COACH ANZAI: AMERICA...? I OBJECT.
RUKAWA: WHAT...
MRS. ANZAI: LET ME TAKE YOU TO THE STATION. WHEN SENSEI WAS COACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY, THERE WAS A PLAYER THAT WENT TO AMERICA... THAT WAS TEN YEARS AGO... HIS NAME WAS YAZAWA. HE WAS 2 METERS TALL. HE HAD YOUR HEIGHT ANF YOUR SKILLS. THE FIRST YEAR STUDENT WAS EXPECTED TO BE A GREAT PLAYER. RUKAWA-KUN, HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE NAME WHITE-HAIR DEVIL? SENSEI'S NICKANAME? RIGHT...
FLASHBACK
MRS ANZAI:AT THAT TIME, ANZAI WAS ONE OF THE BEST TRAINER IN THE COUNTRY. A TOP FIGURE AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL. NICKNAMED WHITE-HAIR DEVIL, THE RENOWNED TOUGH COACH.
PLAYER: YAZAWA!
YAZAWA: AH... ANOTHER LECTURE FROM THE DEVIL... HOW ANNOYING... THIS SILENCE IS INTENSE...
ANZAI: YAZAWA...
YAZAWA: YES!!
ANZAI: YOU ARE MISTAKEN...
YAZAWA: JUST... JUST AS I THOUGHT...
ANZAI: IT'S NOT WHAT THE TEAM CAN DO FOR YOU, IT'S WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE TEAM. UNDERSTAND? DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MUCH?
YAZAWA: YA... YES! I UNDERSTAND!
ANZAI: GOOD! IN THAT CASE GIVE ME 20 DASHES.
YAZAWA: GOH...
ANZAI: UNDERSTAND? OR NOT?
YAZAWA: YES! YES SIR! DAMMIT... YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!! IT'S ALREADY UNIVERSITY LEVEL, WHY ARE WE STILL TRAINING LIKE MILITARY BOOTCAMP, AND THE UNBELIEVABLE THING IS THAT WE ARE STILL PRACTICING BASIC TECHNIQUES. THIS IS NOT GOOD... IF I CAN'T SHOW MY TALENT, THEN I WILL LOSE THE EDGE OF PLAYING BY MY OWN STYLE.
PLAYER: THAT COACH IS AWFULLY HARD ON HIM.
PLAYER: BECAUSE THAT GUY HAS GREAT HIDDEN POTENTIAL. THE PLAN IS TO LET HIM GRASP THE BASIC WELL. IF HIS BASE IS NOT SECURE, HE WON'T SUCCEED WITH ANY AMOUNT OF TALENT.
ANZAI: HOW ABOUT ANOTHER 10? OKAY, I'D GIVE YOU DISCOUNT, JUST ANOTHER 5 THEN
YAZAWA: I DON'T WANT THIS!! THIS ISN'T THE PLACE FOR MY KIND OF BASKETBALL!! AMERICA!! ISN'T THIS THE TIME FOR ME TO CHALLANGE AMERICAN BASKETBALL!? I DON'T KNOW IF MY SKILLS CAN COMPARE TO THE AMERICANS... STILL, I DON'T CARE. AFTER 1 OR 2 YEARS... ALL I HAVE TO DO IS LEARN THEIR STYLE OF PLAY, THEN FOR SURE I WILL BE SUCH A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT NOT EVEN THE LIKES OF THAT WHITE-HAIR DEVIL HAS EVEN SEEN. I'LL SHOW YOU ALL. I WILL GO TO AMERICA TO TEST MY SKILLS. THE TIME HAS COME!!
PLAYER: I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE YAZAWA!
PLAYER: I THOUGHT THAT HE JUST DIDN'T COME TO PRACTICE. WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT THAT HE ACTUALLY WENT TO AMERICA? THE COACH DOESN'T SEEMS TO BE HIMSELF LATELY...
PLAYER: HE HAS A LOT IN HIS MIND...
PLAYER: HE HAS GREAT PROSPECTS FOR YOZAWA. HIS GOING ABOARD MUST HIT HIM PRETTY HARD...
PLAYER: LATELY, THE COACH HAS BEEN ASKING ME FOR NEWS ABOUT YAZAWA A LOT. WE ARE GOOD FRIENDS AFTER ALL.
ANZAI: YOU TALKED TO HIM? ANY LETTERS? DOES HE KNOW ANYONE OVER THERE? ANY CONTACTS?
PLAYER: AT FIRST HE DID WRITE A LOT, BUT NOWADAYS...
MRS ANZAI: ABOUT ONE YEAR HAS PASS. JUST WHEN EVERYONE IS STARTING TO FORGET, A VIDEO CASSETTE ARRIVED. ON THE CASSETTE, A BASKETBALL MATCH.
PLAYER: I THINK YAZAWA PLAYED IN THIS ONE. AH! THERE HE IS!! YAZAWA!!
PLAYER: HUH? THAT ONE?
