Rookie Season Comes to an End

The Sendai Wanderers' game against the Kobe Jaguars ultimately ended in a resounding Wanderers victory. This probably was not the Jaguars' true level, but that was basketball. There were only forty-eight minutes. If you did not play well in those forty-eight minutes, even the strongest team on paper could lose.

"Ha ha, looks like Sakuragi's treating us!"

"Yeah, yeah! Did Sakuragi run off with the team? I saw him rushing back to the locker room just now, but now we can't find him!!"

After the game, the Sakuragi Gang was the happiest, because they were getting a feast!

"Sakuragi, come here!"

The atmosphere in the Jaguars' locker room was extremely oppressive. The moment Coach Omoki entered, he called out to Sakuragi.

"Coach, I... what I said earlier was a little..."

Sakuragi seemed to have calmed down and stepped forward to apologize.

"You did nothing wrong, Sakuragi!"

Coach Omoki's words left Sakuragi and the other players somewhat bewildered. Everyone had thought the coach was about to reprimand Sakuragi.

"Other than Sakuragi, look at yourselves! Which one of you looks like a real professional player? During halftime, only Sakuragi argued with me, because he still had fighting spirit! And indeed, Sakuragi was the only one fighting in the second half! Did the rest of you not want to play anymore!!? Or were you sleepy and in such a hurry to wash up and go to bed!!??"

This time, Coach Omoki truly laid into the players, his shouting and scolding thunderous.

"I'm very disappointed in this game. I don't know when we developed this habit of waiting for our opponents to make mistakes and give us opportunities. Maybe there are problems with my coaching as well, but this way of thinking is what all of you have now. Victory is something we fight for, not something we wait for. No champion has ever won by relying on countless mistakes from their opponents! It seems you learned nothing from the previous game's loss, and you've tripped over the same stone again. If this continues, what you'll lose won't just be games, but your youth as well. Think it over carefully!"

This might have been the harshest and most profound speech Coach Omoki had given since taking office. Could those words awaken the young Jaguars?

"Ha ha, the five of us haven't gotten together in three years!! You two, forget everything about the game. Right now, it's time for the friendship of us five brothers. Nothing else matters!!"

The team's flight was the next morning. Though losing had been painful, Sakuragi still treated the Sakuragi Gang to dinner as promised.

"But I still have to say it, Sakuragi. You've improved tremendously. Today, I didn't play as well as you did. If our bet had been about who scored more, I would've lost miserably!"

Sakuragi's performance earned praise from both his opponent on the court and his close friend off it, Mito Yohei.

"So what? We still lost. You really have a great life, kid. You got picked by a team like this, and you've even got a reliable teammate like Xiandao! Hey, your good days have already arrived. Maybe you'll get the Golden Basket before I do, ha ha!!"

Sakuragi, already slightly drunk, began teasing him.

"You two, honestly. Neither of you is allowed to mention it again. Whoever brings it up next has to treat us next time!!"

Takamiya once again dragged the conversation away from basketball.

"Yeah, the three of us don't like talking about basketball. We just want to know whether anyone's managed to pick up any girls lately!! Ha ha!!"

Okusu was still most interested in topics involving the opposite sex.

The five drank at the bar until late into the night. Sakuragi staggered drunkenly down the street like a wanderer. Fortunately, the other four were still sober enough to send him back to the hotel where the team was staying.

Early the next morning, Sakuragi unexpectedly did not oversleep. Perhaps hunger had woken him up. He headed to a convenience store early to buy breakfast.

"Hm???"

Sakuragi searched around for quite a while. Perhaps because he was in a rush, he had forgotten to bring any cash.

"Forget it, I'll use my card!"

With that, Sakuragi pulled out a bank card.

The cashier inserted the card into the POS machine. Sakuragi entered his password, and after a moment, the cashier said, "I'm sorry, sir, but your card has exceeded its overdraft limit. It can't be used anymore!!"

"Ah!!!??"

The cashier's words left Sakuragi utterly embarrassed. Once he calmed down, he suddenly seemed to remember something and threw back his head with a long howl. "How much did those guys order, anyway!! Damn it, my living expenses for the month are gone!!!"

It seemed that last night's bill had been charged to Sakuragi's card. In his drunken state, he had completely forgotten about it. Sakuragi had transferred extra money into the account because he had planned to treat them, but he never expected it not only to be insufficient, but to push his card so far into overdraft that it was nearly frozen.

