Chapter 17: Boring, turn it off

Yuta Shan-naka's strength had already been proven at last year's National Tournament.

When encountering a heavy-duty guard, he would rely solely on this explosive first step to break his opponent down in mere minutes.

But when facing a guy like Jingyan Tiandao, whose speed could keep up with him and whose basketball age was severely inconsistent with his actual age, his overly simple breakthrough would become a weakness.

Jingyan Tiandao reached out from behind, like a ghost's claw, and cleanly swiped the ball away from his opponent's dribble.

Immediately after, Jingyan Tiandao squeezed past his opponent and started running.

"Pass it here, Kuroko!"

Kuroko was lucky enough to pick up the ball, and while he was still thinking about his next move, Jingyan Tiandao had already sprinted across the half-court.

Without hesitation, Kuroko threw the ball toward the front court with force.

A member of the Second String was wary of Jingyan Tiandao and managed to get back in time to defend.

A 1-on-1 in the front court!

Not obsessed with elegant iron-oxide, Jingyan Tiandao realistically accelerated toward the enemy's restricted area.

A feint of dropping his shoulder before heading to the right, while his true intention was the left.

With one shake and one drive, he had cleanly bypassed the defender.

This breakthrough by Jingyan Tiandao showcased his excellent body balance and coordination.

If his body were stiff, this change of direction would be quite slow and wouldn't fool anyone.

"Swish!"

Facing an empty basket, Jingyan Tiandao made a safe choice and banked it in.

He could dunk, but it was a bit of a struggle, and it was prone to the kind of massive fail Curry might have.

The point gap became 6 points!

As a sports reporter for "Tokyo Sports" specifically in charge of the youth section, Jun Kubo would go to various middle schools at this time every year to conduct interviews and records, writing preview articles for each school.

A powerhouse like Teikou was his main target.

Especially after receiving news that the little giant Atsushi Murasakibara had also come to Teikou, he directly chose Teikou as his first stop.

He really wanted to know if the first-year Atsushi Murasakibara could maintain his dominance from elementary school.

If he could, then for Teikou, it would be a huge reinforcement.

Teikou already had Shuzo Nijimura, their ace player, who had already put up star-level performances as a first-year.

If another reliable forward came along, Teikou's interior would be qualified to be one of the strongest in the nation.

The result.

Atsushi Murasakibara did not disappoint him; even facing Teikou's Second String, his rim protection ability still played a decisive role.

Under his guardianship, the restricted area of Atsushi Murasakibara's team could be described as impregnable, and he still managed to beat the Second String while leading a group of newcomers.

Even though his low-post technique was still very raw—scoring either by dunking or two-handed dunking—his outstanding physical attributes still allowed him to wreak havoc in the paint.

With this powerful interior addition, Teikou would definitely have more impact in this year's National Tournament.

However.

Just when he thought Teikou's surprises were limited to this, on another court, Teikou's bench mobster Yuta Shan-naka was actually being blown out by someone.

"This jumping ability, this speed, this insight, this steal, hiss..."

When Jingyan Tiandao completed three consecutive steals against Yuta Shan-naka, Jun Kubo gasped.

Yuta Shan-naka was no nobody; he averaged 16.3 points per game in last year's National Tournament and was the most important scorer during Teikou's rotation stage.

His masterpiece was the ticket-deciding match for last year's National Tournament, where he faced the opponent's main guard and scored at will, racking up 30 points in a single game to help Teikou break into the National Tournament.

Yet, such a top-tier scorer had missed 3 times in a row in front of a first-year freshman—no, it should be 4 times now.

"This is completely an exterior gatekeeper, and an exterior gatekeeper with scoring ability at that!"

Offense wins applause, defense wins championships.

This philosophy had already deeply ingrained itself in the minds of every fan in this era.

With the gifted Atsushi Murasakibara in the interior and a spider-spirit like Jingyan Tiandao on the exterior, Shuzo Nijimura could fully devote more energy to the offensive end in the new season.

If these two brats could maintain this level by the time they reached the National Tournament.

Just thinking about it, Jun Kubo felt this year's Teikou was terrifying.

What Jun Kubo was thinking was exactly what Kozo Shirogane was thinking.

As a former national player, he fully understood the importance of defense.

If a team lacks defense, its stability cannot be very high. Upsets are a common occurrence.

In a BO1 format tournament like the National Tournament, lacking defense would be fatal.

What's more, that kid Tiandao wasn't just a pure defensive gatekeeper; he possessed super-strong counterattack awareness and decent shooting ability.

Don't look at the fact that Jingyan Tiandao missed his first shot; his form was cool.

That shooting posture, elegant to the point of falling apart, could definitely not be practiced without years of brick-laying training!

As long as his shooting percentage didn't drop below a pathetic 40%, having counterattacks, shooting, and defense was completely enough.

Kozo Shirogane watched Jingyan Tiandao, who immediately pressed his hands down after scoring to signal everyone to stay calm, and had already outlined Teikou's future starting lineup in his mind.

Atsushi Murasakibara and Jingyan Tiandao guarding the position, and the most versatile power forward Shuzo Nijimura going to attack the city and seize the stronghold.

Offense and defense as one!

Perfect!

At this moment, on the court.

The Second String was caught off guard by the sudden offensive high tide of the first-years.

Mainly because the team's top scorer Yuta Shan-naka was locked down, and without his breakthroughs, they couldn't find a better way for a while.

Crucially, Yuta Shan-naka was clearly a bit hot-headed now, as if he were at odds with Jingyan Tiandao, insisting on scoring over Jingyan Tiandao.

But before he could even step inside the three-point line, Jingyan Tiandao had already stuck to him.

This time, he didn't even give Yuta Shan-naka a chance to start.

Seeing this, Yuta Shan-naka could only turn sideways to protect the ball, blocking Jingyan Tiandao while looking for an opportunity to break through.

But he discovered that even as a first-year, Jingyan Tiandao's physical confrontation was above his own. ===== CHAPTER 19 =====