harleyscars Chapter 30: Sawakita in the Videotape, Sendoh's 3 Discoveries
Chapter 30: Sawakita in the Videotape, Sendoh's 3 Discoveries
It was almost midnight when Sendoh returned to his dorm.
Yueye sent him a series of messages, asking where he was, how his knee was, and if he wanted to go to the cafeteria together tomorrow morning. Sendoh only replied to the last one, "Go".
Yueye asked again, "Did you meet with Rukawa today? Someone saw him talking to you at the school gate."
Sendoh typed two words: "Sent a videotape."
The off-road rider replied instantly, "He rode his bike over late at night just to deliver a videotape to you? You two are really strange. Last time he texted you to ask if your knee was better, and this time he went out of his way to deliver a videotape. When did you two become so close?"
Sendoh didn't know how to answer the question, so he didn't reply. He threw his phone on the bed and took out the videotape from his bag.
The box has rough edges, worn white at the corners, and a label on the front indicating Hainan's match against Sannoh in last year's winter tournament.
He searched the room for a long time before finally finding an old-fashioned video recorder, left behind by the previous year's graduates. It was covered in a layer of dust, with a few old textbooks piled on top of it. He put the videotape in and pressed the play button.
The scene begins in a stadium in Hainan, where the stands are full of people, with white Hainan jerseys mixed with dark Shanwang jerseys.
Sawakita Eiji stood outside the three-point line, dribbling with his right hand. The person defending him was Hainan's shooting guard, who was about 1.85 meters tall and had his center of gravity very low.
Zebei took a step to the right, and the defender slid to follow. Zebei suddenly stopped and switched hands to the left, the movement so fast that the defender tripped over his feet.
Zebei rushed to the free-throw line and jumped. Hainan's center rushed out to help defend. In mid-air, Zebei switched the ball from his right hand to his left hand, dodged the block, and made a low layup.
The ball bounced off the backboard and into the net. The defending player committed a foul upon landing, resulting in a penalty.
Sendoh pressed pause.
Zebei's right leg was slightly bent in the air, his left leg was stretched forward, his upper body was almost straight, and his spine was not curved.
Sendoh was very familiar with that pose; he did it himself in the air. However, Sawakita's hang time was about 0.2 seconds longer than his. It might not seem like much, but it was enough for the defender to land first before he could shoot.
Sendoh wrote down the first rule in his notebook: His hang time is about 0.2 seconds longer than mine, so don't try to jump against him under the basket.
I pressed play.
In the second half, Sawakita called for the ball in the low post, and the defender changed to Maki Shinichi.
Maki Shinichi's strength is among the best in the country. He used his forearm to brace against Zebei's waist and his knee to brace against Zebei's thigh. The two-meter-tall man stood there like a wall.
After receiving the ball, Zebei turned to the left, and Maki Shinichi followed with a slide step. Zebei suddenly stopped and turned to the right, and Maki Shinichi's center of gravity shifted slightly. It was in that instant that Zebei cut in from his left side.
Maki Shinichi chased after him and reached for the ball, but Sawakita protected the ball to his right side, blocked Maki Shinichi's arm with his left hand, and scored with a layup.
Sendoh pressed pause again.
Just as Rukawa had said, Zebei's turning motion was the same. He didn't slow down between the second and third steps. Maki Shinichi's strength was clearly enough to hold him off, but his start was too fast. It was so fast that Maki Shinichi hadn't even adjusted his center of gravity before he was over.
Sendoh wrote down the second rule in his notebook: from the second step to the third step, accelerate continuously without slowing down. When defending against him, you can't wait for the second step; you have to move in advance during the first step.
Playback continues.
With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Sannoh led by ten points. Sawakita stole the ball on defense and launched a fast break, igniting the entire Sannoh bench.
Zebei dribbled from the backcourt to the frontcourt, jumped at the free-throw line, and dunked with one hand. The defender was two meters behind him and didn't even chase.
Sendoh paused the video, rewound thirty seconds, and rewatched the scene of the steal.
Zebei's defensive positioning was on the right, leaving the left flank open for the attacking player. The attacking player indeed went down the left, and Zebei took a step to cut into the passing lane, poking the ball away with his finger. It wasn't luck, it was anticipation.
He knew in advance that the attacking player would go down the left flank, so he waited in that position.
Sendoh wrote down the third rule in his notebook: On the defensive end, he likes to leave one side to lure the offensive players to take the route he has set up. On the offensive end, he reverses this rule, going to the side where Sendoh has set up the route, preventing the offensive players from making their predictions.
The television was still playing, and the Sannoh bench was cheering. Sawakita was substituted off the field and was walking back when he passed the Hainan bench, where Maki Shinichi was sitting in a chair watching him.
Their eyes met for a second, Zebei nodded, but Maki Shinichi didn't respond.
Sendoh pressed the power button, the TV screen went black, and the VCR clicked out the tape.
He closed the notebook; the handwriting in the three notes wasn't very neat, but each one was written together.
My phone vibrated; it was a message from Yueye: "Aren't you asleep yet?"
Sendoh replied, "I'm watching a recording."
Off-road, "The Mountain King's?"
Sendoh, "Hmm."
"Off-road, what did you see?"
Sendoh thought for a moment, then typed a few words: "He's very strong."
"That's it? You watched him for one night and you think he's really strong? Isn't that obvious? He's the number one high school student in the country, of course he's strong."
Sendoh didn't explain. He put his phone aside, turned off the light, and placed the notebook next to his pillow. The open page was filled with writing, which was hard to read in the dim light. He closed his eyes, his mind filled with images of Sawakita—that hang time, that turn, that steal.
The next morning at six o'clock, Sendoh appeared at the gym.
Yueye was warming up on the treadmill when he saw him come in and paused for a moment. "What time did you go to bed last night?" "Around midnight."
What time did you get up?
"It's 5:30." The treadmill stopped. "You slept for five and a half hours? You can't keep training like this; your body won't be able to recover."
Sendoh didn't reply, but walked to the bench press rack and lay down.
He pushed three of the sixty-kilogram bars, but got stuck halfway on the fourth. A cross-country runner came over and helped him up, and the sound of the barbell being put back on the rack was muffled.
"What are you thinking about?" Yueye asked.
Sendoh sat up and wiped his sweat. "I've been wondering why Sawakita Eiji's hang time is longer than mine. It's not a matter of jumping; his jump height is about the same as mine, but he can stay in the air for an extra 0.2 seconds. Where does that extra 0.2 seconds come from?"
Yueye opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn't know much about these technical details; he only knew that Zebei was very strong and Sendoh was also very strong, but he couldn't explain why they were strong or weak.
"It might be core strength." Fukuda's voice came from behind.
Sendoh turned his head and saw Fukuda leaning against the gym door, holding an apple in his hand, taking a bite and chewing slowly.
He doesn't come to the gym often; he was probably just passing by today. Fukuda walked over, threw the apple core into the trash can, wiped his mouth, and said, "If your core strength is strong, your body will be more stable after jumping, and your hang time will be slightly longer. It's not that the actual time is longer, but your body won't sway in the air, and you can release your attack faster, making it look like you've been suspended in the air for a long time."
Sendoh paused for a second, then looked down and wrote the fourth line in his notebook: Core strength determines airtime efficiency.
Fukuda glanced at the words on the notebook, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
Watching Fukuda's retreating figure, Koshino wonder he thought, "Did he come to the gym just to eat an apple?" Sendoh ignored him and continued pushing the barbell. He passed the fourth 60-kilogram repetition, but couldn't manage the fifth.