AN__: When he played professionally, Kimura Shinozaki was a Power Forward. He was a post player that could score against anybody in the low post. He also had a mid-post game for when his opponents clogged the paint and tried to double-team him. He is 208 cm tall and had a 38-inch vertical in his prime.
From now on, before the start of every chapter, I will give you a little bit of information regarding characters, events, or teams. This will become a common occurence.
Thank you!
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A month and a half later. The 15th of October 2015.
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There are two major tournaments in Junior High School and High School. Two competitions that attract the attention of every basketball enthusiast in the country. Those tournaments are the summer Inter-high and the Winter Cup.
Although Basketball is not as famous as baseball in Japan, it has already caught up to football in popularity about a decade ago. We can even say that basketball has already surpassed football, making these three competitions more influential as they are all broadcasted on TV, the semi-finals and finals of these competitions, particularly on national TV.
After the 1963 FIBA World Championships, basketball took over the country for a while as the national team of university players performed pretty well during that tournament. A couple of years later, in 1968, some individuals who participated in that tournament and had made it in life formed a group and created a basketball league called the Japanese Basketball League or JBL.
At first, only 8 teams were playing against each other. However, as the sport gained influence, more and more people created teams and leagues, wanting to play basketball at a high level. That's how a certain reform was made in 1971, leading to the creation of the B-League, the most competitive basketball league in Asia.
After 43 years of progression, the league has seen multiple superstars like Mitsuyoshi Anzai, Shigeaki Abe, Shinozaki Kimura, Genta Takeuchi, Yuta Tabuse, Kategora Aida, Toji Masamune, and many more. Those players elevated the popularity of the league and the sport in Japan, making it one of the most watched and played after baseball. In fact, for the last two decades, at least 97% of all B1-League games were sold out. Each B1-League team has a stadium with an average of 10.000 seats, that's a fantastic percentage no other league in Japan except the pro baseball league can boast about.
Also, although stars like Kimura and Kagetora converted many Japanese people into basketball fans with their playstyles and personalities, nobody elevated basketball in Japan like Katsunori Harasawa. Being the first Japanese player to do well in the NBA, averaging 18+ points per game for 10 consecutive years and winning an NBA Championship with the Dallas Mavericks, he is why basketball is famous in Japan. At his peak in 2006 when he played in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat and averaged 26.3 points in that series, forcing the Heat to a game 7, his influence in Japan could rival Ichiro Suzuki's.
After knowing all of that, let me ask you a question. Do you know what all these Japanese basketball legends have in common?
They have all played in Junior High and High School basketball leagues, making competitions like the Inter-High or the Winter Cup important to young players as it's the stage where many basketball fans in Japan will recognize them. Some High School players may even be more famous than professional players in some good B1-League teams.
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*Swish*
"Three more to go!" Exclaimed Koganei, trying to encourage himself. Around thirty minutes had passed since his team finished practice and he decided to stay and take more shots to improve himself.
His hands were already burning, but he had to finish his workout and put up three hundred mid-range shots. Within those three hundred shots, he had to score half of them. If he doesn't, he has to continue shooting until he scores a hundred and fifty times.
However, he hasn't been in shooting rhythm today. He already took close to 400 shots and still has three more to score before finishing the workout. As said before, he put some shots up in the morning, around two hundred three-pointers, he went through a long 2-hour workout with his team, so he was drained at this point.
Still, the thought of quitting mid-way had never crossed his mind. That's how much of a stubborn person he is. If Koganei puts his mind on something, no matter how hard achieving that goal is, he's going to try his hardest to complete it.
Back to the court, as the ball swished through the hoop, two seconds, the shooting machine immediately threw another ball at Koganei, not giving him time to rest. Plus, since the machine would pass him another ball in three seconds, he had to shoot the ball as fast as possible while making sure he maintained his form and scored the basket.
*Clang*
The ball hit the back of the rim and dropped into the machine. However, Koganei didn't have time to lament his miss as a second later, another ball was thrown his way.
His clothes were drenched with sweat, his arms and legs were burning and he could barely see. However, he persevered and steadily caught the ball as if he were in a game before throwing using a textbook-like form. Anyone seeing him shoot the ball so fast would think he had somebody trying to contest it.
