Chapter 21: No way? No way someone can't dunk?!

With Naka Hidehiro's playing style, Yukimiya Kazuma tried to block several times but returned empty-handed.

Yukimiya Kazuma expressed understanding of this. After all, in the case of such a large score deficit, cautiously pursuing success rate was understandable, but for himself, it was not a good thing.

Brushing blocks on Naka Hidehiro was too difficult!

Yukimiya Kazuma complained in his heart, but was still thinking about looking for opportunities.

After thinking for a long time, Yukimiya Kazuma suddenly thought of the ball that accidentally 'provoked' Aomine with a block in the last game.

Thinking of this...

Yukimiya Kazuma suddenly looked up and provoked Naka Hidehiro: "Hey, Ace-kun, what's the use of floating outside and shooting? Even if you shoot at the end, won't I still interfere with it, and whether it goes in or not depends on luck?"

"No chance."

"Why not give it a try, come in and play~"

"The closer to the basket, the higher the shooting percentage, and if it's a dunk, isn't the shooting percentage higher?"

"..."

"Hey!"

"No way?"

"No way someone can't dunk?!"

Yukimiya Kazuma, who suddenly started chattering, left Naka Hidehiro confused.

From the beginning of the game to now, Yukimiya Kazuma gave him the impression of being a particularly calm and wise type, but he didn't expect that once he opened his mouth, it would be a provocative type that made people particularly angry.

"Come in and play, 1v1!"

"I guarantee there's no help defense!"

Naka Hidehiro: "..."

Naka Hidehiro ignored him.

Because point guard Haruhi Yu had been pressing tirelessly throughout the first quarter, he was subbed out to rest as soon as the second quarter began.

Shinmatsu Osamu had originally intended to bring in a backup power forward and move Yukimiya Kazuma to the point guard position to reduce his defensive burden, but at Yukimiya’s suggestion, he subbed in another point guard instead.

As a result.

The one matching up against He Xiuyang on the defensive end remained Yukimiya Kazuma.

On the court.

Yukimiya was thinking about how to complete his badge mission.

Given the opponent’s shot selection, blocking his shots cleanly was clearly difficult. Even if the opponent took the shot, it would be hard for Yukimiya to block a cautious, fading jump shot over a screen, even with his best effort; at most, he could only provide interference.

Under normal circumstances, providing sufficient interference would actually be enough.

But the key was that the current situation was "not normal."

He had to farm blocks on He Xiuyang.

And it wasn't just a matter of one or two.

Imagining a scenario where one could farm a large number of blocks, it would likely only be possible if the opponent kept attacking the rim.

With the purple badge "I Love Blocking Dunks," the success rate of blocks against dunks increased by 50%, so the safest bet was to make the opponent choose to dunk.

That was why Yukimiya’s intention in provoking He Xiuyang earlier was precisely to goad him into dunking, thereby triggering the badge effect to steadily farm blocks. However, no matter how much he used sarcasm and snide remarks, the opponent remained unmoved.

He Xiuyang wasn't stupid. Given the height at which Yukimiya blocked shots, plus the presence of the even taller Taketō Masaki inside, wouldn't charging in to dunk against such defense be asking to be blocked?

Although playing loosely by using screens resulted in ugly production and shooting percentages, at least he wouldn't get blocked. If he wasn't blocked, there was still hope of scoring; if he missed, he could still fight for the rebound.

Getting blocked...

That was just handing over possession.

So no matter how one looked at it, the current offensive mode was more rational.

Soon, the first half ended.

Bai Shui Hall led Left Jia Middle School 56:23, a 33-point lead.

Based on this performance, even though Left Jia Middle School’s overall strength was stronger than yesterday’s Enshōji, Bai Shui Hall would likely replicate the 60-point gap.

Yukimiya Kazuma finished the half with 10 points, 14 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 steals. Overall, his stats were comparable to yesterday’s.

Furthermore, looking at the flow of the game, Yukimiya presented a beauty of stable performance, regardless of how the opponent adjusted their defense.

Left Jia Middle School’s defensive pressure on him was definitely greater than yesterday’s. Under these circumstances, the fact that Yukimiya’s half-time stats remained almost unchanged only served to prove this point.

Shinmatsu Osamu could not be more satisfied with Yukimiya’s performance.

Yukimiya played very selflessly, with a pass-first style; his ball handling and passing were very steady, with almost no turnovers.

Moreover, Yukimiya was also very diligent on the defensive end. His man-to-man defense was strong, and his help-defense coverage was vast. Relying on his excellent vision, he could balance help-defense and primary-defense simultaneously, greatly enhancing the team’s overall defensive intensity.

The second half began.

Shinmatsu Osamu let Yukimiya lead the bench players.

This was Yukimiya’s suggestion. Nominally, the purpose was to run more tactics; he felt his previous point guard experience was too limited, and playing against an opponent like Left Jia, where the intensity wasn't too high, was a good opportunity.

However, as for the real purpose, Yukimiya was calculating in his heart; it was actually to lead the weaker bench lineup, reduce the defensive strength on paper, and lure He Xiuyang to attack deeper inside.

But Shinmatsu Osamu was clearly moved by Yukimiya. To be honest, the little old man felt a bit touched and a bit regretful at this moment; such an ambitious player with such talent, yet he hadn't trained him personally, and in the end, it all relied on the individual’s talent explosion.

