Coach Tanaka called a timeout, and it was not until the players returned to the sidelines to rest that Tanaka Shigeichi could really see the state of Shigong Tianye at this time. His handsome face looked a little pale, and his entire cheeks were covered with sweat. Shigong Tianye did not wipe it off, but sat on the bench to adjust his breathing, letting the sweat gather at his chin and drip onto the floor.
"Symptoms of excessive physical exertion and exhaustion!"
Shigekazu Tanaoka has been a player and a coach for many years. He knows very well why Shinomiya Tano is like this. This is clearly a symptom of excessive physical exhaustion.
Coach Tiangang turned his head to look at the rest area on the other side of the court, and saw Jinguji Budou chatting and laughing with his teammates. He pondered for a long time before turning back to the players and said:
"Change."
"Tian Ye, go off the field and take a rest. We'll send you back on when the next shift starts."
"Junichiro Koizumi, you will replace Shinomiya Tano and play in the game."
"We have to make some adjustments on defense and use a 2-3 zone defense."
"Koizumi, go defend the No. 15 of Xiangbei. Sendoh, you still defend Mitsui Shou. Don't give him the opportunity to shoot from long range. If he wants to break through, just stick to him."
"The rest of the players, set up a defensive line around the paint area. Xiangbei's No. 15 is used to receiving the ball in the mid-range position. Koizumi, you have to limit him and defend in front of him. Don't let him receive the ball in that position."
"Yuzumi, you defenders in the paint area should pay attention to the players who break through, whether it's No. 15 or anyone else, and make sure to cover in time."
When Shigeichi Tanabe made a substitution, Shinomiya Tanano sat on the stool, lowered his head and did not speak. No one knew what he was thinking at this moment.
After arranging the defense, Tian Gangshi wiped off the notes on the tactical board and continued:
“As for offense, we need to make some changes as well.”
"Sendoh, while Shigong Tianye is not on the court, we need you to coordinate the team's offense."
"If you have the opportunity to score by yourself, even if you can't break through, you must attract enough defensive power to allow teammates in other positions to have open shots."
"Everyone, move more actively when entering the front court. In the remaining time of the first half, the score must not be widened any further!"
Coach Tiangang's voice became louder as he finished speaking.
"Yes!" The Ryonan players surrounding Coach Tian Gang responded loudly and then dispersed, some to replenish water and some to get snacks.
Sendoh sat next to Shinomiya Tano, chewing a slice of lemon in his mouth. He raised his head, looked past Shinomiya Tano, and observed Jinguji Takeshi who was sitting on the bench on the other side of the court.
Xiangbei No. 15 was the one who set a trap by Jinguji Budou and dragged down Shigong Tianye. After returning to the rest area, Sendoh had come to his senses at this time.
"Budo, you did a great job."
"Next, you stay off the court and take a rest."
In the rest area of Xiangbei, Coach Anxi waved to the players, signaling them to come closer. The first words he said were praises for Wudao.
"Hmm? Coach, I still have enough energy. I don't need to rest."
"Ryonan's Shinomiya Tano has been exhausted. Coach Tanoka will definitely replace him. Is this a good opportunity to widen the gap?"
Wu Dao was very pleased to hear Coach Anxi's praise, but the next sentence was to replace him. Wu Dao didn't understand this and asked immediately.
"It was precisely because that Shigong Tianye was substituted that I substituted you."
"Save your energy for the second half of the game."
"Mitsui and his team still have plenty of energy. Let them widen the gap."
Coach Anxi shook his head and said to Wudao. After hearing this, Wudao also understood what Coach Anxi meant. Coach Anxi wanted him to retain enough physical strength to deal with Shigong Tianye. From this point of view, there was nothing wrong with Coach Anxi's decision.
"Budo, your mission has come to an end!"
"Don't worry, I will further widen the gap. No one in Ryonan High School can defend me!"
Mitsui Shou patted Wudao's shoulder and comforted him.
"Tsk, it would be a sight to behold if someone beats me up later."
Wudao looked at the confident Mitsui Shou, smiled, stretched, and sat back on the bench. Although sitting on the bench, Wudao's hands were not idle. He held a basketball and dribbled it slowly between his left and right hands under his legs to keep his feel for the ball.
Shohoku High School is different from Ryonan. In addition to Jinguji Budou, the new starter Miyagi Ryouta will not bring a subversive impact to the overall tactics. Therefore, after replacing Budou, Coach Anzai only replaced him with Mugure Mitsunobu, and did not make any other offensive arrangements, and let the players rest.
The timeout passed quickly and Shohoku High School served.
