Chapter 06 - Evaluation
It could be said that the first-year team holds the flow for the rest of the game. Between Kagami, Kuroko, and Furihata, the senpai team could not find a solution to defend their opponent.
"Izuki! In front of you!"
"SHIT!"
"Koganei! Stop daydreaming!"
"Tsuchida, look out for Kuroko! He is standing beside you!"
"Damn! How the hell could they pull a team plays like that? Aren't they a new team?!"
Yeah, the senpai could not find a solution for Kuroko. On the other hand, Riko who is watching outside the court finally realized something.
'I remember now! The sixth man of the Generation of Miracles, the Phantom! He is an ordinary player who uses his lack of presence as his weapon to redirect the passes and steals the ball. I thought it is just a rumor, but it seems I was wrong here.' She muttered while observing the game closely.
She narrowed her eyes to another player who also played amazingly, Furihata.
'But he is more amazing here. Even though Kuroko lacks presence, he could always track him down, sending the ball in the direction that will always give Kuroko two players as his option to pass. If I don't read their form, I would guess they have been playing together for a long time. But if not, that means Furihata probably possesses the same eyes as Izuki, with the addition of his spatial awareness and decent passing ability making him the ideal point guard.'
Now she turned her full attention from Kagami to Kuroko and Furihata. It is not like Kagami is playing badly. Despite the turnover and one missed shot before the timeout, he is dominating both Koganei and Manitoba. However, she has already expected that from Kagami when she assessed his body, so Riko is not that surprised about him.
'Now, how to combine the senpai and kohai for the team?'
Speaking of the senpai team, they are not playing that badly, actually. They even managed to close the score several times and push their opponents through to the edge, always two or three points behind them. But they are definitely not satisfied with how they play.
Hyuga is having a hard time facing Furihata, only managed to score six more points from two three-pointers and missed another five. In total, he managed to score 15 points from 5 three-pointers with a 50% field goal percentage.
However, Hyuga could not help but be disappointed with himself for missing five shoots against Furihata, even when he treated the rest of the game as a clutch time. Hell, two of the missed shots happened in the last thirty seconds when they had the chance to overturn the score, so he doesn't have anyone but him to blame for the loss of the game.
The same could be said for Izuki. In the end, he only scored 4 points with 6 assists, but with 4 turnovers. A bad statistic for a point guard, indeed.
What makes him bitter is he couldn't stop the combination between Furihata and Kuroko even once in this game. Oh, he could track Kuroko's whereabouts before the game ends, thanks to his eagle eyes. But to stop the passing combination between Furihata and Kuroko is a different matter.
In the end, the senpai team lost 30-27 to the first-year team.
Despite the dissatisfied face of her team, Riko still considers the day a good one for the team. If all of the first-years still wanted to join the team, now Seirin will have proper bench members, not like last year when they have to ask students from the other club to fill in the position.
That was one of the biggest problems Seirin faced last year. Without a proper bench player, forcing everyone to play for almost 40 minutes per game is not healthy at all. The fatigue could trigger unnecessary injury, and it has already been proven by Teppei. Hopefully, they could avoid that problem this year.
"Okay, everyone! Gather around!" Riko clapped her hand, gaining the attention of all the players on the court.
"First of all, good game for the first year. You actually managed to beat the team that went through the final league last year, even though it's just a quarter and it is not a full team. But the fact that you managed to defeat them is amazing for a newly formed team. Good job."
She stopped talking to let her words sink in.
"Now, there are a few points I would say as the evaluation, and I would only say what you are lacking, starting with you, Kagami-kun!" Even though he tried not to look interested, Riko could see a hint of eagerness on his face.
"You are good. I have already expected it right after I saw your body, and you showed me that you can use your monstrous body to overwhelm your guard, even though that was a borderline offensive foul. We will fix it along with your teamwork skill in time. But!" She narrowed her eyes when she saw a smug in Kagami's face.
"You need to keep your emotion in check. If today is an official match, you will get a technical foul or worse get ejected for shouting or disrespecting the referee. I was letting that slide today, but if you don't fix it, you can say hello to the bench."
