The player defending Hibari still hadn’t recovered from the shock.
He stared blankly at Hibari, replaying everything that had just happened.
After thinking hard for a long time, he still couldn’t understand how Hibari had suddenly killed his way behind him.
The feeling was especially strange.
It was as if Hibari had briefly disappeared from the world.
In that short fraction of a second, he had ignored the laws of time and arrived behind him.
After Hibari’s team scored first, possession switched according to Hayato Takahashi’s rules, and it was the other team’s turn to attack.
The opposing guard was also last year’s starting point guard and had some shooting ability.
Wary of Eikichi Nebuya under the basket, he didn’t challenge the paint.
Instead, he pulled up from the top of the arc outside the three-point line.
But the shot did not fall.
Due to the basketball philosophy of this era, three-pointers weren’t valued that highly.
People followed the truth that the closer you were to the basket, the easier it was to score, so most tactics revolved around the area inside the two-point line.
In an environment like this, interior players held a fairly high position on a team.
At the current national tournament level, almost every basketball powerhouse had a center on its roster whose name people recognized.
Under the basket, Eikichi Nebuya roared, “Muscle rebound!” Immediately afterward, he forced down the rebound through a double-team and handed it to Hibari.
Hibari caught the ball and began accelerating from the three-point line.
There was something odd about all of his movements.
His fundamentals were clearly poor, and even his dribbling wasn’t that steady, yet when he drove, his steps looked surprisingly proper.
Naturally, this was thanks to Rapid Dribble.
Although he wasn’t a complete outsider like Hanamichi Sakuragi, Hibari’s basketball fundamentals truly had many areas that needed improvement.
His drives and shooting both relied on two skill packages to hold them up.
His matchup, Chiba Middle School’s starting power forward, naturally wouldn’t let him pass easily.
However.
Something bizarre happened before his eyes once again.
Hibari showed no intention of slowing down.
He dribbled straight ahead, charging forward in a line.
The other player had already prepared to stand still, take the collision, and draw an offensive foul.
But in the next second.
“King Crimson!” Hibari shouted inwardly.
He had originally been charging straight at the defender, yet all at once he killed his way to the opponent’s right side.
“What a sharp change-of-direction drive!” The more Hayato Takahashi watched, the more excited he became.
This kind of super change of direction during a drive, performed without slowing down at all, easily made him think of that superstar from the league: Allen Iverson.
Speed, explosiveness, reaction, ball feel, foot frequency, body coordination…
In this drive, Hayato Takahashi saw only talent.
That alone was enough for Hayato Takahashi to decide to develop Hibari.
To put it plainly, fundamentals were something that could be trained, but talent was innate.
If you didn’t have it, you didn’t have it.
While possessing such an outstanding build, Hibari also had this kind of explosiveness and body coordination.
Given time, perhaps Chiba Middle School could have two aces.
“The only thing is, his shooting touch is a little poor.” “Duang!” Unwilling to give up, Hibari’s jumper clanked off the rim again.
When he watched games before, he had always thought shooting looked easy.
You raised your hand, tossed the ball, and a white splash bloomed through the net.
Actually stepping onto the court and playing was completely different.
The reason professional players shot so accurately was the result of practicing day and night.
Some people even needed to spend several years, or even ten years, before turning it into a regular weapon.
The scrimmage ended quickly.
Hibari’s team won with ease.
With Eikichi Nebuya, one of the Uncrowned Kings, holding down the basket, it was honestly very hard for them to lose.
Hibari’s performance in this game wasn’t bad.
Although he opened by angrily bricking two shots, by the end of the game he had still put up 4 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.
King Crimson’s ability was crushing when used against these players.
Aside from scoring, Hibari’s other stats were all luxurious.
However, what Hayato Takahashi saw was not Hibari’s stat line, but his success rate in one-on-one drives during this game.
Against Chiba Middle School’s starting power forward…
oh, no, soon-to-be former starting power forward.
Hibari beat his man seven times in seven attempts.
The opponent’s defense had been punctured like a sieve.
If his fundamentals hadn’t been so poor, Hibari would have scored double digits in this game no matter what.
Even so, he had already displayed the potential to become a team core.
“After you go home, remember to put in extra dribbling work.
Your drives can become even more threatening,” Hayato Takahashi reminded him.
Hibari nodded.
Of course he knew his drives still weren’t threatening enough.
After all, Rapid Dribble was only a green skill package.
This skill package was very straight-line, lacking variation, and was being held up by King Crimson’s ability.
It was fine for beating weaker players, but in high-level games, it would seem insufficient.
Hibari didn’t watch the following games at all.
He wanted to practice shooting, but unfortunately there was no court available.
Chiba Middle School wasn’t a basketball powerhouse, and its gym wasn’t big enough.
There was only one court.
While his teammates were playing, he could only take a ball to the sideline and continuously dribble, striking basketballs with both hands at the same time.
“He’s really hardworking.” “Rather than hardworking, I’d say there’s a stubborn drive in him.” Hayato Takahashi liked players like this.
Only people who were overly obsessed with victory would go all out against opponents once they reached the court.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” Yukino had come again.
As soon as she entered, she saw Hibari playing with a ball by himself while everyone else was in a game.
“Obviously, I’m practicing.” “You don’t need to go in and play?” She pointed toward the court.
“Just finished.
We were the first group up.
Don’t ask, I won, but I didn’t play well enough.
I missed a lot of shots.” Sure enough, Yukino didn’t ask.
Nor did she pay attention to the game on the court.
She simply watched quietly as Hibari, drenched in sweat, dribbled with both hands.
“Right, Little Yuki…” “Disgusting.” “Fine, Yukino.
You don’t seem to have joined a club, right?
Want to try joining our basketball club?” “I don’t know how to play.” “You don’t need to play.
You can be our basketball club manager.” She had too few friends around her.
Everyone called her an ice-cold beauty, a white rose with thorns.
But once you got to know her, you would discover another side to this cat lover.
Basketball club manager…
Yukino Yukinoshita fell into thought, considering whether this was feasible.
She asked, “Does this count as you asking me for help?” “Mm.
I’m asking you for help.” “Then…
I’ll consider it carefully.” Yukino Yukinoshita extended a finger and caught No.
2 as it flew over.
The corner of her mouth curved up almost imperceptibly.
…
Please add this book to your library!