"ah?!"
"How is that possible? Jinguji-senpai is the ace of Shohoku High School."
"The current lineup is just a test, just watch and see."
Akagi Haruko didn't notice Sakuragi Hanamichi's disappointment. She was now focused on the court. After all, her brother had already walked to the center circle, ready for a jump ball, and the game was about to begin.
"The ace of Xiangbei High School? Then why isn't he on the court?" Sakuragi Hanamichi had very little contact with basketball. While wondering why Takeshi didn't play, Sakuragi saw Akagi and others walk up to the center circle to prepare for a jump ball. This scene also caught his attention.
"Hey, Haruko, what are they going to do?" Sakuragi Hanamichi was like a baby who was curious about everything. He looked at the two teams preparing to jump ball in the center circle and asked in confusion.
"Ah? Oh."
"That's called a jump ball. At the beginning of the game, a jump ball is used to determine the offensive team."
"My brother is the center and he is the one who executes the jump ball."
Akagi Haruko briefly introduced the jump ball, and then looked at the court. Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded, with an expression of "I see", but although he still had many doubts in his heart, he temporarily suppressed his doubts and decided to watch the game first.
The players from Xiangbei High School wore red jerseys, while the players from Takenoko High School wore blue jerseys, making the two teams very distinctive.
With the referee's whistle, the basketball was thrown into the air by the referee. Akagi Takenori and Takezono's center, who were standing in the center circle, jumped up almost at the same time and reached out to hit the basketball.
"It's started, it's started!" Haruko shouted excitedly as the game started.
On the court, with a loud shout from Takenori Akagi, the basketball was hit by him and flew quickly towards Kadota. The latter received the basketball, but did not advance the ball immediately. Instead, he waited for his teammates for a few seconds and then passed the ball to Yasuda Yasuharu, who controlled the ball and started to advance.
"Start the attack!" Akagi Takenori won the jump ball and encouraged himself and his teammates. After shouting, Akagi Takenori quickly rushed towards Takenori's inside line.
"Sakuragi, look, my brother is a center. The center is the player closest to the basket on the court and is in the most advantageous offensive position."
“At the same time, the center is the last line of defense and the initiator of offense-defense transition.”
"My brother always said, 'Anyone who can dominate under the basket can dominate on the court.'"
"Now those who dribble the ball are called guards..."
As the game started, Akagi Haruko began to explain the basic rules of basketball and the basic positioning of players on the court to the novice Sakuragi. After all, the previous lectures to Sakuragi Hanamichi were just empty talk, and Sakuragi did not have a systematic understanding of basketball games. But now, with practical examples, it is easy for Sakuragi to form a basic understanding of basketball.
After all, it was Haruko who explained patiently, and Sakuragi Hanamichi listened carefully, while keeping his eyes fixed on the court.
As the two were talking, the Xiangbei players had already advanced to the frontcourt. Kakuta Satoru, who was the power forward, moved to the high post and set a screen for Yasuda Yasuharu, who got the gap and broke through with the ball.
However, Yasuda's movement speed is too slow. Although Shohoku's training has been very hard during this period and this freshman has persisted, the improvement in the physical fitness of Yasuharu Yasuda, who is mediocre in talent, is very average after just a few months of training.
Yasuda, who was using the pick-and-roll to break through, was caught up and intercepted by Takezono's defenders.
Yasuda himself was just trying it out, and when he saw that he failed to break through, he quickly passed the ball to Miyagi Ryouta.
Miyagi received the basketball and without any hesitation, he shot near the three-point line despite the defensive players. The defenders were fooled by Miyagi's fake moves and subconsciously straightened their backs to block the shot, but the next second, Miyagi bent his body and quickly broke through.
As Miyagi deceived the defenders with a fake move, there were some exclamations from the audience, as if Miyagi's action surprised them very much.
Miyagi Ryouta's breakthrough speed was very fast. When he reached the mid-range, Miyagi tried a quick stop and jump shot. This was the offensive method that Jinguji Budo was best at. Miyagi had been coveting it for a long time and had been training for it for a long time.
“Bang!”
“Swish!”
Miyagi Ryouta was lucky enough, the basketball hit the backboard and went into the net, scoring the first goal for Shohoku High School.
"Well done, Miyagi."
"It seems that Coach Anxi's arrangement was correct!"
When returning to defense, Takenori Akagi did not forget to encourage Ryouta Miyagi, and the Xiangbei players began to retreat quickly.
"Haruko, what was that just now? That..." Sakuragi Hanamichi said, demonstrating to Haruko the fake shooting move that Miyagi had just done, with some curiosity.
"That's Miyagi Ryouta, Miyagi-senpai. A fake move is an offensive method to deceive the defensive players so that you can break through and shoot."
“It’s a very practical and common technique.”
Haruko explained, and then shouted loudly, cheering for Xiangbei. Sakuragi Hanamichi scratched his head and whispered, "It's a fake move, it looks cool."
"Let Big Brother teach me later!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi didn't care about the practicality of the court at all. The reason why he was curious about Miyagi's fake move was simply because Miyagi's move looked quite cool and attracted a wave of attention from the audience.