"Tch.." A vein popped on Hyuga's temple.
"Answer properly, Brat!" Seeing as Kagami doesn't give an immediate answer, Riko sighed.
"Just let it be, Junpei. We will address that matter next time." She ignored Hyuga's mutter about disrespectful brat and turned her attention to the other players.
"Kawahara-kun, you are a good defender. But the way you play in the offense, you are way too passive. It is almost like you always hesitated to make a move and didn't know what to do. Again, something that time can fix, so don't worry about it." Kawahara sighed, relieved that his evaluation is not that bad.
"Fukuda-kun, you are the opposite of Kawahara. You know your role as a center in the offense, but in defense, you couldn't prevent Mitobe to score at all. Hell, you were also struggling to defend Koganei, and he is not our best offensive player. We already have a very good offensive center, so if you want a spot in the team, you have to work on your defense. Got it?" Fukuda nodded while determined to fix the problem, knowing that he cannot compete against Kiyoshi.
"Kuroko-kun," She paused, forming a word to say. "You are the famous phantom sixth man of the Generation of Miracles." That was not a question, so Kuroko didn't say anything.
"Honestly, I have only heard about the rumor, so watching you play this close is shocking me. I want to discuss more what you can do, so expect me to call you in your free time, you get it?"
"Hai, Coach." Riko nodded before turning her attention to the last player, Furihata.
"And you, Furihata-kun, are the best player today." Everyone, and surprisingly including Kagami even though he has a sour expression, clap their hand, applauding Furihata. Even though Kagami is a tough bastard, he also knows how to acknowledge a good player.
"On the offense, you are the definition of a perfect point guard. Calm, quick thinking, good situational awareness, great vision court, amazing part, and most importantly, know what decision to make even in the middle of a tough battle, you have all of the qualities to be a top point guard." She paused, letting her words sink into the players.
Unbeknown to the first-years, their senpai has a gobsmacked expression on their face. It was very rare for Riko to praise someone, so she must be very impressed with Furihata.
"I already have some idea about how to use you in the next competition, but same as Kuroko, I want to have your input on it. I will also invite Izuki-kun since he is our main point guard for now. Do you have any problem?"
"No, Coach."
After hearing this, Izuki suddenly let out a relieved sigh that he doesn't know since when did he hold. What Riko said is basically a confirmation that even though he is abysmal today, the spot for the point guard is still for him.
"Oi, don't be relieved yet. Seeing as how poor your performance was today, she will definitely increase your training portion for the next week." Hyuga muttered under his breath.
Suddenly, the relieved expression vanished from Izuki's face, replaced by a very pale one. His teammates just look at him in pity as nobody wants to be the victim of what Riko said as extra training.
Fortunately, Riko is still focusing on the first years, so she didn't know what her friends thought.
"Well, as for now, you are still not a member of the team yet." There is silence for a moment after what she said before the gym erupted with chatter.
"WHAAT?!"
"What do you mean, Coach?"
"Yeah, we have already won against the senpai. Is that not enough?"
"QUIET!" Unsurprisingly, it is Hyuga who shouted to silence the first-years.
"Thank you, Junpei." Riko nodded to her captain before turning back to the first years. "As I said before, even though you have done well, there is still one final test you need to take." She smirked, making the first-years gulp in hesitation.
"If you don't want to take part in the last test, you can leave the gym now." Seeing as nobody moves, Riko asked once again,
"This will be your last chance to back down. If you are still here, whatever you will say in the future, I will not allow you to resign. So, do all of you still want to join the team?" Seeing as no one backed down from their spots, Riko nodded, satisfied at what she saw.
"Good! We will take the final test tomorrow. Meet us on the rooftop before the class begins. For now, all of you dismissed!"
"Hai, Coach!"
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Author note:
The next chapter is the MC's daily life, but the chapter after that is the preparation against Kaijou. What do you think? Is this story development too slow for your taste? Let me know in the comment. Thank you!:)