Chapter 199

A clumsy attempt at reverse psychology that left the team members speechless.

But the effect was unexpectedly good.

"I'm not scared. Isn't it just passing? Doesn't it just take hands to do it?"

Murasakibara’s retort directly threw his teammate Kensuke Fukui under the bus as well.

The latter was annoyed, but not angry, because Murasakibara was just that kind of person.

Although he usually had a lazy, indifferent appearance.

The people at Yosen knew that Murasakibara had an unimaginable desire to win.

Murasakibara, he super-duper didn't want to lose!

Back to the game.

Yosen’s changes had significant effects.

On the first possession, Murasakibara used a bulldozer-style drive to knock the Kirisaki Daichi interior into disarray.

Tiandao killed out from the flank again, concentrating all his strength to collide with Murasakibara, this "big truck."

*Boom!*

People seemed to hear the loud noise of steel colliding, their adrenaline spiking from the stimulation of this primitive violence.

"Atsushi!" Tatsuya Himuro saw it and hurried over to assist.

Atsushi Murasakibara saw him, gritted his teeth, but still tossed the ball to Tatsuya Himuro.

"Don't even think about it!" Hiroshi Yamazaki lunged over immediately.

Only to find that the basketball, just like before, passed through his palm and flew into the net.

It was indeed the Mirage Shot again!

A mirage is an optical phenomenon that usually occurs in hot, windless weather with strong sunlight, where light rays create a shimmering, water-like appearance.

However, in Japanese, "mirage" is sometimes used to refer to a "fata morgana"!

Hiroshi Yamazaki had absolutely no way to deal with this move.

*Swish!*

The ball went in; Yosen seemed to have found a way to open up their offense.

"Really troublesome."

Tiandao exhaled; the skill level of the Kirisaki Daichi players was already excellent, but compared to Tatsuya Himuro, they were still a bit lacking.

If that guy Haizaki had been on the roster at this time, Yosen would only be able to let them slaughter them.

"You are not Tiandao; you alone cannot stop me!" Tatsuya Himuro’s expression was calm, having regained a bit of confidence.

After all, he had learned of his own mediocrity long ago; even if it hurt inside, he wouldn't lose his reason.

In other words, he had already accepted the fact that he was inferior to Tiandao.

On the side, Makoto Hanamiya sneered, "How come you're giving up so quickly? Didn't you say at the beginning that you were going to take down that bastard Tiandao?"

"You're even worse than your idiot brother; at least that double-eyebrow guy wouldn't give up so easily."

His lips were practically coated in arsenic; the words he spoke went straight to Tatsuya Himuro’s heart, hitting him where it hurt.

Tatsuya Himuro clenched his fists and turned to run back on defense without a word.

*Beep~*

In the blink of an eye, the first quarter ended.

The score was 28:20, with Kirisaki Daichi temporarily leading Yosen by 8 points.

Ever since Yosen started playing that inside-out combination, their offense had become smoother.

Therefore, the game had also become more intense.

Masako Araki gave the players full affirmation, showering praise on the big kid, Atsushi Murasakibara.

Murasakibara acted dismissive, but he was actually quite happy inside.

If only it could always be this easy.

Murasakibara actually wasn't stupid; he knew his friend’s capabilities better than anyone.

Just as Tiandao said, they had been playing basketball together since the first day they joined the basketball club.

They were both chosen by Kozo Shirogane, becoming the two great gates guarding the Teiko interior and exterior.

They were together during scrimmages, together during practice games, and together on and off the court during matches.

In his memory, he seemed to have always been standing by Tiandao’s side.

With him there, he never had to consider other problems; just grab the rebounds he was supposed to, score the points he was supposed to, and doing his own job was enough.

Now, however, only he was left.

"If this goes on, it’s not looking good."

On the other side, the Kirisaki Daichi players were also complaining bitterly.

Don't look at the fact that they were leading; that was because Tiandao’s passing cleared the path for them.

Tiandao scored 12 points and added 5 assists in the single quarter; of the 28 points Kirisaki Daichi scored, 22 were related to him.

"That’s true; if it weren't for Tiandao, I really wouldn't know how to break their absolute defense," Kentaro Seto said, wiping his sweat.

He performed quite well in the first quarter, scoring 6 points, but he knew his own situation.

Several times facing Murasakibara, he was knocked almost flying by the Generation of Miracles center.

He was still covered in bruises.

"Are we going to keep playing like this in the second quarter?" They turned their eyes toward Tiandao and Makoto Hanamiya.

They were used to following the arrangements of the two generations of Bad Boy Army leaders.

"Turn up the intensity on them." Makoto Hanamiya advocated for violent basketball.

Tiandao had no objections; iron-blooded defense was the style of Kirisaki Daichi.

But besides that...

"Let’s change the lineup slightly for the second quarter. Furuhashi, you’re in for the second quarter."

Kojiro Furuhashi nodded, propping up his dead-fish eyes.

He asked, "But who to replace?"

"Replace Seto."

"Oh... huh?"

The Bad Boys were shocked; if they replaced Kentaro Seto, who would play center?

"No way." They collectively turned their eyes toward Tiandao.

The break between quarters passed quickly.

"Huh?"

"Kirisaki Daichi doesn't want a center?"

People were stunned to find that Kirisaki Daichi had put out a lineup without a center for the second quarter.

This was almost impossible in basketball of this era.

It could be said that in current basketball games, a team could be without a point guard or a shooting guard, but it could not be without a center.

How was this any different from giving up the paint?

And in basketball of this era, losing the paint was equivalent to death!

"Death Lineup!"

Nitsube Nakatani saw Kirisaki Daichi’s intention immediately.

This lineup seemed to be taking a dangerous path, but it contained astonishing explosive power.

During the joint training phase, Kirisaki Daichi had also brought out such a small-ball lineup.

Facing Shutoku, they exploded for 34 points in a single quarter.

With this lineup, Kirisaki Daichi’s counterattack speed could be further increased, faster even than Seirin, who advocated for run-and-gun tactics.

It looked like they intended to compete with Yosen for the game’s tempo.

One side focused on set plays, while the other was the team with the strongest counterattacks.

One slow, one fast; whoever could seize the game’s tempo would be able to occupy the initiative.