Regarding Yuuto, the geezer coach understood him quite well.
Since leaving the basketball club, Yuuto hadn't participated in any club activities.
Under such circumstances, he had to thank those delinquents who frequently troubled him for his body not rusting.
If they didn't trouble Yuuto every now and then, causing Yuuto to habitually fight several people at once, he wouldn't even have had the chance to move his body.
But fighting is fighting; he ultimately left the basketball club and hadn't trained for a long time.
Basketball skill is like rowing a boat upstream; if you don't advance, you'll be washed into the Pacific Ocean.
But Yuuto didn't regress; instead, he became even stronger.
This somewhat violated common sense.
"Could it be that this brat has been secretly training all along?"
"But that shouldn't be. If he didn't plan to give up from the beginning, why leave the team back then?"
The geezer coach couldn't figure it out.
He thought of a possibility.
His professional career wasn't worth mentioning, but he had some vision.
He knew.
For some geniuses, their talent isn't visible to the naked eye from birth.
There are some players whose talents are recessive. When they reach the right age, their talents will be unsealed, erupting like a volcano.
Such examples aren't particularly numerous, but they aren't rare either.
As far as he knew, Teiko's ace, Aomine Daiki, seemed to be in an exceptional state this year.
Some sports newspapers, observing a few of Teiko's practice matches, used the word "shocking" to describe it one after another.
The geezer coach wasn't wrong to think this way; after all, Yuuto's "talent" only "awakened" yesterday.
"Is this your improvement?"
"Even the old man strolling in the park has more relaxation than you guys."
"..."
Hard!
The fist is hard!
The familiar pressure monster is back.
They really wanted to say that it wasn't them being slow, but Yuuto becoming too fast.
As if unable to see his teammates' flushed faces, Yuuto returned to the defensive end and forced the Blue Team's small forward to clang an iron (miss a shot) in anger.
"After so much time, your shooting is still so terrible. Thanks to you, Tochigi Prefecture's steel production is enough to catch up with Britain and surpass America."
"I..."
Standing in front of Yuuto was his former substitute.
Originally, when Yuuto left and he took the position, this brat was quite happy in his heart.
He even secretly swore to help Homi Academy achieve a record not inferior to Yuuto's.
Little did he know Yuuto would suddenly return and become so powerful.
Of course, there was also that damn mouth; once it made a sound, it made people sweat profusely.
"Don't look at me like that. If you want to refute me, prove it to me with your actions."
"Basketball is a game for the brave. No matter how loud the slogans are shouted, the fact that you are a soft egg won't change."
The Red Team protected the rebound and gave it to Yuuto again.
He started pushing forward with the ball from half-court.
Still that playing style so simple that "I could do it too."
However.
Facing Yuuto's basic dribbling and crossovers, the Blue Team defender just couldn't guard him.
It was as if he had trained all basic skills to the extreme, leaving no room for further improvement.
Bang~
Swish~
The ball went in again.
Yuuto drove into the paint 1v2, faced Ota directly, and used his agility advantage in the mismatch to score with a bank hook shot.
The ball steadily grazed the backboard and fell into the net at a standard 45 degrees.
"Such a standard turnaround baby hook."
The vice-captain couldn't help but praise.
Turnaround hook shot.
Anyone in the basketball club can do this technique.
But the problem is.
Yuuto was facing Homi Academy's captain Ota, one of the Four Great Centers of Tochigi Prefecture.
The same move, if done by someone else.
Ota would block one for every one he saw.
But Yuuto did it so easily, using the simplest, most basic moves to score.
Can basic skills really be this powerful when trained to a certain extent?
Yuuto scored 4 consecutive points plus 1 assist at the start. This made the whole team dare not mention again that his condition hadn't fully recovered.
If they weren't careful, they might really suffer a big defeat today.
They wouldn't want to lose to Yuuto and the substitute lineup led by Yuuto even if it killed them.
If the pressure monster opened full fire, it would really kill people.
They started targeting Yuuto.
On the surface, it was still a double-team defense, but their formation quietly completed a contraction.
No matter which direction Yuuto went, players on both the left and right sides could help defend immediately.
This is a triple-team defense!
Yuuto was waiting for them to come.
Contracting the defense means the defensive coverage on the perimeter becomes smaller.
Sakurai Ryō had been following Yuuto's instructions from the start, standing at the horn positions on the left and right sides waiting for opportunities on the offensive end.
At this moment, he keenly discovered that the defense on the opponent's left perimeter had weakened. He instinctively ran to that position.
Then.
Smack~
When he got into position, a basketball hit the floor heavily and bounced into his hands.
Sakurai Ryō looked up, his line of sight meeting Yuuto's perfectly.
In Sakurai Ryō's eyes, Yuuto accurately delivered the ball to him, who was open, while fighting one against three.
He exclaimed, "So, so amazing!"
At the same time.
While he was speaking, the basketball in his hand had already been shot. The defender had no time to rotate and defend.
Swish!
Open three-pointer made!
Fast shooting speed has never been a disadvantage.
Like this time, Sakurai Ryō had already completed the shot by the time the defender lunged in front of him. He couldn't block it at all, couldn't even give interference action.
When your shooting speed is fast to a certain extent, you can almost ignore defense.
Of course.
The premise is that you have to shoot accurately. Otherwise, just throwing without scoring would be like The Forbidden City cop; no matter how you fight, you can't kill anyone.
Sakurai Ryō is fast and accurate. This is his talent; one could also say he is a bankrupt version of Curry.
"Nice work, Mushroom Head."
"..."
Sakurai Ryō was very happy to get Yuuto's praise, but he was very unhappy with the name Yuuto gave him.
However, it was useless.
Facing Yuuto, Sakurai Ryō didn't dare to let out even a fart.
Pressure monsters also come in types.
If it's an incapable pressure monster, you can just ignore them, and if you're in a bad mood, you can spray back.
But if this pressure monster is extremely capable, then things get troublesome!
Sakurai Ryō suddenly understood the feelings of Jordan and Kobe's teammates a little.
Being amazing is truly amazing; they can carry you to win.
Being hard to deal with is also truly hard to deal with; play slightly badly and pressure will be applied.
Ten minutes passed quickly in the match.
The Blue Team Yuuto was on led the Red Team by 9 points, 24:15.
But he was not satisfied.
After coming down, he immediately said to Sakurai Ryō, "Your shooting is fast enough, but not stable enough. Practice extra with me after club activities end."
"Huh?" Sakurai Ryō's brain buzzed upon hearing this. He wanted to say, "I have to go home to help after club activities."
But seeing Yuuto's unquestionable eyes, he swallowed and said, "I understand, Yuuto-classmate..."
How should I explain this to Mom now?