Jinguji Budou only scored one goal, and the entire venue erupted in amazing cheers. Waves of cheers rushed into the venue, drowning out everyone.
"Ohhhh, he's knocked down, he's knocked down by Jinguji Budo!"
"Shohoku could have just substituted him in earlier. We came here just to see him!"
"That bow just now was too smooth. I couldn't react at all."
For a moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi's ears were surrounded by the audience's admiration. Sakuragi Hanamichi did not have a deep understanding of basketball, but he could still clearly distinguish between what was strong and what was weak.
In a matchup, the one standing on the court and shooting is definitely strong, and the one lying on the ground is definitely weak.
"Jinguji-senpai is amazing. His ability to combine the ball with his body is probably the best in Shohoku."
"Even if it's Rukawa..." Haruko only said the last sentence in her heart, but didn't say it out loud. Sakuragi Hanamichi turned his head in confusion and asked:
"The ability to combine man and ball? What is man and ball combination?"
When Haruko heard Sakuragi ask this, she smiled and explained, "To put it simply, it is the ability to control the basketball while fully utilizing one's physical conditions."
"Generally speaking, basketball players have excellent physical qualities, but because they need to dribble, pass other players, and pay attention to the situation on the court, it is often impossible for players to maximize their physical qualities during the game."
"The speed at which you run a hundred meters, the speed at which you run a hundred meters with the ball, and the speed at which you run a hundred meters with the ball while looking at the scenery are completely different."
"The stronger your ability to connect with the ball, the more you can use your physical strengths in the game."
"Someone has said before that if a rugby player with strong physical fitness plays basketball, he will definitely be able to play basketball well, but that is unrealistic, because even if the physical fitness is good enough, if he does not have excellent man-ball integration ability, he cannot become an excellent player."
"As for a player's ability to combine with the ball, one thing is talent, and the other is training."
"In this regard, Senior Jinguji is the best."
Haruko explained a lot to Sakuragi Hanamichi, and she said that the purpose of all this was to hope that Sakuragi Hanamichi would pay attention to this aspect. Although Haruko and Sakuragi Hanamichi have not been in contact for a long time at this stage, Haruko knows very well that Sakuragi Hanamichi is a player with excellent physique.
For a player like this, if he only relies on his physical fitness to make a living, his basketball career will definitely not last long.
"The ability to combine man and ball... I see."
Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Jinguji Takeshi in the field with a look of understanding, and suddenly a smile appeared on his face.
"Sure enough, I still want to be an athlete. If I can be like big brother, then are all these cheers for me?!"
"If that's the case... Haruko..."
Sakuragi Hanamichi was serious for a few seconds, then he glanced at Akagi Haruko who was standing next to him and started to daydream.
On the court, Jinguji Budou, who had scored a goal, began to defend with his teammates. It was not a big deal for him to knock down an opponent, and the player from Takenoko was not the first one in his basketball career so far.
When Xiangbei returned to defense, they adopted man-to-man defense, with only Akagi Takenori and Kakuta Satoru standing in the inside, while Jinguji Takeshi, Mitsui Hisashi and others all defended to the three-point line.
The player against Miyagi Ryouta has been replaced. He is a third-year student from Takenoko, about 175cm tall. Although he is a little taller than Miyagi, his speed is not fast and his strength is average, so Miyagi can defend against him easily.
On the perimeter, Jinguji Budou and Mitsui Shou each defended one player. Both of them were top players, and they restricted the opponent very tightly on the defensive end. The player defended by Budou even had a hard time connecting with the ball. Deming, who was defended by Mitsui Shou, could only try her best to carry the ball and prevent Mitsui Shou from stealing it.
However, there was no possibility of breaking through, and even passing the ball became extremely difficult.
Wuyuan High School had no more than 30 seconds left in the attack time. In the last few seconds, the basketball was passed to the inside line after several passes. Wuyuan's inside line hurriedly shot, but what greeted him was Akagi Takenori's huge hand.
"Don't even think about it!"
"Bang!"
Accompanied by a loud shout from Takenori Akagi and a dull thud, the basketball fell rapidly, hit the floor, and bounced toward the outside line.
Miyagi Ryouta was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and quickly caught the ball.
"Fast break!" Miyagi roared after getting the basketball, and then he saw Mitsui Hisashi and Jinguji Takeshi rushing to the front court.
Miyagi Ryouta raised the ball with one hand and threw it directly to the front court, where it was caught steadily by Mitsui Shou. Mitsui Shou, who got the basketball, turned his head and glanced at Jinguji Budo while advancing rapidly, and gave him a look.
