Ever since the first-string members started dropping rapidly due to the increased training intensity, the entire Teiko basketball club entered a frenzy of hard work.
Aizen was no exception.
Every day, aside from attending class, he was training.
He was practically making the basketball club’s members cry from the pressure.
Before Aizen showed up, Aomine was the most diligent player on the entire team.
Not anymore.
Aizen had become the hardest worker in the Teiko basketball club.
Because the training was so grueling, Aizen would collapse into bed and fall asleep immediately after finishing his part-time job each day.
…
Soon, a month had passed.
After this period of intense training, Aizen’s attributes had also increased somewhat:
[Name: Aizen.
Gender: Male.
Age: 13 years old.
Height: 175 cm.
Wingspan: 197 cm.
Weight: 62 kg.
Strength: 87.
Speed: 78.
Stamina: 90.
Spirit/Mental: 96.
Offense: Contested Layup 60, Uncontested Layup 75, Post Moves 53.
Shooting: Close Range 66, Mid-Range 54, Three-Point 45.
Ball Handling: Dribbling 60, Passing 67.
Defense: Lateral Quickness 62, Steals 54, Blocks 60, Rebounds 65.
Note: These stats are calculated based on junior high basketball player standards, with 100 being the maximum.
Acquired Skills: Judo Black Belt 5th Dan, National-Level Layup (Junior High), National-Level Shooting (Junior High), National-Level Driving (Junior High), National-Level Dribbling (Junior High), National-Level Crossover (Junior High), National-Level Passing (Junior High).
Possesses Badge: Feint Master.]
His weight had increased by 1 kilogram, and both his Speed and Stamina had gone up by one point each.
The improvements in those areas weren’t huge.
The real, visible progress was in his scoring methods like layups and shooting.
He wouldn’t go ‘one fadeaway to three bricks’ anymore—at least not easily.
With no one guarding him, he could make 6 or 7 out of 10 shots. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
He could just barely attempt to score with jump shots in actual games.
Barely!
One day, the basketball club’s members were still stuck in their insane training grind.
With the national tournament getting closer and closer, everyone was like high school seniors preparing for their final exams, doing their last-minute sprint.
High school seniors studied hard to get good scores and get into their dream universities.
They were training hard for the only thing that mattered—the five starting spots.
Shirogane Kozo still hadn’t announced this year’s starting lineup.
The original starters, as Aizen and the other first-years joined the team, gradually felt their calm emotions begin to stir.
The longer they spent with these newcomers, the more they could feel just how incredibly talented those kids were.
So, in order to protect their dignity as upperclassmen, and to secure a spot in the new starting lineup, these seniors who had gritted their teeth and held on completed every single training session no matter how tough it got.
It was at this moment that Shirogane Kozo walked out of his office and into the basketball club.
The Teiko basketball club was about to play its first game of the new year.
Their opponent was Kainan University Affiliated Junior High School from Kanagawa Prefecture!
This was a true basketball powerhouse—from junior high to high school and all the way to Kainan University, Kainan’s basketball program was famous nationwide.
Last year, Kainan Junior High had achieved an impressive result of reaching the Round of 16 at the national tournament.
Although that couldn’t compare to Teiko’s semifinal finish, Kainan’s core point guard, Maki Shinichi, was hailed as one of the best point guards in the entire country.
Last year, they had qualified for the national tournament as the number one seed from Kanagawa Prefecture.
Unfortunately, they ran into Teiko in the Round of 16 and lost by just 4 points in a heartbreaking defeat.
From that perspective, Kainan Junior High was more than qualified to be Teiko’s practice game opponent for the new year.
Hearing that they’d finally have a game to play made the players even more excited and motivated.
The internal competition got even fiercer.
“Captain, can you tell us about Kainan Junior High’s team?”
Akashi didn’t blindly train.
Instead, he went to Nijimura Shuzo to ask about their opponent.
“Momoi’s already gathered all the scouting reports.
The only thing I’ll tell you is to watch out for their core point guard, Maki Shinichi.
That guy has the body of an interior player, but he plays point guard.”
‘An interior player’s body playing point guard?’
‘That sounds just like Lakers legend Magic Johnson!’
Aizen immediately perked up and paid attention.
In modern basketball—or more specifically, in the NBA—as the sport evolved rapidly, especially after 2010, teams started emphasizing one particular statistic:
Simply put, it’s the ‘hunt and attack’ strategy—commonly known as ‘pick your poison’ or ‘targeting’.
This tactic isn’t complicated.
Through pick-and-roll switches, you use your strongest player to attack the opponent’s weakest defender, scoring with high efficiency.
And Magic Johnson was absolutely the best player for mismatches.
At 2.06 meters tall and over 200 pounds, he had no business playing point guard.
That was a nightmare matchup for any team’s perimeter defense.
Since Maki Shinichi was capable of being the starting point guard for a powerhouse like Kainan, there was no way he was an ordinary player.
In fact, in the Slam Dunk series, Kainan’s team was based on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Its ace, Maki Shinichi, was literally modeled after Magic Johnson.
Even the team uniform colors were purple and gold!
If it’s that closely associated with Magic Johnson, how could he possibly be an ordinary player?
Aizen cracked his knuckles eagerly, but when he looked at the starting lineup, his name was nowhere to be found.
“Hey, Coach, can I please start this game?
Look at me—I’ve barely played any games in over a month.”
Shirogane Kozo thought to himself, ‘You know exactly why you haven’t been playing scrimmages.
There’s no way I’m starting you.’
He pointed at Aomine and said, “Aomine isn’t starting this game either.”
Aizen looked more carefully—indeed, the starting lineup was almost entirely made up of second and third-year players.
All the first-years were on the bench.
Shirogane Kozo intended to elevate those first-year monsters to starting positions eventually, but that would take time.
This game was the perfect ‘process’.
He patted Aizen on the shoulder and said, “You’ll get your chance to play in this game.”
Against Maki Shinichi, one of the toughest point guards in the country, he’d definitely give Aizen a shot to see what this 5th Dan judo black belt could really do.
“Listen up.
I know what you’re all thinking.” Shirogane Kozo further explained his decision.
“If you want to make the starting lineup, go out there and earn it.
In the next game, every single one of you will get playing time.”
When it came to one-on-one, aside from Nijimura Shuzo, most of the second and third-year players were no match for Aomine and the others.
But 5-on-5 was completely different from one-on-one.
Later on, Michael Beasley could dominate Kevin Durant in one-on-one drills, but when it came to actual games, he wasn’t even in the same league as Durant.
Basketball was never as simple as just playing one-on-one.