Chapter 134 - It Begins (2/2)
Leonal: 'That wasn't natural, he reacted too quickly and twice in a row.'
His eyes locked on to Shun, and the possibilities began to form in his mind.
Leonal: 'I need to see more to be accurate.'
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In the next Team Red possession, Shun had the ball as he dribbled the ball towards the basket. Shun turned his head to see Rafael coming towards him to guard him.
Shun: 'If I stop, I am screwed.'
Shun increased his speed to his max and sprinted away from Rafael, and ran straight to the basket.
Shun: 'What was that he said? Quick and fast to the basket.'
Shun remembered Antony's words and style of play and went for a direct path to the basket.
Shun was just at the free-throw line, and Bruno came into his path. Shun reflexes blared, and he did a fast-paced spin-move to evade Bruno.
Bruno was expecting Shun to stop or pass, so he got caught in the spin-move, but he wasn't going to give up so easily and immediately followed after Shun.
Shun, on the other hand, had jumped for the basket and was going to score with a layup, but his court-vision told him that Bruno was behind him, and Shun guessed the outcome.
Shun: 'He is going to smack the ball out of my hands.'
Shun decided to switch tactics and suddenly held the ball in both hands and passed the ball instead of scoring.
Bruno's eyes widened when he saw the sudden pass.
Bruno: 'How did he know?'
Gilbert caught the ball and jammed the ball in with a two-hand dunk.
Gilbert: ”Nice pass, shrimpy!”
Gilbert looked at Shun and heard him mumble.
Shun: ”...Antony made sure that he had a clear path to the basket. I missed that, next time, use court-vision to find a suitable path.
Don't go full speed from the start, gain the element of surprise.
Avoid Bruno in similar situations, his high standing vertical will be a problem...”
Gilbert just saw Shun lost in his world, walking away from the basket for defense while mumbling things.
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On and off the court, two players were staring at Shun with wide-eyes.
Outside of the court, Leonal was increasingly getting sure that Shun had abnormal reflex.
Leonal: 'That pass wasn't planned, he reacted to the situation instantly. Does he have similar reflexes to my Spider-Reflexes?
But, how did he know that Bruno was behind him?'
The answer to that was on the court, Ming's eyes followed Shun as he retreated to his side of the court for defense.
Ming: 'He is an extended vision, but to what degree? How wide can he see? And, that pass that abnormally quick and abrupt, what was that about?'
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Gilbert and Ivan were in a deadlock near the left side of the three-point arc.
Gilbert had the ball, and Ivan was guarding him.
Gilbert clicked his tongue as he had let Ivan corner him.
Gilbert: 'Stone-faced Ivan isn't going to let me go, he will try to lock me here till the shot clock runs out. I need to pass the ball.'
He looked for a receiver and saw Shun running near them, so he shouted and passed the ball.
Gilbert: ”Shrimpy!”
Shun caught the ball and charged to the basket, his teammates cleared his way with screens, and only Roger was in his path.
He remembered a move after seeing Roger and his conversation with Sarah.
Shun: 'A pro-hop, let's try that.'
He closed in on Roger and initiated the euro-step part of the pro-hop and faked Roger out to the right and propelled himself to the left.
He stopped on both of his feet and bent his knees. He held the ball in both of his hands and jumped for the basket.
On the court, Roger's eyes widened as he saw Shun performing the pro-hop.
Roger: ”That is mine...”
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Off the court, Sarah stood up from her chair as she Shun pull the move.
Sarah: ”That is impossible. How can he..?!”
Sarah wasn't shocked by Shun performing pro-hop, she wouldn't have been shocked by Shun trying after their conversation on the sideline.
The reason that she was shocked was because of what she saw.
Sarah: 'The way is holding the ball, the angle of his bent knees, the spot he is jumping from... everything is the same as Roger's, how is this possible.'
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On the court, Shun jumped for the dunk but wasn't able to complete as his hands barely reached the rim, and the ball bounced off the rim.
Shun frowned, and his face showed intense disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. He bit his lip to prevent himself from swearing out loud.
Luckily, Carlos was the one who caught the free ball and jumped up for a mid-range jumper and made it.
Roger, who was near Shun, heard him mumble in irritation.
Shun: ”...Dammmit!... Don't have the height or jump for a stationary dunk to the basket. The speed of the euro step was messed up, and the jump-stop was also lacking in impact.
I can't dunk the ball, let's abandon that and maybe switch it with a formless shot. Yeah, that would do.”
Roger couldn't find the words to describe what he was seeing. The only thing he was clear from listening to Shun talking to himself was,
Roger: 'He tried to copy my pro-hop.'
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Shun had finally taken the first step towards achieving the goal that he had set for this training camp.
And, at the same time had attracted the attention of many people.