After the freshman training match ended, Mitsui Hisashi settled into a routine of classroom, basketball gym, and home every day.
However, due to the shortened school training hours, Mitsui could only choose to continue practicing late into the night after the team's training time ended to ensure his training plan could be completed.
This meant that even with school, Mitsui still led a solitary training life.
Initially, Mitsui wasn't without company for his extra training; for example, his Middle School teammates like Ade joined him, but after a few days, Mitsui persuaded them to stop.
The extra training sessions were too long, and Ade and his teammates' bodies and minds hadn't gone through a period of adaptation like Mitsui's, so they simply couldn't endure it.
Thus, after training with Mitsui for a period, only Ade still had the patience to continue, while everyone else had already given up.
However, even with Ade still joining the extra training, the time he spent was still too short compared to Mitsui's.
Therefore, to let Ade go back and rest earlier, Mitsui forcefully sent him home after Ade completed his own extra training.
During this period, however, Mitsui's relationship with his other teammates also gradually became more familiar, especially with Akagi and Kogure.
This was mainly because Coach Anzai, just like in the original story, was still in a retirement-like state before meeting Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede, two individuals whose talent could move him, only occasionally visiting the basketball gym.
Of course, Shohoku's school leaders also turned a blind eye to Coach Anzai's behavior.
After all, the reason they wanted Coach Anzai to coach the basketball team was not to achieve great accomplishments for the team; they knew their own situation. As a public school, its environment and benefits couldn't compare to private elite schools, making it difficult to attract talented basketball prodigies.
Therefore, signing Coach Anzai was more about leveraging his fame to boost the school's reputation and attract students with his renown.
So, when Kogure Kiminobu wanted to get stronger but couldn't find a coach, he tried asking Mitsui Hisashi, the strongest player on the team, how to improve.
He originally only had a "let's give it a try" mentality, but to his surprise, Mitsui Hisashi was exceptionally approachable. After understanding Kogure's basic situation, Mitsui suggested that Kogure could develop into a shooter.
Mitsui introduced to Kogure, "Currently, in our Shohoku Team's starting lineup, among our upperclassmen, Captain Takasaki Gensuke and Takahashi Akira are the strongest, and they will definitely occupy two starting positions."
"Although Akagi's basketball skill level is currently average, he possesses an advantage in height and arm span. This can definitely be said to be a potential stock in our team. Even if he's not a starter for now, he will definitely get playing time.
I even think that as long as Akagi's rebounding and rim protection abilities are decent, he will definitely secure a starting center position. In that case, the original Takahashi Akira senior only needs to switch to the power forward position."
"Then there's me. It's not that I'm arrogant, but with my strength, I think a starting position is secure. This leaves only one starting position, and based on my observations these past few days, the most likely candidate is Kawaki Kazuo senior.
However, among our team's upperclassmen, besides Takasaki Gensuke senior and Takahashi Akira senior, in my opinion, to put it bluntly, the other seniors don't have much of a difference compared to you guys."
"Therefore, if you want to get playing time on the Shohoku Team, you must have some special skill that helps the team.
And during this time, I've observed all of you. In my opinion, your shooting touch talent is pretty good; there's hope for you to become a qualified shooter for the team.
So, I suggest you can start practicing three-pointers. Mid-range shots are too slow and too difficult to train. It's better to start directly with three-pointers, especially three-pointers from the two corners, left and right. If you can develop these two spots, you will absolutely not lack playing time."
Kogure Kiminobu was a bit bewildered after hearing this. He hadn't expected that he had only come to try asking Mitsui how to get stronger.
As a result, Mitsui not only wasn't impatient but also rattled off so many words.
Mitsui Hisashi, however, didn't think too much. Seeing Kogure remain silent, he thought Kogure didn't know how to train three-pointers.
So Mitsui continued, "If you don't know how to improve your three-point ability, I can give you some advice. For example, you can make 150 three-pointers from each of the two corners every day, which means a total of 300 shots.
Once your body gets used to making 300 shots a day, you can continue to increase the number of made shots. After that..."
"Uh..." Kogure Kiminobu, who had finally come to his senses, immediately said, "Mitsui, let's stop here for now. Let me first get used to the training volume of making 300 three-pointers every day. To be honest, this is the first time I've received such a large shooting plan."
Kogure Kiminobu was truly afraid to hear Mitsui's subsequent training plans at this point. 300 made three-pointers every day, just thinking about it felt terrifying.
If Mitsui continued, he might actually be intimidated by the increasingly terrifying training volume in the future, thereby affecting his self-confidence.
However, after Mitsui's guidance this time, Kogure found that Mitsui was a very approachable person and was willing to spend time creating a training plan for an outsider like himself.
So he pulled his good friend Akagi Takenori to also come and ask Mitsui to create a training plan for him too.
In fact, initially, when Akagi heard Kogure say he wanted to drag him to ask Mitsui to create a training plan, Akagi refused. Asking for guidance from someone his own age, with Akagi's pride, he really couldn't bring himself to do it!
Plus, there was still Coach Anzai, a former famous university coach, on the team. Even though Coach Anzai hadn't come since the last freshman scrimmage, he would surely come someday, wouldn't he?
However, after Kogure relayed Mitsui's analysis and the specific training plan content to him, Akagi immediately had a "That's so good!" moment, unsure whether he should say it or not.
The main reason was that he hadn't expected someone his own age to have such deep insights into the team and the development direction of players.
Moreover, he could also provide a specific training plan, and Kogure even said there were subsequent training plans as well, but Kogure himself was afraid that the training volume would affect his confidence, so he stopped it.
It was at this moment that Akagi truly began to admire Mitsui Hisashi.
During the freshman scrimmage, the strength Mitsui displayed was indeed impressive, but Akagi wasn't entirely convinced in his heart. He believed that with Coach Anzai's guidance, he would eventually reach Mitsui's level.
But now, having seen Mitsui's understanding of the team and his teammates, and also how proficient he was in training, Akagi truly believed that he was indeed superior to himself and began to admire his talent from the bottom of his heart.
So, Akagi now stood before Mitsui Hisashi, saying, "Mitsui, I heard Kogure say you helped him create a training plan. Um, I also don't know how to improve my strength recently. Could I trouble you to also create a training plan for me?"