Chapter 99: Why Me?

Transition from offense to defense.

Haizaki, this guy, gestured for the ball from Akashi as soon as he crossed half-court, showing no courtesy at all.

Akashi thought for a moment and still gave the ball to Haizaki.

He is sharp-minded and understood the coach's intention; the protagonist of this match is actually Haizaki alone.

Shirogane Goro is testing whether Haizaki has the strength to enter Teikou's roster.

Tiandao Jingyan immediately stood in front of Haizaki.

"Are you the only one coming to defend me, big star?" Haizaki licked his lips, his expression both excited and ferocious.

Tiandao Jingyan didn't speak, just hooked his finger in provocation.

Haizaki didn't get angry, but became even more excited, wanting to tear Tiandao apart, along with that foul mouth of his that made people so annoyed.

No complex running, no intention of coordinating with teammates.

He started with a crossover, changed direction, and then performed a wide, early pull-back.

"This is..."

A Teikou player on the sidelines suddenly froze.

This was clearly the signature crossover he had used when playing against Haizaki not long ago.

Only, Haizaki's movements were faster and more powerful than his.

"Take you out in one go!"

"Big star!"

Haizaki's expression was like a wolf; he slammed the basketball and accelerated past Tiandao Jingyan's side.

This offensive momentum was fierce, not inferior to Aomine's at all; none of the opponents Tiandao encountered in the qualifiers could compare to Haizaki.

The camera focused on Haizaki's front, and at the same time, on Tiandao Jingyan's back.

Seeing this, the audience's hearts couldn't help but skip a beat.

Thinking, "No way? Even Tiandao can't handle this guy?"

However, the next second...

The screen suddenly went completely black, followed by a white light cutting across the screen.

"Release!"

It was as if the dark night had been severed; when the screen regained color, Tiandao Jingyan, wearing the Teikou No. 14 jersey, already had his right arm stretched out to the right.

And Haizaki, his expression at this moment was no different from Yamanaka Yuta and Tanaka Goro and the others.

His pupils dilated rapidly, his ferocious expression vanished, leaving only disbelief.

"How did he do that?" A magnitude-ten earthquake erupted in Haizaki's heart; he shifted his gaze, just in time to collide with Tiandao Jingyan's eyes.

He heard the other say, "How does it feel to be defended by a big star?"

After saying this, Tiandao Jingyan bumped past Haizaki and rushed toward the ball's landing spot.

Damn it!

Haizaki cursed under his breath, turned, and accelerated to chase.

The two were very fast, crossing the mid-court line in a "whoosh."

Tiandao Jingyan didn't underestimate Haizaki; at this stage, Haizaki is one of the strongest in the country.

He held the ball all the way to the three-point line, seeing that Haizaki hadn't lost his position and was following closely.

He didn't use flashy dribbling to try and break through, but turned directly, leaning his back heavily into him.

This lean made Haizaki feel that Tiandao Jingyan's strength was actually above his own.

He gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain in his chest, and continued to stick to him.

It was also at this moment that Aomine, that cancer, had already rushed over.

He waved his hand while running, as if afraid Tiandao wouldn't notice him, with Akashi, Nijimura Shuzo, and a group of others following behind.

A two-on-one opportunity in the front court, but time was tight; one moment of hesitation and the chance would be missed!

Tiandao Jingyan naturally wouldn't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; his gaze swept over Aomine, and Haizaki secretly thought, "Not good."

The guy in front of him can pass; during the first attack, he had already demonstrated extremely strong assist ability.

Seeing Tiandao Jingyan's ball-holding hand lean toward Aomine, Haizaki decisively shifted laterally.

The result.

Tiandao Jingyan's wrist suddenly flipped, and with an accelerated turn, he killed past Haizaki from the other side.

The whole process happened almost simultaneously, giving Haizaki no chance to recover.

Swish~

Tiandao Jingyan rushed to the ball and easily scored with a layup.

Damn it!

Haizaki hated it; this time he was truly and thoroughly deceived.

"Don't look like you want to eat someone," Tiandao Jingyan tapped his head, "If you play ball without using your brain, you'll be Aomine for the rest of your life."

"Huh?" Aomine made a sound, asking with dissatisfaction, "Why me?"

'Pfft~'

'Damn, can you stop blackening him? Da-Aomine is already black enough.'

'Stop pretending, you're the one who blacks Aomine the hardest. Don't think I don't know, every time Aomine gets bullied by Tiandao, you're the one laughing the loudest.'

'I am happy, I am laughing, what are you going to do about it?'

'Geez, you guys are really annoying.'

'As expected of someone named Tiandao, worrying about him getting crushed is too much!'

Seeing Haizaki being educated by Tiandao, the comments suddenly came alive again.

One of the greatest joys for the audience watching the show now is to see Tiandao show off and listen to his sharp retorts.

Substituting into his perspective to bully Haizaki, who looks like a villain, is just too satisfying.

If it were Kuroko, everyone would still be nervous; after all, Kuroko's character design is that typical protagonist template.

Tiandao is not; he takes down a villain whenever one appears, not even waiting overnight—24K pure satisfaction.

"Tiandao's post-up technique has improved." The assistant coach on the sidelines eyes lit up.

Post-up technique has a very obvious effect in the world of basketball, especially in one-on-one singles.

However, this technique is very demanding on physical confrontation; if your body isn't strong enough and you can't push people, you can't play post-ups well.

In later generations of basketball, fewer and fewer people are developing post-up techniques.

It's not that they can't learn it, it's that they are too lazy to learn.

There are too many "soft fouls"; comparing the two eras of 00-10 and 11-20, you will find how much the league has changed after the "School Flower" took over the NBA.

Never mind perimeter players; a big center would rather run to the three-point line and stick their butt out than polish their post-up technique—this was almost unimaginable in the 2000s.

Nowadays, in this era, without a refined post-up technique, you'd be embarrassed to call yourself a star player. ===== CHAPTER 101 =====