followed and liked team in the Tokyo area.
After responding to Tomori, Koganei looked at Asuma. "Well, we have just reached 28k with around 50k views per video. It looks like our viewers liked the addition of Akane." Hearing his answers, his friends whistled in amazement.
"You might start taking it more seriously. How about filming our Winter Cup games and posting them on your page? That might make have a lot more fans nationally." Suggested Asuma, happy that his friends were getting the attention he deserved.
"That's a good idea. I would have to ask Coach Kimura's opinions, though. I don't think he would want us to showcase our plays to national-level teams as early as in the preliminaries."
"That's reasonable."
Like that, the group of four conversed while walking back home. They live in the same community and have known each other since they were young kids, making them extremely close to each other.
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