Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 290 Sakuragi's reputation as a genius

"Dad, I have almost learned all the skills under the basket. How can I become stronger now?"

One day after the end of the IH League, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had just finished a training match, sat on the sidelines somewhat bored, staring at the scenery outside the window with his eyes fixed, muttering to himself in distress.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh~~" Anton Mitsuyoshi looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who looked distressed and couldn't help but chuckle, "Do you really want to become stronger, Sakuragi?"

"Aren't you just talking nonsense, old man?" Sakuragi Hanamichi rolled his eyes at Anton Mitsuyoshi and said, "Gallstone has gone to the United States now. Now the burden of Shonan High School is all on the shoulders of the basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi. If I don't become stronger, how can I defeat Gilgamesh and his old teammates?"

"Oh, oh, oh, oh~" Anton Mitsuyoshi looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's eager eyes, and the smile on his face became more gratified, "Well, I think even if Kaneki-san is still on the team, he should start teaching you how to shoot..."

"Shooting?" After hearing what Anton Mitsuyoshi said, Sakuragi Hanamichi's expression did not become happier. Instead, he stood up and looked at Anton Mitsuyoshi with some distress and said, "But Gilgamesh is not here now, who will teach me how to shoot? I can't ask Xiao San or that stinky fox, right?"

"No, Sakuragi." Anton Mitsuyoshi's mouth showed a trace of cunningness, and he pointed at himself and said, "In the next period of time, I will teach you the technique of shooting."

"Ah? Are you kidding, Dad?" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at the fat Anton Mitsuyoshi with suspicion, and said in a tone full of disbelief, "You don't look like you can play basketball..."

"Don't underestimate me, Sakuragi." With his hands behind his back, Mitsuyoshi Anton said with a chuckle, "When I was young, I was also a national team defender in Japan~"

"Forget it, I still want to learn shooting from Gilgamesh..." Sakuragi Hanamichi said with a noncommittal look.

"Listen to me, Sakuragi." Anton Mitsuyoshi's face became extremely serious. He stared at Sakuragi Hanamichi with an unprecedented stern attitude and said, "If you don't get to the gym at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, I will report to the school and completely dnp you in the Winter Cup game."

"Ah, no way..." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Anton Mitsuyoshi helplessly. After a moment's silence, he nodded and said, "Okay, Dad, I'll come over early tomorrow morning."

"Oh, haha, haha, that's more like it, Sakuragi." Anton Mitsuyoshi looked at the dejected Sakuragi Hanamichi in front of him and a mysterious smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Time passed quickly. The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, after a night's rest, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was fully recovered, came to the gymnasium of Shonan High School as agreed.

"Dad, I'm here..." As soon as Mu Hanamichi pushed open the door of the gym, he was surprised to see Anton Mitsuyoshi in front of him. He had changed his usual suit and tie style and now looked sporty from head to toe. If it weren't for his overly fat body, Anton Mitsuyoshi in front of him could be regarded as a model of a sporty old man.

"What's your style, Dad?" Sakuragi Hanamichi circled around Anton Mitsuyoshi with interest, looked up and down at Anton Mitsuyoshi's clothes and said with a smile, "Why? You think I'm too bored practicing alone, so you want to play one-on-one with me?"

"Sakuragi, be respectful to the coach." Mito Yohei, who was accompanying Sakuragi Hanamichi, looked at the expressionless Anto Mitsuyoshi and quickly reminded him.

"Oh, it's okay, Mito-san." Mitsuyoshi Anto smiled and waved his hand. He looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi expectantly and said, "At my age now, I definitely can't play one-on-one with you, Sakuragi. But as a former national player, I'm confident that I won't lose to you in shooting."

"Of course..." Sakuragi Hanamichi curled his lips and said disapprovingly, "Because I can't shoot at all..."

"Don't be discouraged, Sakuragi-san~" Anton Mitsuyoshi smiled and waved his hand and said, "How about this, let's have a shooting competition. In the mid-range range, we each shoot ten balls. As long as your number of goals exceeds 1/3 of my number of goals, I will specially approve the cancellation of your summer special training, and you can go out and play without worry."

"Whether we play or not is secondary..." Sakuragi Hanamichi's battle was finally aroused by Anton Mitsuyoshi. He stared at Anton Mitsuyoshi with burning eyes and said word by word, "But if you underestimate me, dad, you might end up in trouble..."

