After grabbing the rebound, Teppei Kiyoshi was a little surprised. He had not expected Junpei Hyuga to miss such a wide-open shot.
That was not like Junpei Hyuga at all.
But surprise was one thing. The game still had to continue.
After securing the rebound, Teppei Kiyoshi immediately jumped and hooked the basketball into the basket.
Seirin High School scored the first two points.
Seeing this, Yukio Kasamatsu shouted,
"It's fine. We'll get it back on the next possession!"
Possession changed.
Kaijō's ball.
Kōji Kobori inbounded the basketball to Yukio Kasamatsu, who brought the ball up the court.
After reaching the three-point line, Yukio Kasamatsu did not observe his teammates' positions like a traditional point guard.
Instead, he focused his attention on Shun Izuki.
'Since this is the first match of the National Tournament, I'll be the one to open things up for everyone!'
Seeing Yukio Kasamatsu's state, Shun Izuki could not help thinking to himself,
'He couldn't be... planning to take me on one-on-one, could he?'
The moment that thought appeared, Yukio Kasamatsu answered him through action.
Yukio Kasamatsu suddenly began dribbling in place, working the ball back and forth.
After a flashy sequence of moves, he made a spin motion.
Then the basketball was pushed out from his left hand, passing through his own legs and, at the same time, through Shun Izuki's legs as well.
After splitting past him with the ball, Yukio Kasamatsu immediately darted around Shun Izuki and caught up to the basketball he had just sent through.
Shun Izuki froze in place, his face full of shock.
By the time he reacted, Yukio Kasamatsu had already entered the paint.
After entering the paint, Yukio Kasamatsu did not choose to attack the rim. Instead, he took a high floater from one step in front of the free throw line.
Teppei Kiyoshi was just about to come up for help defense when he realized it was already too late.
After all, floaters were already extremely difficult shots to defend, let alone one taken from a step in front of the free throw line.
In the past, Makoto Hanamiya had relied precisely on his floater to firmly establish himself as one of the [Uncrowned Kings].
Otherwise, did you really think he earned that title through dirty tricks alone?
What a joke. Without real strength, who would go around giving you a title for nothing?
Swish!
After seeing the basketball fall into the hoop, Yukio Kasamatsu did not hesitate at all. He immediately turned and began falling back on defense.
Teppei Kiyoshi picked up the basketball from the floor and muttered,
"Floaters really are my lifelong enemy."
There was nothing he could do about it. Back then, Teppei Kiyoshi had been driven absolutely miserable by Makoto Hanamiya's floater.
At that time, Makoto Hanamiya only had one skill he was especially proficient in, his floater.
But that one floater alone had made Teppei Kiyoshi completely unable to stop him.
After all, Makoto Hanamiya's floater combined both speed and accuracy.
Teppei Kiyoshi had to find the perfect timing. Otherwise, it was simply hard to defend.
Off the court.
Looking at the familiar sight, Kentaro Seto could not help saying,
"Hanamiya, that guy's floater looks a little like yours."
Makoto Hanamiya laughed disdainfully.
"It looks decent, but it's a bit slow. I wonder if it can stay accurate once he's being pressured."
In Makoto Hanamiya's eyes, Yukio Kasamatsu's floater still had major flaws.
On the court.
Yukio Kasamatsu's expression was firm, and he silently clenched his fist.
In truth, his floater was something he had only started practicing after the Summer Cup.
After being eliminated by Kirisaki Daiichi, Yukio Kasamatsu had realized his own shortcomings.
If the team relied entirely on Ryota Kise alone, they would never be able to go far.
So from that time on, Yukio Kasamatsu had already begun thinking about developing a new skill.
But even he was not sure what kind of new skill he should develop.
Until he watched a certain match.
To be precise, a recording of a match.
It was the match between Meisei Middle School and Shōei Middle School.
In other words, a match between the schools Makoto Hanamiya and Teppei Kiyoshi had attended.
At first, Yukio Kasamatsu had only wanted to watch the match and learn some tactics along the way.
But the more he watched, the more excited he became.
Because in the recording, Makoto Hanamiya kept attacking the paint, using floater after floater to score over Teppei Kiyoshi's head.
And Teppei Kiyoshi found it extremely difficult to deal with Makoto Hanamiya's floater.
Although he blocked one at the beginning, Makoto Hanamiya immediately changed the rhythm of his floater afterward.
That match completely made Yukio Kasamatsu make up his mind.
Practice the floater!
After that, Yukio Kasamatsu began continuously studying Makoto Hanamiya's floater.
Because Makoto Hanamiya's floater had both speed and accuracy at an excellent level.
If judged by floaters alone, Makoto Hanamiya could be considered the number one in the junior high basketball world.
That was why Kentaro Seto felt Yukio Kasamatsu's floater looked so much like Makoto Hanamiya's.
Back on the court.
This time, Shun Izuki had just brought the ball to the three-point line when he saw Teppei Kiyoshi establish position and reach out for the ball.
So Shun Izuki passed the basketball over.
Teppei Kiyoshi caught the basketball and used extremely refined post moves to spin Kōji Kobori around before finishing with a hook shot.
Seirin scored another two points.
After possession changed.
Yukio Kasamatsu still chose to attack one-on-one. He once again used consecutive dribbles followed by a through-the-legs split to get past Shun Izuki, then took another floater from one step in front of the free throw line.
He scored two points for Kaijō.
After that shot went in, Teppei Kiyoshi's expression changed slightly.
He needed to adjust his defensive strategy.
On the next possession, Teppei Kiyoshi still attacked with the ball on his own, using refined post moves to shake off Kōji Kobori before scoring with a dunk.
Back on defense.
Yukio Kasamatsu did the same as before. After breaking past Shun Izuki, he immediately rushed toward the paint.
At that moment, Teppei Kiyoshi immediately abandoned Kōji Kobori and pounced toward Yukio Kasamatsu.
Seeing that, Yukio Kasamatsu was just about to pass to Kōji Kobori when he realized Tatsuya Himuro had actually stepped up to cover him.
Shun Izuki also reacted quickly, immediately switching onto Yoshitaka Moriyama.
With no other choice, Yukio Kasamatsu continued dribbling, then seized an opening in Teppei Kiyoshi's defense and quickly threw up a floater.
Teppei Kiyoshi jumped, but he was one step too late.
However, Yukio Kasamatsu's floater missed.
Seeing that, Teppei Kiyoshi let out a breath of relief.
Good.
At least now, Teppei Kiyoshi could confirm that Yukio Kasamatsu's floater had not reached Makoto Hanamiya's level.
Off the court, Makoto Hanamiya could not help shaking his head when he saw this.
"When he runs into disruptive defense, his accuracy starts dropping. His floater still needs work."
Makoto Hanamiya could hardly be blamed for saying that.
After all, back in middle school, Makoto Hanamiya had used his floater to run wild over Teppei Kiyoshi's head.
It could be said that Makoto Hanamiya's status as one of the [Uncrowned Kings] had been earned entirely through his floater.
Only the title [The Bad Boy] came from his dirty tricks.
So, Yukio Kasamatsu's floater still needed work!
...
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