Rebirth In KurokoNoBasket

All of the Division-One players gathered after a short break for their game.

Sarah faced the players and said.

Sarah: "We will be playing a few quarter length games as practice. As we talked earlier, we would be playing like this every day. We might even switch players between teams after each quarter length."

Sarah looked at Shun and ordered.

Sarah: "Shun, you would be skipping every other quarter. You might not be able to play more than that, without exhausting yourself, so by skipping every other quarter, you would be able to rest a bit before going in again."

Albert brought in the practice jerseys and pointed at them.

Albert: "Gilbert, Antony, Leonal, Douglas, and Carlos pick the red jersey.

Ivan, Bruno, Roger, Ming, and Rafael pick the yellow jersey."

Albert: "We will be playing ten minutes at a time, and then we will switch players. Now, let's not dawdle and get to it."

All: "Yes, Sir!"

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

Shun sat with Sarah as Albert refereed the game.

Shun looked at Gilbert from Team Red, and Roger from Team Yellow came to the center of the court for the tip-off.

Shun: "Gilbert came because he is the tallest, and Roger because he is the center."

Sarah glanced at Shun and spoke.

Sarah: "You are right about Roger, but you are wrong about Gilbert."

Shun looked at Sarah and asked.

Sarah kept looking at the court and said.

Sarah: "Wait and watch. You will get what I mean."

Shun stared at Sarah for a moment before turning to the court.

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

Gilbert and Roger got ready for the tip-off, and Albert entered the court with the ball.

Roger looked at Gilbert and smiled.

Roger: "Let's have a good game."

Gilbert smiled and said.

Gilbert: "Sure, get ready to lose."

Albert: "We are starting. Now, focus."

All of the players got ready, and Albert started the game by throwing the ball up for the tip-off, and both jumpers jumped up for the ball.

-*-*-*-

On the sideline, Shun's watched with wide-eyes as he saw Gilbert jumping, and couldn't help but explain.

Shun: "So-So High!!!"

Gilbert and Roger both jumped for the ball, but Gilbert reached the ball faster and at a way higher point than Roger, and tipped the ball to Leonal.

Sarah looked at Shun and said.

Sarah: "Gilbert Knight, two times national champion, and the favorite to win it all again this year, and as you can see, his special ability is his high vertical jump."

Shun immediately thought of Kagami and his specialty.

-*-*-*-

Leonal and jogged towards the basketball, while his teammates ran forward to get into position.

Ming closed in on Leonel to guard him.

Leonel immediately increased his speed and tried to get past Ming, but the moment Ming sped to get in Leonal's way, Leonal threw the ball over Ming to his teammate Antony.

Antony got the ball and laughed.

Antony: "Nice, let's get the game started."

After saying that, he ran towards the basket full speed from the right side of the court.

Douglas made a screen to block Rafael from interfering with Antony. Antony ran towards the basket unopposed as he drove to the basket, but just below the basket, he met with Bruno.

Both of them jumped near the basket, and Antony, who was going for a layup, did a turn in mid-air to get past Bruno and brought the ball in a double-clutch and put the ball into the basket.

Antony: "Oh, yeah!"

-*-*-*-

Shun whistled after seeing the mid-air turn and double-clutch.

Shun: "That was quite skillful. To be able to do that mid-air in a moment's notice is quite difficult."

Sarah once again introduced Shun to the player.

Sarah: "Antony Grigor is a small forward, who makes use of his athleticism, explosiveness, and mid-air skills to score quite aggressively. He goes in for fast and quick attacks and doesn't give defenders to corner him.

He is quite a marvel to watch playing."

-*-*-*-

Ming got the inbounded ball and dribbled past the half-court line and looked at the court and the players on it.

Ming tried to get past Leonel by driving past him from the right but pulled back the moment Leonel shifted to the right.

Ming took advantage of the off-position Leonel and did a behind-the-back c.h.e.s.t past to Bruno, who was near the three-point arc.

Ming immediately ran to the inside and ran to a certain position.

-*-*-*-

Shun thought that he could get past Leonel, but he did acknowledge Ming's behind-the-back pass.

Shun: "He clearly worked on his wrist strength. The force that he generated from his wrist was enough to get the ball to Bruno."

But, when he saw Ming running inside, it became all clear. Shun's saw the players move around to accommodate Ming's intrusion in the inside.

Shun: "Eh, the path in front of Bruno just became a lot more clear."

Sarah nodded and gave her information on Ming.

Sarah: "Lin Ming, a wielder of full-court vision providing Hawk-Eyes, but his eyes weren't the reason that got him invited to the camp. It was his intelligence that got him invited to this camp.

The stronger and more selfless team Ming works with, the larger the returns he gets, plus the more skilled his opponents are, the more he would be able to induce their movements.

Ming doesn't have much personal offensive skill, but he is one of the best young supportive playmakers that I have seen play."

-*-*-*-

Bruno, who had received the ball from Ming, saw a clear path to the basket, and immediately followed the path.

He ran to the basket, but the other players were not just going to stand there and let Bruno charge to the basket.

Antony, who had moved to accommodate Ming, ran back towards a point in Bruno's path.

But, Bruno was ready, he used a spin move to get past Antony and moved ahead.

Burno, who had just finished his spin move, was surprised to see a smiling Douglas standing in his path just a step away from him.

Douglas: "You are not going anywhere."

Bruno couldn't charge in without fouling Douglas, so he stopped, and took a single-step jump.

-*-*-*-

Shun on the sidelines, clicked his tongue, and commented.

