Chapter 118 : VS Yosen High X - Not Just a One-Man-Team
On the audience seat, a boy with green-colored hair scowled unhappily as the ball went in again for Furihata. Besides him, his friend would always snicker at his reaction whenever a three was made by Furihata.
"Why are you laughing, Takao?" The green-haired boy scowled at the boy next to him. "There is nothing funny at all!"
"Oh, but there is!" The boy identified as Takao sang a song playfully. "I didn't expect the famous shooter of the Generation of Miracles to be jealous of someone else! Does that mean you acknowledged he is on par with you, Shin-chan?"
"Ha! As if!" The shooter of the Generation of Miracles, Shintaro Midorima, scoffed at him. "He is still far from my level! And when things started to get physical, he wouldn't be able to hold on his ground. Just watch it."
However, that is not what Takao asked, and Midorima knows it. Moreover, like it or not, Midorima had to admit, in terms of shooting, that Furihata was probably the closest to him right now. And Furihata is a different kind of shooter compared to him or any normal shooting guard. Originally playing as a point guard, Furihata was able to create his shoot, and that is his biggest advantage.
Remembering that, Midorima frowned, a bit unhappy for Someone to be able to get that high praise from him.
Honestly, Midorima had a hard time believing that the boy who was as good as non-existent half a year ago, the boy who started to challenge him just a month ago, suddenly became as good as him in a night. His rise is as unbelievable as the Generation of Miracles when they first appeared in public. Maybe, that is the charm of the so-called genius.
As for Takao, having been playing with Furihata even just for a little time, he knows Furihata's advantage is not just his shoot-creating ability. Deeper, it was his positioning understanding and his cooperation with the dangerous point guard.
He felt it too, when Furihata would always be on his eyesight yet always be in a good position that makes him always pass the ball to Seirin's point guard. Yeah, the feeling that you need to pass the ball to him or you would waste your chance to score, was how he felt when he played alongside Furihata. Takao believes that even with any random point guard, Furihata would be able to do that.
'A shooter that could force the point guard to pass him even without asking and able to convert it to a point, anyone who could do that is definitely on par with you, Shin-chan.'
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Back to the court, after the crazy celebration from Furihata, the game finally resumed again. The ball is in Fukui's hand as the point guard is trying to organize his teammates.
"Himuro, don't just stand there like a fool! Move!"
"Okumura, come!"
As much as he wanted to give the ball to Murasakibara, he had no way to do that, considering all the pass routes were closed down by Seirin's players. Even though he could just give a high lob, the presence of Kuroko who lingered around Murasakibara's shadow creeped him out, enough to make him avoid the paint area right now.
Fortunately, Murasakibara didn't really mind. Well…. It is better to say he just wanted to be lazy, standing under the basket without doing anything. But that was just Murasakibara being Murasakibara. Fukui has already been getting used to his antic, so, he didn't really mind about it either.
He called Okumura to come over and give him a screen. Meanwhile, he waved his other hand around, signaling Tatsuya to go far from him and stretch out Seirin's defense.
Unfortunately, it didn't work pretty well. Tsuchida who is guarding Okumura managed to switch defense with Izuki fast enough to not give Fukui any time to make a play. And not only that, Furihata who was guarding Tatsuya a few seconds ago suddenly appeared in front of him, planting both his feet on the ground, ready to draw offensive foul from Fukui.
But this time, Fukui displayed his vast experience by taking a step aside, avoiding body contact with Furihata, while passing the ball to the corner area.
"Don't underestimate us, Seirin!"
It was Wei Liu, the silent soldier from Yosen, who received the ball. The Chinese guy didn't waste any second before pulling up a three, and a second later,
*Clank!*
*Splash!*
Even though it hits the rim first, the rebound bounced back and went into the hoop smoothly, resulting in three points for Yosen High.
"YOOSSHAAAA!"
"Come on, Liu!"
"Seirin is not the only one who could do the three-point shoot!"
While Yosen's players celebrate with each other, two players suddenly come out from Seirin's bench, ready to play again.
"Substitution for Seirin High. #4, #7 in, #5, #9 out."
Yeah, it was Hyuga and Kiyoshi who came in, replacing Izuki and Tsuchida to add the attacking force of Seirin. The captain patted the point guard's back a little before he stepped into the court.
"Good job, Izuki!"
Now, without Izuki on the court, the playmaker's role falls into Furihata's responsibility, as it was his original position. Furihata didn't really mind though, as he was more comfortable with the ball.
Unfortunately for him, Yosen didn't really give him enough time to hold the ball, as right when he received the inbound pass, he was surrounded by Fukui and Wei Liu immediately.
"Come on, Liu! Let's humble this brat!"
Furihata gritted his teeth, trying to escape from both players. But they were too close to him, not even allowing him to dribble the ball. All Furihata could do is just hugged the ball, protecting it from getting stolen by those two while his eyes are wandering around, searching for his teammates.
Fortunately, Seirin has a player who could always break the tight defense like this, and he is still on the court. When Furihata saw a glimpse of blue hair flash in the corner of his eyes, He bounced the ball in that direction without any slight hesitation.
And suddenly, the ball appeared on the other side of the court, already in Kiyoshi's hand.
"Nice pass, Phantom!"
Yeah. Kuroko's talent is really convenient when Seirin needs to move the ball faster, just like right now. And with the ball in Kiyoshi's hand, with Yosen's defense position still scrambled, Kiyoshi followed Furihata's example and shoots immediately before anyone could guard him.
