Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 274 The Mamba Mentality (Incomplete)

Kobe took a few breaths and quickly summarized the problem.

The main problem can be summarized as follows: he couldn't defend against Kogure and could only let Kogure do whatever he wanted.

Conversely, Kogure limited his performance, and coupled with his mediocre touch, Kogure beat him 5-2.

Kobe rubbed his hands together vigorously, hoping to improve his touch in this way.

Of course, it's mostly psychological comfort.

While the two were preparing for the second game, Mitsui and Hamilton, who were watching from the sidelines, chatted idly about something completely unrelated.

One person spoke Japanese, the other spoke English, and they also made internationally recognized hand gestures from time to time.

In short, they each talked about their own things!
However, their thoughts were not much different; they were simply amazed by Kogure's strength.

After the start of the second game, Kobe changed his defensive strategy, focusing mainly on preventing drives to the basket.

Of course, he didn't dare let Kogure shoot freely, since Kogure's shooting was really accurate.

However, he was more wary of Kogure's drives than his shots.

As for the offensive end, Kobe would go to great lengths to get close to the basket, mainly to improve his shooting percentage.

The closer you are to the basket, the higher your shooting percentage—that's an age-old truth.

Not long after, the second game came to an end, ending with a score of 5:3!
Despite Kogure's victory, Kobe was greatly encouraged, believing that as long as he persevered, he would eventually be able to turn the tide.

What he didn't know was that Kogure deliberately held back on defense to motivate Kobe, so that he wouldn't lose hope and would continue to challenge him.

In this way, Kogure has a good chance of winning the title of "Mamba Mentality (Disabled)" in the morning.

This is undoubtedly good news!

He likes players like Kobe who are highly competitive and can't stand being provoked.

"Kobe, shall we continue?"

"continue!"

Kobe took a few deep breaths, his eyes gleaming with a competitive spirit.

He has a strong competitive spirit and a desire to win, and he always wants to do his best in everything. This spirit runs through his training and competitions.

The duel continues until the opponent is truly defeated.

Time passed slowly, and the two fought countless rounds, with Kogure emerging victorious in both.

During this period, the two rarely rested.

The lights inside the arena remained bright, and the sounds of basketballs hitting the floor mingled with the rapid breathing of the two players.

Kobe seems to be intentionally reducing his rest time. He is very confident in his physical abilities, although he is not as good as Hamilton, the gap is not large.

Simply put, Kobe wanted to exhaust Kogure's stamina and then use his full energy to win the victory.

Huhu~
After the game ended, Kobe couldn't help but hold his knees and gasp for breath.

"Damn it, this guy is so lucky. I'm always just a little bit away from winning."

Kobe glared fiercely at the panting Kogure.

Not long ago, the score reached 5-4, and Kobe chose to press on, but each time he ended up losing narrowly.

What he didn't know was that Kogure had already seen through his intentions.

This reminded him of Stackhouse!
In 1996, Kobe, then a 17-year-old high school student, had the idea of ​​running for the NBA, but he was not confident that he could make it in the league.

Kobe had an idea at the time: to find an NBA player to play a game with.

Kobe, a Philadelphia native, used his connections to reach the Philadelphia 76ers' management and present his ideas. The 76ers' management, 'eager to help,' arranged for their star player Stackhouse to challenge Kobe to a one-on-one match, intending to give this young upstart a taste of his own medicine.

The match was held privately and was not made public.

However, after this one-on-one match, Kobe's confidence soared, and he ultimately decided to enter the draft.

Years later, Stackhouse denied being defeated by Kobe, claiming it was a mutual defeat.

As for whether he's just being stubborn, only the two people involved know.

One version of the story regarding the outcome of this one-on-one match is that the inexperienced Kobe was initially no match for Stackhouse, but through repeated challenges, he used his superior stamina to wear Stackhouse down and ultimately won the victory.

Therefore, Kogure increased the water flow, choosing a more effortless method.

This is simply because he is stronger and can hold back to conserve his energy.

In addition, this would allow Kobe to see the light at the end of the tunnel and prevent him from giving up prematurely.

Since ancient times, deep affection has been fleeting, but clever tactics always win people's hearts!
Kobe was undoubtedly outmaneuvered by Kogure, and every single time he was outmaneuvered.

