Yuuto's performance had only just begun.
After assisting Ryuhei Kasuga for a layup, in the very next possession, facing the double-team of Midorima and Kazunari Takao again, he slammed a bounce pass to Tsutomu Iwamura inside.
The bounce point was lower than usual, forcing Iwamura to lower his center of gravity to catch the ball.
As a result, when Iwamura caught the ball, he found himself in the perfect posture to exert force.
Bang!
He slammed his body backward. Taisuke Otsubo, who had just turned around, lost his balance and was knocked back a step by Iwamura.
"You even know the angle I'm best at exerting force from so clearly. You really are a complete monster, Yuuto."
The Seiho captain felt so comfortable that he involuntarily pushed off the defender, turned, and jumped.
He roared, "Take this, Otsubo!"
BOOM!
A two-handed slam dunk. The Shutoku captain roared and tried to jump, but ended up being dunked on.
One step slow, every step slow.
But this wasn't the end; it was merely the beginning.
In the following possession, Yuuto threw a cross-court pass to find Giichi Omuro, who was completely open.
At that moment, Shinsuke Kimura's attention was on Yuuto's side of the court, never expecting Yuuto to suddenly transfer the ball to the other side with such a wide range.
A "crossing the ocean" long pass is a very risky move in a crowded area, but Yuuto pulled it off.
By the time Shinsuke Kimura reacted, Omuro had already caught the ball in rhythm and hit the jump shot.
"Third consecutive assist!"
"Incredible Yuuto! He found the open teammate again!"
"He pierced Shutoku's defense with just one pass!"
"Seiho's offense has been completely revitalized by him!..."
Don't assume commentators always understand basketball.
Like that bald Wang Meng (likely a reference to a real commentator), he doesn't know jack about ball; isn't he just there relying on making a name for himself by cursing?
However, TV Tokyo had invited a guest today.
A retired player from the Tokyo Alvark (likely reference).
He explained the brilliance of Yuuto's passing to the fans.
He used exaggerated terms like "Ultimate Form of a Ball-Handling Core" and "Ideal Form of a Point Guard" to describe Yuuto.
Fans might not understand the professional terms, but if you say "Ultimate Form" and "Ideal Form," then it must be amazing.
Even the fans could see Yuuto's passing prowess, and Masaaki Nakatani knew it even better.
He thought he had attached enough importance to Yuuto, but he still underestimated him.
In this match.
His goal was to force Yuuto to pass because Seiho's firepower wasn't enough to kill Shutoku.
And now?
Yuuto passed the ball as he wished, but the result was completely not what Nakatani wanted.
Under Yuuto's leadership, Seiho's players played with super-high efficiency. Shutoku's players were always a step behind when guarding Seiho.
Seiho, blooming in multiple areas, had morale like a rainbow, pressuring Shutoku immensely on both offense and defense.
Basketball is a sport of five people.
This is an immutable truth. Countless coaches, including Nakatani himself, tell their disciples this truth every year.
However.
In the world of basketball, there is never a shortage of super players like Yuuto who ruthlessly trample on the philosophy of "team first" with their talent.
You can't say the other players of the Bulls Dynasty or Lakers Dynasty weren't important.
In a championship team, every member is extremely important.
Whether you see it or not, they silently contribute a lot and are important puzzles for the championship.
However.
The status of Jordan, Shaq, and Kobe is irreplaceable.
The Triangle Offense itself is a tactic to create isolation opportunities for stars. If the stars aren't invincible, what's the point of playing the Triangle Offense?
Didn't you see what happened to the Zen Master in New York after leaving Jordan, Shaq, and Kobe?
The same goes for the Warriors' motion offense.
If Curry isn't there, what are you cutting for?
Of course.
What worried Nakatani even more right now wasn't Yuuto's brilliant passing.
It was his off-ball movement.
Under his gaze, Yuuto followed Midorima like a ghost.
Kiyoshi Miyaji, Shinsuke Kimura, and Taisuke Otsubo took turns screening for Midorima, attempting to block Seiho's Number 10.
But Yuuto's footsteps never stopped.
His off-ball pursuit was slowly becoming elusive; he roamed like a shadow within Shutoku's screen clusters.
"A player who has mastered time and space... how old is he?"
Nakatani knew that if this continued, Yuuto would sooner or later catch up to Midorima, and it would happen very quickly.
Indeed, very quickly.
Yuuto constantly deciphered and corrected the tactic of off-ball screens.
If the Triangle Offense is the utilization of space, then screens and pick-and-rolls are the mastery of time.
Every screen Shutoku set was aimed at buying Midorima time to get open.
Their intent was to delay the pursuit speed of Yuuto, the only one who could stop Midorima's shot.
Yuuto discovered that correcting the entire concept of off-ball screens was truly too difficult, perhaps even impossible.
So he thought of another way.
Focus on correcting Midorima!
No matter what, Shutoku's goal was to create shooting space for Midorima.
Then what he needed to do was completely correct Shintaro Midorima's off-ball movement itself!
Shutoku's offensive possession.
Midorima continued to take Yuuto on a tour of the garden.
Starting from the right three-point line, accelerating and cutting inside. During this process...
Kiyoshi Miyaji, Shinsuke Kimura, and Taisuke Otsubo appeared one after another.
It gave Yuuto the feeling of shuttling through a dense forest chasing prey.
"Corner!"
The Eye of the Sky remained locked on Midorima. Through the changes in the opponent's leg data, Yuuto judged his chosen shooting spot.
Then.
Screech!
Yuuto slammed his right foot onto the floor. With a directional change, he shook off Otsubo in front of him and charged straight for the corner of the three-point line.
During the entire process, he didn't even glance at the Shutoku players.
Almost simultaneously, Kazunari Takao passed the ball, finding Midorima through the cracks in Seiho's tight defense.
In the eyes of the audience, this was undoubtedly a superb pass; Shutoku had welcomed a genius point guard.
Although not as stunning as Yuuto's guidance passes, it wasn't a pass any Tom, Dick, or Harry could make.
But...
"He saw through it, that guy Yuuto." Aomine's attention wasn't on the basketball, nor even on Midorima.
His gaze was fixed on Yuuto. Seiho's Number 10 turned into a black light shuttling through, as if racing against the basketball.
"Hah!"
The ball still went in, even though Yuuto had already sealed off Midorima's face.
But the Generation of Miracles shooter wouldn't let this level of interference affect his shot.
The basketball swished through the net, falling heavily to the floor.
"If I had the High-Speed Jumping talent, I would have blocked that shot," Yuuto thought silently.
But it didn't matter.
"Next time, I will shut you down completely, Midorima."
He looked straight at Midorima, a flash of scarlet light passing through his eyes.
The next second.
A ferocious Tyrannosaurus Wildness spread from his body across the entire court.
...
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