Not long afterward, the Jaguars set off for home. Sakuragi was finally leaving this place, where he had not only lost the game but also lost a considerable amount of money.

After this game, the Jaguars' record stood at 4 wins and losses. The team had suffered its second consecutive defeat of the season, and it had been a complete rout, dealing a severe blow to morale.

Over the next several rounds, the Jaguars won some and lost some. By the halfway point of the regular season, they were 6-4 and temporarily ranked fifth. If they finished the regular season in that position, the Jaguars would regretfully miss the playoffs.

With the return of Nagoya Ninjas power forward Takano Jinglei, who had been injured by Sakuragi at the start of the season, the Ninjas began piling up wins and rose to fourth place! As the schedule progressed, the other teams only grew stronger. The top three were the Kagoshima Antlers, Sendai Wanderers, and Fukuyama Flying Waves.

With the season halfway over, the All-Star Game was next.

The JBa All-Star Game had roughly the same events as the NBA's. Fans voted, then players were divided into the Southern All-Stars and Northern All-Stars. There were individual events too, such as the three-point contest and dunk contest, though there was no skills challenge or rookie challenge. Still, any JBa player—even someone who had only just entered the league like Sakuragi—could have a chance to play in the All-Star Game as long as he was good enough.

This season's All-Star Game would be held in Hokkaido.

And just like that, the opportunity arrived.

"Squeak, squeak!"

The sound of sneakers scraping against the floor proved just how hard the players were training. Finishing fifth at the halfway point had truly put the Jaguars on edge, and they needed to train even harder!

"Everyone, stop for a moment. I have an announcement!!"

General Manager Kawaguchi, who had not appeared for some time, arrived at the training facility. Judging by his expression, it seemed to be good news!

"Akagi and Rukawa Kaede, the two of you have been selected for this year's Hokkaido All-Star Game!! And Rukawa Kaede, you're even a starter!!"

"What!!!!! That stupid fox got selected? What about me, Kawaguchi? Did you leave me out? How could there be no place for a genius rebound king like me!!"

Sakuragi was like a bomb. The moment someone touched one of his sensitive points, he exploded!

"But... there really isn't a spot for you, Sakuragi. I also hoped you could make the All-Star Game, but you really didn't..."

"Kawaguchi wouldn't lie to you, Sakuragi. Focus on the upcoming games and prove yourself with your ability!"

Coach Omoki consoled him as well.

"Whatever. It's actually perfect. With that stupid fox gone, I can train in peace!!"

Seeing that even the coach was trying to persuade him, Sakuragi stopped dwelling on it.

"We now bring you breaking news. At 1 o'clock this morning, a magnitude 5 earthquake struck the Hokkaido region. Although the intensity was not especially high, it lasted for a long time. Electricity and transportation throughout Hokkaido are now completely paralyzed. Our reporters are on their way to the scene!"

There were still three days until the Hokkaido All-Star Game, but the disaster everyone had least wanted to see had occurred.

JBa president Hashimoto Ryuichi also issued an announcement to every team in the JBa through video at the first possible moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, regarding yesterday's disaster in Hokkaido, on behalf of the JBa, I extend our sincere condolences to the people affected by the disaster. We are deeply saddened and hope that you can remain strong. This year's All-Star Game was also scheduled to take place in Hokkaido. Given the current circumstances, the JBa organizing committee convened all team general managers, and after careful discussion, we unanimously decided to cancel this year's Hokkaido All-Star Game. We will organize players to travel to the disaster area for rescue efforts and post-disaster reconstruction. Games involving Hokkaido Lavender will also be postponed."

In less than two minutes, the video covered far too much. The cancellation of the All-Star Game would perhaps throw every team's plans into disarray.

After a nationwide rescue effort, Hokkaido's basic infrastructure was quickly restored. Japan had many earthquake emergency plans in place, so reconstruction proceeded in an orderly manner. Before long, everything had returned to normal.

The second half of the JBa season was also about to resume.

The Jaguars truly improved greatly in the second half. Though they still lost to strong teams, they no longer suffered the kind of collapses seen in the first half. As other teams came to understand the Jaguars' rookies better, the team gradually had no more secrets.

Although the Jaguars fought hard to squeeze into the playoff picture, the teams ahead of them kept winning as well. In the end, the Jaguars finished the regular season with a record of 1 win and 1 loss, still ranked fifth, and regretfully missed the playoffs.