Chapter 03 - Surprising Senpai
The last play worked like a charm. Now, while the senpai team still double-teaming Kagami, they have a wariness that Furihata will pull another surprise again. They didn't know if the last play was just a fluke or if it was planned before, so they are being extra careful now.
Not that they need to do that anyway, as Hyuga-senpai managed to score another three points.
6-11
Furihata sighed at Kuroko who basically did nothing during the game. While in Teikou he surprisingly had a very high steal per game, it is basically because of the other players who could defend two or three players at the same time that Kuroko could just roam freely on the court.
But now, without anyone doing it, Kuroko's roaming did more harm than good. He hasn't stolen the ball even once during the game, and he is basically the weakest link that Hyuga keeps exploiting.
"Oi! Give me the ball!" Kagami's voice demanding the ball snapped him from his mind. Furihata sighed once again as Fukuda looked at him with uncertain eyes. The point guard gives him a signal to pass the ball to him, not the red hair.
While unsure, Fukuda still did what Furihata said, Making Kagami growl in annoyance.
'Well, if he wants to play alone, he can stand alone while we play as a team.'
The game started again with the ball in Furihata's hand. He didn't move, just leaning his body toward Izuki who looked at him with wary eyes, he is still in a triple-threat position. Seeing as nobody comes to help Izuki or him, Furihata smirked.
'Isolation, eh? Let's test the water.'
He dropped the ball, dribbling it without moving forward, still waiting for Izuki's reaction.
'Two steps between me and him, he underestimated me.' Without hesitation, he shifted his form from dribbling to a shooting form, surprising Izuki.
'Shit!' The senpai point guard jumped, trying to block the shoot. Unfortunately for him, he didn't think Furihata would pull a three-pointer like that, so he could not close down the distance between him and Furihata.
Furihata released the ball as it moves beautifully, straight to the rim.
9-11
"Nice shoot!"
"Good one, Furihata-kun!"
However, Furihata didn't go back for the defense position. Instead, he sneaked from Izuki's blind spot. When Mitobe gives the ball to Izuki to start the game, he slapped the ball from Izukis possession and chased it before the ball went out of bounds.
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*Author note: I took the Jose Alvarado plays as the reference. If you are curious, just go to Youtube and search for Jose Alvarado's steal. It is good.
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"What?!" Izuki shouted, couldn't believe that he was fooled twice by the first year.
Right after he get the ball, Furihata didn't waste the opportunity and go straight to the rim. Mitobe who is still behind jumped, trying to block Furihata. But that's what Furihata wants.
The moment Mitobe jumped, he also did the same, bumping his body onto his senpai before he shifted the ball from his right to his left hand and release it. Mitobe tried to block the ball, but it went smoothly above his hand, bouncing into the backboard before it went into the rim.
*PHWEEEET!!*
"AND ONE!" He shouted right after he heard the whistle blow. When he saw the shooting foul signal from Riko, he couldn't help but scream,
"YEAH!!"
A well-played three-point play from Furihata.
11-11
"Time out!" Hyuga shouted to Riko, signaling the referee to pause the game.
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Shun Izuki couldn't believe what just happened here. While he is not the best or the most talented point guard in high school, he considers himself a good one, better than average. He trained hard last year and fought tooth and nail with this very young team to advance through the final league of Interhigh preliminaries.
The humiliation from the three Tokyo Kings last year was a good wake-up call for Izuki, that he is not as good as he thought. Since then, he trained hard, even harder than the other players. And speaking of the other players, he is grateful that they agreed to help him incorporate his newly developed eagle eyes ability into the team. It definitely helps him get better.
Or so he thought.
However, all of his thought and imagination is shaken right now by his new kohai, the first-year point guard, Kouki Furihata.
At first glance the first year looked like an ordinary rookie. Well, he couldn't fault him, as when compared to a monstrous Taiga Kagami, any high school player could be seen as an ordinary player. However, Furihata surprised all of them with his play when Kagami was getting triple-teamed by his teammates.
What makes it worse for him though, is the fact that Furihata did all the play when he guarded the first year. The first play, he could say was a fluke, as he was still focused on Kagami's presence.
But the second and third plays were purely on him. He should expect a pull-up jumper when he is not guarding him tight enough. And the steal in the third play just a few seconds after the second one was the worst. Izuki couldn't believe that he was caught off guard by the play that he did a few times in the last tournament.
'Eagle eyes my ass..' He muttered depressingly.
It is almost like the first year wanted to spite all of the hard work he puts in and say that it is still not good enough.
Izuki lets out a depressed sigh.
If he was bested by his kohai like this, what happened if he meets the three Tokyo Kings that humiliated them last year? And he heard from Riko that the Generation of Miracles from Teikou Middle School is in high school now. What would happen if he meets their point guard?
Life is really unfair sometimes.
*SMACK!*
"OW! What the hell, Junpei?!" Izuki whined in pain as he received a slap on his back. He knows even without looking that it is from his best friend, Junpei Hyuga. He did that a lot last year when the other players thought something idiotic.
"Have you finished with your pity party?" Hyuga asked, ignoring his whining.
"What are you talking about?" Izuki asked while rubbing his back. However, he only received a dark smile from his captain, which scared Izuki to death.
"Okay, okay! I am finished, I guess! Jeez.. Why are you so violent today, Junpeii? Is today your monthly period time?"
*SMACK!*
"OW!" He received another slap on his back. He could hear a laugh coming from his teammate, Koganei and Tsuchida. Hell, he could even see a small smile twitching in Mitobe's mouth, and the center is the quietest person Izuki has ever met.
However, before he could make any comment about it, Hyuga clapped his hand.
"Enough, all of you! Now that Izuki is back in the land of the living, we can discuss about what to do. Koganei, any idea about Kagami?" The cat-like small forward didn't answer immediately but after a few seconds,
"His speed is good, but I could still react and catch him. However, I cannot do anything about his strength. Hell, I doubt even Mitobe could do anything about it either. I hate to say it, but he is on par with Kiyoshi in the strength department." Hyuga nodded.
"That is what I thought. But we can see that the double team and the triple team are effective, as he is a selfish player. So, I will help you guard him as I didn't see any problem in guarding the blue-hair one. Mitobe, do you think you can stop their center?"
The center nodded. While the first year's center has managed to score once already, it was because of their point guard's brilliance, so Mitobe still had the confidence that he could stop the first year.
"Good. And if anyone tries to attack the rim, be ready, okay?"
Seeing as the center nodded his head, Hyuga turned his attention to Izuki.
"And you! Why are you getting depressed this easily? Don't let the first-years disrespect you anymore! Show him the result of your hard work last year! You are our point guard, show him your pride!"
"HAI, CAPTAIN!"
Hyuga nodded, satisfied with Izuki's answer. He could see determination burning in the point guard's eyes, so the next play will be alright.
"Good. Tsuchida, you are our backup here. Keep your focus on and help anyone if you see them struggle, especially Izuki here. Don't let your guard down."
"Hai, Captain!"
"And for the offense, keep targeting the blue hair one. He is terrible in defense. And if it doesn't work, give the ball to Mitobe. He managed to fool their center twice before, so I think their center is not too good in defense. Any question?"
"No, Captain!"
"Good. Let's give those brats a lesson to not underestimate their senpai." Hyuga grinned while looking at the first-year team with menacing eyes, sending a shiver to them.
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Author note:
I have a hard time describing a play in basketball and find it is not as good as I thought, so please be easy on me. Thank you :)