Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 211 Training and Disciples

"Ha~~" At dawn, Sakuragi Hanamichi stretched and sat up. He didn't sleep well, and was tortured by a strange nightmare all night.

He dreamed that Kaneki Ken was driving a jeep, chasing him along the beach, waving a stick that looked like a crutch, while he was running with the ball with a parachute on his back - although he didn't understand why he could dribble on the sand.

"Everyone, get up, everyone!" Not long after Sakuragi Hanamichi woke up, the neatly dressed Kaneki Ken woke up everyone who was sleeping in each room one by one, "You have five minutes to gather at the beach downstairs. Whoever doesn't show up will be punished to run five laps around the hotel!"

Having said that, Kaneki Ken turned and walked downstairs.

"Fuck... I'm so stupid, really..." Miyagi Ryouta complained while putting on his clothes, "I actually believed that Kaneki Ken would prepare a so-called surprise for us..."

"Damn, why is the water suddenly cut off?" At this moment, Mitsui Shou, who was brushing his teeth hurriedly next door, complained a little depressed.

"Forget it, never mind..." Seeing that the five minutes were getting closer and closer, Mitsui Shou hurriedly took a bottle of mineral water, rinsed his mouth, and ran downstairs in a hurry.

"Very good, everyone is on time." Kaneki Ken said as he looked at the Shonan High School players standing in front of him, breathing heavily. "Well, to reward everyone, let's do 30 laps around the hotel to warm up."

"No way..."

"One lap is at least 500 meters..."

Players like Sakuragi Hanamichi and Kabachi Shigehiro, who usually have good physical fitness, were fine, but some players who usually have poor physical fitness turned pale instantly.

"By the way, although our hotel includes breakfast, other passengers will wake up in two hours. If you dawdle any longer, it will be too late and there will be no breakfast." Kaneki Ken reminded.

"Why are you all sighing? Let's run!" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at his teammates with sad faces happily, and after doing some simple warm-up exercises, he was ready to start running.

"Wait, Sakuragi." Kaneki Ken stopped Sakuragi Hanamichi, and in Sakuragi Hanamichi's puzzled eyes, helped him tie the parachute on his body, and then said, "During the training period, in addition to technical training, you have to run with this parachute on your back during physical training."

"Yes, Gilgamesh." Sakuragi Hanamichi swallowed his saliva as he looked at Kaneki Ken's half-smile, feeling that last night's nightmare was becoming more and more true.

"Ready!!!" Kaneki Ken picked up the stopwatch and raised the whistle to his lips, "Go!"

"Beep!"

With a whistle, everyone present rushed out.

"Look at me... Ouch! Shit!" Sakuragi Hanamichi was running at his usual pace, but was pulled headfirst by the parachute that opened behind him.

"Hurry up and get up, Sakuragi!" Kaneki Ken looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi and said seriously, "If you run late, you won't have breakfast!"

"Yes!" When Sakuragi Hanamichi heard that he might not have eaten early, he quickly turned over and sat up, then slowly ran against the pressure of the parachute.

"What's going on downstairs?" When the sun turned pale, Gaowei and Chengcai went to the bathroom with sleepy eyes to wash up, but they were unknowingly attracted by the slogans downstairs.

"What time did those guys get up?" Takao Kazunari looked at the people from Shonan High School who were already sweating from running, and turned his head to look at the wall clock. The hand pointed to six o'clock.

"Good morning, Takao." Midorima Shintaro was also awakened by the slogans of Shonan High School. He came to the bathroom in a daze and greeted Takao Kazunari, "What are you looking at?"

"Xiao Zhen..." Takao Kazunari turned his head to look at Midorima Shintaro, pointed his right hand outside the window at the people of Shonan High School and cursed, "They are so stupid! If the coach sees this, we will definitely not be able to sleep well in the future!"

……

"Huh...huh..."

After running for about an hour and a half, the students of Shonan High School slowly stopped. This time, including Sakuragi Hanamichi, everyone stopped where they were, gasping for breath. Some of those who were not in good physical condition even began to feel nauseous and retching.

"Everyone did very well." Kaneki Ken looked at the time of 80'58" on the stopwatch and nodded slightly, "The slowest one finished in an hour and a half. Now everyone go eat and take a half-hour break. Don't eat too much~"

"Hi..." Everyone present answered weakly.

"Look, they're back." Just as the players of Shonan High School, sweating profusely, walked into the hotel one after another, Takao Kazunari, Midorima Shintaro, and the players of Shutoku High School listened silently to Nakatani Jinliang's morning meeting.

"Xiao Zhen, look, they are back." Takao Kazunari muttered into Midorima Shintaro's ear.

"I saw it." Midorima Shintaro said without looking away, his lips moving slightly.

"Takao, Midorima, what were you talking about just now?" Nakatani Jinliang pointed out with an unhappy look on his face.