He felt that the sense of achievement in his junior high coaching career had suddenly been halved.

The backup center for Bai Shui Hall definitely had much worse rim protection than Taketō Masaki.

After all, there was a significant height difference; he was even 1 centimeter shorter than the 184cm Yukimiya, and his defensive footwork wasn't as good as Taketō’s.

One could tell from the tactical adjustments He Xiuyang made during his offense that this player was the type who knew how to read the situation. Depending on the opponent, he would adjust his playstyle very cautiously; he was definitely not the type to stubbornly force his way in.

Although He Xiuyang had been forced by Yukimiya to use a large number of mid-to-long-range jump shots in this game, his drives into the paint to attack the rim accounted for a significant portion of his scoring in past games.

If given the chance, He Xiuyang would, like his "roar," truly display the scoring skills he was good at.

And this way.

It played right into Yukimiya’s hands.

The second half began.

With neither Taketō Masaki nor Hanain Ryō on the court, Bai Shui Hall’s interior defense dropped a notch. He Xiuyang launched consecutive attacks toward the paint, but pressured by Yukimiya, most of his interior attacks ended in drive-and-kicks, playing even more steadily and rationally than Yukimiya.

Left Jia Middle School’s scoring environment was indeed much better than in the first half, but Yukimiya, leading Bai Shui Hall’s bench, was also scoring continuously.

The pass-and-control master Yukimiya truly let everyone on the bench experience the thrill of a significantly increased shooting percentage.

Bai Shui Hall’s possession.

Yukimiya ran a pick-and-roll with the backup center, passing accurately to the rolling center.

However, the next second.

The help-defender He Xiuyang appeared in front of the Bai Shui Hall center. Gritting his teeth and not wanting to waste the opportunity to perform, he still finished the offensive move while shouldering He Xiuyang.

The "Pass-and-Control Master" ability could increase shooting percentage by 20%. In other words, even if this backup center’s current shooting percentage was interfered with to 0.

Yukimiya could still give him a guaranteed 20% shooting percentage.

Sure enough...

The backup center shot while shouldering He Xiuyang; the ball dangerously circled the rim before finally rolling into the basket.

While celebrating with the excited backup center, Yukimiya didn't forget to keep provoking He Xiuyang. Perhaps it was Yukimiya’s persistent sarcasm that touched the opponent.

Or perhaps He Xiuyang finally determined that Bai Shui Hall’s weak interior meant he could try to attack to the end.

On the next possession, he used a screen to trap Yukimiya and then drove into the paint.

The backup center’s defensive positioning was off.

He Xiuyang jumped. Yukimiya, prepared for a long time, had already captured He Xiuyang’s movements with his excellent vision. He almost simultaneously avoided Left Jia’s screen but gave up on the interception at the critical moment.

Clang~!

He Xiuyang successfully dunked, and the roar he had been holding back for so long finally reappeared.

Head tilted back, arms raised!

"Ha!"

Yukimiya performed the act of failing to block in time excellently, and He Xiuyang’s roar echoed in his ears.

In fact, if Yukimiya had followed up just now, he definitely could have completed the block. He only considered the next step: if he gave He Xiuyang a block directly, it was very likely that He Xiuyang wouldn't continue to attack the rim afterward.

Conversely, if he let one go first, He Xiuyang would attack again on the next ball.

By then, if he blocked him, his psychology might develop a certain illusion, and then he could feed the fish while setting the bait.

And He Xiuyang did not disappoint Yukimiya’s psychological analysis and careful performance.

The next possession.

When He Xiuyang drove into the paint again, Yukimiya bypassed the screen and followed, leaping up instantly!

Just like the golden "Pass-and-Control Master" badge that flickered during passing, the moment he jumped to block, "I Love Blocking Dunks" also glowed with a faint purple light!

At this moment, Yukimiya felt filled with power, and his jumping height seemed to have increased a bit.

Block success rate increased by 50%!

Slap~!

The suddenly soaring Yukimiya gave He Xiuyang a massive block.

The basketball flew out of the baseline.

Yukimiya: "...!"

Success!

However, the next second.

The system prompt in his mind timely extinguished his excitement.

[In the match against Left Jia Middle School, completed a block on He Xiuyang]

[Drawing badge, current probability 10%...]

[...]

[Draw failed]

Yukimiya couldn't hold it in for a moment and shouted at He Xiuyang: "Ah!!!"

Failed!

Damn it!

On the other side.

He Xiuyang was also stunned.

Here in Japan, regardless of how eccentric a junior high player’s personality might be, shouting loudly in an opponent’s face was relatively rare, especially before a key shot unrelated to the game’s outcome; being this excited was even rarer.

He himself was already unique in junior high, and his eyes were naturally quite fierce; he was always the one shouting at others. This was the first time he had been shouted at in the face, and he had never received such treatment. He immediately glared at the other person with those narrow, long eyes, full of momentum.

Seeing the fierce He Xiuyang, Yukimiya suddenly put on a strange smile:

"If you have the ability, come and dunk over me!"

"Come on!"

Looking at the smiling Yukimiya, He Xiuyang felt his brain wasn't working well enough.

What on earth does this guy mean?

He had been sarcastically goading him to dunk before, and now he had escalated it to dunking over him.

In He Xiuyang’s basketball career, this was the first time someone had asked to be dunked over with a strange smile.