186 Prelims, Round-3 (Focus: Kaitani)

Kaitani Riku was the starting small-forward for Tokiwadai Middle School's basketball team. Standing at 168 centimeters tall, he stood at the shorter end of his team, but the person himself wasn't bothered by his lack of height. His lack of stature gave him the ability to move nimbly and was faster than most of his taller counterparts. And, in the world of basketball, those who didn't have the height supplemented their play with skill.

Kaitani Riku was no different. As a player of short stature, he went the path of the skill-based player. He learned skills and moves that would help him overcome the height gap between him and his opponents.

And currently, Kaitani was showing his skills against Fushimi Middle School in Round-3 of Tokyo preliminaries. Fushimi Middle School was a school that had a strong inside game, and the center and power-forward of Fushimi combined were the cornerstones of the team's offense and defense. The rest of the Fushimi's players moved the ball around to get it closer to the basket.

With Fushimi's already laid style, even their point-guard and small-forward were rim finishers, and their shooting-guard was only comfortable in shooting from mid-range. Fushimi's offense was concentrated on the inside and thus had a weak outside game.

Kaitani looked around the court and saw his team's point-guard, Kageyama Shun, dribbling the ball towards the basket, and raised his hand for a pass as he began running to have some distance with his defense, his defender followed him, but Kaitani wasn't worried.

He saw Shun look at him and directly passed him the straight to where his hands. Kaitani internally smiled at the timing and placement of the pass, completely satisfied with his point-guard's pass play.

Kaitani: 'Ah, man. How does he pass the ball so well?'

Kaitani focused back on the game and immediately came to a stop. His defender also stopped but was off-balance for a moment, and Kaitani took full-advantage of that lack of balance. He faked going to the left, which was the original direction both of them moving, and his defender immediately shifted to the left for defense.

But, Kaitani had other plans, as he took a few steps to the right without moving closer to the basket. He was comfortable with his distance from the basket, now with his defender off his tail, he pulled up for a face-up jump shot from the free-throw line. The ball followed an arc and banked into the net after bouncing off the backboard.

He celebrated with a short hop and spoke while he moved back for his defense.

Kaitani: "Whoo! This is what I do, ball is life, baby!"

He turned back and saw Shun moving back to defense with his hand out for a high-five. Kaitani moved his hand and slapped Shun's hand. He smiled at his teammate and praised.

Kaitani: "That was a delightful pass."

Kaitani saw Shun smile and glance at him before speaking.

Shun: "Of course, it was, who do you think was passing the ball? Now, I expect you to move the ball around. Fushimi's players are leaning towards you, ever so slightly. Let's take this opportunity to get some easy buckets."

Kaitani raised his hand in a salute and spoke to this captain.

Kaitani: "Aye-aye, captain."

His captain just chuckled and gave him a final slap on the back before separating from him to go to his defensive position.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Kaitani once again had the ball as he moved towards the basket, but his defender was in the way. Kaitani looked at the obstacle in his way and thought.

Kaitani: 'He will have to go.'

Kaitani dribbled the ball on the spot, before exploding into action with his quick speed. He started with a left fake, converting it to a pullback making his defender move to the left, and the next moment he once again moved to the left, prompting his defender to fully commit to the left. Seeing that the balance of his defender's defense has shifted to the left, he crossed his defender by a quick spin to the right and closed in on the basket.

The defenders moved as they were expected and moved closer to Kaitani to stop him. Kaitani ran towards the basket, and just as feet touched the line on the right side of the painted area, he came to a quick stop with both his feet on the ground, knees slightly bent. Fushimi's players took it as an indication for a jump, and their power-forward jumped for a block.

But, Kaitani wasn't going for a layup. He remembered Shun's words and wanted to get easy buckets with no contesting for shots, so he drew the defenders to him, and the moment Fushimi's power-forward jumped, he passed the ball to Sora, who was now free.

Sora caught the ball, set his gaze to the basket, and shot the ball with a mid-range jumper, which sank in without a hitch. Kaitani smirked as he looked at the surprised faces of Fushimi's players on being drawn in for an uncontested shot. He turned back to go on defense and ran alongside Sora. The small-forward looked at his junior and gave him advice.

Kaitani: "Sora, you will be needed to do similar things to what I showed. After we third-year retire, you will be the point guard of the team, so you need to learn how to manipulate the defense.

Always remember, the best position to shoot from is away from the defenders. Always aim to get the ball to the shooter when he is safe from a possible shot block."

Sora nodded and kept Kaitani's advice in his mind.

-*-*-*-

Kaitani continued to work his charm on the court, as he started to gain extra attention from Fushimi's defenders. They began to target him more and tried to pressure him into making a poor choice.

