"Today, right here, I'm going to humiliate you!"
Tanaka looked at Taisuke nervously, constantly adjusting his stance to widen his defensive range. Unfortunately, Taisuke had no intention of playing mind games. With a powerful dribble and body check, he charged straight into Tanaka.
Feeling the pressure slam into him, Tanaka's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly shifted his center of gravity to resist Taisuke's advance, but in doing so, he completely exposed his weak side. It was a textbook post spin. Taisuke slipped past Tanaka with ease, raised the ball, and released a smooth bank shot. Pinned out of position by Taisuke's body, Tanaka could only stand there, watching helplessly as the shot was about to go in.
At that moment, a broad shadow burst in from the side.
Bang!
Just as the ball reached above the rim, before it could even touch the backboard, a pair of massive hands slammed it hard against the glass. Taisuke's grin froze instantly. Looking up, he saw Takumi landing calmly with the ball secured in one hand.
In the next instant, Takumi fired a long outlet pass to Kota, who was already sprinting toward Shutoku's half. Takumi wasn't known for his passing skills, but to support Kaijo's run-and-gun system, he had specifically trained fast breaks and full-court passes during this period. Even from an awkward angle, Kota caught the pass cleanly. He lightly pump-faked the Shutoku defender chasing from behind, then laid it in for two points.
Kaijo scored the first basket of the game. Kota didn't waste the moment; he slapped his chest with one hand, pointed to the sky, and made a simple celebration gesture, instantly giving the entire Kaijo squad a morale boost.
Only after Kota finished celebrating did Takumi turn his gaze back to Taisuke. His usually expressionless face curled into a scoff, his eyes full of mockery. Though Takumi was typically quiet, that didn't mean he was mute. Seeing his junior being taunted, Takumi, now a second-year at Kaijo, naturally stepped up to reclaim some dignity for Tanaka.
Faced with Takumi's solid, imposing frame, Taisuke said nothing. He simply turned and headed back to his own half. Seeing this, Takumi shook his head. "What a bully who only picks on the weak."
"You okay, Tanaka?" Takumi patted him on the shoulder and said calmly, "Don't take it too hard. Just focus on doing what you can. Don't be afraid; I've got your back."
Hearing concern from the usually taciturn Takumi, Tanaka was both surprised and moved. He nodded repeatedly, shifting his focus more fully onto the game.
...
Despite Kaijo striking first, Shutoku quickly regained possession. Although Takumi once again successfully helped on defense, swatting away another inside attempt with a beautiful chase-down block, both Kota and Takao could clearly see it: Taisuke's matchup advantage over Tanaka was obvious to the naked eye.
Shutoku resumed their offense. Midorima finally began moving again, still strolling leisurely around the court as if nothing concerned him. Kota had no good answer to this; he could only stay glued to him and entrust the rest of the defense to his teammates.
Takao, matched up against Yuki, dribbled while searching for cracks in Kaijo's defense. Even as the shot clock wound down, he showed no sign of panic. Then, Taisuke, who had been planted in the paint, suddenly popped out to the perimeter, leaving Tanaka behind. He reached out and called for the ball from Takao.
Seeing Taisuke with open shooting space, Tanaka rushed out to contest. But the instant Tanaka stepped forward, Taisuke took a quick step through and blew past him, completely catching him off guard. This time, even Takumi couldn't rotate over in time. Facing an open Kaijo lane, Taisuke gathered in three steps and hammered home a one-handed dunk!
"Shutoku, two points!"
Hearing the referee's call, Kota frowned slightly and glanced at his teammates. In every aspect, Tanaka was being outclassed by Taisuke. And Kaijo was never an inside-dominant team to begin with. In the past, they'd relied on Kobori's obsession with rebounding and Kise's maxed-out all-around abilities, allowing Kota to play with remarkable ease.
"This is bad… Kise being gone is really having a huge impact," Kota thought.
He pressed his lips together. He didn't blame Tanaka. Instead, he gestured for his teammates to move and carefully studied Shutoku's defensive setup. Compared to defense, Kaijo preferred to establish advantages on offense. Even without Kise, this Kaijo squad was still among the elite offensive teams in the entire national tournament.
...
Kaijo possession. Kota with the ball. With Tanaka still on the court, Kota didn't activate the "run-and-gun" system. Instead, he raised one hand and flashed the number six, initiating Kaijo's staple play: the Horns offense.