As he spoke, Sakuragi Hanamichi picked up the basketball on the ground, walked to the sidelines on both sides of the paint area and started shooting.

"duang!"

"duang!"

Although he was very confident when he made the threats, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had never shot a basketball before, missed his first two shots as expected.

"Oh, how embarrassing, Sakuragi~" Noma Chuichiro laughed mercilessly from the sidelines, "In my opinion, you might as well learn how to shoot from the old man~"

"Based on your current shooting level, even if Brother Jin Shanshan comes back to teach you how to shoot, you won't learn anything~" Gao Gongwang's sarcasm was even more explicit.

"Shut up, you two!" The mocked Sakuragi Hanamichi blushed instantly. After thinking for a moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi came to the free throw line and made a posture of holding a urinal. I don't know if it was because of good luck or Sakuragi Hanamichi really mastered this shooting action, anyway, Sakuragi Hanamichi's third shot attempt really made him fall into the trap.

"Great!" Sakuragi Hanamichi clenched his fists excitedly, and he became more motivated.

"Could this guy Sakuragi really beat the old man?" Takamiya Nozomi, who was standing by, asked Mito Yohei in an uneasy tone.

"How is that possible?" Mito Yohei said with a confident look, "Sakuragi's emotions are so volatile right now, even someone who has truly mastered the shooting technique might not perform well, not to mention that Sakuragi can't even shoot..."

"That's true..." After listening to Mito Yohei's analysis, Takamiya Nozomi finally felt relieved and waited with a contented look on his face to see Sakuragi Hanamichi's embarrassment in a while.

The ending was just as Mito Yohei had expected. The more worried Sakuragi Hanamichi was, the more abstract his shooting movements became, resulting in his shooting becoming less and less accurate. The increasingly inaccurate shooting made Sakuragi Hanamichi more and more worried, and the situation suddenly fell into a strange vicious cycle.

"duang!"

When Sakuragi Hanamichi's tenth shot bounced out of the basket again, the outcome of the whole game seemed to be a foregone conclusion - as long as Anto Mitsuyoshi could reach the level of six out of ten shots, he would be able to beat Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Damn, my touch is not good today..." Sakuragi Hanamichi pouted in dissatisfaction, threw the basketball in his hand to Anton Mitsuyoshi and said, "It's your turn, Dad." "No hurry..." While Sakuragi Hanamichi was looking puzzled, Anton Mitsuyoshi sat down on the floor calmly and started stretching.

"Dad, you're already so old. Does it matter whether you stretch or not?" Sakuragi Hanamichi said speechlessly as he looked at Anto Mitsuyoshi who was almost suffocated to death by the forward bend in his seat.

"Okay, okay, I'm almost done stretching~" Mitsuyoshi Anto ignored Sakuragi Hanamichi's complaints. After warming up, Mitsuyoshi Anto picked up the basketball on the ground and started shooting for the first time in many years.

"This old man doesn't look simple..." Mito Yohei thought as he looked at Mitsuyoshi Anton jumping straight in the field, "He's already so old, but he can still maintain such precise shooting movements. To have such skills, he must have been well trained..."

"duang!"

Amid the anticipation of the spectators on the sidelines of Shonan High School, Mitsuyoshi Anton slowly pushed the ball towards the basket with his right hand. However, perhaps because he did not warm up thoroughly or because he had not touched a basketball for a long time, Mitsuyoshi Anton's first shot ended in a miss.

"Uh... Dad, why don't I follow Gilgamesh and learn how to shoot..." Sakuragi Hanamichi curled his lips slightly, turned and walked off the court. Just as he was about to slip away, the sound of a basketball hitting the net suddenly came from behind him.

"What?" Sakuragi Hanamichi heard the sound of the net hitting the target from behind him, turned around in surprise and looked at Anton Mitsuyoshi, muttering to himself, "Dad... actually scored a goal?"

Anton Mitsuyoshi's next move answered Sakuragi Hanamichi's confusion. After missing the first shot, Anton Mitsuyoshi seemed to have regained his feeling as a national team guard. As Anton Mitsuyoshi's shooting rhythm became faster and faster, the sound of the basketball passing through the net rang out again and again in the court.

