Chapter 36 - Tokiwadai vs. Teiko, Part 4 (1/2)
(At Teiko's Bench)
Akashi looked at his team members.
Akashi: 'Kuroko is tired from the fast-paced game. He exhausted himself going up and down the court with no breaks.'
Akashi turned towards Haizaiki and saw him in no condition to play.
Akashi: 'What did Kageyama Shun say to him that got him this down.'
Akashi sighed and looked at his coach. The coach nodded and addressed the whole team.
Shirogane (Teiko's Coach): ”The lineup for the fourth quarter will be Nijimura, Akashi, Midorima, Aomine, and Murasakibara.”
Akashi stepped forward and said.
Akashi: ”This quarter is going to be the most difficult one even with the huge lead. Nothing is stopping Kageyama Shun from stealing the passes. All we can do is make it harder for him to steal the passes.”
Nijimura: ”And, how do you suggest we do that?”
Akashi closed his eyes for a moment and then spoke.
Akashi: ”Kageyama Shun needs certain conditions fulfilled before he can steal a pass.”
Midorima: ”What conditions?”
Akashi: ”First, he needs to know the pass routine, conditions, and performance of the players, their habits, and other things that might help him predict the plays.
He spends the first half of the game, fulfilling that condition.
Next, he needs to be in the middle of the court for him able to steal a pass.”
[A/N: Not the half-court, but in the middle of the court, draw a line joining the baskets on both ends of the court, and he would need to be on that line.]
Aomine: ”Why should he be in the middle of the court?”
Akashi: ”No matter how fast a person is, he won't be faster than a ball traveling at a fast speed. Kageyama Shun cannot go from one end of the court to another fast enough to steal a moving ball. He needs to be in the center to reach in time.”
Nijimura: ”That makes sense.”
Akashi: ”The last condition is not really a condition but a factor that makes it easier for him to steal the ball.”
Shirogane (Teiko's Coach): ”And, that is?”
Akashi: ”The longer the distance between players is, the more chance he has to steal the pass going between them, as it increases the time he has to reach the ball.”
Akashi took a pause and continued,
Akashi: ”We can't completely stop him from stealing our passes, but we can reduce the numbers of steals.
Keep the passes less in number if you have to pass, keep them short, and finally, and try to draw Kageyama Shun to the sides of the court.”
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The final quarter started, and the ball started with Teiko.
Akashi dribbled the ball and was met by Ishida in the way. Akashi slowed down, but the next moment he speeds past him.
Ishida: 'So fast.'
Akashi reached beneath the basket and jumped for a layup, but the ball was smacked out of his hand.
Akashi looked behind to find Shun running back towards Teiko's basket.
The ball was caught by Otsubo, who directly threw it to Shun. Shun caught the ball and layed it into the basket without a defender in sight.
The audience cheered for Shun at the quick score.
Viewer: ”That was so quick.”
Aomine looked at Shun, who just scored.
Aomine: 'He ran the moment he blocked Akashi, I wouldn't have that much awareness of the situation.'
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Nijimura passed Mibuchi with a quick crossover; he was met by Ishida and Aone's double team.
Shun got the ball from Otsubo, dribbled forward, and met by Aomine.
Shun: 'Let's aim for a four-point play.'
Shun stopped and used the 'Earth' form Mibuchi to foul Aomine and land the ball in the basket. The ball swirled around a few times but landed safely into the net.
Shun sighed in relief as the three-pointer went in.
Shun: 'I really need to work on my accuracy; let's increase the number of shots in practices.'
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Akashi tried to get past Mibuchi, but both were in deadlock. Akashi looked at Midorima and passed at him, but Shun swooped in and stole the pass just in front of Midorima.
He dribbled the ball to an open space and shot from the three-point line, making the shot.
The game went on with Shun slowly but steadily decreasing the point gap.
Shun decreased scoring from inside and started to score more from outside. He thoroughly utilized Mibuchi's shooting forms to score three and the occasional four points at a time.
Shun kept on stealing the ball and kept increasing the point scored by Tokiwadai.
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Murasakibara was pissed. He had been scored against over and over by Shun in this game. He wanted to block him, but he couldn't, the ball would always go over him.
He wanted to stop Shun from scoring, but Shun switched to scoring from outside, and that wasn't his area defend.
Murasakibara: ”Then, I will just score over him.”
Murasakibara dribbled the ball from one side of the court to the other side by himself. He saw Otsubo being occupied by Nijimura, and Shun was free.
He headed towards the basket for a dunk, and as he expected, Shun came to the post stop him.
Murasakibara: 'I will dunk over you.'
Murasakibara jumped with the ball in his hands, but just before his hands reached the height of the hoop, another set of hands collided with the ball.
Murasakibara looked to find that Shun had met him at Shun's maximum vertical reach.
Murasakibara: ”He angeled and positioned himself such that he would have the maximum power and impact just before the height of the hoop.”
The ball slipped out Murasakibara's hands and was caught by Aomine, who scored by himself, but the impact from the block was enough to raise the morals of Tokiwadai to the highest.
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