The receiver of the ball on Xiangbei's side was Miyagi Ryouta. After getting the basketball, Miyagi quickly signaled his teammates to run into the court. Finally, he crossed the midline with the ball and entered the front court.
After Budo left the court, Xiangbei's offensive possession began to be concentrated in the hands of Mitsui Hisashi.
Unlike Budo's lone wolf style of play, Mitsui played as a team. Facing Sendo's defense, although Mitsui also adopted a strong attack style of play, if he did not completely get rid of Sendo's defense, Mitsui would not choose to shoot by himself. The most common choice was to pass the ball to Murasakibara in the mid-range, or to Akagi and Chiba Daiishi in the inside after attracting enough defensive force.
"Pah, swoosh!" With the first ball after the timeout, Mitsui Hisashi broke through and passed the ball. After attracting Yuzumi's attention, he quickly passed the ball to Akagi Takenori under the basket.
Although Akagi felt a little surprised when he received the ball, he was still quite decisive when shooting, and the basketball hit the backboard and went into the net.
Watching Akagi score a goal, Mitsui Shou silently began to return to the court to defend, and did not have much communication with Akagi. Even though these two people have been promoted to the second grade, they are still having a quarrel on the court.
"Steady and steady, we'll score the first goal!"
The player holding the ball in the backcourt of Ryonan High School was replaced by Sendoh. Although Ryonan's score was far behind Shohoku, Sendoh still seemed quite calm and did not seem to care about the score gap. He advanced the ball at a neither fast nor slow speed, giving people a very steady feeling.
"Xiao San, go up and put pressure on him, don't let him be so comfortable~" At this time, Wu Dao had put the ball aside, looking at Sendoh Akira who was dribbling calmly in the court, and shouted loudly to Mitsui Hisashi.
"That bastard! He actually called me mistress in front of so many people!"
Mitsui Shou was a little annoyed by Wudao's address to him, but his body obeyed the advice and quickly left the three-point line and rushed towards Sendoh.
As soon as Sendoh crossed the half court, he was immediately blocked by Mitsui Hisashi, and his dribbling posture changed from the previous high-center-of-gravity dribbling to a low-center-of-gravity dribbling.
When Mitsui Shou came up, Sendoh did not stop the ball and quickly broke through with the ball. Mitsui Shou's reaction speed and lateral speed were quite fast. While quickly catching up with Sendoh, he observed the positions of other Ryonan players with the corner of his eyes, guarding against Sendoh passing the ball to other players.
Sendoh, who was caught up by Mitsui Shou, had no intention of breaking through Mitsui Shou's defense in one go. After advancing for a distance, he quickly braked, stopped, then changed direction and started again.
Between the sudden stops and starts, Sendoh and Mitsui Hisashi opened up some distance, and Sendoh successfully crossed the three-point line and moved to the mid-range.
"Sendoh!" Just when Sendoh successfully broke through Mitsui's defense, Uozumi Jun in the inside blocked Akagi Takenori and raised his hand to get into position.
Hearing Yuzumi's shout, Mitsui Hisashi, who was originally chasing and defending Sendoh, also subconsciously looked towards Yuzumi, and subconsciously moved towards Yuzumi in the direction of his running, trying to steal Sendoh's pass.
But at this moment, Sendoh, who was dribbling the ball and breaking into the mid-range, didn't see the existence of Jun Yuzumi at all. He didn't even look at Yuzumi, but made a quick stop and jump shot, and the basketball was quickly shot.
Under Mitsui's surprised gaze, the basketball hit the backboard and went into the net, successfully stopping the bleeding for Ryonan High School.
"Sendoh! Well done, Sendoh!" The Ryonan bench burst into cheers again. Uozumi, who didn't wait for the pass to get into position, didn't feel unhappy at all. Instead, he followed Sendoh back to defense with a smile and patted Sendoh on the back happily.
"Mitsui, that freshman from Ryonan plays too easily!" Akagi Takenori picked up the basketball from the floor, looked at Mitsui and reminded him.
"ah?"
"Akagi, there is one thing you need to understand. If you hadn't been blocked under the basket, I wouldn't have thought of cleaning up your mess."
"Before you teach me a lesson, take care of your own business first!"
Mitsui thought Akagi was mocking him and his tone became unfriendly. Akagi noticed the change in Mitsui's tone and realized that Mitsui might have misunderstood him, but he did not explain. Instead, he stopped talking, stood out of bounds with the ball, and passed the ball to Mitsui.
Mitsui Shou received the basketball with a frown on his face, ignoring Akagi Takenori, and quickly dribbled the ball forward. Just now, Sendoh had successfully scored over his head, and he, Mitsui Shou, had to return the favor!