Noticing Mitsui's gaze, Jinguji Budo slowed down slightly and fell behind Mitsui.
The tacit understanding between the two of them is so good that they can communicate simply with their eyes.
The speed of Jinguji Takeshi and Mitsui Hisashi was so fast, and their reactions were also very quick. By the time everyone in Takezono realized they had to return to defense, Takeshi and Mitsui Hisashi had already crossed the center line and were rushing towards Takezono's inside line one after the other.
Mitsui Shou dribbled the ball across the three-point line, then went around the free throw line from the left, and then threw the ball toward the basket. After throwing the ball, Mitsui Shou stopped and turned to look at the basketball.
There, Takeshi Jinguji, who was several meters behind Mitsui Shou, had just stepped over the free throw line. As the basketball entered the air, Takeshi Jinguji jumped up, caught the basketball with one hand in the air, and glided towards the basket.
“Bang!”
With a loud bang, Jinguji Budou dunked the basketball with one arm and directly smashed it into the basket. As Jinguji Budou fell back to the ground, cheers broke out again in the stands.
"Ohhh, so strong, worthy of being Jinguji Budo!"
"That's it! That's it! I came to watch the game just to see this!"
"This doesn't look like a high school student's fighting style at all. This guy is too strong!"
The audience's cheers came one after another, and the cheers seemed to break through the roof of the stadium.
Sakuragi Hanamichi watched Jinguji Takeshi's slam dunk and got goose bumps all over his body. His blood flow unconsciously quickened and his heart expanded and contracted, making a "thump thump" sound. At this moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi could clearly hear his own heartbeat.
"This... .slam dunk! This is what big brother meant by slam dunk!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Jinguji Takeshi with eyes full of longing. At this moment, he put himself in Jinguji Takeshi's position, squinted his eyes slightly, felt the cheers around him, and an indescribable sense of joy burst out from the bottom of his heart.
The charm of basketball will deeply attract even spectators.
"Amazing, Sakuragi, Jinguji-senpai is really amazing!"
"You know what? In all the high school games I've watched before, no one has ever been able to dunk like Jinguji-senpai."
"Senior Jinguji is definitely the best player in Kanagawa Prefecture. No, there may be no player in the whole country who can do this!"
Akagi Haruko was also excited by Jinguji Budo's dunk and was cheering. The excited Haruko subconsciously grabbed Sakuragi's arm and shook it.
"All... all over the country?!"
“Is there no player in the whole country who can do this?!”
Sakuragi Hanamichi murmured what Haruko said, his eyes widened slightly, a strange light burst out from his eyes, his fists clenched, and his gaze immediately became firm.
On the court, Jinguji Budou started to return to the field amid the celebration of his teammates.
The performances of Mitsui Hisashi and Takeshi were both relatively calm. This was not the first time they had completed such cooperation. Looking at the slightly dazed people in Takezono, both Mitsui Hisashi and Jinguji Takeshi knew that the next match would probably become unusually easy.
Although Jinguji Budo only played for a short time and only scored two goals, the people of Wuyuan have already realized that their team can't limit Jinguji Budo at all. Facing such a terrifying opponent, the young people in their teens of Wuyuan have completely lost the will to fight.
On the sidelines of the court, Wu Yuan's coach Ye Shan also realized the gap and had given up the idea of winning. Now, he was only thinking about how to adjust the mentality of his players so as not to affect subsequent games.
On the court, the players of Takezono were impressed by Jinguji Budo's dunk. The players who lost their spirits performed even worse on the offensive end. The ball handler was found by Miyagi Ryouta and stole the ball. In an instant, the people of Xiangbei formed a red torrent and rushed to Takezono's half.
With Miyagi Ryouta stealing the ball and making a layup, Xiangbei High School scored another two points. Xiangbei High School had only made a substitution for about a minute, but it had already scored six points in a row.
"Don't give up, the game has just begun, why do you all have such expressions!?"
"Cheer up, everyone! The game is far from over!"
Dai Ming, a sophomore at Wuyuan High School, received the ball in the backcourt and shouted to his teammates while advancing with the ball. His words seemed to have some effect, and everyone in Wuyuan gathered their spirits and began to reorganize the attack.
"Oh? There are still players with backbone in Wuyuan High School."
"But... .Basketball is something you can't win with guts and slogans."