Shun: "He didn't have a long enough run-up for a good jump, Douglas would block that."

Sarah softly smiled as she heard Shun's analysis.

-*-*-*-

Both Bruno and Douglas jumped, one for the attack and one for the block.

Douglas' smile faded when he saw Bruno jumping higher than him.

Douglas: "Huh, hold on. What?!"

Bruno put the ball down in the basket with a solid dunk and pushed apart Douglas' partial block that had managed to make its way in the ball's path and put his body weight behind the dunk so that it would score without doubt.

-*-*-*-

Shun looked at Sarah for an explanation about Bruno. She smiled and explained.

Sarah: "Bruno Muller, a rim finisher, who rarely shoots, even if it's from the perimeter."

Shun frowned and commented.

Shun: "Wouldn't that restrict his offense by a lot?"

Sarah nodded and explained.

Sarah: "If it was anyone other than Bruno, then I would've agreed with you."

She picked up a file from beside her and opened it to a certain page, and handed it to Shun.

Sarah: "Look at Bruno's vertical jump."

Shun received the file and said.

Shun: "I know his vertical jump, we took the test together..."

Shun's voice faded at the end when he took a look at Burno's standing vertical jump and running vertical jump.

Shun: "Eh, why are Bruno's standing and running vertical jump so close?"

Sarah spoke to explain what Shun was seeing.

Sarah: "Bruno might only score near the rim, but he has made sure that when he does, it converts into points. He has trained his body to specialize in rim-offense.

He can take high vertical jumps from a short run-up, he has excellent mid-air posture and has the power to back up his attacks.

When it comes to rim-finishing skills, Bruno Muller walks at the forefront."

-*-*-*-

Carlos got the inbounded ball and slowly made his way to the other half of the court. He smiled and said.

Carlos: "Let's take it slow and score a point~."

Rafael closed in on Carlos to defend him. Carlos looked at him and spoke.

Carlos: "Oh, no. You aren't coming close to me. You are especially scary."

Carlos increased his speed, but that didn't help as Rafael was still on Carlos's tail.

-*-*-*-

Shun couldn't help but comment.

Shun: "...He is slow."

Sarah chuckled at Shun's comment and spoke.

Sarah: "Yeah, he is, but wait and see what a slow player can do in a sport that gives much importance to speed."

-*-*-*-

As Carlos made his way to the basket with Rafael sticking close to him, Leonal also joined the part to defend Carlos.

Carlos: "Doubling on weak old me, huh."

Carlos and his defenders were already close to the basket. Carlos, who had been running with his eyes switching between Rafael and Leonal, shifted his gaze to the basket and raised his ball arm slightly.

Leonal immediately reacted to the glance and jumped for a block, but Carlos brought his arms down in a pump fake and then immediately jumped up for his real attack.

Rafael was still ready for blocking and jumped for the block. Carlos just smiled, and while releasing the ball, he said.

Carlos: "Let's relax and have some fun."

The ball was released in a floater and flew above Rafael's hand into the basket.

-*-*-*-

Shun scratched his head and spoke.

Shun: "How did he score being that slow. His two defenders were in a solid position to block him."

Sarah commented as she looked at Carlos.

Sarah: "In basketball, speed is important for both personal offense and team plays, but when you introduce a slow player like Carlos, the fast tempo that players are used to is disrupted, and Carlos takes full advantage of that.

He has excellent observation skills and mastery over fakes, he judges his defenders accurately and then pulls subtle fakes that fools his defenders completely and clears his path to score.

He is one of the most unique players I have seen in a while. [1]"

Shun stared at Carlos, who was jogging back to defense.

Shun: 'A slow player, disrupting tempo.'

Shun's perception of speed changed a little as he recalled Carlos's play and offense.

-*-*-*-

Roger was going against Douglas in the low post with Roger trying to push Roger back towards the basket but failing to get closer to the basket.

Douglas had a grin on his face as he stood there like an immovable rock.

Douglas: "Come on, put some back into pushing. You aren't getting anywhere like this."

Roger didn't say anything and just smile, he did a front turn to the basket and while jumping sideways laid the ball into the basket.

Roger faced Douglas and said.

Roger: "Post plays aren't all about strength, they require a level of finesse."

Douglas smiled as he said.

Douglas: "Hoh, is that so..."

-*-*-*-

In the next play, the positions were reversed as Douglas was pushing back Roger in the post, and the bulky Douglas was having an easy time pushing Roger towards the basket.

As they reached the area under the basket, Douglas just jumped and brought the ball down in a dunk. Roger raised his hand to block the dunk, and his hand was completely basket, but Douglas grinned excitedly and with a grunt forced the ball into the basket.

Both of them got to the floor, and Douglas said.

Douglas: "I think post plays are all about strength. Might is Right. Skills and techniques can go f**k themselves in the face of absolute power."

-*-*-*-

Shun turned his head to Sarah when he spoke about the two centers on the court.

Sarah: "Douglas Pierce and Roger Mael, one a power center and other is a technical center. Both of them play their positions differently.

Douglas is better in screens, whereas Roger excels in rebounds."

Shun looked at the two centers and thought.

Shun: 'Power without skill is inefficient, and skill without power is a building without its foundation.

But, skills take a lot of time to develop, strength can be gained comparatively faster.'

Shun looked at Douglas and thought.

Shun: 'I wonder how far he could go without amassing technique.'

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

[A/N: Carlos Santos's playstyle inspiration would be in the comments. There is a video link, so do see it. It is really interesting.]