*Swish*
Two more to go!
*Clang*
*Clang*
*Swish*
One more!
*Swish*
*Clang*
*Swish*
*Swish*
*Swish*
*Swish*
*Swish*
As Koganei kept shooting, he gradually felt that he had completed his goal of making 150 shots and continued receiving the ball. He was so locked in that he didn't notice a tall man walk behind the shooting machine, hitting a certain button to turn it off.
"Don't hurt yourself, Koganei." Advised Shinozaki Kimura, a warm smile on his face.
Looking at focused Koganei, Kimura couldn't"help but be satisfied. He had been coaching Yuuki Junior High for the last four years and saw a lot of talented players pass by. However, Koganei was the hardest working one he had seen as a coach.
Hearing Kimura's voice, Koganei snapped out of his trance before slowly sitting on the floor. He was tired, after all.
"Don't worry coach, I know my limits." Responded Koganei with a slight smile. He was happy that his coach cared about him. Still, he had been pushing himself for the last two months and knew what his limits were. As long as he doesn't go past them, he can wake up the following day as if nothing happened.
Hearing his player's words, Kimura frowned. "You don't. Looking at your legs shaking like this, I'm worried you won't be able to walk tomorrow." He said, shaking his head.
"I've been doing the same thing for the last couple of months and nothing happened. I'm gonna be good." Responded Koganei, trying to convince his coach not to worry.
"As long as you say so. However, if I find your fitness or energy level started decreasing, I'm benching you." He threatened, making Koganei hurriedly nod in agreement.
While nodding, an idea flashed past his mind, making him eagerly look at Kimura. "Coach, I watched some of your highlights a few days ago and was wondering if you could teach me post-moves." He asked, eagerly waiting for a positive answer.
Hearing the question, Kimura looked at Koganei questioningly. "Why do you want to learn post moves? With your ball handling and speed, plus your new decent mid-range, nobody in Junior High can stop you from scoring." He asked, perplexed by his pupil's question.
"Well..." After saying that, Koganei stopped for a few seconds to organize his words before speaking. "Since I had a lot of free time during summer break, I went to watch some of the local high school games and found that most Guards were smaller than me. So, I thought of learning how to play in the post and minimize the amount of times I get beat up by the opposing Center. I get hacked whenever I drive to the basket, after all." He finished, shrugging his shoulders at the last statement.
"That makes sense." Started Kimura, pondering on the possible plays he could make around that. Still, he continued. "Don't bite off more than you can chew. I will compile a bunch of materials by the end of the week and give it to you. However, don't slack on your shooting training. If you feel like you can't focus on both at once, put all your energy back into shooting since that's the area you need to improve in the most as a Guard."
"Thank you, coach. I'll keep that in mind." Loudly Exclaimed Koganei, happy that his request was accepted. A few seconds later, while Koganei was cheering, a thought flashed past Kimura's mind.
"Talking about high school, did you choose a school yet?" Asked Kimura after remembering one of his friend's requests.
"High School? Well, Shutoku and Senshinkan have been trying to recruit me since my freshman year. However, to be honest, I don't want to go to either of those teams."
"Why not? Isn't Shutoku like a Top 4 team in the nation? Plus they lack a ball-handler to pair up with that Nanasawa kid. If you go there you become a duo." Explained Kimura, analyzing the pros of going to Shutoku.
"That's true. However, I would have to take the train every day to commit to school. I don't want to go through that tiring process. Imagine how good it would be to walk around five to ten minutes before going to school. That's way better." Retorted Koganei, telling Kimura some of his reasons, but not his main one.
"That's valid!" Nodded Kimura, accepting those reasons. "So, what team do you wanna go to? I don't think there is a good basketball program in Western Tokyo."
"That's what I'm saying. That's why we're going to the closest school to us. I talked to Mitobe and them and they agreed to it. It's not like we won't be able to play basketball at all."
"Uhmmm? You've got a point there."
"See! Plus, if you want to come and coach us there, nobody would deny you the spot, it would be even better."
"Alright, now you're getting ahead of yourself, calm down."
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The following day. The 16th of September 2014.
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"I told you I'm gonna be alright!" Said Koganei, a grin on his face while looking at his coach, Kimura Shinozaki. Surprised, the latter walked around his pupil, trying to see whether he was faking it. However, the team just finished a two-hour workout, and Koganei didn't look tired.
