Chapter 72 - Settling In The New Ones (2/2)

Shun laughed as he got the ball for another attempt.

Shun: ”Good. That was a good attempt. You moved your hand after seeing my ball hand, but the thing is I too can move after seeing you.”

Hyakuzawa frowned and asked.

Hyakuzawa: ”Then what was the point of doing that?”

Shun dribbled the ball and threw a shot to the basket. It went in the basket with a swish.

Shun: ”The point was that looking at the ball hand is just one of the steps you can take to block your defender. There are many other things that you can do to increase the chances of a block.”

Shun passed the ball to Hyakuzawa and said.

Shun: ”This time, you try to score. You can do whatever you want.”

Hyakuzawa spun the ball in his palm and decided what he was going to do.

Hyakuzawa charged forward and jumped for the offense. He was a little frustrated and wanted to let out some steam, so he decided to go for a dunk.

Shun smiled and jumped for the block.

Hyakuzawa hadn't even the highest point of his vertical reach when the ball was smacked out his hands.

Hyakuzawa: ”No, wait!”

They both got on the ground, and Shun shrugged as he proved his point.

Shun: ”Did you see that? It was easy.”

Hyakuzawa thought back to the exchange and tried to find the answer. He looked directly at Shun and said.

Hyakuzawa: ”You jumped before me.”

Shun nodded, but Hyakuzawa had more questions.

Hyakuzawa: ”But how did you know that I was going for a dunk.”

Shun explained as he dribbled a ball between his legs.

Shun: ”First, you firmly grabbed the ball with both of your hands. Remember, look at the ball hand.

Next, you were too close to the rim when you jumped.

Just with those points, I concluded that you were going for a dunk.”

Hyakuzawa nodded as Shun continued to explain.

Shun: ”You have to look at all the information in the form of positioning, timing, jump, glances, and other things.

At first, it is going to be difficult to look for all these things, but after some time and a lot of practice, noticing these things will become like muscle memory or a better word, instinct.

So, work hard. Ask the coach to pair you up with different members every day. Playing against different people will help you develop that instinct faster.”

Hyakuzawa looked at Shun and found a particular thing.

Hyakuzawa: 'He has not been idle ever since I saw him. He is always doing something.'

Hyakuzawa was finally noticing the hard work that made Shun the kind of player he was.

Tokiwadai basketball club was thriving, and a new batch of players was being trained to join and lead the team.