On one side of the stands, Coach Tanaka of Ryonan High School crossed his arms over his chest and spoke softly. His words seemed to be a verdict on Takenoko High School.
"Buzono's dying struggle only made the fight between Jinguji Budo and Shohoku less boring."
"In this match, the strength of the two teams is not equal."
"If the team doesn't have star players, it won't be able to compete with Xiangbei."
"As it stands now, we are the only ones who can compete with Xiangbei."
"Hainan... maybe."
As Coach Tiangang spoke, he looked across the stands, where Hainan's players were sitting near the aisle entrance, watching the game. Each of the players had a stern look on their face.
On the court, the Takezono players who had aroused some fighting spirit were soon defeated by the cruel reality. Under the defense of Xiangbei, Takezono could not find any good opportunities to shoot.
The team was forced to take several shots due to the time limit. This hasty attack had no way to penetrate Xiangbei's defense. As the game progressed, the gap between the two teams widened rapidly.
Moreover, unlike Takenoko, Shohoku High School's offense was multi-faceted. Jinguji Takenoko played very selfishly in the first five minutes of the game, basically playing on his own after receiving the ball. But after the score difference widened to more than fifteen points, Takenoko changed his style of play and started passing the ball to his teammates.
Jinguji Budo often breaks through to attract the opponent's attention, and then passes the ball to his teammates. Most of the passes are to Mitsui Hisashi and Akagi Takenori, who complete the finishing.
There weren't many opportunities given to Kadota, because in games of this level, Kadota's role was too small. Only when he was in an open position would Budo think of passing the ball to him.
At the end of the first half, Xiangbei High School led its opponent by nearly 30 points with a score of 52:24.
In the second half, Jinguji Budo and Kakuda Satoru were substituted out, and Chiba Daishi and Kogure Konobu were substituted in. In the middle of the second half, Coach Anzai made another personnel adjustment until the end of the game.
As the referee blew the whistle, the score between Xiangbei and Wuyuan was fixed at 91:55, and Xiangbei High School won the game by a large margin. In the first game of the semi-finals round-robin, Xiangbei High School won its first victory.
After shaking hands with their opponents, the Xiangbei players left the field under the leadership of Coach Anxi, and then returned to the stands through the player tunnel to watch the next game.
The match between Ryonan High School and Hainan follows right after the match between Shohoku and Takenoko.
When the Xiangbei game reached the middle of the second half, the players of Hainan's Ryonan had already gone to the locker room to make adjustments. When the Xiangbei game was coming to an end, Hainan's Ryonan had actually entered the court through the player tunnel, but was just standing on the sidelines watching Xiangbei's game.
After the game, both teams went into their respective rest areas and began to warm up.
"Haruko, Shohoku's game is over, aren't we going?"
"After watching the game, I felt a huge power in my body. I can't wait to start training!" After the Xiangbei game ended, Sakuragi Hanamichi said to Haruko.
"Don't worry! There's another match between Ryonan High School and Hainan next."
"These two teams are also very strong teams. Hainan is known as the 'king' and has been the champion of the county competition for more than ten consecutive years. It is a real powerhouse."
"As for Ryonan, I heard from my brother that it is also incredibly strong this year. It will be exciting to see the two teams compete against each other."
"Shohoku's two biggest rivals right now are these two teams."
When Haruko Akagi heard that Sakuragi Hanamichi wanted to leave, she quickly grabbed Sakuragi's clothes and pointed to the two teams that were warming up on the court.
"Champions for more than ten consecutive years?!" Sakuragi Hanamichi was also intimidated by Hainan's reputation and was stunned. Suddenly, Sakuragi Hanamichi found that some spectators were hanging banners in the stands not far away.
Many of the audience were actually students from Hainan or Ryonan.
"Look, Sakuragi, the No. 8 from Ryonan High School, his name is Shinomiya Tano, the MVP during his junior high school years."
"The one with the pointed hair is called Sendoh Akira. My brother told me that he is a super ace that Ryonan specially recruited from Tokyo."
"The tallest one is Jun Uozumi, who is called a monster. He is the center of Ryonan. I heard from my brother that he is over 2 meters tall."
Akagi Haruko is a die-hard fan. She introduces all the players of Ryonan to Sakuragi Hanamichi. And the fancy titles of the players of Ryonan High School firmly attracted Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"MVP... ..Super Ace...Monster..." Sakuragi murmured, his thoughts flying away again.
At the same time, the heated atmosphere in the stands cooled down. Some spectators went to the bathroom, some ate snacks, and waited quietly for the new round of games to begin.
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