"You've got great genetics, huh..." Responded Kimura, surprised by Koganei's freakish physical fitness. To him, it looked like Koganei could recover the energy spent faster than anybody. He wasn't a scientist, but he was sure it was a genetic thing.
"Of course, my father was a tennis player and played a few pro tournaments, winning all the local ones. Unfortunately, he got hurt and had to end his career." Explained Koganei, prompting Kimura to nod in understanding.
"I gave everybody else our schedule for the next month and a half. We will be playing a lot of practice games. So, make sure you take care of your body." He said, squinting his eyes at Koganei.
"Hahaha... Don't worry coach, I'm pretty sturdy." Responded Koganei while laughing nervously. He doesn't want to get into Kimura's bad side. He saw Asuma on that side and the guy had to do a lot to get out of it, making nobody else want to do that.
Seeing Koganei's reaction, Kimura nodded and walked to the stands, Koganei following behind him. "As I said earlier, we will play a lot of practice matches, starting this afternoon." He started, prompting Koganei to seriously nod his head as he had already read the schedule when he went home yesterday.
Nodding his head, after noticing Koganei's seriousness, Kimura continued. "Do you remember how Shoei defended you?" He asked, making Koganei nod with a wry smile on his face.
"They sagged on me the whole game while clogging the paint anytime I looked to drive to the basket. They weren't worried about my shooting. In addition to that, they tried their best to cut me off from the rest of the team and denied everything that came my way." Explained Koganei with a complicated expression. That semi-final game against Shoei was the worst game he ever had in his young basketball career. Although he scored 23 points, it wasn't an impactful 23 points.
"That's a good analysis. They did a great scout report on you." Said Kimura, a smile on his face. That was the first time in his 4-year career that a Junior High team made a scout report on some of his players. He was caught off-guard but quickly adjusted his game plan and that's what made the game come down to a last-minute shot. If he hadn't done that, they would have been blown out.
"Don't mind it, though. As a great player, you must take that as a compliment. They did that because they were unable to stop you. What you need to do is get used to that as a lot more teams will start targeting you like that. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
"When I was still playing professionally, every team had a multiple-page scouting record on me. With that, you have to understand that you will have bad games from time to time. So, you must try your hardest to not let it push you down."
"I understand, coach. Still, You were a superstar player, though. If they didn't do that, you would have got at least 30 points every game."
"That's the point I'm trying to make. Just like me, in this Junior High league, you are a superstar. So, people will pay close attention to you, especially the ambitious ones."
"A superstar? No, only those five guys at Teiko are superstars. I'm nowhere near that level of fame, although they aren't better than me on the court." Responded Koganei, shaking his head in disagreement with Kimura's words. That made Kimura look at his pupil in astonishment.
"You know what, forget about that. I don't need to worry about your mental health for the time being. You've always been at a great place."
"Thank you for the compliment, coach." Responded Koganei with an honest smile on his face.
"That's good! Still, this afternoon, I don't need you to score 30 points. I want to see where your playmaking skills stand. Tatsumo Junior High is a good defensive team with Eikichi Nebuya as their defensive anchor. As one of our primary ball-handlers, I need you to get 8 assists this afternoon. That's your mission for this game." Said Kimura.
Hearing Kimura's last words, Koganei opened his eyes and asked. "Since it's a mission, will there be rewards for completing it?" He asked, expecting a positive response.
"Of course!" Started Kimura, greatly exciting Koganei. "Do you remember what you asked me a couple of weeks ago? If you complete this mission, I'll allow you to film our games and post them on your channel. However, I don't want you to jeopardize the flow of the game to achieve it. It will not count, otherwise." He continued, stressing the last part of his sentence. As soon as he notices Koganei trying to force things, he will substitute him out of the game.
"Don't worry, coach! You've coached me for 3 years, don't you already know me?" Asked Koganei, slightly offended by Kimura's words.
"I trust you, then. You can go home and rest. The gym might be packed up even though it's only a practice game."
"That's true. I heard some people from our class talk about it yesterday. I don't know who told them about it."
"Anyway, rest well. Tatsuma might be tougher than you expect."