"Wow... so awesome!" As Anton Mitsuyoshi threw the last basketball into the basket, Sakuragi Hanamichi came to Anton Mitsuyoshi with a look of admiration on his face and said, "Dad, come and teach me how to shoot!"

"Very good." Anton Mitsuyoshi threw the basketball in his hand to Sakuragi Hanamichi, looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with kind but firm eyes and said, "I will only say the following words once, you have to remember them and then feel them with your body."

"Yeah!" Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded heavily, his eyes full of desire for the upcoming new skills.

"First, bend your knees slightly before shooting to ensure that the strength of your lower body can be transmitted to your shooting arm without reservation." Anton Guangyi held the basketball and demonstrated the action. "Second, your elbow should be inward, not turned outward. Your non-dominant hand should not be involved in the force of shooting. Just hold the ball gently. Third, when shooting, the upper arm and forearm should be at a 90-degree angle. When holding the ball, the palm should not be pressed firmly. You should learn to control the basketball with your fingertips, especially at the moment of shooting. Make sure your five fingers are open. The basketball in your hand is held up by five fingers, not grabbed. In simple terms, when shooting, the palm should be empty."

"Oh oh..." Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded, not quite understanding, and gently threw the ball according to the shooting tips taught by Anton Mitsuyoshi. With a crisp sound, the basketball drew a precise arc in the air and fell directly into the basket.

"Yes!" Seeing his shot go in accurately, Sakuragi Hanamichi excitedly raised his arms and shouted, "Haha, I finally learned the genius shot!"

"It's still a long way to go, Sakuragi." Anton Mitsuyoshi gently squeezed Sakuragi Hanamichi's shoulder and said, "If you want to successfully master the trick of shooting before Kaneki comes back, you have to go through extremely hard training."

"Tell me, Dad, what kind of hard training is needed?" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Anton Mitsuyoshi with great enthusiasm and asked, "I can do anything to become stronger!"

"Well..." Anton Mitsuyoshi looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with a smile and said, "In the next week, I need you to score 20,000 goals."

"What? Shoot in 3000 goals?" Everyone in the Sakuragi Army was shocked. Takamiya Nozomi even took out his calculator in disbelief and began to calculate how many goals he needed to shoot every day. "That's nearly goals a day. I feel like even if this intensity isn't as good as a professional, it's not far off..."

"Only 20,000 balls are enough?" Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was always lazy, laughed out of character at this moment, "It seems that shooting training is not as difficult as I thought..."

"It's not difficult, Sakuragi." Anton Mitsuyoshi nodded without comment, then shook his head and said, "Then it's up to you next, Sakuragi."

……

"Then it's up to you from now on, Sakuragi-san."

At that moment, just like this moment. Anton Mitsuyoshi looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi jumping up in the field, and a gratified smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Then, Anton Mitsuyoshi gently took off the frame of his glasses, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and slowly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Look at my...a genius shot!" After easily getting rid of Kagami Taiga, Sakuragi Hanamichi keenly captured this fleeting opportunity, decisively caught the ball with his right hand, and slowly pushed the ball towards the basket while Kagami Taiga looked horrified.

"It's really exciting!" Mito Yohei said nervously, shaking his legs non-stop, "The genius shooter that embodies the sweat and bond of our Sakuragi Army...is finally going to appear today!"

"boom!"

As Mito Yohei finished his words, Sakuragi Hanamichi made his first mid-range or long-range shot of the game and the ball easily went through the net.

"Haha, I caught up with you again, red-haired monkey." After scoring, Sakuragi Hanamichi pointed at Kagami Taiga and said with a smile, "In this game, even if Gilgamesh doesn't play anymore, you will definitely not win..."

"Win the game first before you brag, red-haired monkey! You just made a basic mid-range shot!" Kagami Daiga said to Sakuragi Hanamichi with some dissatisfaction.

"No, no, no, you're wrong, red-haired monkey." Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Kagami Daiga with a serious face and shook his head and said, "This is a genius shot... It belongs only to me, the basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi... A genius shot!"

"boom!"

As Sakuragi Hanamichi finished speaking, the players of Seirin High School on the field all clearly felt a sense of oppression as majestic as a mountain, just like the waves, constantly beating against their psychological defenses.

(End of this chapter)