Chapter 053: This Year's Teiko Is Ridiculous, Dainita's in Trouble

After Teiko delivered a pair of brutal opening blows, the crowd, momentarily stunned into silence, suddenly erupted into a flurry of chatter, the whole arena buzzed with excitement.

"Number 7 jumped so high!"

"Middle school basketball looks like this now?!"

"And it's not just Number 7, even that Number 8 is insane. First, he broke through a double-team, then he completely shook off the opposing point guard!"

"Right? He took on three defenders in a single play! He looked like he was going to finish it himself, but in the blink of an eye, the ball was suddenly passed away. That was a beautiful sequence!"

"Who are these two? I've never heard of Teiko having players like them before."

"They're Teiko's new first-year recruits, Number 7, Shigure Akihito, and Number 8, Nijimura Shuzo. A while back, Teiko had a lot of scrimmages against outside schools, and these two were appearing constantly. People have started calling them the 'Twin Stars of Teiko'."

"What?"

"They're first-years?!"

,

On the court, Dainita's captain Minamiya Hiroyuki looked like he'd seen a ghost as he stared at Teiko's Number 8.

Meanwhile, under the basket, Dainita's center sat slumped against the stanchion, eyes wide with disbelief, wearing an even more shocked expression than Minamiya.

Minamiya took a deep breath, trying to calm his shaken nerves. Forcing himself to refocus, he quickly ran over and pulled his stunned center to his feet. Then, with no other choice, he clapped his hands to boost morale.

"It was just... one play."

"Don't let it get to you."

"Let's adjust our strategy, focus on defense first, stay solid, and look for opportunities on offense."

"Defense…"

"…is a whole different story than offense!"

His teammates finally started to snap out of it.

Right, being strong on offense doesn't necessarily mean being strong on defense.

Both of those first-years were about 175 cm tall. Since Nijimura had taken over the starting power forward spot from the former starter, that meant one of them had to be playing power forward.

That's it.

That was the weak point!

Dainita regrouped and inbounded the ball.

Minamiya brought it up steadily under pressure from Teiko's point guard, Eba Masatoshi, and passed it down low to their own power forward.

It was deliberate, he was being guarded by Teiko's Number 8.

Nijimura Shuzo.

Dainita had clearly targeted him as the "breakthrough point."

Nijimura raised an eyebrow slightly.

On the sidelines, Shigure Akihito gave a quiet tsk.

If we're talking defense...

Aside from Teiko's center, Ōzō Masaaki, Dainita just picked probably the worst possible matchup they could have.

,

Dainita's power forward, standing well over 180 cm, didn't hesitate. Seeing that Nijimura's frame looked lean, he immediately went for a back-down post-up.

Boom!

He couldn't budge him!

"?!"

His defense…

His center of gravity is so low!

And so solid!

Boom~!

He tried again. Still nothing.

Realizing that Nijimura was using low posture and core strength to anchor his defense, Dainita's forward figured his height advantage would give him the edge.

So, he spun into a post move...

And went up for the layup.

But the instant he did,

BOOM!

From behind, Shigure Akihito launched forward with his signature "monkey jump" and an explosive aerial block. Closing the distance in a flash, he rocketed up to contest the shot from way beyond the expected zone.

At the same time, Nijimura had already read the move. He leapt in as well from the side, matching Shigure's elevation, at least wrist-level above the rim!

Because Nijimura was positioned closer, he arrived at nearly the exact same moment as Shigure!

In that instant...

Under the dazzling white lights of the gymnasium, Teiko's Number 7 and Number 8 soared together, bathed in brilliance, casting their shadow down upon Dainita's power forward.

Then,

BOOM~!

Both hands met the ball with a heavy thud, pinning it against the backboard.

Shigure: "Mine."

Nijimura: "Don't be extra."

Just as he said that, Nijimura snagged the ball outright. Though his eyes were still on Shigure, he immediately snapped the ball forward with a long pass.

Fwoosh~!

Minamiya's expression changed instantly at the sight of that throw. He turned to warn his teammates to get back on defense, but it was already too late.

Because the moment he turned his head, Teiko's small forward, Uchiumi Masahiko, was already bolting ahead for a fast break.

With no one left to stop him, the 180-cm Uchiumi took off for a one-handed dunk.

But something felt... off.

Usually, when he dunked, the crowd would cheer wildly.

This time, where was the roar of applause?

Uchiumi looked around the arena.

"…?"

Tch!

He caught the rebounding ball in frustration and tossed it to a Dainita player who had just returned on defense.

Seeing the empty look in his opponent's eyes, Uchiumi muttered bitterly:

"So what if they jump higher…"

,

Score: Teiko 4 – Dainita 0.

Just a 4-point lead, and just the beginning of the game. But the shock and psychological damage delivered by Shigure and Nijimura had completely disoriented Dainita.

"Nice job, Shigure, Nijimura!"

"Keep it up~!"

"Haha, so funny~"

"Looks like Dainita really thought you two were weak links~"

Back on Teiko's side during the retreat to defense, the third-years Uchiumi and Eba had plenty of time to crack jokes. On the other hand, Dainita looked nothing like the spirited team that had stepped onto the court just minutes ago.

Then,

Tweet~!

The whistle blew.

A timeout from Dainita's coach.

Seeing that, the crowd buzzed even louder.

"Dainita called timeout already?!"

"You can tell from just two plays, the gap is too big…"

"Teiko only used two rookies and Dainita's already falling apart. What happens next? Do they try attacking Ōzō under the basket now?"

"Honestly, the coach made the right call. A timeout here is crucial. I noticed earlier, Dainita's morale clearly took a hit after those two plays."

"Teiko's lineup this year is just absurd. Dainita's screwed."

,

Dainita called timeout, both to regroup and to break Teiko's momentum.

Without a doubt, that opening blitz from Teiko had severely shaken the fragile confidence they had worked so hard to build up.

Their coach didn't sugarcoat it either:

"Stop thinking you can score just because they're first-years!"

"Execute our offense patiently!"

"Play team basketball!"

"Run screens!"

"Set clean, patient screens, got it?!"

End of chapter...

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