Kogure deliberately increased the frequency of his breathing, making it seem as if he was having an asthma attack.

During this break, he took another look at the progress of Mamba Mentality.

Mamba Mentality (Disabled): 98%!

Excluding the 12% progress gained from yesterday's game, this means that Kobe missed a total of 86 shots in the one-on-one matchup.

He truly deserves the title of Milan's Little Blacksmith!
"It's time to end!"

With only 3% of the progress remaining, Kogure silently made up his mind.

Kogure asked, feigning concern, "Kobe, do you need a rest?"

"No need, let's play another round!"

Kobe took a few deep breaths, bit his jersey hard, and his eyes seemed to burn with a raging fire.

He decided to go all out in this one battle and was determined to win.

At that moment, they both had the same thought.

Unfortunately, one person is destined to be greatly disappointed.

Kogure casually passed the ball to Kobe, saying, "You lost, you go first!"

The moment he received the ball, Kobe sped off, trying to catch Kogure off guard.

However, his breakthrough route was once again cut off by Kogure.

At this point, Kogure stopped hiding his true abilities and showed a better performance than Kobe.

"what happened?"

Kogure's sudden intensification of the confrontation clearly caught Kobe off guard, causing his movements to become distorted.

Normally, Kogure should have made a steal.

However, in order to increase the progress, Kogure forcibly suppressed his body's instincts.

Under Kogure's pressure, Kobe had no choice but to pull up for a jump shot far from the basket.

A pull-up jump shot is essentially a forced shot!
Unlike a regular jump shot, a pull-up jumper relies on the power of the waist to forcefully jump, using one leg to suddenly exert force to propel the other leg and the whole body into a jump shot.

However, it was all for naught, as Kobe had no advantage in height, wingspan, or jumping ability.

Kogure jumped in time to interfere, forcing Kobe to raise his shot to avoid being blocked by Kogure.

shuh~
The shot missed, grazed the net, and went out of bounds.

"Fuck, this guy tricked me!"

Seeing the energetic Kogure, Kobe's face turned ashen; he knew perfectly well that he had been tricked.

"It's my turn!"

After receiving the basketball, Kogure dribbled between his legs repeatedly and made a move to drive to the basket.

Kobe instinctively took a half step back, and at that moment, Kogure leaped up and threw the basketball.

By the time Kobe tried to block the shot, it was already too late, and he could only watch helplessly as the basketball pierced the rim.

"Just 1% short!"

Kogure wiped the sweat from his brow, passed the ball to Kobe, and assumed a defensive stance. Soon after, Kobe launched another attack.

In this offensive play, Kobe used every trick in the book: jab steps, shoulder feints, spin moves, drives, step-backs, post-ups...

However, it did not meet expectations.

Kogure was in better form than him, and Kobe couldn't find a chance to get close to the basket due to his interception.

Soon, Kobe had to grab the ball with both hands.

There was only one possibility facing him: to shoot.

Kobe had no choice but to grit his teeth and shoot the basketball against Kogure's defense.

To avoid Kogure's block, he opted for a fadeaway jump shot.

Unfortunately, the basketball spun around the rim once, and finally slipped out of the basket under Kobe's disappointed gaze.

Kobe, frustrated, held his head and squatted on the ground.

Unlike Kobe, Kogure wore a happy smile.

After Kobe missed another shot, the pleasant chime finally rang out.

Mamba Mentality (Residual): After missing a shot, slightly increase the success rate of the next shot until it is made.

This is the third title Kogure has acquired. Although it's an incomplete title, it still enhances Kogure's strength.

"Is this an attempt to make me follow in Kobe's footsteps?"

Looking at the effects of Mamba Mentality (incomplete), Kogure couldn't help but mutter to himself.

This is undoubtedly a term corresponding to shooting; the more missed shots one makes, the more accurate one becomes, which can be considered as indirectly improving Kogure's shooting percentage.

After acquiring the Mamba Mentality, Kogure continued his unfinished one-on-one duel.

Soon, Kobe lay exhausted on the ground, his energy almost completely depleted.

In the final one-on-one match, Kogure won with a score of 5-1.

The score this time was even higher than the first one-on-one match.

Kobe not only failed to wear down Kogure, but was instead retaliated against by Kogure's own methods, ultimately leaving him with no choice but to swallow the bitter pill.

