However, Mitsui Hisashi was a bit stunned looking at Akagi Takenori, who was asking him for advice; he hadn't expected Akagi to actually ask him for guidance.
In his impression, Akagi Takenori had always been an extremely proud person.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have thought Shohoku had lost just because he himself lost to Kawata Masashi in the National Tournament, causing his mindset to explode and making him seem like he couldn't play basketball anymore, with his technical movements all distorted; he only recovered after his teammates and Uozumi woke him up.
He hadn't expected Akagi to proactively seek advice from a peer, but this was also normal, as what he thought he understood was merely inferred from Akagi's basketball journey during his third year of Middle School.
Defining a person's character based solely on one year of their basketball journey is far too one-sided.
Perhaps it was precisely because there wasn't a peer in the original story outstanding enough to make Akagi humble himself and ask for advice, that Akagi felt his talent in basketball was second to none, which led to his performance against Big Kawata in the National Tournament.
Thinking of this, Mitsui felt his deduction was highly accurate.
Then, seeing Akagi still waiting for his answer, Mitsui quickly said, "Akagi-kun, I am not an inside player after all, and I don't really understand specific training plans for the inside. So, regarding this training plan I've given you, you can start practicing it, but when Coach Anzai arrives, let him help review it for any necessary corrections."
Akagi nodded after listening. Indeed, no matter how good Mitsui was, he wasn't an inside player. He could formulate excellent training plans for outside players, but for inside players, it wasn't a certainty.
However, listening to it was still good. As Mitsui said, if there were any issues, he could just ask Coach Anzai to help correct them later.
Mitsui, seeing Akagi nod in agreement, then directly said, "Akagi, if you play, with your height and arm span, you will definitely play as a center. There's no doubt about that."
"And as a center, I believe the most fundamental aspects are to excel at rebounding and rim protection. Only after doing well in these two areas should you consider strengthening your abilities based on your own characteristics."
"As for training in rebounding and rim protection, I suggest that before Coach Anzai arrives, you might want to ask Senior Takahashi Akira more. After all, he is our starting center and has some experience he can teach you."
"Next is your fundamental skills training. First is your ball-handling technique. I don't expect your ball-handling to be as good as a guard's, but at the very least, you must be able to protect the ball and not lose it.
Mitsui paused here, and after seeing that Akagi wasn't displeased by his words, he continued, "Secondly, there's your training for finishing at the rim. During games, I've observed your scoring. You basically score by dunking inside.
But in a game, you won't get that many opportunities to dunk, especially when you encounter some strong centers; it's even possible you won't have a single dunk opportunity the entire game."
"Therefore, you must master more methods of finishing at the rim. Techniques like the baby hook, layups, and floaters all need to be practiced. You don't need to be extremely proficient in every one, but at least be able to use them whenever an opportunity arises, and then choose one or two scoring methods to be your primary scoring techniques."
"As for the training volume, I suggest hitting 200 shots for each scoring method daily. Later, once you're proficient and your shooting percentage goes up, you can gradually increase the volume."
After saying this, Mitsui thought for a moment, and after confirming there were no omissions, he said, "This is all I can think of for now. Just follow this training plan for now. For other things, you can ask Coach Anzai when he arrives."
Having spoken so much all at once, Mitsui was parched, so he immediately picked up his water bottle and chugged it down.
However, as he drank, Mitsui felt something was off. Why hadn't Akagi said a word in response after all this time? Was the training plan he suggested incorrect?
But these were all summarized from the training tasks of the starting center on his high school basketball team in his previous life; there shouldn't be any mistakes, right?
Mitsui immediately looked towards Akagi and saw Akagi's mouth slightly agape, with a bewildered expression.
Just as Mitsui looked at Akagi, Akagi finally reacted. "No, buddy, you call this 'not really understanding'? Are you misunderstanding that phrase?"
However, thinking about the training plan Mitsui had given him, he was still very excited. "No wonder you're the MVP! Mitsui, I'm completely convinced by you. I've never thought about any of these things you mentioned before. I only knew to blindly do strength training and never considered the importance of these basketball fundamentals."
Mitsui looked at Akagi's astonished expression, a smile playing on his lips. 'Heh, these are all things I learned in my previous life. Did you really take my humble words seriously?'
Akagi was very excited at this moment and didn't pay attention to Mitsui's expression, continuing, "I'm going to ask Senior Takahashi for advice on rebounding and rim protection techniques now, and then I'll start training according to what you said. Thank you so much, Mitsui!" With that, Akagi hurried away.
Mitsui watched Akagi's departing back, a slight smile on his lips. If Akagi and Kogure were to follow the training plans he gave them now, he believed their strength would reach another level by the time the Prefectural Tournament arrived.
There was no other way; basketball was, after all, a five-person sport. He, Mitsui Hisashi, didn't have a system that allowed him to become invincible by adding stats, nor did he have various abnormal skill bonuses from the NBA or Kuroko's Basketball. Relying on himself alone, he could probably at most lead the team to the joint finals.
Therefore, any increase in the team's strength now was a plus. If they could make it into the National Tournament, that would be even better, as encountering various strong opponents in the National Tournament would be very helpful for the players' personal growth.
It should be noted that Mitsui had already formulated a set of training plans for Horita Tokuo and the other three players who came from Takeishi Middle School.
However, their potential was limited. Even if they were to follow Mitsui's training plan from now on, it was estimated that only Horita would be of some use in the joint finals; the others would likely remain benchwarmers.
As for Akagi and the others, actually, if Kogure and Akagi hadn't come to him, Mitsui would have waited for an opportune moment later to talk to them about doing extra training together.
Now that they had come to him on their own, it really saved him a lot of trouble.
As for the seniors Takasaki Gensuke and Takahashi Akira, Mitsui had no intention of formulating training plans for them.
Of course, it wasn't that he looked down on them; their strength was quite good. If they were to undergo targeted training, they should still be able to improve before the joint finals.
But the problem was that although Japan respected strength, if a freshman who had just joined the team not long ago immediately told the two strongest players on the original team that their training methods were no good and they should follow his training plan, that would be a bit too presumptuous.
Therefore, Mitsui Hisashi had never considered formulating training plans for the two of them, or rather, for the other older students.