Chapter 94 - Samezuka vs. Tokiwadai (1/2)
The second quarter started, and Tokiwadai sent out,
Shun, Aone, Mibuchi, Yuki, Kaitani.
Tokiwadai had sent their main five starters, for the second quarter.
During the time-out between quarters, the team had decided to use Aone a lot in this quarter.
It was his last quarter of the game, so Shun was going to use Aone a lot in the offense.
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On Samezuka's bench, the coach and players were anxious to go out for the second quarter.
Samezuka's captain, the small forward, looked at their coach for guidance.
Samezuka's SF: ”Coach, what should we do?”
The coach thought for a while and then replied.
Samezuka's Coach: ”I have no idea how they are doing it, but to avoid it, make sure not to leave your mark to help others. You have to handle your mark on your own.”
Coach knew that before Tokiwadai's skilled players, it would be difficult for his players to play defense, but the team didn't have any choice.
He sighed and instructed.
Samezuka's Coach: ”Worrying will not get us anything, so go out and make sure to defend whole-heartedly, and please follow the pass-routines that we have trained with, don't be selfish and try to score on your own.”
Samezuka's team nodded and said.
All: ”Yes, sir.”
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It was Samezuka's offense.
The point guard passed the ball to the shooting guard. He relayed the ball to the small forward, who was already around the mid-range area.
Samezuka's small forward shot a mid-range short. Kaitani, who was his mark, tried to contest the shot, but he failed to reach.
The ball bounced off the rim and missed.
Kaitani yelled when he saw the ball missed the basket.
Kaitani: ”Rebound!”
Aone boxed out Samezuka's center, and Shun jumped up for the rebound.
Shun got the ball, and he had already decided how he was going to move the ball after he landed.
Shun got to the ground and got into pass motion. He did a pass-fake right beside Samezuka's center.
The center moved to the right trying to get a hand on the pass and fell for the fake.
Aone got the plan and quickly moved behind Shun.
Shun casually dropped the ball behind him and stepped one step forward and got into a screen position.
Shun had effectively passed the ball to Aone, he had checked with his vision that no one was behind him and Aone to block Aone, and then he moved to eliminate Aone's guard by screeing him out.
Samezuka's center cursed when he saw the screen.
Samezuka's C: ”Dammit, a screen.”
Aone jumped and once again scored with a finger-roll.
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Shun had the ball, and he moved to the three-point arc.
Shun stopped and took a moment to look at the position of the players on the court, and then said.
Shun: ”Let's do it.”
He looked at Kaitani and said.
Shun: ”This is how you use speed.”
Shun found the shortest path to the basket and exploded with the highest speed he could manage.
Fushimi's small forward watched wide-eyed at Shun as he moved at a neck-breaking speed.
Fushimi's SF: ”What speed!”
Kaitani looked at Shun as he directed himself through the gaps between the defenders and then jammed the ball into the rim.
The people in the stands exclaimed at Shun's charge to the basket.
Person A: ”Holy crap, he just went in between the gaps.”
The spectators could see the court better than the players, as they watched from above.
Person B: ”Did you see how quickly he moved. It was like he didn't care about colliding with others.”
Of course, not all understood that Shun had already mapped out the route for his run, so they judged it as reckless.
Person C: ”Man, that dunk was impactful, wasn't it.”
And, some were mesmerized by the simple yet powerful charm of a dunk.
Shun proceeded to score two more times in that quarter to recharge his decoy batteries, which made him attract more attention than others.
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Of course, not all plays were tricky.
The team had decided that Aone would score. So, Shun decided to use the strength that he bought to the table.
Shun made one single pass to Aone and let him move freely inside the post, and do what he did best.
Shun passed the ball to Aone, just outside the low post, and Aone would force his way to the basket and used hook shots, layups, up-and-under, and drop-steps.
The score at the end of the second quarter was 40-26.
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It was another quarter and another team switch.
The team for this quarter was,