Now, Sakuragi only plays for Haruko, and the skills he is interested in must be "showy". Miyagi's fake move just now satisfied his needs and made Sakuragi very interested.
On the court, during the transition from offense to defense, Takezono's second-year guard Dai Ming faced the defense of Miyagi Ryouta, took the ball and shot a mid-range shot directly, and immediately returned the favor ten seconds after Shohoku scored a goal.
Dai Ming from Wuyuan wore a blue No. 5 jersey and was about 180cm tall, much taller than Miyagi. In addition, Dai Ming had an excellent wingspan and good shooting ability. When he caught the ball and shot, Miyagi had no way to stop him.
As the basketball went into the net, Shohoku once again took control of the ball, and the player who controlled the ball was still Yasuharu Yasuda, not Ryouta Miyagi.
"Don't retreat in a hurry, push forward, push forward everyone!"
Off the field, Coach Ye Shan of Wuyuan shouted loudly to the players on the field. This elegant coach in a suit and with slightly gray hair gave instructions directly to the players.
All of a sudden, Takezona's defensive formation changed rapidly. When Xiangbei launched the first round of offense, Takezona used a zone defense, but after Coach Yeshan gave the order, Takezona directly adopted a full-court pressing tactic.
In addition, Takezono directly sent two players to double-team the young Yasuharu Yasuda, and Akagi who ran to the frontcourt was left open.
Yasuda Yasuharu was trapped before he could cross the center line. He could only try to dribble the ball and find a gap to pass the ball. However, how could Yasuda, who was only a freshman, only 163cm tall and weighed only 55kg, be a match for Dai Ming and his team
The ball didn't even cross half court before it was intercepted by Wu Yuan's player, who then easily counterattacked and scored.
Shohoku served the ball again, and the basketball was still given to Yasuharu Yasuda. Just like before, as soon as Yasuda got the ball, he was immediately double-teamed. The same scene was repeated again. Yasuda didn't even have time to dribble the ball, and the ball was snatched away by someone near the basket, and then he made a layup.
"┗|｀O′|┛Ah~~Shohoku, what are you doing?!"
"What is this hitting?"
"Hey, kid, stop holding the ball, you can't control it!"
Xiangbei lost the ball again, and the audience screamed. Some Xiangbei fans cursed loudly, and booed at the center of the field. After all, Yasuda Yasuharu, who lost the ball, was just a teenager. Yasuda Yasuharu was booed by the audience, his face turned red, and he dared not speak. He could only go to the backcourt silently and prepare to catch the ball again.
"This Wuyuan...., they have studied us before."
"If Yasuda dribbles the ball across half court, he won't be able to break through if someone receives the ball, but he will still have no problem getting the ball moving."
"When Takezono goes straight to the full-court press, Yasuda is at a considerable disadvantage. He's too thin physically, and his dribbling skills are just at a different level. He can't get past him."
In the Xiangbei rest area, Mitsui Hisashi was sitting on the bench. When he saw this scene on the court, he spoke to Wudao beside him.
"Well, it should be. It would be better if Miyagi had the ball, but Coach Anzai wanted to use this game to train Yasuda's ball control and Miyagi's offense."
"Without changing their position, they need to find a way to help Yasuda break through."
"If it was just a substitution to control the ball, there would be no point in having this lineup on the field."
Jinguji Budo glanced at Coach Anzai while talking to Mitsui Hisashi. Almost all the players of Xiangbei knew that Coach Anzai was trying hard to train young players. Obviously, Coach Anzai's ambition was not limited to the county competition.
However, basketball is not something that can be successful just by hard work. Talent is very important.
Obviously, Yasuda Yasuharu's physical fitness and dribbling ability do not have a high talent for basketball. Moreover, Yasuda has only played basketball for a short time. He started playing in junior high school and sat on the bench until high school. He only started playing in high school. Yasuda himself has already lost a lot to his peers.
Yasuda Yasuharu was not used to the semi-finals of the county tournament. Not only Yasuda Yasuharu, but also Shiozaki and Kakuta on the court were not used to it. Takezono's man-to-man defense made Shiozaki and Kakuta disappear without a trace.
Although the score was only 4 points behind, the situation was one-sided.
“Beep!”
With a sharp whistle, the referee gave Yasuda Yasuharu an offensive foul. It turned out that Yasuda, who got the ball in the backcourt again, was annoyed by the defenders of Takezono. When he broke through, his movements were very large and his elbows were obviously raised.
"Coach Ye Shan is still not easy to deal with. It looks like the training can't go on."
"Let's create enough points difference before training..."
"But in this way, the training effect will be a little worse."
Coach Anzai listened to the whistle, sighed in his heart, stood up silently and walked towards the referee's seat to request a substitution. When Coach Anzai returned to the rest area, he directly called on Wudao and Mitsui Shou to replace Shiozaki and Yasuda. As for Kakuda Satoru, he still stayed on the court and played the role of power forward.
"Xiangbei High School, request a substitution!"
