“Damn, do you even know how to play defense?
I feel like I’m strolling through my own backyard.”
Like a thunderclap, his taunt snapped everyone who’d been mesmerized by Aizen’s previous defensive stop and offensive play back to reality.
‘The physicality, the speed, the perfect fakes…’
‘Nijimura, is this the surprise you were talking about?’
Maki genuinely felt this ‘surprise’.
A first-year of this caliber could make any junior high basketball program in the entire country go crazy.
This was a true genius!
As for Nijimura Shuzo, he’d say this ‘surprise’ was indeed a first-year, but it definitely didn’t include this bastard Aizen.
How could he have imagined that in just one month, this complete novice Aizen would upgrade all his skills to national level and develop such perfect fakes?
Fakes weren’t rare in basketball, but Nijimura Shuzo had never seen anyone use them as well as Aizen—so realistic they were indistinguishable from the real thing.
The reporters on the sidelines picked up their pens and notebooks, happily recording everything.
The point deficit was still 14 points—still a substantial lead.
This wasn’t a 48-minute professional game; the whole match was only 40 minutes.
But the second half had just started.
If they kept playing like this…
“BEEEP!”
Kainan called a timeout.
‘Cautious, indeed.’
Shirogane Kozo barely suppressed his smile, waved with a serious expression, and called his young players back to the bench.
“Good work.
Keep playing defense.
Play serious defense.”
This old man, who’d been furious with the second and third-year starters in the first half, now had eyes burning with desire for victory.
Aizen had stopped Maki twice in a row, impressing not just the media but also Teiko’s coaching staff.
About 175 cm tall, weighing about 60 kg, yet holding his own physically against Maki who weighed over 70 kg.
And with excellent skills too—how could you not be amazed?
Everyone had thought this game would only feature Maki Shinichi and Nijimura Shuzo.
Who could have predicted a first-year genius would emerge?
…
The timeout ended quickly.
Kainan was on offense, and Maki had the ball again.
This time, he didn’t try to go one-on-one with Aizen.
Instead, he waved his hand and called Takasago for a screen.
Takasago might not have been a top-ten center, but his height and mass were there.
This screen was of excellent quality. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Combined with Maki’s explosive first step, once Aizen got caught on the screen, he’d lost his defensive position.
Kainan’s coach smiled.
The strategy had worked.
As long as Maki’s unstoppable offensive prowess continued to function, Kainan could comfortably protect their 14-point lead.
Maki drove into the paint, rose up aggressively, and prepared to throw down a dunk.
But just then, the area under the basket suddenly went dark.
Maki felt like a tower had risen from the ground.
Murasakibara—he’d rotated back on defense at an unbelievable speed, appearing right behind Maki.
Why was it unbelievable?
Because Murasakibara, despite being just a first-year center, stood 190 cm tall and weighed nearly 90 kg.
And yet, when he went full speed, he was no slower than Maki?
What kind of monster was this?
SMACK!
Everyone in the arena heard that crisp sound.
Murasakibara cleanly pinned Maki’s layup to the backboard.
First Aizen, then Murasakibara—’Emperor’ Maki got chased down from behind by two Teiko first-years in a row!
This was Murasakibara Atsushi, the future core of Yosen’s absolute defense.
Even a freak like Maki couldn’t escape Murasakibara’s reach.
Murasakibara didn’t say anything after the block, but Aizen was already running his mouth on the other side.
“What’s this, what’s this?
You think getting past me means you can score?
How naive!
You don’t even need me to step up—my underlings can handle you guys easily.”
“Man, this is the so-called national powerhouse?
I haven’t even broken a sweat yet.”
Teiko’s players thought, ‘You’ve only played three possessions—of course you haven’t broken a sweat!’
Still, no matter how insufferable Aizen was, they had to admit it felt good to hear.
Kainan’s players were also shocked.
This was the first time they’d seen Takasago lose a ‘trash talk battle’ with an opponent.
This is the true power of a Level 15 NBA forum keyboard warrior.
Nijimura Shuzo reacted quickly, calling for the ball immediately.
This was a golden opportunity for a fast break.
Kainan’s backcourt defense instantly went on high alert!
Maki and his teammates hustled back just in time to stop Nijimura Shuzo before he could get inside the three-point line. The source of this chapter is g.com.
At that moment, Aomine, with his blazing speed, cut in and signaled for the ball.
But Aizen’s voice was even faster.
He raised his arm like a flag waving in the wind.
“Captain, over here!
Pass it!”
Nijimura Shuzo was speechless.
Seeing how ‘enthusiastic’ Aizen was, he delivered a bounce pass to him.
Now standing in front of Aizen was Kainan’s shooting guard.
Aizen’s Strength stat of nearly 90 points might not have been overwhelming against Maki.
But now, matched up against a regular guard, he immediately showed them what a dragon charge looked like!
Earlier, Aizen had used a fake to shake off Takasago.
Now he didn’t even need that.
THUD!
Aizen transformed into ‘Emperor’ Maki himself, violently bulldozing his defender aside.
Kainan’s coach watched in disbelief as Aizen moved one step forward while his player went three steps backward.
‘What the hell kind of basketball was this?’
‘Was this how other teams felt when facing Maki?’
Aizen drove in again, ignoring Aomine calling for the ball, all the way to the paint, leaped, and threw down a ferocious dunk with the force of splitting a mountain.
“Ha!
You dark-skinned idiot, if I hadn’t wanted to show off my passing, you wouldn’t have gotten the ball from me at all!”
Aizen chuckled to himself, then turned and kept trash-talking Kainan’s players.
“Watch yourself—I don’t want to knock you all the way into the Pacific Ocean!”
At this moment, Kainan’s bench was filled with gritted teeth and silent fury.
They wanted to beat this bastard to death.
Of course, the real problem wasn’t whether they could beat up Aizen—it was how to stabilize the situation.
Shirogane Kozo was perfectly calm on the sidelines, mimicking Lakers championship coach Phil Jackson with his ‘Zen Master’ posture on the bench.
He’d already forgotten his original reason for recruiting Aizen was to deal with Hanamiya Makoto.
He’d even made up his mind: For the upcoming national tournament, Aizen would start as a swingman playing the 2 or 3 spot.
He valued Aizen’s defensive ability.
If he could hold Maki to zero points, was there any junior high player in the country he couldn’t stop?
Kainan’s coach was in serious trouble right now.
Teiko’s new lineup’s defense was absolutely terrifying.
An outer wall in Aizen, an inner wall in Murasakibara—these two defensive anchors made Teiko’s defense impenetrable.
He racked his brain trying to crack Teiko’s defense, only to suddenly realize he’d forgotten that Teiko’s true core was actually Nijimura Shuzo?
‘When did Teiko get this strong?’