84 Chapter 84 : Pep Talks Before the Game

Three days later, Furihata found himself with his teammates back at Tokyo Gymnasium once again, and this time, the opponent is Meisei High, a new school that somehow managed to advance through the national tournament.

Furihata still remembers the report about this team that he got from Riko.

-Little Flashback-

"Riko-senpai!" Furihata raised his hand to ask a question when the team gathered and watched the record of Meisei's last game. "Are you sure it is Meisei High?" Seeing the dubious expression from his teammates, he knows he is not the only one who thinks about it. But seeing the serious nod from Riko, he couldn't help but have a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Isn't it a bit too….." He couldn't find better yet still polite words to describe what he just saw. However, Kagami did him a favor by asking a more straightforward question. "Aren't they a bit too weak? I mean, even Seiho is better than them."

And this time, not only him and Kagami, but almost everyone nodded in agreement. And yet, to their surprise, Riko also nod in agreement.

"Yes, compared to our other opponents before, they are definitely on the weaker side." She answered the question. "The only reason they managed to go this far is because of their good luck. They are on the weaker side of the bracket and didn't meet any worthy opponent before they arrived here. And you can see it. The moment they faced a stronger opponent, they lost quite horribly against Shensinkan High. Meanwhile, compared to them, we definitely have the worst luck, being on the same side as two Tokyo Kings. Yet we came out as the winner. So, you can say with confidence that you are better than them."

Hearing that, all the players couldn't help but let out a wry smile. Indeed, their luck is the worst here.

"However!" She slammed the table hard, causing a yelp from Koganei who sat in front of her. "That doesn't mean you can underestimate them! Especially in the next game, when the situation is do or die for both of us. I will not tolerate any stupid mistake, do you all understand?" She glared at all the players, causing them all to gulp nervously.

"Yes, Coach!"

Yeah, facing furious Riko, it is better to just say 'yes' and do what she said.

-end of the flashback-

"So, have you done your warm-up?" Riko asked, snapping Furihata from his thought. "Alright, let's gather first." As they gathered around in the bench area, Riko pulled out a small board from her bag.

"As we discussed yesterday, our main rosters today are Izuki-kun, Furihata-kun, Kuroko-kun, Junpei, and Tsuchida." Furihata could see a dissatisfied look from Kagami. And it seems, his coach could also feel that, as she let out an exasperation sigh. "We have discussed it before, Kagami-kun. The intensity at the beginning of the game would be too high, and I will not take the risk of you getting injured again anymore. Even Alex-san agreed with my point."

"Yeah, Tiger-chan." The blonde woman nodded. "Just sit and be obedient like a good student!"

Kagami scowled a little but gave up when he received a stern glare from both women.

"Okay, let's move back to the topic." Riko started explaining. "I know we talked about this yesterday, but I will remind you one more time. Here are two of the most dangerous players from Meisei High. The first one, is their first-year point guard, Ayase Uchida. He is the number #7."

Right after that, almost everyone turned their head to the opposite bench, looking for the player who Riko just mentioned about. There, they could see the boy, slightly shorter than Kagami, joking around with his teammates.

"As a point guard, he has the height advantage over both of you, Furihata-kun and Kagami-kun. And as you can see, he is not just tall. His muscle there is not just for a show. So, you should expect a lot of physical confrontations."

Both point guards nodded at the same time.

"I also watched the record of their game, and I have to say he surprised me." Alex suddenly added. She couldn't be with the team when they watched the record yesterday, so all the players are curious about her opinion right now. "If it is America, I wouldn't be too surprised looking at a 15-years old point guard like him. He is as tall and as muscular as Tiger-chan there, but if we talked about the point guard position, he has the perfect body build for an NCAA game, and if he could still continue growing, he would be an ideal point guard for any NBA team in the physical department."

What she just said stunned the whole team as they didn't expect the ceiling of their opponent would be that high.

"Really?!"

"Yeah." Alex nodded seriously. "But you have to remember it was only if you looked at his body. If he wanted to go to America for basketball someday, he would really need to have a better playing style. Here, because he has the physical advantage, he developed a playing style similar to how Russel Westbrook from OKC plays. He uses his explosiveness to overpower his opponent, which worked here. Coupled with his organizing skill, he became a monster point guard here. But if he is in America, there would be a lot of point guards who are better in the physical department compared to him, or even more experienced players who know how to deal with his playing style. All I can say is, he has a lot of potential, but it is up to him about how he develops it."

"Wow…." Almost everyone had their mouth gaped wide in shock. If it is anyone else, they wouldn't bother about what they just heard. But this is Alex Garcia, a former player who won the championship in America! Her opinion has a lot of weight here!

"Let's move on and talk about Ayase Uchida's potential next time!" Riko spoke hurriedly, afraid that speaking about it more would hurt the team's morale. "As you watched yesterday, his physical confrontation ability is quite high, and he is almost as fast as Furihata-kun. And just like what Alex-san said, he modeled his game based on Russel Westbrook. He likes to drive forward and attack the rim. But his organizational skill is not something we could ignore. So, double-teaming him is out of the question."

All of the Seirin players nodded and hummed in agreement.

"But the real problem would start five minutes before the second quarter end." This sentence resulted in confusion among the players, so Riko explained immediately. "It was something I just took notice about it last night, but Uchida would start to pull up a lot of jump shots in that interval of time. It was quite unstable, but once he got into his rhythm, it would be difficult for us to stop him. So, no matter what happened, don't let him shoot easily. Understood?"

"Hai, Coach!" The two point-guards who will be responsible for Ayase Uchida nodded firmly.

"And the last player you should take notice, their captain, third-year power forward, Hiroki Tsugawa. He wore the jersey number #1."

And right after that, just like before, all Seirin players turned around to see the player Riko mentioned. There, they could see an older boy with short hair smiling calmly behind his teammates as Uchida is joking around with the others. He is slightly taller than Kagami, so maybe about 195 cm?

"He is not a fancy and explosive power forward like Aomine or Kagami-kun, but he is really good at his job. If you are careless, you wouldn't notice when he already has 20 points over you. Nothing fancy, but really efficient. Tsuchida, I put you on the start to keep your eyes on him. Tire him out, and don't let him do anything he likes."

"Yes, Coach!"

"And be careful with his organizational skill. He likes to drop back to the high post quite often and grabbed the ball, and with his height, he would observe the entire court from above and distribute the ball to his teammates. It was quite surprising to see a center with a good playmaking ability like him. His combination with Uchida is a nightmare for almost every opponent they faced. Fortunately, the other players didn't have the ability to back them up, that's why many people are not convinced with their chance this year."

Riko took a pause, letting her words sink into her players' heads.

"But that doesn't mean the other players are bad! Whatever people said outside, they are still the final league team for a reason. If you let them get comfortable and take a shoot, they will punish us without hesitation, and it would be our downfall. So, once again, let this sink into your head. Never! Ever! Underestimate your opponent! Do you understand?!"

"Yes, Coach!"

"Good! Now, go and grab a win for us!"

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Author note:

I Modeled both OC, Ayashe Uchida and Hiroki Tsugawa, by imagining Russel Westbrook and Nikola Jokic, two of my favorite players in the NBA right now. Tell me what you think about it!

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-Zeta Faes-