The Past - Shohoku vs Ryonan in the Final at the Nationals
Sendoh paused, confused by what was happening around him. Yes, the game was only two minutes old, and yet his team was already down by 5. He knew that Ryonan looked to him to set the tone, to make sure that the right team would, in the end, win. And yet ... so many fast breaks to start the game, and a full-court press! Shohoku wanted to win, and win big, or so it seemed ...
However … something else was wrong. Watching his first year centre, Hiro Koizumi, try and fail to dunk over the red-headed menace on Shohoku, Sakuragi, and then Sakuragi picking up the loose ball and firing a bullet-pass to Miyagi, to see him lay it up and in with ease … was it really the speed of the game? Was his team too slow?
Sendoh took the ball from Hikoichi, and began to dribble towards the Shohoku side of the court. Ah. The pest again. Super Rookie ... Rukawa ... tried to reach in, but Sendoh rotated away from Rukawa by pivoting on his left foot and then quickly moving back to his right. With Rukawa faked, Sendoh saw an easy path to the basket … damn, Sakuragi … again! He has become so good so fast, like his injury from last year never happened. Sendoh had never seen such fast rotation. It was almost as if Sakuragi had read his mind.
Sendoh shifted and brought the ball back to the top of the key, and began looking for someone to pass to. But, all options were closed … again with the steal! In bemusement, Sendoh watched helplessly at Mitsui, the 4th year veteran on account of his grades and his desire to play basketball and to win, accelerated away from him after the steal, and then suddenly pull up and shoot from behind the arc on the Ryonan side of the court. He could hear the loud swish of the ball as it went through the hoop … and all of a sudden, the lead was 10.
Sendoh could hear his coach berating his teammates from the sidelines … but what was the point of that? Hm. Which play next? Perhaps a switch-play with Fukuda? No. Which play, then? Why was he so unsure of the right play? Then, everything began to slow down, as Sendoh began dribbling up the court once again. He could see Fukuda slowly waving his arm on the left for a pass, but he also began to see what had been hidden from him. Sendoh now knew it in his heart of hearts: he didn't have the necessary will to win.
As the ball continued on its downward trajectory to the court in mid-dribble, Sendoh knew that this game was already lost for Ryonan. Yes, Ryonan had made it to the Finals, and yes, they were a good team … but their leader, himself, wasn't a good leader. Yes, Uozomi had passed the captaincy to him after last year's loss to Shohoku, but while he had run drills with coach and did all he could to lead by example … it was not enough.
Not enough to overcome his personal dislike for the hard training. Sendoh had always found that basketball came easy to him. Sure, he practised, but he did so by himself, to hone his skills. He was an ace, the ace. His job was to score. To win. What others did … it was like water off a duck's back. It didn't bother him ... but it sometimes excited him. He had to admit, playing against Rukawa was an immense challenge, but playing against someone like Sakuragi … that second year didn't know his own weaknesses, but he played for the love of the game more than anyone else Sendoh had ever seen. You had to be an idiot to not see how he and Rukawa didn't get along, but Sakuragi's passion for the game made everyone around him better, especially Rukawa. The arguing between those two fired both themselves and the entire Shohoku team up, and you couldn't defeat that will to win. Stop it temporarily, yes, but not for a full 40 minutes. Not one man. Not even himself. He, Ryonan's captain, didn't have enough will to win. Skill, yes, but skill was something a team couldn't feed off of in difficult times, times like now.
As the ball bounced back off the court, Sendoh saw Miyagi begin to move towards him. Trying to use … what was the use … wait, why was he thinking like this?
Sendoh shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and knew that to avoid Miyagi's defense, he needed to put on a burst of speed to rival his, to work behind Hikoichi, using him as a screen to try to get a clear shot. As Sendoh stopped and then began to go forward once again, changing his dribble from the left to right hand and then back again to confuse Miyagi, he heard a sound.
