Chapter 49 - Practice Game, Part 2 (1/2)

The second quarter started with the ball in Nambara's possession. This time they attacked with moving the ball around constantly; none of the players even tried to get past their guard.

Nambara's shooting guard got the ball right in the corner of the court and moved to shoot the ball into the basket. Kaitani, who was his guard, jumped to contest the shot, but his attempt was unsuccessful, as he couldn't reach in time.

The ball landed in the basket earning Nambara their first point of the quarter.

From the corridor above the court, Ishida shouted at Kaitani.

[A/N - 1: Think about the corridor in Karasuno's gym in Haikyuu.]

Ishida: ”Kaitani, get more closer. Decrease the space between you and your mark that is better than contesting the shot.”

The coach blew his whistle at Ishida and frowned slightly. Ishida joined his hands and apologized to the coach.

Ishida: ”Sorry.”

The game continued with the Shun dribbling the ball right to the free-throw line, he assumed a post position with Nambara's power forward on his back.

Shun turned and jump for a hook shot, and Nambara's power forward jumped with him, but mid-jump Shun bought his hand down and passed the ball to Yuki, who was passing by in front of him.

Yuki caught the ball and jumped for an overhead layup, the ball bounced off the backboard and landed in the basket.

The point gap increased slowly as the game continued. Shun was keeping the pace of Tokiwadai's offense slow.

Shun: 'Nambara has been tense from the very beginning, they have been going all out on defense from the vert start. We have been able to score consistently even with our current slow pace.

The more we score, the more will Nambara tighten their defense, exhausting themselves quicker. If I had gone with a fast-paced offense, Nambara would have fallen into a panic.

The coach said that he wanted to thoroughly check the new-lineup, a slow-paced offense requires the players to show more skill, which will be enough for the coach to see what the team needs.'

The coach and the team talked about the game earlier in the day.

-*-*-*-*-

Coach: ”Usually, we would be going with a fast-paced game to increase the point gap as soon as possible, but this time I want you guys to play slow so that I can see your skills more thoroughly.”

The coach turned towards Shun and said.

Coach: ”Kageyama-kun, please refrain from scoring. I want you to play as the playmaker for the whole game, make sure to use your teammates to the fullest.”

-*-*-*-*-

Shun once again was dribbling the ball forward.

Nambara's center blocked his path, and Shun stopped in front of him. Shun lowered his posture further down and was dribbling the ball closer to the ground.

Nambara's center thought that Shun was going to drive past him, so he stepped back, spread his arms wide, and lowered his stance as well.

Shun had the ball in his left and hand, and he stepped to his left. Nambara's center leaned to the left in response, but Shun raised his body immediately and threw the ball over his defender's left shoulder, which tilting downwards from Shun's fake.

The ball went like a laserbeam to Aone, who caught the ball and scored with an easy layup.

Ishida was watching the match from above, so he saw what happened.

Ishida: 'He lowered the Nambara's center's posture and made it so that his left hand wouldn't be able to block his pass in time. The center had left Aone alone. Shun must have decided to pass the ball to Aone, the moment the center came to block him.'

Nambara's coach looked at a Shun and smiled bitterly.

Nambara's coach: ”Kageyama Shun stands out too much. His reputation for being a top scorer attracts defenders to him, which he then uses to pass the ball to his now free teammates, and with his skills, he makes sure that the pass goes through.

When you have a powerful scorer, their very existence is a brilliant decoy.”