"Report... Report to the coach, we didn't say anything." Takao Kazunari was frightened by Nakatani Jinliang's momentum and began to stutter. "Humph!" Nakatani Jinliang snorted coldly, "You lost to them, but you didn't work as hard as them, and you still have the nerve to talk here! Starting tomorrow, we will get up with them and run together!"

"I knew it..." Gaowei Kazunari muttered to himself with gritted teeth.

"Now, hurry up and eat. After eating, run to the gym!" Nakatani Jinliang ordered with a cold face.

"Yes!" The Shutoku High School players, who had a premonition of a tragic future, responded weakly and walked towards the restaurant listlessly.

"Hehe, I'm worried that I have no legitimate excuse to increase their training workload." Nakatani Hitoshi looked at the players' listless backs, a smile of success appeared at the corner of his mouth.

……

The time for eating and resting passed quickly, and when the meal was over, the sun began to emit its scorching temperature. At this moment, the players of Shonan High School were standing on a beach basketball court, waiting for Kaneki Ken's training talk.

"Next, let's start our second event - beach basketball." Kaneki Ken looked at his confused teammates and smiled slightly, then spoke slowly.

"But what should we do if we can't dribble the ball on the beach, Gilgamesh?" Sakuragi Hanamichi raised his hand and asked.

"What I want is that you can't dribble the ball." Kaneki Ken said with a look of mastery, "My requirement is that no one can hold the ball for more than five seconds in this game, and traveling is not allowed. The other rules are the same as normal basketball games. After the game, the losing side will be fined 50 round trips!"

"Oh, oh, oh, oh ~ Kaneki-san is really smart..." Anton Mitsuyoshi said as he looked at the people who had started training, "This training method is designed specifically for our current weaknesses..."

"Coach, what do you mean?" Inoue Ayako asked with some confusion.

"On the sandy ground where you can't dribble, the only way to score is to rely on tactical passes and cuts to the basket and mid-range and long-range shots." Anton Mitsuyoshi explained with a smile, "This can enhance the tactical execution and reading of the game situation of every player on the court..."

“Not only that, when they can’t dribble, players who break through with the ball will have to improve their shooting ability…” Taoi Satsuki added with a smile, “For players like Miyagi-senpai and Rukawa-san who rely more on breaking through to score/pass the ball, as long as they can get used to this training mode, they will definitely be able to reach a higher level in the future!”

"Sakuragi!" Just as everyone in the audience was talking, Miyagi Ryouta habitually used a ground pass to push the ball into the inside, but the basketball did not bounce up as usual, but instead spun on the ground and rolled out of bounds.

"Fuck, I'm used to it." Miyagi Ryouta waved his fist in annoyance and extended his hand to apologize to Sakuragi Hanamichi, "I'm sorry, Sakuragi, this ball was my mistake."

……

"331...332...333..."

While Shonan High School was busy with beach basketball training, the players of Shutoku High School were also doing basic training. Midorima Shintaro was also training with Takao Kazunari to catch and shoot as usual.

"Xiao Zhen..." Gao Wei and Cheng Cheng seemed to feel that passing the ball was a bit boring, and couldn't help but open the conversation, "Do you have any idea about the method of becoming stronger that you mentioned before?"

"334..." Midorima Shintaro first threw the ball in his hand, and then slowly said, "I have a clue, but I'm not very proficient yet..."

When he heard Kazunari Takao asking about his research results, Midorima Shintaro slowed down his shooting.

"Oh, I wonder what Shonan High School is busy with right now." Takao Kazunari looked outside the stadium with some curiosity, "It seems that this is the only regular stadium nearby... If they don't train in the regular stadium, where else can they train?"

……

"Good morning, Coach Stevenson!" At this time in the training hall of Oak Hill High School, a black player greeted a white coach with a smile.

"Hello, good morning! Stephen!" Coach Stevenson replied with a smile.

"Coach, you seem to be in a good mood recently." The black player named Stephen walked up to Stevenson curiously and asked, "Is there something to be happy about? Is that chick willing to go out with you?"

"Go to hell, kid, stop asking about adult matters!" Stevenson cursed and laughed as he slapped Stephen on the head. "Let me tell you, Jackson, the high school student I mentioned to you before who is better than Kevin, Jermaine, Kobe and the others, will be training with us in a few days."

"Wow, the guys on the team thought you were kidding us. A high school student who is better than the three of them?" Stephen Jackson said in disbelief, "Did you find Michael Jordan's illegitimate child who hasn't been exposed yet?"

"Well, although he's not an illegitimate child..." Coach Stevenson shrugged, "But in a sense, he has a better relationship with Michael Jordan than Marcus does... In Chinese, it's called... a direct disciple or something like that, right?"

"Shit, I think you've been fooled, Coach Stevenson." Stephen Jackson curled his lips and said, "Unless Michael Jordan goes back to high school now, I don't believe there are any high school students stronger than these three."

"You will believe it, Stephen." Coach Stevenson smiled and said, "In the near future."

(End of this chapter)