Rebirth in KurokoNoBasket

The game had gotten an exciting start with Tokiwadai scoring the first points.     

Teiko now had the ball, and Akashi wanted to score as soon as possible.     

Akashi: 'If our offense gets blocked this time, we will lose the momentum to Tokiwadai.'     

Teiko's captain and playmaker scouted the court and tried to find the play with the highest chances of scoring, and he did find one way they could score with a high likelihood of scoring.     

Akashi brought the ball to the half-court line and jogged past it, and just before Yuki got in his vicinity to guard him, he passed the ball to the inside area.     

The ball found its way to just outside the low-post into the hands of Murasakibara.     

Murasakibara caught the ball, and with his back to Aone, he started to push him back.     

Commentator A: "Ah, we see the first post-play of the game. Let's see which of the center prevails in the post."     

Mursakibara pushed Aone into the paint. Know Murasakibara could use a front turn to face to the basket, but he didn't and kept pushing until they were Dee, and then faced the basket and rammed the ball into the basket.     

Aone wasn't able to hinder Murasakibara and couldn't stop him from dunking.     

Aone: "Ugh!"     

The viewers cheered for the powerful dunk, and the commentators provided some insight.     

Commentator A: "As expected, Murasakibara-kun's physique is suited to basketball, isn't it?"     

Commentator B: "Yes, he jumped from a good distance from the basket and was still able to put the ball into the rim. His wingspan helped him cover the extra distance."     

Commentator A: "But he could've used a front turn to score with less effort, but he chose to force his way in."     

Commentator B: "True, but this isn't something uncommon in basketball, players with great physique use their bodies to score rather than rely on finer skills.     

Players like him don't need those skills, as they can do the same without said skills."     

Shun gazed at Murasakibara and thought.     

Shun: 'He has gotten strong, how to score on him. Hmm...'     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

The ball was now in Tokiwadai's possession, and Kaitani was the one it past the half-court.     

Shun was on the three-point arc, and ready to get the pass. Kaitani got the pass, and Shun charged into the paint with the ball.     

Kise rushed to stop Shun, but Shun got passed him with a single hesitation look.     

Kise got close to Shun for a shot block, but Shun slipped past him the moment he came close.     

Kise: "Dammit a fake."     

The commentator chuckled and spoke.     

Commentator B: "A well-executed hesitation dribble is always fun to see. Kise-kun closed in too early."     

Shun got just inside the Dee and jumped for a layup, but all was not easy as he saw Murasakibara jump for a block.     

His reflexes hummed in response, Shun lowered the ball and dropped it to the ground.     

The ball found its way to Aone, who jumped for the dunk behind both of them.     

Shun smiled and spoke.     

Shun: "You committed too much in guarding me."     

As Murasakibara and Shun got to the ground, Aone's hands were already near the basket.     

Murasakibara frowned as he saw Aone put the ball into the hoop.     

-*-*-*-     

Juliet, in the stands, was colored impressed with Shun's show of reflexes.     

Juliet: "Kageyama-kun's reflexes are impressive. That pass was an extremely swift decision on his part."     

Kendo was a sport of reflexes. Kendo players had to react to every move of their opponent and avoid getting hit, one hit and they got one big step close to defeat.     

Inuzuka nodded and shared his experience.     

Inuzuka: "Kageyama is quick. He slips away whenever I try to put him into a headlock or such. He is quite agile as well."     

Hikigaya shook his head at his friend.     

Hikigaya: "When you nodded, I thought you would share something about Kendo, but of course, you would talk about headlocks."     

Shikamaru didn't even give the courtesy of looking at Inuzuka and said.     

Shikamaru: "You're an idiot."     

Inuzuka clenched his fist, and a vein bulged on his forehead, he wanted nothing but to put both his friends in holds and choke them until they apologized, but he stopped when he saw President Temari looking at him with a watchful look.     

Inuzuka sighed and thought,     

Inuzuka: 'These guys are taking advantage of the president sitting beside us. These damn smartasses!'     

And, Hikigaya and Shikamaru were indeed smiling with their heads turned away from the rest of them.     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

Shun was near the right corner of the three-point arc, and in front of him was Aomine.     

Shun and Aomine were looking at each other.     

Shun used his court vision to look for a path to the basket.     

Shun: 'I can't go straight. Aomine and Murasakibara will be tough to force through.'     

He saw a path that he could maneuver through.     

Shun: 'Ok, let's do this.'     

Shun smiled at Aomine to throw him off.     

Aomine: 'Hmm... why is he smiling?'     

He saw Shun taking the ball into both of his hands, and raising his slightly.     

One explanation entered Aomine's mind.     

Aomine: 'He is going to shoot.'     

He immediately closed in and jumped for a block.     

Shun smile widened as he saw Aomine jumping.     

Shun lowered his hands and drove past the mid-jump Aomine.     

Aomine was shocked at the sudden shot fake.     

Aomine: "I made a judge-miss!"     

The commentator presented their analysis of the move.     

Commentator B: "What we just saw was an excellent shot-fake. Kageyama-kun had his hands on the upper hemisphere of the ball, so the referee didn't call him for double dribble."     

Shun ran diagonally to the left, away from the basket.     

That was when Midorima appeared in front of Shun.     

Shun: "Oh, I wasn't expecting you."     

Shun put a little force on his feet and made sharp direction change towards the basket.     

Midorima was expecting that Shun would keep going away from the basket, so he was not ready for the sharp turn.     

Midorima: "What control!"     

Shun now ran unopposed towards the basket.     

Near the low-post, Murasakibara was ready to block the incoming Shun, but that was where Aone came in.     

