"What Teiko Junior High School? They're nothing but a bunch of useless losers who can't even hold on to the ball." After scoring on a fast break, Makoto Hanamiya said smugly.
"What did you say, you bastard?" The Second String point guard glared at Hanamiya, his anger finally boiling over. He stepped forward, grabbed Hanamiya by the collar, and raised his fist.
"Stop." Naoto Sanada called out from the sidelines, halting the Second String point guard. He turned to Noriaki Sanada. "Coach Sanada, could I trouble you to keep your players in line?"
Noriaki Sanada looked troubled. He was just an ordinary middle school coach whose approach to his job had been to muddle through each day—until he met Makoto Hanamiya. He'd thought this exceptionally talented player would be the foundation of his rise to success. But in just one short year, Hanamiya had rallied a group of starters around him and isolated the coach. Now, at Kirigi First Affiliated Junior High School, Noriaki was little more than a puppet meant to placate the school administrators.
"Um... Hanamiya, could you be a little more careful? Try not to play so aggressively," Noriaki said, awkwardly attempting to reason with him.
"Huh? Who do you think you are, you i-d-i-o-t?" Hanamiya blew bubbles as he sauntered toward the backcourt, completely unconcerned. "I've always played this way. Without the results I've gotten you, do you think you'd still be head coach? You fool!"
"S-sorry..." Hanamiya's words crushed the courage Noriaki had just mustered.
"...?!" Atsushi Murasakibara stared at the scene, utterly bewildered. "No way, Ken-chan. Why is this middle school's coach so scared of his own players, while that old guy Shirogane is so scary?"
"Remember this, Murasaki. Bad people aren't scary... what's scary is a bad person who's clever." Ken Kaneki sighed. "This is only the opening act for Makoto Hanamiya. The Second String's probably in for a rough game."
The game unfolding on the court proved Ken's point. As play continued, Hanamiya made more and more physical contact with the Second String point guard, forcing him to devote more of his attention to protecting the ball.
"Pass it out," Hanamiya said, wearing a twisted smile as he watched the Second String point guard. "You can't hold on to the ball, and you can't make a shot. You might as well pass it."
"I'll play however I want. It's none of your business, you dirty player!" Riled up by Hanamiya, the Second String point guard decided to drive past him and score on his own to win back some dignity.
But just as the Second String point guard slipped past Hanamiya, Hanamiya casually stuck out a leg. The point guard cried out and fell to the floor, clutching his leg as he writhed in pain.
"Ah!! My knee! My knee!" The Second String point guard lay on the floor, his face pale and twisted with pain. The referee immediately stopped the game. Naoto Sanada hurried onto the court to examine the injury. As an assistant coach for the Basketball Club, he knew a little about checking for injuries.
"This doesn't look good. It could be a torn ACL." After performing a few simple push-and-pull tests, Naoto made his assessment with a grave expression.
"Huh? Teiko Junior High School? Is this all it takes to break those porcelain dolls? Ahahaha, ahahahahaha..." Hanamiya didn't seem to think he'd done anything wrong. Instead, he laughed mockingly from the sidelines.
"Hey, you bastard!" Unable to stand it any longer, Ken walked up and grabbed Hanamiya by the collar with both hands, lifting him off the ground. Staring him in the eye, he enunciated every word. "Listen carefully. Coach told us not to fight, so I'm not going to lay a hand on you for now. But if anything happens to one of my teammates—if they get hurt, if they slip, or even if they get so much as a scratch—I'll hold you responsible. And then I'll personally smash your head in."
"Hey, you from Teiko! What do you think you're doing?"
"Let go of Captain!"
Seeing Ken lift Hanamiya with such strength, as if he meant to hurt him, Hanamiya's lackeys came over, hoping to pressure Ken with their numbers.
"Ken-chan's right." Atsushi Murasakibara pushed his tall, muscular frame through the crowd and glared at them. "I suggest you stay away from Ken-chan. Can't you see he's talking to your Captain? I'll crush you if you get in his way!"
Faced with two huge men who towered over them and were glaring at them menacingly, the lackeys who'd come looking for trouble backed away, fear showing on their faces.
"Put him down, Ken Kaneki." Naoto Sanada ordered, his expression displeased. "I'll treat this as an accident this time. But if it happens again, I'll call the police."
"Huh? What did you—" Hanamiya was about to keep running his mouth when Ken's icy gaze swept over him. He wisely shut up.
Naoto arranged for some of the players to take the Second String point guard to the hospital, then sent in the Second String's backup point guard. With that farce over, the game resumed.
There was no denying that Makoto Hanamiya was a skilled player. In the rest of the game, the backup point guard seemed rattled by what had happened to the Second String's injured point guard. He played timidly on both offense and defense, and Hanamiya's relentless pressure forced him into mistake after mistake. Taro Sugiya managed to scrape together a few points with offensive rebounds and second-chance shots under the basket, but compared to the team's overall struggles, it was barely enough to make a difference.
Seeing the game take a turn for the worse, Naoto Sanada decisively called a timeout to adjust their strategy.
"Damn it!" Taro Sugiya angrily flung his towel aside and shouted, "These guys play way too dirty! Who plays basketball like that?"
"Enough, Sugiya," Naoto Sanada cut off his complaints. "We'll adjust our strategy for the rest of the game. Set more screens, pass more, and try to move their defense around..."
"If you ask me, we should pass less," Ken said lazily from nearby.
"What do you mean, Ken Kaneki?" Naoto asked, unable to believe what he'd heard.
"Have you guys still not noticed? Makoto Hanamiya stopped playing dirty after I threatened him, but even though he's aggressive when he rushes in on defense, the one actually causing damage is that bespectacled guy with the squinty eyes. Those two are both smart and ruthless. One steps forward as the enforcer, establishing his reputation and throwing the offensive players off, while the other seizes the opportunity to steal the ball. In other words, playing dirty is just a cover. What they really want is to cut off the offense between the perimeter and the paint." Ken smiled as he explained.
"Then if that's the case, wouldn't passing less play right into their hands?" Naoto asked, puzzled.
"Passing less doesn't mean not passing at all, Coach Sanada." Ken lazily sucked on a lollipop. "Hasn't Sugiya-senpai been doing a good job so far? I say we don't make more than three passes in a possession. Sugiya-senpai clearly has the advantage under the basket, so let's use it. If that squinty-eyed guy's going to double-team, our shooting guard isn't just standing around. Spread out, set screens on the perimeter, then fire the ball straight into the paint. He thinks he can shut us down from the outside? In his dreams."
Before you continue