A clear female voice spread throughout the stadium through the loudspeaker. In the rest area, Jinguji Takeshi and Mitsui Shou were walking towards the court. As the two appeared, the audience suddenly burst into amazing cheers.
"Jinguji Budo! Jinguji Budo!"
"Jinguji Budo! Jinguji Budo!"
"Mitsui Hisashi! Mitsui Hisashi!"
"Mitsui Hisashi! Mitsui Hisashi!"
The audience cheered the names of the two players in a scattered manner. The enthusiastic cheering startled Sakuragi Hanamichi. He looked around curiously and exclaimed: "Big Brother is so popular! Is he such a famous player?"
Although Haruko had told Sakuragi before that Takeshi was the ace player of Shohoku, Takeshi did not play. Hanamichi didn't quite believe it, but when he heard the cheers from everyone, he believed it even though he didn't want to.
"Wow... so amazing, almost the whole audience was shouting their names."
"My heart is starting to boil with blood!"
Yohei Mito, Nozomi Takamiya and the others were also looking around curiously, with surprise on their faces. As the audience cheered, Yohei was infected by the atmosphere and felt a little excited.
On the court, Takeshi and Mitsui high-fived Yasuda and Shiozaki, then walked onto the court.
"How are we going to fight today? Should I defeat them?" Mitsui Shou asked the martial artist beside him, swinging his arms and stretching his muscles.
"I'll play half the game. There's a little kid coming to watch the game today, so I'll show off a little bit."
Wu Dao replied calmly, and glanced at the audience, and saw Sakuragi Hanamichi and others at a glance. There was nothing he could do, the red hair was too eye-catching, and those guys were standing in front of the railing of the first row of the audience.
"The game has just begun, so cheer up!" Takezo's captain shouted to encourage his teammates. All the Takezo players looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, staring closely at Jinguji Takeshi and Mitsui Hisashi.
Wu Yuan had the ball, and after several passes, it was passed to No. 5 Dai Ming. The one defending Dai Ming was Mitsui Shou who had just come on the court. Looking at Dai Ming holding the ball in front of him, Mitsui Shou smiled and hooked his finger at the opponent, signaling the opponent to attack.
Mitsui's provocation obviously had some effect. Deming dribbled the ball quickly and leaned directly on Mitsui, trying to press towards the inside. However, Mitsui was not a short guard. Whether in height or physique, he was better than Deming, who was 180cm tall!
"Bang!"
After a muffled sound, Mitsui Shou did not retreat a step, but took a step forward and approached Daiming, reaching out to hit the basketball. Daiming also realized that something was wrong, and quickly gathered the ball, without even looking at the basket, and shot directly. The shot was forced out of desperation, and there was no accuracy at all. The basketball broke out of the rim and fell to the side.
Akagi Takenori shouted loudly, jumped high to grab the rebound, and then passed it directly to Jinguji Budou.
After receiving the basketball, Takeshi Jinguji quickly advanced with the ball, but his speed was not fast, and Takezono's players could not keep up with him. In just a few seconds, Takezono completed the return defense, while Takeshi had just crossed the half court with the ball and was approaching the three-point line.
"I won't let you pass!"
The player defending Jinguji Budou was Buzono's No. 4. Budou had no impression of this opponent. The opponent crouched down and spread his arms, looking as if he would never let Budou break through.
"If it was before, with your defense like this, I would have just shot it."
"But today, I'm giving you a chance to defend against me, so you must seize it."
Jinguji Takeshi glanced at Sakuragi Hanamichi in the stands and laughed. Without waiting for anyone to reply, he leaned forward and broke through. The opponent's follow-up speed was also very good, but he was still a beat slower than Takeshi.
In the past, the opponent's half-beat slowness would have meant a failure in defense, and Wu Dao could have used his speed to overpower the opponent. But today, Wu Dao did not do that. After advancing two steps, Wu Dao suddenly stopped, straightened up, and looked at the basket.
Upon seeing this, the defender slammed on the brakes and pounced on Wu Dao. However, Wu Yuan's No. 4 still had some brains and knew that Wu Dao might be faking it, so when he pounced on him, his feet did not leave the floor. He took big strides forward instead of stupidly flying to catch the ball.
Sure enough, Jinguji Budou, who had stopped abruptly, started quickly in an instant and passed the opponent in an instant. Wuyuan's No. 4 defense was also very hard. This time, he no longer left any strength and suddenly accelerated towards Budou to try to defend.
However, Jinguji Budo's quick start only took him two steps forward. When he noticed the defender following up, he stopped again and dribbled back. One rushed forward, the other pulled back, and in an instant, the two were separated by several meters.
The defensive player's reflexes were fairly well developed, his brain reacted quickly, and he wanted to stop suddenly and catch up with Wu Dao, but his body just froze.
Wu Yuan No. 4, who wanted to rush back, tripped, fell to the ground, and slid a long distance.
Jinguji Takeshi slowly adjusted his breath and rhythm, then shot the ball.
The basketball spun and flew towards the basket, and with a crisp sound, the basketball went into the net.
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