Chapter 67: Full Firepower

"Get back on defense!"

While Kasamatsu Yukio was stunned, their head coach on the sidelines had already roared.

You ask what Teiko's most feared style of play is this year?

It's not their pick-and-roll, nor is it the triangle offense after the change.

What makes Teiko most feared is their defensive counterattack!

From the qualifiers until now, Teiko's average points scored through counterattacks is a staggering 26.9 points, more than double the average value.

Averaging nearly 30 points, with an efficiency as high as 90%!

It can be said that any team wanting to defeat Teiko has to strictly guard against their fast-break counterattacks.

As soon as Kasamatsu Yukio landed, he turned and started sprinting.

But he found that the Teiko players were even faster than him, swarming toward the front court.

They were extremely fast, all faster than their teammates.

Soon, Teiko got a 4-on-3 opportunity in the front court.

Kumamoto Iwa's weakness was exposed in this counterattack; when Murasakibara rushed into the restricted area, Kumamoto Iwa had just crossed the half-court.

This is the weakness of a floor-bound heavy center; they can't defend against counterattacks.

The monster suddenly rose high, overlooking the entire court, enveloping the entire basketball hoop.

Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi's palm, wrapped in black flames, threw the ball hard toward the basket.

"Bang!"

Accompanied by an explosion, Murasakibara successfully completed an alley-oop two-handed dunk.

Without Kumamoto Iwa, no one on the opponent's side could match Murasakibara.

A low-post killer, Teiko also had one.

4:2!

Teiko completed the turnaround lightly.

Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi turned around and walked back on defense with his signature grandpa stroll.

Passing by Kasamatsu Yukio, he said to him, "Congratulations, your stop-and-jump shot just now will definitely make the top ten plays."

Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi especially liked to talk trash on the court; the opponent gets angry, he gets happy, a double sense of satisfaction!

Kasamatsu Yukio wasn't stupid; of course, he knew Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi was being sarcastic.

His shot was destroyed, so how could it make the top ten plays?

As a background prop for the top ten plays?

That was exactly what Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi meant.

There was no big screen at the venue, so Kasamatsu Yukio couldn't see clearly what had happened just now.

However, he had studied Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi's game footage and knew that unconsciously, like other players who faced Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi, he had been stolen by the opponent's lightning-fast cut.

"The timing of that steal was really good!"

"No wonder he could average 8.8 steals in the qualifiers. Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi's excellent wingspan makes his defensive area larger than most perimeter players."

"Offensive players facing his defense must be careful and cautious with every choice."

The two commentators were watching Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi's game for the first time and were both startled by this genius who had only just emerged in the Tokyo region this year.

Fans were shouting Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi's name wildly; his cheerleaders were more numerous than all other teams combined.

Many women were attracted by his looks; not understanding basketball at all, they all ran to the scene to cheer for Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi.

Seeing this, Shirogane Goro calmed down slightly.

Although the start was unfavorable, first with a jump ball violation, and then being easily scored on by the opponent for 2 points.

But for now, it seemed the rhythm was still in Teiko's hands, and the situation was in their favor.

The Kanagawa people couldn't defend against their tsunami-like offensive.

With the score turned around, Kasamatsu Yukio became more cautious.

He didn't continue to go it alone; he was never a selfish player like Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi.

The opponent was playing cautiously, and Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi couldn't easily steal the ball.

But having already planted the seeds of fear in the opponent's heart, Kasamatsu Yukio had to be extremely vigilant when facing him next.

They continued to give the ball to Kumamoto Iwa.

However, his close-range jump shot hit the iron this time.

Murasakibara still wasn't used to this rhythm-type inside player; he felt this piece of pork belly in front of him was too strange, and he could only rely purely on reaction to defend and cause interference to the opponent.

There was a sense of European players versus American players.

Often when you watch European players, their speed isn't fast, and they can't fly or burrow into the ground, but they can score through changes in rhythm.

This kind of player gives fans the feeling that they play basketball very intelligently.

Jokic and Doncic are the representatives today, and an earlier batch of players included Manu Ginobili and others.

Murasakibara now seemed like a black-and-hard player, being played around in circles.

After defending this attack, Teiko immediately counterattacked.

You rely on a lump of fat under the basket to play positional offense, and we can naturally bully that lump of fat for running slowly by playing counterattacks.

There is no absolutely invincible tactic in basketball, nor is there a style-clash argument; whoever performs well wins.

However, Kasamatsu Yukio and the others got back on defense very promptly this time; they were clearly prepared.

Teiko ran the tactic again; Nijimura Shuzo, Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi, and Midorima Shintaro formed a triangle position, reflecting each other.

This time, Midorima set an off-ball screen for Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi, and the two ran past each other.

Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi, who ran to the corner, didn't stop; seeing the opponent following closely, he took the opportunity to cut into the inside.

In this way, most of the defenders were taken away by him, and Nijimura Shuzo got an excellent opportunity for an isolation.

The Teiko captain immediately took action, forcing the opponent to double-team again, but unexpectedly, just as they did so, Nijimura Shuzo found that monster on the court and sent the ball over immediately.

This time it was Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi's turn to get an isolation opportunity.

Kasamatsu Yukio and the others only felt they were being played around in circles, but they didn't dare to leave any Teiko player alone; leaving them meant giving away points.

Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi hit a jump shot for another 2 points; he had data entries in all 3 opening attacks, and this efficiency was simply ridiculously high.

"Very excellent tactical positioning and choices; Kanzaki Junior High is overwhelmed, and their defense clearly cannot handle Teiko Junior High's triangle offense."

The commentator immediately brought up the topic of the triangle offense, and the other person cooperated by asking what the triangle offense was, then proceeded to explain the core and philosophy of this tactic to the audience.

The Kanzaki coach called the first timeout less than 2 minutes into the game.

Their defense was wrong from the start, and they had to make changes.

Tight defense!

This is the best defensive strategy to deal with the triangle offense, as the NBA has long proven.

The triangle offense relies heavily on passing and running between players to create opportunities; when defending, one must apply greater pressure to the ball-handler.

In this way, Midorima's opportunity to perform arrived.

During the Bulls era, Steve Kerr's three-point shooting percentage once reached a staggering 51.5%.

Was this his true level?

Of course not. He could shoot such a high percentage during the Bulls era because other teams were forced to adopt tight defense to deal with the Bulls' triangle offense, applying pressure to the ball-handler.

In this way, Steve Kerr, lurking on the perimeter, could always get excellent shooting opportunities.

And with Midorima's super-strong shooting talent, could his shooting percentage reach that level?