Several players from Xiangbei High School are used to fast breaks. During the time when Mitsui Shou was advancing towards the frontcourt with the ball, Chiba Daishi and others had already taken their positions and were waiting.
Miyagi, who was originally thinking about receiving the ball and advancing in the backcourt, did not say much after Mitsui took the ball. He ran into the frontcourt on his own, taking Ryonan's Nishibayashi Kenichi with him, and slid from one side of the baseline to the other side.
Although Mitsui Shou had no intention of passing the ball when he entered the front court, Miyagi was still running around happily. Xilin Jian, who was defending him, was breathing heavily. He was obviously very tired, but he didn't dare to relax for a moment. A third-year player, his physical fitness was better than that of the first-year Miyagi!
In this round, Mitsui's offense seemed to become a little impatient. There was still plenty of time for offense, but Mitsui had no intention of using up the time. He changed direction in front of his body to get some distance away from Sendoh, and Mitsui shot directly from outside the three-point line.
However, Mitsui obviously underestimated Sendoh's defensive ability. Although Sendoh was deceived by Mitsui's change of direction in front of his body, the tall and strong Sendoh still caught up with Mitsui and put one hand in front of Mitsui's face, providing enough interference.
The basketball bounced out of the rim, and the rebound was caught by Jun Yuzumi who had already occupied an advantageous position.
After grabbing the rebound, Yuzumi swung the ball directly towards the frontcourt, where Sendoh Akira had already given up defending Mitsui Hisashi and ran towards the frontcourt early.
"Hurry up and get back on defense! Get back on defense!"
Mitsui Shou shouted while chasing after Sendoh, but Sendoh seemed to have known that Mitsui's shot would not go in. When Mitsui shot, he had already started running. When Mitsui went to chase him, Sendoh had already widened the distance between them.
Sendoh received the ball in the frontcourt and accelerated again. He took two steps inside the free throw line and jumped up, then dunked the ball into the basket with one hand.
A beautiful fast break dunk not only ignited the players of Ryonan, but also sounded the clarion call for Ryonan High School's counterattack.
After the goal, Mitsui calmed down completely, and Xiangbei High School became more cautious in their attack, and each time they shot, they waited until the attack time was almost up. The calm Mitsui had a high hit rate and a very good shooting efficiency.
However, Mitsui's efforts did not widen the gap between the two teams. On the contrary, as Sendoh began to exert his strength, the entire Ryonan High School teammates were revitalized by Sendoh. Sendoh Akira either broke through or shot, and repeatedly led Ryonan High School to score points.
And for some unknown reason, Jun Uozumi had a big outburst in the last three minutes of the first half, overpowering Takenori Akagi in the fight for rebounds and providing strong rebounding support for Ryonan's pursuit of points.
With the referee's whistle, the first half came to an end.
The score between the two teams was fixed at 51:45, and the difference was narrowed to six points.
Although Shohoku High School ended the first half of the game with a leading advantage, there was no happy expression on the faces of several players. Mitsui Hisashi also had a gloomy face, as if he did not expect that after Shinomiya Tano left the court, Shohoku would actually fight with Ryonan led by Sendoh.
On the other hand, on the Ryonan High School side, Sendoh and the others looked calm, and Yuzumi Jun even had a smile on his face. In the last minute of the first half, Yuzumi's rebounding performance was better than Akagi Takenori, which greatly increased Yuzumi Jun's confidence.
The break time at halftime of the practice match is a full fifteen minutes.
When the second half of the game was about to begin, Ryonan's coach Tanaka patted Shinomiya Tianye on the shoulder and whispered in his ear: "Tianye, did you rest well?"
After being silent for nearly twenty minutes, Shinomiya Tano finally raised his head and looked at Coach Tagoka, nodding silently.
"The key to victory or defeat lies in you, Tian Ye."
"After such a long time, have you figured out how to play in the second half?"
Coach Tanaoka withdrew his hands, crossed them across his chest, and asked.
"I will communicate with all the players by passing the ball."
"I've figured it out after so long."
"I won't fall into his trap again. And this time, I will change my tactics."
"After all, I came to Ryonan because Ryonan has strong enough teammates who can impact the national team with me!"
Shinomiya's mentality has been completely adjusted, and his physical strength has also recovered a lot. As the referee blew the whistle for the second half of the game, all the players of Ryonan stood up from their seats and followed Shinomiya into the stadium.
The momentum of the Ryonan players did not weaken due to the score deficit. On the contrary, the momentum exuded by the Ryonan players who returned to the court was even stronger than before!
In the rest area of Xiangbei, Jinguji Budo put aside the cup of tea filled with wolfberries in his hand, stood up, and said:
"It's time to decide the winner!"
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