*Clank!*
*Clank!*
*Splash!*
When it finally went into the hoop after bouncing back twice on the board, Kiyoshi let out a relieved sigh as it was another two points for Seirin.
"Nice shoot, Teppei!"
"Come on, Seirin! Defense!"
"Okumura, here!"
Having been receiving Seirin's fast tempo all the time, it was no wonder Yosen would start to get attracted to it slowly. And this time, after Kiyoshi scored in such a fast way, Fukui asked for the ball pretty quickly, following Seirin's tempo unconsciously.
But this kind of fast tempo, it was Seirin's specialization.
When the ball flew across the court, right before it could land in front of Fukui, Kuroko suddenly pooped up once again, blocking the route between the ball and Yosen's point guard.
"SHIT!"
Afraid of getting stolen, Fukui tried to get physical against Kuroko. And it worked, as he got a better position after pushing Kuroko a little. When the ball finally arrives, they both have their hands on it, trying very hard to snatch it from each other's possession.
"Goddamnit! Just give me the ball, you stubborn bastard!"
It was a surprise for Fukui and everyone else how strong Kuroko is while holding the ball. Even with all of his strength, Fukui couldn't snatch the ball from Kuroko's hand, and after a while,
*FWEEEE!*
The referee blew his whistle and announced, "Due to the equal possession from both players, the next play would be decided by a jump ball!"
Silence befell on the court before cheers exploded from the audience.
"Nice defense, Seirin!"
"Kuroko! Kuroko! Kuroko!"
"Come on, Yosen! Offense!"
However, unlike what the audience portrayed, the situation on the court is completely different. Even though Kuroko was able to stop the transition, he was not happy with it. As for Fukui, he lets out a relieved sigh as he was able to save the ball from getting stolen.
"You alright, Phantom?"
"No, not really." Kuroko shook his head at Furihata's question, a bit unhappy with the last play. "The tempo would be restored, and it would be hard for us to bait them to fasten their tempo again."
Yeah. Because of the jump ball, the game would be stopped for a while, allowing Yosen to recover from the fast tempo. Seirin has been trying so hard to bait them to go with their fast tempo and put chaos into their position, and this jump ball managed to put their effort into nothing.
"Don't worry, Phantom." Furihata patted Kuroko's back. "We could do it once, we would be able to do it again later. For now, let's focus on the next play."
Kuroko just nodded silently at Furihata's words.
As for Yosen's side, Fukui was being reprimanded by his coach.
"Don't be too hasty, Fukui!" Masako, the head coach, scolded the point guard. "Try to stabilize the tempo! Don't get attracted by their pace. As long as we could drag them into our slow tempo, our defense could stop anything! Do you understand?"
"Yes, Coach!"
Not long after that, the referee signaled all the players to gather once again, ready to start the jump ball. Kuroko and Fukui stood face to face, ready to get the ball from each other. However, it was clear how in disadvantage Kuroko was. Fukui is about 183 cm, while Kuroko is only 168 cm. The 15 cm difference in height would matter the most in a jump ball situation like this.
And Furihata knows about it too.
That's why when he talked to the blue-haired boy earlier, he instructed him about what to do in this jump ball. And Kuroko did what Furihata said. Right after the referee threw the ball into the air, instead of contesting for the ball, Kuroko lets Fukui jump alone and stepped back, ready to defend the next play.
Fukui who didn't expect Kuroko to back down didn't have a hard time winning the ball. He tapped it to the outside, where Tatsuya is waiting with an open position. However, that open position vanished immediately, as Hyuga closed down the distance between them pretty quickly.
"Nice defense, Hyuga-kun!"
"Go, Himuro!"
Facing such a tight defense, Tatsuya lunged forward, ready to drive. Hyuga stuck into him for a while, didn't back down too. For a moment, it was a fair contest between two shooting guards from both teams.
However, right before they entered the free-throw zone, Tatsuya slowed down his speed, catching Hyuga off guard. And before Seirin's captain could understand what Tatsuya is going to do, Tatsuya spun his body a little, and with a quick turn-around, he pulled up a midrange fadeaway from his spot.
*Splash!*
Two points for Tatsuya!
"Nice shoot!"
"Come on, Himuro! Keep it up!"
"Defense!"
Both teams didn't have enough time to think about the last play, as Furihata has already asked for the ball, trying to keep the pace of the game fast.
"Senpai! Here!"
Kiyoshi who handled the inbound pass didn't hesitate to pass the ball quickly. And without waiting, Furihata blitzed into the other side, leaving the other players behind.
"DAMN! FAST BREAK!"
"SOMEONE! STOP HIM!"
All the Yosen players (except Murasakibara) run back frantically, trying to stop Furihata from scoring again. However, right before anyone could reach him, the ball changed its possession, as Furihata kicked it out into Hyuga's direction.
"Go, Senpai!"
"Shit!"
Okumura who is closest to him jumped earlier, trying to stop the shoot. However, with a simple pump fake, Hyuga was able to fool his fellow captain and pulled up the three from his spot.
*Splash!*
"YEAAAHHH!!!"
"Nice shoot, Captain!"
As time goes by and the game is running back and forth, all the players from both teams are trying to prove that they are not just a one-man team. However, with this kind of fast pace, it begs a big question, who will be the last one to survive?
Yosen High 43 – 35 Seirin High
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Author note :
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-Zeta Faes-