The Coach's Gambit: You've Been Played!

When Shirakawa's casual yet outrageously arrogant words fell, the air at the entrance of Ryonan High School seemed to freeze.

Time stood still at that moment.

The Ryonan players all gaped, their expressions shifting from shock to astonishment, then disbelief, and finally unanimous fury.

"Huh?! Did I hear that right?"

"What kind of nonsense is this guy spouting?"

"None of us can beat him? Who does he think he is, the god of basketball?"

"How arrogant! This guy's even cockier than that red-haired monkey!"

After that brief dead silence came a tidal wave of mockery and rage. Ryonan was one of Kanagawa's top four teams, after all. When had they ever been so openly humiliated by an unknown first-year?

Jun Uozumi's face had already gone black as the bottom of a pot. If looks could kill, Shirakawa would have been cut into a thousand pieces by now.

"Akagi! Is this the new recruit from Shohoku? What a big mouth!" Uozumi's voice seemed to squeeze out through clenched teeth.

Akagi's expression was not much better. He had not expected Shirakawa to be so blunt. Couldn't this guy restrain himself even a little?

Still, despite furiously complaining in his heart, he had to defend his teammate's dignity as captain.

Akagi snorted and said in a deep voice, "Whether he's all talk or not, you'll find out on the court."

For the first time, the smile on Akira Sendoh's face stiffened slightly.

He had only wanted to test this mysterious white-haired boy, yet the other side had thrown down an unbeatable trump card right away.

Was this guy putting on a front... or did he truly have nothing to fear?

Looking into Shirakawa's calm, unfathomable eyes, Sendoh felt for the first time that he could not read someone.

Yet Shirakawa, at the center of the storm, acted as though nothing had happened. He dug at his ear, then yawned.

"So noisy... Can we go in now? If we don't, I'm going to fall asleep again."

That utterly dismissive attitude only added fuel to the fire, nearly making the Ryonan players explode with rage.

"Enough! Stop standing around at the gate! What do you all look like?"

A commanding voice came from behind the Ryonan team.

Ryonan's coach, Mitsuyoshi Taoka, had finally appeared.

He parted the crowd and stepped between the two teams. First, he kindly nodded to Coach Anzai, then turned his gaze toward Shirakawa, his eyes carrying a trace of scrutiny and displeasure.

"Coach Anzai, this new player of yours from Shohoku certainly... has quite the personality." Coach Taoka spoke with a smile that did not reach his eyes, his sarcasm obvious.

Coach Anzai chuckled, still looking like his usual good-natured self. "Heh heh heh, young people having energy is a good thing."

Coach Taoka had run into a soft wall, but he did not care. In his eyes, Shirakawa's words were merely the wild boasts of a child, not worth mentioning.

He had only one real target.

His gaze passed over everyone and landed on Kaede Rukawa, instantly turning fiery.

That was him!

Kaede Rukawa!

To recruit that prodigy, he had made repeated visits, only to be rejected. It had become an everlasting pain in his heart.

Today, he would prove to everyone that Mitsuyoshi Taoka's judgment had not been wrong! He would also let Kaede Rukawa see with his own eyes just how foolish his choice had been! Ryonan was the team best suited for him!

"Alright, stop standing around outside. Get into the gym. The game is about to begin." Coach Taoka waved a hand and turned to lead the way, a confident smile of "everything is under control" appearing on his face.

He had already prepared the perfect plan for this match.

Shohoku was destined to become Ryonan's first stepping stone on its rise today!

The players from both sides entered the gym and began warming up before the game.

Inside Ryonan's locker room.

Coach Taoka held a tactics board and passionately laid out the plan.

"Listen carefully! We have only one core tactic for today's game!"

With a red marker, he heavily circled Kaede Rukawa's name.

"Shut down Number 11! Kaede Rukawa!"

"According to my information, Kaede Rukawa is Shohoku's absolute ace. His scoring ability is extremely strong, but he plays selfishly and is poor at passing! As long as we contain him, Shohoku's offense will completely collapse!"

"Sendoh!" Coach Taoka looked toward his prized pupil.

"Your task in the first half is to go one-on-one with Kaede Rukawa! Use your dazzling skills to completely crush his confidence!"

"Uozumi! Your opponent is Akagi. I don't need you to score much. Just hold him down on defense and drain his stamina!"

"As for everyone else..." Coach Taoka waved a hand. "Other than Akagi and Kaede Rukawa, no one on Shohoku is worth fearing! Ryota Miyagi may be fast, but his height is a fatal weakness! Kiminobu Kogure is just a spot-up shooter! As for that red-haired monkey and that white-haired brat who keeps running his mouth, they're both complete amateurs. Ignore them!"

"Do you all understand? Our goal is to break Kaede Rukawa and crush Shohoku!"

"Yes, Coach!" the Ryonan players roared in unison, their morale soaring.

Akira Sendoh did not object as he listened to the coach's tactical arrangements, but the smile on his face became somewhat enigmatic.

Did they really... not need to pay attention to that white-haired kid?

He had a feeling things would not be that simple.

Meanwhile, on the other side, in Shohoku's locker room.

The atmosphere was exceptionally relaxed.

Coach Anzai sat on a bench, smiling as he watched the players without saying a word.

"Coach, aren't you going to go over the tactics?" Akagi could not help asking.

"Heh heh heh." Coach Anzai pointed at Shirakawa, who was resting with his eyes closed. "Isn't the tactical core right there? Just listen to him."

Everyone fell silent.

All eyes turned toward Shirakawa.

Shirakawa opened his eyes and swept his gaze around the room, looking at the teammates whose faces were both nervous and expectant.

He rose to his feet, walked to the tactics board, picked up a pen, and wrote only two words on it.

"Stay calm."

Then he drew a simple arrow from their half of the court toward the opposing basket.

"We'll use this tactic in the first half."

Shirakawa pointed at the arrow and spoke calmly.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

What kind of tactic was that?

"Shirakawa, what do you mean?" Miyagi could not help asking.

"It means," Shirakawa said as he turned around, a confident smile curling at the corner of his mouth, "you can play however you want in the first half."

"Kaede Rukawa, if you want to go one-on-one with Sendoh, then go one-on-one. I'll pass you the ball."

"Captain Akagi, if you want to battle Uozumi down low, then battle him. I'll clear out the paint for you."

"Senior Miyagi, if you want to use your speed, I'll run the fast break with you."

"Sakuragi..." Shirakawa looked at Sakuragi. "You just handle the rebounds and comic relief."

"As for me," Shirakawa said with a shrug, "I'll watch the show."

"Once I've seen enough, we'll win."

He spoke so casually, yet the last trace of nervousness in every Shohoku player's heart vanished.

They looked at Shirakawa as though he were an anchor holding the sea steady.

With him there, it felt as though no matter how they played, they could not lose this game.

Watching this, then recalling Coach Taoka's smug expression from earlier, Akagi suddenly felt a surge of pity.

Coach Taoka...

You probably still don't know that you fell into the trap our coach dug from the very beginning.

You thought Kaede Rukawa was our ace today?

No, you were wrong.

You've already been played!