"Okay, that's enough!"

Kogure was also a bit tired and ended his one-on-one game with Kobe early.

After achieving his goal, Kogure seemed to fall into a saintly state.

Kobe is no longer his sweetheart.

His interest has shifted to Hamilton, meaning Hamilton has become the new sweetheart.

It was now 6:30 a.m.

In other words, the two fought one-on-one for a full two and a half hours.

Despite taking several breaks during that period, Kogure still had to admire Kobe's tenacity, and it's no wonder that the guy was able to succeed in the future.

Unlike Goat, Kobe started his career as a water boy when he first entered the league.

Although the Lakers traded their excellent center Vlade Divac for Kobe, Kobe was not valued by the head coach when he first entered the NBA, and was even benched by the coach because of his stubborn playing style.

This might be because Kobe doesn't smile.

On November 3, Kobe finally got the chance to come off the bench, but he only played for 6 minutes, getting 1 rebound and 1 block, making his NBA debut.

After playing as a substitute for two years, Kobe got through the most difficult period of his career.

In short, it's Kobe's story of rising from a water cooler to a superstar.

This is probably the only time an NBA scorpion has ever pooped.

Just as Kogure began to rest, a tall figure suddenly entered the venue.

Lorenzen Wright!
Kogure recognized him at a glance. It wasn't that Wright's career was particularly illustrious; it was mainly because he was incredibly unlucky, which made Kogure remember him.

Like Kobe, Wright was also a member of the 96 draft class, and he was selected 7th overall in the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers.

If things hadn't changed, Lorenzen Wright would have played 13 seasons in the NBA before being murdered in 2010, shot nine times, at the age of 34.

His ex-wife and another person were arrested and charged with murder.

After Wright was murdered, his wife claimed his $100 million life insurance policy and squandered it all within a few months.

"Guys, you're way too early! I thought I was the first one here to train!"

Perhaps out of sheer surprise, Wright involuntarily dropped the basketball he was holding to the ground.

Hamilton shook his finger: "Lorentzin, you're too late!"

Wright couldn't help but look at Kobe, who was collapsed on the ground, and asked curiously, "By the way, what time did you guys arrive?"

"Four o'clock! To be precise, 3:48!"

"Oh my god, buddy, are you sure you're not kidding me?"

Wright was shocked and almost dumbfounded.

Hamilton, putting his newfound knowledge to use, asked, "Lorentz, have you ever seen Tokyo at four in the morning?"

Unsurprisingly, Wright was not surprised by the sudden realization, but then became deeply respectful.

"N-no... I've never seen it before, but I'd like to experience Tokyo at 4 a.m. Could you let me train with you?"

Wright looked interested; he thought it must be really cool.

"Sure, welcome to the team!"

Kogure and the others exchanged glances, then expressed their welcome to Wright.

All four of them are guards, while Wright is a 210cm center, and they complement each other effectively in some training sessions.

Not long after, Kogure went out for a while, and when he returned, he brought breakfast for the group.

Kobe was still lying on the floor; the two-and-a-half-hour one-on-one game had exhausted his last bit of strength.

However, he managed to get up from the ground with difficulty.

If we don't hurry, those bastards will steal all our breakfast.

During the meal, Kogure casually asked Hamilton, "Richard, would you be interested in a long run together?"

"Okay!"

Hamilton readily agreed, noting that he had never lost in the long-distance running arena.

"Add me one!"

Kobe weakly raised his hand, wanting to defeat Kogure in other areas.

"You should rest and take a break next time!"

For Kobe's health, Hamilton resolutely refused Kobe's request.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Kobe is already overexerting himself; continuing long-distance running training would be harmful to his health.

Around eight o'clock, Kogure and Hamilton started jogging around the basketball court.

During this process, Kogure discovered that for every twenty laps he ran, his progress would increase by 1%!

This means that to earn the title of "unbreakable runner," you would need to run a full two thousand laps.

Although a basketball court lap is less than 100 meters, running two thousand laps would undoubtedly take a lot of time.

The training camp only lasts for ten days, which means that Kogure has to run at least two hundred laps with Hamilton every day.

That depends on whether Hamilton is willing or not.

In order to earn the title faster, Kogure decided to go all out and start competing with Hamilton to see who could run more laps.

(End of this chapter)