134 It Begins

The stretch of ten minutes ended, and it was Shun's time to enter the game.

Shun removed his warmer and stepped onto the court. He was replacing Leonal on Team Red.

Coach Albert looked at Shun and ordered.

Albert: "Shun, you would be playing as the playmaker for Team Red."

Shun nodded and replied.

Shun: "Yes, Sir."

Shun walked near the center for another tip-off. Antony, who was around Shun, spoke to him.

Antony: "Young Shun, let's have some fun. Gather the pass around me fast and quick, and I will turn them into points."

On the other side, Carlos yawned and said.

Carlos: "Don't listen to the owl head. Keep the pace light and breezy. We need to enjoy our time on the court, and going fast is no way of doing it."

Douglas, who was behind them on defense, laughed.

Douglas: "Pass me the ball in the post, and I will push my way in, nothing complicated and ever-reliable way to score."

Gilbert ruffled Shun's head as he walked to the center for the tip-off.

Gilbert: "Shrimpy, don't let the ball get stolen from you. And, pass the ball to me right and high, I like them lob passes.

Also, don't miss too many shots, I will rebound them all, but the stone-faced demon there will increase the point gap if you guys keep missing shots."

Shun grumbled as he corrected his hair.

Shun: "I am not a shrimp. My height is on the taller side, and I am only thirteen, I will grow a lot in the future."

Gilbert raised his eyebrow and pointed out at the players in the gym.

Gilbert: "Sure, but right now, right here, you are a shrimp. So, deal with being called shrimpy."

Gilbert raised his hand to ruffle Shun's hair, but Shun dodged the hand this time.

Shun: "Also, don't mess up my hair."

Gilbert laughed and walked to the half-court for the tip-off, but Coach Albert stopped him.

Albert: "You won't be participating in the tip-off, fall back. Douglas, you and Roger would be jumping for the tip-off."

Gilbert was displeased with the coach's order and showed it.

Gilbert: "Eh, but why, coach? I am the best for the tip-off!"

Albert sighed and explained.

Albert: "This is a training camp, you jumping for tip-off, has no merit to it. Let Douglas and Roger practice their tip-off skills. Now, fall back and be ready for the start."

Gilbert grumbled but retreated and switched out with Douglas.

Albert clapped and spoke loudly.

Albert: "Now, let's start the game."

-*-*-*-*-

Shun took the position to either receive the ball for either the offense or guard for defense.

Shun looked at all the players, and his chief motive for coming to this camp surfaced in his mind.

Shun: 'I need to learn as much of their styles.'

Shun sighed as the difficulty of the task became apparent in his mind.

Shun: "Ten players and less than twenty days. Making a complete profile of their styles in such a short time would be tough."

The task in front of Shun was arduous as he wasn't attempting to copy moves, but the whole style of plays.

Shun: 'Integrating their styles is impossible in this short amount of time. Instead, I would directly copy their styles.

They are physically better than me, but I can make some improvisations to make close copies of these guys.'

Shun's integration of styles into his own style took time and a lot of practice.

But, he didn't have that leisure here, so he was going to set that process aside for this camp and make his body familiar with their actual original styles by completely copying their moves.

So, that when he did integrate styles, he would have a solid benchmark.

But, at the same time, there were things Shun couldn't do because of physical restrictions, but by trying to copy them, he would have a better understanding of them.

Shun: 'Doing is better than just sitting around.'

Shun never did this with Generation Of Miracles, and that was because he had all the time to go with the direct-integration route, and the copying route took much physical toll on Shun.

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

The game started with Roger winning the tip-off and the ball landing in Ming's possession.

And, according to the defense plan of Team Red, Ming was Shun's mark to defend.

The high schoolers played defense on a larger area than middle schoolers, so Shun had to start defending a lot outside of the three-point arc.

Ming stopped in his tracks when Shun came to defend him and decided to face him in a one-on-one.

Ming smiled and spoke.

Ming: "Let's see what you can do, Shun. I am a supportive play, so I am possibly the weakest in terms of personal offense."

Shun didn't reply, and his nervous system primed itself to react to any movement that Ming made.

Ming scanned the court for the positions for the players, and the cogs in his mind turned.

Ming: 'Which one should I choose, Rafael to Ivan, or directly to Ivan, or even a screen setup for Bruno to the basket, okay, I choose Rafael to Ivan. Rafael will direct Ivan to an advantageous position.'

As Ming thought of the pass course, Shun focused solely on Ming, ready to stop him.

Ming, who was casually looking at the players behind Shu, suddenly made a move. He leaned towards the left with the ball in his left hand.

A jolt traveled through Shun's body, and he speared his hand towards Ming's ball hand.

Ming's eyes widened when he saw Shun moving towards the ball and immediately passed the ball to his other hand in a back-change. Shun was able to put the tip of his middle finger on the ball, but it wasn't enough to dislodge the ball from Ming's hand.

Ming immediately used his right hand to pass the ball to Rafael, and this time too Shun moved immediately moved to the right, to steal the ball, but Ming has passed the ball in a bounce pass, rather than a direct route, and Shun once again missed the chance.

Ming sucked in a sudden and deep breath after the ball had left their vicinity.

Ming: 'What was that..?'

Then he heard Shun mumble in a small voice that he could barely hear.

Shun: "...A back-change, he used that couple of times in the last stretch, does he like that move. And, the pass was a bounce pass, I need to be on a lookout for that.

Decrease the space between us the next time, next time I need a solid hand on the ball..."

Ming's gulped as he looked at Shun and thought.

Ming: '...He is analyzing me?'

-*-*-*-

Leonal on the sideline sat a little straighter as he saw the confrontation and thought.

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.'

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

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.

-*-*-*-

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?'

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

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..."

-*-*-*-

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.'

-*-*-*-

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 displeasure. 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.'

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

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.