Chapter 118

Do you even count as a power forward?

A 196cm power forward was already outrageous enough.

What's even more outrageous is...

Now, who can tell him...

Why is he defending all the way outside the three-point line!

The next second.

"Wha...?! "

Tsuchiya Daiga suddenly runs laterally along the three-point line.

Following closely, the timing of the basketball's arrival is perfect!

Outside the three-point line.

Tsuchiya Daiga catches and shoots!

Of course, in an official game, Tsuchiya did not attempt the fadeaway three-pointer he learned from Yukimiya Kazuma during the Seirin practice game.

Instead, he used the push from this magical assist to shoot a more secure "catch-and-shoot."

Swish~

The basketball goes into the net!

Senjinkan vs. Shutoku.

The biggest mismatch is Tsuchiya Daiga against Kimura Shinsuke.

Kimura Shinsuke's advantage lies in his strength, second only to Otsubo Taisuke, while his weaknesses are his corresponding speed and height; at 187cm, he doesn't even dunk when attacking, to the point where he has been questioned multiple times by Miyaji Kiyoshi, "Why don't you dunk?"

And every time, he would innocently defend himself, saying "Dunking isn't something he~ can just do whenever he wants."

The tactic Senjinkan set up before the game was to rely on Yukimiya Kazuma's ability to focus on defending Midorima and helping on Otsubo Taisuke, while on the offensive end, Tsuchiya Daiga would target Kimura Shinsuke.

Facing this open-book tactic, Shutoku has absolutely no way out; they can't even switch defenses.

If they switch in the taller and faster Miyaji Kiyoshi, the other side would become Oguchi Ryuji against Kimura Shinsuke, and at that point, Yukimiya Kazuma's passing, assisting Oguchi Ryuji, would utilize his best skill—speed breakthroughs—which Kimura Shinsuke also wouldn't be able to defend.

He is in such an awkward position on the court: defending Tsuchiya Daiga, he can't stop the shot due to lack of height; defending Oguchi Ryuji, he can't stop the breakthrough due to lack of speed.

But actually, this is the first time Kimura Shinsuke has faced this situation.

After all, not everyone has a 196cm power forward who excels at shooting.

Furthermore...

If it were just that, it would be fine.

Tsuchiya Daiga is tall, but in normal circumstances, Kimura Shinsuke's 187cm would definitely be enough to provide interference; the problem is that everything just now was based on the assistance of Yukimiya Kazuma's "Pass-Control Master," making Tsuchiya Daiga's shooting faster and more accurate, and Oguchi Ryuji's breakthroughs "carried" to a higher speed.

This harshly demands that Kimura Shinsuke must possess higher and faster abilities.

The only one who can solve this predicament is Midorima, yet he is also trapped by Yukimiya Kazuma on the defensive end, and along with him, Otsubo Taisuke is also trapped.

As the passing core, Yukimiya Kazuma shuttles back and forth in the middle, sometimes crossing the free-throw line into the paint, sometimes leaving the paint to arrive outside the three-point line; Otsubo Taisuke, this tall, strength-based center, is being pulled around until he's numb, forcing Midorima Shintaro to pay constant attention to helping on Yukimiya Kazuma.

As for letting Midorima simply defend Yukimiya Kazuma directly to free up Otsubo Taisuke...

Midorima still clearly remembers this guy's confrontation with Murasakibara in the paint; although he doesn't want to admit it, in a certain sense, Yukimiya Kazuma is actually a "pure" center.

So much so that now the interior defense needs Otsubo Taisuke, and the perimeter must be helped by him.

He is simply powerless to help Kimura Shinsuke.

Otsubo Taisuke: "..."

Phew...

Since that's the case.

He can only make up for it on offense.

Shutoku's offensive possession.

Midorima pushes up his glasses and runs forward along the middle.

Yukimiya Kazuma notices that the opponent seems to have no intention of catching the ball in the backcourt at all.

Is it because he considered the weakness that the preparation time for ultra-long three-pointers increases with distance?

Or something else?

Very quickly.

Midorima Shintaro arrives at Senjinkan's half-court like a regular player and begins to run and position himself, taking Yukimiya Kazuma with him.

Just at this moment...

The vision of the "Pass-Control Master" suddenly captures the unusual movement of the Shutoku players on the court.

And it is a team-wide movement.

Yukimiya Kazuma: "!?"

Otsubo Taisuke and Kimura Shinsuke stand on either side of the free-throw line.

Then, Otsubo Taisuke pulls out to the three-point line and receives Takao Kazunari's pass.

And after completing the passing task, Takao Kazunari immediately runs to the baseline to set a screen for Midorima Shintaro, who is suddenly accelerating, and the latter is running from the baseline toward the free-throw line.

Then...

After a less-than-ideal screen, Takao Kazunari immediately moves outside the three-point line to receive Otsubo Taisuke's pass, looking like he is already prepared to pass.

The moment Midorima passes through the free-throw line, Otsubo Taisuke and Kimura Shinsuke, the two Shutoku interior players, simultaneously set a screen in the middle; a wide wall suddenly stands before Yukimiya Kazuma's eyes.

Because this screen does not have a clear movement line from beginning to end like before, but rather waits for Midorima to pass through before suddenly "closing the door."

To be fair, this sudden "closing the door" motion is easily called as a moving screen, but Shutoku clearly grasps the timing well, completing the "closing" motion almost at the exact moment Yukimiya Kazuma is about to pass through following Midorima.

Otherwise, once the two bodies are entangled and the "closing" isn't finished, any further movement would be a moving screen.

The suddenness of this play, as well as the width of the screen, causes Yukimiya Kazuma to fail to avoid it in advance via his vision, and he is stunned for a moment.

This is...

An elevator door?

Whoosh~!

Midorima turns around to catch the ball, the ball following his heart.

"Yukimiya..."

"Right here, as promised..."

"I'll send you defeat!"

Midorima releases his shot, the super-high arc passing through the incandescent light of the dome; that "long" wait unconsciously exerts pressure on one's heart.

Swish~!

The orange light falls rapidly, like a kingfisher diving into a lake to catch its prey; until the basketball hits the ground with a thud, the calm net only ripples slightly upward!

Midorima looks at Yukimiya Kazuma with sharp eyes.

Paranoid...?

Watch clearly!

Midorima's three-pointer, with an arc so outrageous it looks like he's trying to hit the ceiling, makes many spectators seeing a Shutoku game for the first time widen their eyes.

"What kind of shot is this..."

.... . 0

"How much strength does it take to shoot this high?"

"The problem is, how can it be this accurate when shot like that?!"

"Did you guys see that? That was even a step further than the three-point line."

"That counts as normal range; Midorima Shintaro has even shot from half-court, and many times at that; rather, anything within half-court is Midorima Shintaro's normal range."

Because since the preliminaries, Midorima hasn't shown his maximum range, so many people don't know that Midorima's range has long since covered the entire court.

And Yukimiya Kazuma also understands from this shot why Midorima didn't bring out the full-court three-pointer.

Clearly, the completion of this screen requires the "narrow" space of the half-court to satisfy the timely running that provides support for Midorima.

Yukimiya Kazuma: "..."

— Author's Notes —

·· 0 Seeking flowers 0 ·········