Chapter 276: Do Everything Humanly Possible for His Three-Pointer!

Izumitetsu vs Shuutoku.

The biggest mismatch in matchups is Tsuchiya Dahe against Kimura Shinji.

Kimura Shinji's advantage lies in his strength, second only to Tsuboi Taisho, while his weakness is the corresponding speed and height; at 187 centimeters, he never even dunks when attacking, leading Miyaji Kiyoshi to question him multiple times, 'Why don't you dunk?'

And every time, he would innocently defend himself, 'Dunking isn't something you can just do whenever you want.'

The tactics set by Izumitetsu before the match were to rely on Yukimiya Kazuma's abilities to focus entirely on defending Midorima and help defend Tsuboi Taisho, while on the offensive end, Tsuchiya Dahe would attack the Kimura Shinji matchup.

Facing this open tactic, Shuutoku has absolutely no way to respond; they cannot even switch defenses.

If they switch Miyaji Kiyoshi, who is taller and faster, over there, the other side would become Dakou Longzhi against Kimura Shinji; at that point, Yukimiya Kazuma's passing would aid Dakou Longzhi with his most skilled speed-driven drives, which Kimura Shinji still could not defend.

On the court, he is in such an awkward position: defending Tsuchiya Dahe, he cannot stop the shot due to insufficient height; defending Dakou Longzhi, he cannot stop the drive due to insufficient speed.

But in fact, this is the first time Kimura Shinji has faced such a situation.

After all, not every team has a 196-centimeter power forward skilled in shooting.

Moreover...

If it were only that, it would be tolerable.

Tsuchiya Dahe is tall, yes, and under normal circumstances, Kimura Shinji's 187 centimeters would definitely be enough to provide interference on a shot, but the problem is that everything just now was based on the support of Yukimiya Kazuma, the 'Passing and Control Master'; Tsuchiya Dahe's shooting will become faster and more accurate, and Dakou Longzhi's drives will also be 'led' to accelerate.

This demands harshly of Kimura Shinji that he must possess higher and faster abilities.

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

As the passing core, Yukimiya Kazuma shuttles up and down the middle lane, sometimes crossing the free-throw line into the paint, sometimes leaving the paint to come out beyond the three-point line; Tsuboi Taisho, this tall, power-type center, is worn out by the stretching, forcing Midorima Shintaro to constantly pay attention to helping defend Yukimiya Kazuma.

As for having Midorima simply guard Yukimiya Kazuma directly to free up Tsuboi Taisho...

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

So now, the paint defense requires Tsuboi Taisho, and the perimeter must have him help defend.

Absolutely no power to help Kimura Shinji.

Tsuboi Taisho: "..."

Hah...

In that case.

We can only get it back on offense.

Shuutoku's offensive possession.

Midorima pushed his glasses up and ran forward along the middle lane.

Yukimiya Kazuma noticed that the opponent seemed to have no intention of receiving the ball in the backcourt at all.

Was it considering the weakness that ultra-long three-pointers require longer preparation time as the distance increases?

Or something else?

Quickly.

Midorima Shintaro, like a normal player, arrived at Izumitetsu's half-court and started running screens for Yukimiya Kazuma.

Just then...

The vision of the 'Passing and Control Master' suddenly captured the unusual movement of all the Shuutoku players on the court.

And it was collective.

Yukimiya Kazuma: "!?"

Tsuboi Taisho and Kimura Shinji stood on either side of the free-throw line.

Then, Tsuboi Taisho pulled out beyond the three-point line and received the pass from Takao Kazunari.

And after completing the passing task, Takao Kazunari immediately ran down the baseline to set a screen for Midorima Shintaro, who suddenly accelerated; the latter was running from the baseline toward the free-throw line.

Then...

After a less-than-ideal screen, Takao Kazunari immediately moved beyond the three-point line, received the pass from Tsuboi Taisho, and appeared ready to pass.

The instant Midorima crossed the free-throw line, Tsuboi Taisho and Kimura Shinji, the two Shuutoku interior players, simultaneously set a screen in the middle; a wide wall suddenly appeared before Yukimiya Kazuma's eyes.

Because this screen was not like the previous ones with a clear path from start to finish, but rather waited for Midorima to pass through, then suddenly 'closed the door.'

To be fair, this sudden 'closing the door' action is easily called a moving screen, but obviously Shuutoku managed the timing very well, almost completing the 'closing the door' action at the exact moment Yukimiya Kazuma was about to follow Midorima through.

Otherwise, once both sides' bodies got entangled, if the 'closing the door' wasn't finished yet, any further movement would be a moving screen.

The suddenness of this shot, and the width of the screen, caused Yukimiya Kazuma to be unable to avoid it in advance through his vision; his whole body froze for a moment.

This is...

The elevator doors?

Whoosh~!

·· 0 flowers 0 ·········

Midorima turned back to receive the ball; the ball arrived with his will.

"Yukimiya..."

"Right here, as agreed..."

"I present you with defeat!"

Midorima released his shot; the extremely high arc passed through the Bai Chidengguang of the dome, and that 'long' wait would unconsciously apply pressure to the bottom of one's heart.

Swish~!

The orange light fell rapidly, like a kingfisher diving into the lake to catch its prey; only when the basketball thudded to the ground did the calm net ripple upward slightly!

Midorima looked sharply at Yukimiya Kazuma with fierce eyebrows and eyes.

Obsession...?

Look at it clearly for me!

Midorima's three-pointer, with an arc so absurd it seemed aimed at the ceiling, made many spectators seeing Shūtoku play for the first time widen their eyes.

"What kind of shot is this..."

..... 0

"How much force does it take to shoot that high?"

"The question is, how can it be so accurate even when shot like that?!"

"Did you see? It was even a step beyond the three-point line just now."

"That counts as a normal range. Midorima Makoto has even shot from half-court, and many times; in fact, anything within half-court is Midorima Makoto's normal range."

Because Midorima had not yet demonstrated his maximum range since the preliminary qualifiers, many people did not know that Midorima's range actually covered the entire court.

And Yukimiya Kazuma understood from this single shot why Midorima had not unleashed his full-court three-pointer.

Clearly, the completion of this pick-and-roll required the 'narrow' space of half-court to satisfy the timely movement needed to support Midorima.

Yukimiya Kazuma: "..."