COMMENTATOR: MADE AN ERROR. HE'S STILL TRYING VERY HARD THOUGH, HE IS THE ONLY JAPANESE... YEAH, HE'S DOING GOOD!
ANZAI: HE HASN'T IMPROVED AT ALL... DID ANYONE TEACH HIM BASICS SKILLS...? HOW'S HIS ENGLISH. HE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE COMMUNICATING VERY WELL. AND WHAT IS WITH THIS TEAM... EVERYONE IS DOING HIS OWN THING, NO TEAMWORK AT ALL. WHAT THE HELL DID THAT COACH DO? THIS WILL DESTROY YAZAWA. GIVE ME HIS PHONE AND ADDRESS!! PLAYER: OH THAT... I COULDN'T SEEM TO CONTACT HIM MYSELF, I THINK HE MOVED...
ANZAI: YAZAWA! COMEBACK! I ORIGINALLY PLANNED TP TRAIN YOU INTO JAPAN'S BEST PLAYER BEFORE MY COACHING DAYS ARE OVER!! YOU ARE LIKE A PIECE OF PAPER, YOU CAN BE USED FOR GREAT THINGS, OR CAN BE LEFT TO COLLECT DUST. YOU MIGHT HAVE GOOD SPEED AND HEIGHT, BUT THAT IS COMPARABLE TO THE JAPANESE LEVEL. NOW, YOU ARE FACING OPPONENTS THAT TOWER OVER YOU, AND ARE FASTER THAN YOU. PLUS, YOU NEVER REALLY DID RECEIVE PROPER BASIC TRAINING, YOU ONLY DEPENDED ON YOUR TALENT. YOU WISHED TO IMPROVE TO THE LEVEL EXPECTED OF YOU FROM OTHERS QUICKLY, BUT YOU HAVE FAILED! YAZAWA DIDN'T WRITE ANY LETTERS, DID HE?
PLAYER: YAZAWA? NO, STILL NO...
ANZAI: I CONTACTED HIS SCHOOL... IT SEEMED THAT HE DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR BASKETBALL PRACTICE.
PLAYER: REALLY!?
ANZAI: WHAT ARE YOU DOING YAZAWA...
MRS. ANZAI: ANZAI KEPT ON LOOKING FOR YAZAWA AFTER THAT, BUT HE STILL COULDN'T FIND HIM. YAZAWA'S SAME YEAR CLASSMATES HAD ALL GRADUATE...
THE MORNING 5 YEARS AFTER YAZAWA LEFT FOR AMERICA...
HEADLINE: JAPANESE STUDENT KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT. SPEED REACHS 120 KM/H. DRUGS MIGHT BE INVOLVED. YAZAWA (24YR)
ANZAI: AH...
YAZAWA'S MOTHER: THIS WAS FOUND IN MY SON'S APARTMENT. THE ENVELOPE IS DATED FOUR YEARS AGO.
ANZAI: LETTER...?
YAZAWA'S MOTHER: HE DIDN'T MAIL IT OUT, I GUESS.
LETTER: TO ANZAI SENSEI... LATELY, SENSEI'S WORDS HAVE BEEN POPPING UP IN MY MIND, IT'S NOT WHAT THE TEAM CAN DO FOR THE TEAM!! HERE, NOBODY EVER PASSES THE BALL TO ME... I KNOW I'VE GIVEN YOU AND EVERYONE A LOT OF TROUBLE, BUT I'M TOO ASHAMED TO COME BACK. I'VE DECIDED TO PRACTICE HARDER, UNTIL THE DAY I CAN TRULY SHOW EVERYBODY THE SKILLS THAT WERE EXPECTED OF ME. AMERICA, THE NATION OF BASKETBALL... EVEN JUST BREATHING IT'S AIR, I BELIEVE THAT I CAN JUST JUMP A LITTLE HIGHER...
MRS. ANZAI: THAT YEAR, RENOWNED UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL COACH, WHITE-HAIR DEVIL, LEFT UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL. THE PROSPECTS AND DREAMS HE HAD FOR YAZAWA ARE STILL LEFT DANGELING, THUS HIS LIFE IN BASKETBALL HAS NOT ENDED.
RUKAWA: YOU THINK THAT I AM THE SAME AS YAZAWA...?
SAKURAGI: HM HM... HUH?
RUKAWA: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SAKURAGI?
MRS. ANZAI: GETS REALLY HAPPY WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT THE TWO OF YOU, AND YOUR FUTURE. HE SAID THAT BOTH OF YOU HAVE TALENTS WHICH HE HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE. I THINK HE IS DELIGHTED TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOU GROW...
SAKURAGI: WHAT'S THIS, OLD MAN? PUNISHING RUKAWA? THAT'S GREAT!! DON'T GO EASY ON HIM.
RUKAWA: IDIOT!
ANZAI: RUKAWA-KUN. I BELIEVE IN YOU. FIRST OF ALL, YOU HAVE TO BECOME JAPAN'S NUMBER ONE HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER!
RUKAWA: PLEASE CONTINUE TO TEACH ME...
SAKURAGI: HUH?