What was that, Sendoh wondered to himself … and then he couldn't move to his right anymore. He saw Miyagi stop suddenly, his eyes widening in horror. Hmm. As Sendoh tried to look behind him to see what Miyagi was looking at, he noticed that his right knee had begun to loudly click and then, without warning, jolts of pain began running to his brain as his right knee buckled. The ball bounced away from Sendoh as he collapsed to his left knee, with his right leg folding up under him. He heard other sounds then: Miyagi yelling for a timeout; Sakuragi telling players on his bench to call for a stretcher; people in the crowd gasping in disbelief; and a final, half-snapping, half-tearing sound in his right knee.
Sendoh continued to fall, and in that split instant he realized that his game was over. As he toppled over onto his right side, Sendoh felt ... a sense of relief. He knew that, on this day, Shohoku was the better team for their teamwork. They worked together as a team, much better than Ryonan, with everyone contributing and assisting in a myriad of ways, on and off the court. No team could have totally compensated for the loss of Akagi, but then no team had a player like Sakuragi, who rehabbed like a fiend to come back from his back injury even stronger than ever. His dedication to the sport had made every other Shohoku player better, to want to win.
Sendoh knew that Ryonan couldn't do the same. The game was structured too much around himself. Without Sendoh, Ryonan was a pale imitation of a good basketball team. Now, at least, they could play for themselves. They would still lose, but it would be Ryonan losing to Shohoku, not Shohoku outlasting the skills and talent of himself.
Now, Sendoh could see Fukuda crying as he looked down at his destroyed knee. "Oi. Fukuda. Don't worry" Fukuda looked down at Sendoh in disbelief, not understanding how Sendoh could speak so clearly and calmly at a time like this. Sendoh smiled. He was a third year player, but he knew that his time wasn't up, couldn't be up. He would pull a Mitsui ... and come back for one more year. "Ryonan will be back next year, and so will I. This is not the end. Next time, we will play as a team."
The rest of the Ryonan team, and Shohoku's players, listened in silence as Sendoh talked to Fukuda. As a stretcher appeared from one of the locker rooms, Sendoh managed a smile. Then, he looked up at the players from Shohoku, and saw tears in the eyes of Sakuragi, as a distraught Mitsui said to Miyagi, "This is not the way I wanted to win it!" Sendoh smiled. "Hey. Don't be sad. It couldn't be helped. You were better than us, today. Not next year. Next year, I'm coming, Sakuragi. Be ready."
Sakuragi wiped away his tears, and smiled. He knew how hard it was to come back from a serious injury, and had been looking forward to besting Sendoh and Ryonan, showing especially Sendoh just how good he had become since last year's game, and even since earlier, in the regionals. "We will win, Sendoh. But, we won't enjoy it. I wanted to beat you. If you come back next year …"
Sendoh grimaced as the paramedics lifted hi up onto the stretcher. Then, he said, "I will be back. Count on it."
The crowd applauded as Sendoh was carried off. It was a sound Sendoh has thought he had heard many times in the past, but only now, he realised there was a distinct difference between adulation and appreciation. He knew now that he didn't want to be idolized. No, he wanted to be appreciated. He wanted Ryonan to be appreciated. It would take time, and hard work. But, it would happen.
Fast forward nine months
The light was fading fast as Sendoh walked up the short flight of stairs to the public basketball court. It was his first time playing streetball since his injury, but what better way to test his recovery than to try some set plays on an unforgiving surface with some equally unforgiving opponents.
As he opened the gate to the court, he saw another person turn to see who had come in as he shot a basketball through the hoop on the far side of the court, with two other people watching. Sendoh smiled, happy to see his new team-work specialists waiting for him. As Haruko and Rukawa stepped into the fading light on the court, the shooter yelled, "Ah! You finally kept your promise! What took you so long? This genius has been waiting!"
And so have I, Sendoh thought to himself. And so have I.
