31 #31 Match 3/4
Yuichi was currently sitting his forearms resting on his thighs and towel over his head.
"Iwamura, we need to start playing before the gap widens even more." Sudo said with a bit upset expression.
"And we will. I have them all figured out together with their most optimal pace adapted to our slow pace." Yuichi replied swiftly taking the towel off his head, revealing his slightly dull green eyes.
"Eh? What do you mean?" Sudo asked with a confused expression.
"It's time for us to change the pace as we practiced the last 3 weeks" Yuichi replied and got up to his feet. He quickly wiped the sweat off his face with the towel and when was the time to start the 3rd quarter they went back on the court.
Yuichi massaged back of his neck before placing his hands on his hips, looking up at the ceiling.
---
"Oh?!" Mei exclaimed with a bit surprised expression.
"What is it?" Karuizawa asked with a curious expression.
"I have already seen this a lot of time, this is Yuichi-kun's habit. Whenever he does it, he apparently clears his mind of any unnecessary thoughts and completely focuses on the game in front of him."
"Clear his mind of any unnecessary thoughts...?" Matsushita muttered with a curious expression while redirecting her look at Yuichi.
---
"*sigh* I guess everything is fine" Yuichi muttered however no one heard him.
Yuichi was in possession of the ball, slowly dribbling it towards the post with an indifferent expression. He was stopped on the mid-court line by opponent's PG.
"Bring it!" The guy taunted Yuichi however Yuichi's expression never changed a bit.
He was dribbling on the spot, his eyes were focused only on his defender and suddenly without any motion beforehand, he went to the right.
'?! So fast?! But...' His defender was surprised by this however he was still able to keep up and block his path, however, when Yuichi noticed that the guy's entire balance was on his left leg, he dribbled the ball to his own left making the guy slip on the ground.
"Wha-?!" The guy exclaimed when he was suddenly passed by so easily and even put on the ground.
'Crossover! But that speed was completely different from the 2nd quarter!' Opponent's C thought, leaving his mark to block Yuichi's path.
Yuichi quickly stopped in front of the guy and suddenly took a small step back while bending his knee for the jump.
'He is going for 3-pointer!' Center thought and quickly took a large step to Yuichi before jumping up, however, he was still a bit slow.
"I won't let you!" Suddenly the guy who slipped was behind Yuichi with his hands up ready to block Yuichi's shot.
Yuichi's expression never changed as he quickly grabbed the ball with both hands and passed it to the right while mid-air. Sudo caught the ball and made his way towards the post, dunking the ball.
The score changed once again 39-51.
It was once again face-off between Yuichi and their PG, however, before the guy could pass the ball or try to dribble past by Yuichi, Yuichi cut the ball out of guy's hands, completely surprising him.
'He was never so aggressive! He always waited for me to do the first move!' The guy thought as he quickly sprinted after Yuichi who was dribbling towards the post.
Yuichi noticed 2 guys right in front of the post with their arms spread wide, however, Yuichi didn't stop, he ran up to them as close as he could before suddenly stopping, dribbling the ball between his legs, taking a step back and jumping for the shot. The 2 guys were a bit out of balance due to an abrupt change of Yuichi's pace so they never had a chance to jump up for the block.
41-51
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The students watching this were greatly surprised by Yuichi's change and it seemed as Sudo was also moving much faster, giving opponents a bit of trouble adapting.
"I see, quite an interesting strategy..." The student council president who was watching this muttered with an amused smile.
"What do you mean, Kaichou?" Tachibana asked with a confused expression.
"He was purposely playing at the slow pace first half before changing it to a much faster pace."
"But won't that disrupt even his entire team's pace?"
"Not necessarily, not if they trained playing like this specifically" Manabu replied, adjusting his glasses with a serious expression.
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Yuichi was once again in possession of the ball with opponent's PG in his way. He suddenly smirked and started dribbling behind his back and occasionally between his legs at a very fast pace.
'?! What a ball-handling skills, he doesn't even look at the ball from his peripheral vision!!!' PG thought, having problem following the ball with his eyes.
Suddenly, he lost the sight of the ball.
"Behind!" One of his teammates shouted and he looked behind him to see the ball falling down, he immediately wanted to run towards it but he was quickly passed by Yuichi who sprinted towards the ball.
'Not again!' Their C immediately left his mark once again to block Yuichi's path.
Yuichi who was dribbling the ball in sprint suddenly slowed down his pace so much that even his previous defender caught up to him however he couldn't stop immediately and passed him by a few steps which gave enough of time for Yuichi to make a shot.
'That's quite a distance from the 3-point line!' Center thought, having no time to block Yuichi. Yuichi's ball flew in a high arc right next to the basket where Sudo was already ready to dunk the ball in.
'What?! He wasn't aiming for the 3-pointer right from the beginning?!' The core team started to feel a bit uneasy by Yuichi's playstyle.
.
.
In the end, the 3rd quarter ended with a score of 61-65.
---Core team's bench---
"What the hell is up with that guy? His playstyle is completely confusing. At one moment he is dribbling so fast that I have a problem watching the ball and another he is so slow that it makes me do premature moves." PG said with a frustrated expression.
"Hey, have you noticed something strange, guys?" C asked while frowning down.
"Yeah, during the first 2 quarters he was the one scoring but in the 3rd quarter, most of the points were scored by his teammates..." SF said before rehydrating himself.
"Yes, he is the most dangerous player out there even though he doesn't score that much, if this was 1 on 1, then only their Center and that guy playing Point Guard would have a chance to win." SG said with narrowed eyes.
"Let's double-team him during the last quarter. I will defend right under the rim to not let any lay-ups or dunks pass by. If he won't be able to pass the ball, they can't make plays." C suggested and others nodded their heads although PG wasn't exactly happy that he had to double-team his competitor.
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The 4th and last quarter has begun and the core team was in the possession of the ball.
'I won't take any risks here...' PG thought while drilling behind his back in front of Yuichi. When he saw the opportunity, he immediately passed the ball to his SG.
SG caught the ball and dribbled past his defender with a bit of effort before jumping for a 3-pointer.
"Wha-?!" However, when he released the ball, a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked the shot. It was Yuichi who blocked the shot and quickly took the possession of the ball and started dribbling towards the post however he was suddenly stopped by PG and in the next moment even their SG joined in defending him.
'?! It's as Iwamura predicted...Anyway, I won't let them stop him, just as planned' Sudo was surprised by this double-teaming but he quickly went to his position behind the PG.
When Sudo arrived, Yuichi feinted to the left while doing crossover to the right. He almost passed his 2 defenders but PG was still able to follow, however...
*Thud* 'Screen! Shit!' He was stopped by Sudo's screen, winding his eyes as he watched Yuichi dribble towards the post.
Yuichi stopped right in front of the 3-point line and jumped for the shot when SF sprinted to him and jumped with him to block his shot.
Yuichi narrowed his eyes and leaned a bit back, throwing the ball in a higher arc.
'Fadeaway shot?! No...this is a bit different' SF thought as his fingers didn't even come close to touch the ball.
*whoosh* The ball landed perfectly into the basket without touching the rim.
64-65