Aside from Kota distributing at the high post, the other four players moved in sync. After a series of cuts and screens, Kota spotted an opening in the corner and fired a one-handed cross-court pass to Morikawa. A three-time middle school Top Scorer with nearly a 60% shooting percentage back then, Morikawa didn't waste the opportunity. He rose smoothly, lined up the rim, and drained the shot.
One minute in, it was 5 to 2 with Kaijo in the lead. But the momentum didn't last long.
Once Takao realized that Taisuke's post-ups against Tanaka were highly effective, Shutoku began feeding the ball inside repeatedly, temporarily shelving Midorima, their ultimate weapon. On the surface, this seemed to weaken Shutoku's offense. In reality, it did the opposite. Resting Midorima early preserved their ace's stamina while also keeping Kota tied down, afraid to help elsewhere.
Kota knew full well that if he relaxed his coverage even slightly, Midorima would punish Kaijo from an absurd distance with his broken, overpowered three-pointer. With Kota unable to leave his assignment and Taisuke's dominance growing, Takumi was forced to devote more attention to help defense.
That, in turn, opened opportunities for Shutoku's other second-year big man, Yuya. He repeatedly slipped in for easy layups while Takumi was distracted and frequently moved to the perimeter to set screens for Takao, creating space for him to operate.
Just like that, Kaijo found themselves firmly suppressed throughout the first quarter. Shutoku carried a 32 to 27 lead into the second quarter.
The Second Quarter Adjustment
At the Kaijo Bench, Kota held a black marker between his lips while studying the tactics board, thinking through his next adjustments. Beside him, Takumi occasionally patted Tanaka's shoulder in reassurance. Honestly speaking, more than half of Kaijo's struggles in the first quarter could be attributed to Tanaka.
Kota pulled the marker from his mouth and drew a few lines on the board before speaking. "For the second quarter, we need to adjust the lineup… let me think."
The moment he said that, Tanaka's head dropped. The rest of Kaijo seemed to understand without words; based on Tanaka's first-quarter performance, any lineup change would almost certainly mean he'd be subbed out. However, Kota's next words caught everyone off guard.
"For the second quarter, Morikawa, you rest first. Fukuhara, how's your condition? You can play the three, right?"
"Me?" Fukuhara blinked, pointing at himself in surprise.
Kota raised an eyebrow. "Any problems? If you need to warm up, start now."
"No, no, I'm fine!" Fukuhara waved his hands frantically, then broke into an excited grin. "Shutoku, huh… they're strong for sure. Playing against a team like that really gets my blood pumping!"
While Fukuhara was getting fired up, Yuki raised his hand. "Senpai, what about me? Do I rest, or?"
Yuki was originally a shooting guard, but for lineup balance, Kota had started Morikawa at the two, shifting Yuki to small forward. Kota shook his head decisively. "Go back to the two. With Fukuhara on the floor, protecting the rim should be a bit easier."
He rubbed his nose, swept his gaze across the team, and finally stopped on Tanaka.
"Tanaka."
"Yes!" Tanaka jolted upright, sitting straight as he waited nervously.
Just as he braced himself for a scolding, Kota suddenly slung an arm around his shoulders and whispered near his ear, "Relax. Your body's too tense. Until the real critical moment comes, I'll keep you on the court."
Tanaka blinked, hesitation flashing across his face. He wanted to say that he truly couldn't handle Shutoku's center. But Kota didn't give him the chance to voice that negativity. He patted Tanaka's head and turned his attention elsewhere, continuing to give instructions.
Watching his teammates act as if his poor performance didn't matter at all, Tanaka opened his mouth, then closed it again. He slapped his own cheeks hard. When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with determination.
The whistle to start the second quarter sounded. Fukuhara leapt up from the bench in excitement, leading the charge onto the court. For a moment, Kota felt like he saw Kobori from a different angle.
"Is our team just destined to be surrounded by hot-blooded idiots?" Kota muttered with half-lidded eyes. He casually slapped Tanaka on the back and said irritably, "Can't you learn from him? If you're not hot-blooded and not an idiot, can you even call yourself an inside player?"
"Yes, sir! I'll take that lesson to heart, Senpai!" Tanaka responded.
Now officially a third-year, Kota's long-suppressed senpai aura was finally free to run wild. Seeing Tanaka's obedient response, Kota nodded in satisfaction, rolled up his sleeves, and grinned.
"Alright, boys! Before the first half ends, let's take that score back!"
"Yes!"