From Murasakibara's behind, he put his leg ahead of Murasakibara's leg and then came in front of him and boxed him out.     

Murasakibara was taken by surprise by the sudden box-out.     

Murasakibara: 'I was too occupied by Kageyama, that I didn't notice him!'     

Shun reached the basket and put the ball with a simple overhead layup.     

The commentator was impressed by that certain play.     

Commentator A: "Did you see Tokiwadai's Aone-kun box out Murasakibara-kun from Teiko."     

Commentator B: "Yes. I could tell that Murasakibara-kun wasn't expecting that. Common mistakes that young players make."     

Commentator A: "True, even though it is important to keep an eye on the ball, but it is important to be on a lookout for the players near you."     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

On Teiko's bench, Teiko's coach Shirogane Kozo rubbed his chin and thought.     

Shirogane: 'Tokiwadai is working with Kageyama Shun at their core. At this rate, Kageyama Shun will outscore us. We need to obstruct the players around him to get to him.'     

He looked at the girl sitting beside him.     

Shirogane: "Momoi-san, what is the situation with Tokiwadai players' information?"     

Satsuki looked at the coach and replied.     

Satsuki: "It was easy to collect information on players other than Shun-kun."     

Satsuki sighed and smiled wryly.     

Satsuki: " I still wasn't able to get any information on him. He is too unpredictable. I don't even know his current level. He hasn't played seriously, all this tournament."     

Her look turned serious, she said.     

Satsuki: "By myself, I wasn't able to completely cover Tokiwadai's pass routines. Shun-kun made it hard for me to predict pass routines, but when Akashi-kun gave his input, we were able to get the majority of Tokiwadai's pass routines under check."     

She smiled and said.     

Satsuki: "It might be difficult for us to shutdown Shun-kun, but we can cut Tokiwadai's scoring ability by restricting passes."     

Shirogane smiled and spoke.     

Shirogane: "Good. Let's begun early and start cutting out Tokiwadai's offense."     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

Akashi glanced at the bench and saw the coach signaling to start target pass routines.     

Akashi nodded and then relayed the signal to the team on the court.     

Teiko's members understood the signal and got ready to execute the strategy.     

The ball was in Tokiwadai's possession, and Shun was a few steps from the three-point arc.     

Aomine was face-to-face with Shun ready to guard him.     

Aomine looked at Shun and thought.     

Aomine: 'I don't care if it's the strategy. I am going to stop him with all my might.'     

The strategy was simple. Stop Shun, but give him enough space to pass the ball, but Aomine's goal was to guard Shun without any gap for either passes or Shun cross him.     

Shun swung the ball in front of Aomine like the pendulum. He kept the hands in the upper hemisphere of the ball to avoid double dribble.     

Shun remembered one move that Aomine did in the series. He was going to do something familiar to it.     

Shun got the ball in one hand and did one hard dribble to make the ball come up.     

In the anime, Aomine didn't do this, but Shun didn't have the handspan to palm the ball for the move.     

He let the ball come up and then proceeded to do a fake pass the ball to the right when it was at his shoulder level.     

Aomine moved to the right to defend Shun.     

Shun: 'Well, I knew that he is fast.'     

Shun's reflexes blared, he turned his body and turned to the left side with a backward spin.     

Commentator A: "What an amazing move! A pass fake, followed by a spin to the other side, but Aomine-kun is not backing down!"     

Aomine once again followed Shun and arrived at the left to block him.     

Aomine: "I have got you now!"     

Shun knew that passing Aomine would take him to reset, and that might take time, and they might not be able to score within the shot clock time.     

Shun switched the ball between hands and passed the ball to Yuki forward.     

Shun frowned as the ball left his hands. The ball reached Yuki, but Yuki had to step forward to receive the ball.     

Shun: 'That was a shitty pass.'     

Yuki got the ball and passed the ball to Mibuchi, but mid-pass Kise arrived and stole the pass.     

The crowd was pleased with pass steal, and many girls cheered for Kise.     

Girl 1: "Kise-kun!"     

Girl 2: "Kise-kun, you are the best!"     

While the boys in the stands, they looked at Kise with envy and dislike.     

Boy 1: "Tch, I wish the blonde bastard makes a fool of himself."     

Boy 2: "Normies, die!"     

Kise dribbled the ball towards the basket and passed it to Midorima, who was ahead of him near the three-point arc.     

Midorima received the ball and shot a dagger from the three-point arc.     

Shun ran to Kaitani and said.     

Shun: "That will go in. I will inbound the ball and pass it to you. You throw it to Mibuchi-san, ASAP."     

Shun didn't wait for a reply and arrived at the baseline and threw it to Kaitani past half-court.     

Akashi saw Shun throwing the ball and yelled.     

Akashi: "Fall back! It's a fast break!"     

Kaitani did as he was asked and threw it to Mibuchi right away.     

Commentator B: "A lightning-fast play by Tokiwadai. The ball reached from one end to the other in a second."     

Mibuchi was near a corner of the three-point arc, so everyone was quite far from him, even Murasakibara was quite far from him, and even his long strides couldn't help Murasakibara reach the uncrowned king.     

Mibuchi took a shot with a relaxed attitude, and it went into the basket with quite the ease.     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

Coach Shirogane at Teiko's bench, smiled wryly, and spoke.     

Shirogane: "He got the points back as soon as we scored them."     

Shirogane looked at Shun and said.     

Shirogane: "But, it won't work every time. The break down of Tokiwadai has only started."     

Teiko's plan might not have started smoothly, but they were confident that their plan would work.     

The end few minutes of the game's first-quarter was going to be a war of tactics.