Kaitani dribbled the ball and because he was forced to the right sideline of the court. Kaitani glanced at the two Fushimi players, who were trying to force him to the side. He smirked at the two as they inched closer to the sideline.

Kaitani: "Oh? Double-team for the small me. I feel honored."

Just as they were inches away from the sideline and Fushimi's players were sure that Kaitani would stop to pass, he turned the situation around by making a sharp direction change to the left. He escaped their encompassment targetting the space between the two defenders, using one of the skills he had first early in his second year, Kaitani grinned as he broke away from the double-team.

Kaitani: "It will take more than this to stop me!"

He increased his speed to his limit and zoomed toward the basket. When he reached the Dee, he jumped with Fushimi's center in front of him to block him. Kaitani trained his eye on the basket and did a double-clutch to move the ball high up, then brought it down causing the block to become redundant, and then as Kaitani lost altitude, he once again brought the ball up and laid the ball into the basket.

The speedy small-forward hopped sideways as he clapped his hands above his head in celebration as he chanted.

Kaitani: "Buckets!"

He ran towards Shun, and both of them jumped together to shoulder bump in the air.

Shun and Kaitani: "Yeah~!"

-*-*-*-

One of the plays that coach Kaitani had instilled into the Tokiwadai was the combined offense of Tokiwdai's speed and brawn. A routine that required Kaitani and Hyakuzawa to work together.

Tokiwadai's possession began with Fushimi's player seeing Shun dribbling towards the basket with quick steps, they tensed and readied themselves to defend against him. Shun approached the three-point arc from the right side of the court, and the moment he stepped on the arc line, the ball went flying to the left side of the court to Tokiwadai's small forward.

Fushimi's were startled to see the ball go from the right to left so quickly, and when they saw Kaitani pulling up for a mid-range jumper, they rushed towards him for a shot block. Two of Fushimi's players jumped to block Kaitani, one from the right and one from Kaitani's front.

But, Kaitani's motive was never to shoot. He held the ball in his left hand and shoddily passed the ball to Hyakuzawa, who had to move quickly to catch the ball before it went out of bounds. After getting the ball, Hyakuzawa took the ball to the basket with only one defender there to block him and dunked the ball into the hoop.

He ran back to defense, and when he reached Kaitani, the center frowned and complained.

Hyakuzawa: "That was a crappy pass. Can't you do better?"

Kaitani furrowed his brows and made a face and defended himself.

Kaitani: "Hey! It is wasn't my fault. I am a righty, Kageyama passed the ball such that it made me use my left hand. Go and complain to him."

Both of them looked at Shun, who was currently looking away from him, and they could faintly hear him whistle. Hyakuzawa removed his eyes from Shun and gazed at Kaitani and spoke.

Hyakuzawa: "Still, you could've done better. Make better passes next time."

Kaitani felt irked hearing that, but before he could say anything, Hyakuzawa moved away to get his defending position. Kaitani clenched his fist and grumbled.

Kaitani: "Friggin stick figure, complaining to me."

-*-*-*-

Of course, the Kaitani-Hyakuzawa combo could be used the other way around.

Kaitani dribbled the ball to the left side of the court and passed the ball to Hyakuzawa, who was standing in the low post. Seeing the pass go to Hyakuzawa, two of Fushimi's players moved to Hyazkuzawa and got to him fairly quickly.

All Hyakuzawa did was to stand in his position with his ball hand extended above his head. Fushimi's player tried to jump to get the ball from Hyakuzawa, but they couldn't reach the ball. Those seeing the game almost took pity on Fushimi's players. Hyakuzawa was just too tall.

But, the play wasn't over. The game was still in progress, and just when the people began to speculate what would Tokiwadai do next, Kaitani ran behind Hyakuzawa, and the giant simply dropped the ball behind him. Kaitani caught the ball and once again laid the ball into the basket.

As Kaitani and Hyakuzawa jogged back to defense, Kaitani turned to look at Hyakuzawa and remarked.

Kaitani: "How difficult is to drop the ball behind you? It almost hit my head. You were lucky that I reacted quickly, or you would've ruined the whole play. Do better next time, alright?"

Kaitani patted Hyakuzawa on his back and smirked while moving away to defense. Hyakuzawa was left with his mouth open as he looked at the snickering Kaitani.

Both of them bickered constantly, but when they played on the court, they played together exceptionally well.

-*-*-*-

Tokiwadai Middle School won Round-3 of the Tokyo preliminaries, with another triple-score victory. Kaitani Riku scored a whopping twenty-seven points and attracted a lot of attention.

Kageyama Shun was once again taken out of the game, and Tokiwadai played the fourth quarter without him. He still didn't score a single point in the game and concentrated on supporting the team and defense against Fushimi's offense.

Tokiwadai Middle School advanced to semi-finals, and Fushimi Middle School was eliminated in Round-3 of the game.