Practice Match (2)

"Teiko Junior High School? They're just a bunch of useless brats who can't even hold onto a ball," Makoto Hanamiya said arrogantly after scoring on a fast break.

"What did you say, you bastard!" the Second String point guard yelled, his face flushed with anger as he glared at Makoto Hanamiya. Unable to contain his rage, he lunged forward, grabbed Makoto Hanamiya by the collar, and prepared to throw a punch.

"Stop." Naoto Sanada's voice boomed from the sidelines, halting the Second String point guard's action. He turned to Noriaki Sanada, "Coach Sanada, please manage your players."

Noriaki Sanada looked troubled. He was just an ordinary junior high school coach, merely going through the motions until he met Makoto Hanamiya. He had initially thought this exceptionally talented player would be the foundation for his rise, but within a year, Makoto Hanamiya had united the main players and isolated him. Now, at Kirigi First Affiliated Junior High School, Noriaki Sanada was just a puppet to appease the school administration.

"Um... Makoto-kun, please be a little more careful with your actions, don't be too aggressive," Noriaki Sanada said hesitantly.

"Huh? Who do you think you are, ba~ka~" Makoto Hanamiya said, blowing a bubble as he casually walked back to his court. "This is how I always play. Without the results I bring you by playing like this, do you think you would have kept your head coach position last year? Idiot!"

"I... I'm sorry..." Noriaki Sanada's courage, which he had just mustered, was shattered by Makoto Hanamiya's words.

"?.?" Atsushi Murasakibara looked bewildered at the situation unfolding before him. "No way, Ken-chan. Why is this school's coach so afraid of his players, while that old guy Platinum is so terrifying?"

"Remember this, Murasakibara. Bad people aren't scary... smart bad people are," Ken Kaneki said with a sigh. "This is just the prelude for Makoto Hanamiya. Those guys on the Second String are probably in for a tough game."

The game's situation was already proving Ken Kaneki right. As the match progressed, Makoto Hanamiya's physical contact with the Second String point guard became increasingly frequent, forcing the point guard to divide more of his attention to protecting the ball.

"Pass it out," Makoto Hanamiya said with a sinister smile to the Second String point guard. "You can't hold onto the ball, and you can't make shots. You might as well pass it."

"How I play is none of your business! You're just a guy who uses dirty tricks!" The Second String point guard, enraged by Makoto Hanamiya, decided to break through and score on him to regain his pride.

But the moment the Second String point guard tried to get past Makoto Hanamiya, Makoto Hanamiya casually stuck out his leg. The Second String point guard let out a scream and fell to the ground, clutching his leg and writhing in pain.

"Ah!! My knee! My knee!" The Second String point guard's face was pale, and he was in agony. The referee immediately stopped the game. Naoto Sanada rushed onto the court to check the injury, as the assistant coach of the Basketball Club, he had some knowledge of how to assess injuries.

"This doesn't look good. It might be a torn ACL," Naoto Sanada judged gravely after a simple pull test.

"Huh? Teiko Junior High School? Are they really that fragile? Ahahaha, ahahahahaha..." Makoto Hanamiya, standing nearby, showed no remorse. Instead, he let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Hey, you bastard!" Ken Kaneki couldn't stand it anymore. He walked up, grabbed Makoto Hanamiya by the collar with both hands, and lifted him into the air. Staring into his eyes, he said word by word, "Listen here. The coach told us not to fight, so I won't lay a hand on you for now. But if any of my teammates have another accident, like getting injured, slipping, or even getting a scratch, I'll hold you responsible. And I'll personally smash your head in."

"Hey, Teiko, what do you think you're doing?"

"Let the captain go!"

Seeing Ken Kaneki's incredible strength and his apparent intention to get rough with Makoto Hanamiya, Makoto Hanamiya's lackeys also stepped forward, attempting to intimidate Ken Kaneki with their numbers.

"Ken-chan is right," Atsushi Murasakibara said, pushing through the crowd with his tall, sturdy build, his expression unfriendly. "I suggest you all stay away from Ken-chan. Can't you see he's talking to your captain? I'll crush you if you don't!"

Facing two burly men who were clearly taller than them and staring menacingly, the lackeys who had come to cause trouble began to retreat with fear in their eyes.

"Let him go, Ken Kaneki-kun," Naoto Sanada ordered with displeasure. "I'll consider this an accident this time, but if it happens again, I'll call the police directly."

"Huh? What did you say..." Just as Makoto Hanamiya was about to mouth off again, Ken Kaneki's noticeably cold gaze swept over him, making him shut his mouth.

Naoto Sanada arranged for a teammate to take the injured Second String point guard to the hospital while a substitute point guard from the Second String entered the game. This farce finally ended, and the game resumed.

It had to be said that Makoto Hanamiya was a skilled player. In the following game, the Second String's substitute point guard, perhaps intimidated by the plight of the injured point guard, played hesitantly on both offense and defense. Under Makoto Hanamiya's relentless pressure, he made mistake after mistake. Although Taro Sugiya managed to score some points with offensive rebounds and second-chance opportunities under the basket, it was like a drop in the bucket compared to the overall deficit.

Seeing the situation developing unfavorably, Naoto Sanada decisively called a timeout to adjust their strategy.

"Damn it!" Taro Sugiya angrily threw his towel and shouted, "These guys play way too dirty! What kind of way is this to play!"

"Alright, no more complaining, Sugiya," Naoto Sanada interrupted him. "For the rest of the game, we'll adjust our tactics. More pick-and-rolls, more passing, try to move their formation around..."

"If you ask me, we should pass less," Ken Kaneki's lazy voice chimed in from the side.

"What did you say, Ken Kaneki-kun?" Naoto Sanada asked incredulously.

"Haven't you realized by now? Under my threat, Makoto Hanamiya indeed stopped his dirty plays. But while his aggressive defense has momentum, the real damage is being done by that bespectacled, squinty-eyed guy. Those two are ruthless strategists. One acts as the enforcer to establish their presence and disrupt the offensive player's focus, while the other seizes opportunities to steal the ball. In other words, playing dirty is just their facade. What they really want to do is cut off our inside and outside offense," Ken Kaneki explained with a smile.

"Then, if that's the case, passing less would play right into their hands, wouldn't it?" Naoto Sanada asked, confused.

"Passing less doesn't mean not passing at all, Coach Sanada," Ken Kaneki said, nonchalantly sucking on a lollipop. "So far, Senior Sugiya has been doing quite well, hasn't he? If you ask me, don't pass more than three times per offensive possession. Since Senior Sugiya has an advantage in the paint, exploit that advantage! Since that squinty-eyed guy is playing two-on-one, our shooting guard isn't dead. Have others spread out, set screens for each other on the perimeter, and then make a direct pass to the paint. If they want to block the ball on the perimeter, they're dreaming."