After the referee blew the whistle again.
Akagi Takenori and Chang Cheng's center forward Mikoshiba stood on the center line. Jinguji Budou, Mitsui Shou and others jumped around the center and took their positions, waiting for the game to start.
Standing in front of Jinguji Budou was the power forward of Changcheng High School, wearing a white No. 6 jersey and estimated to be around 180cm tall. He was not short or skinny, but standing in front of Jinguji Budou, he was not only shorter but also thinner, and the difference in their figures was quite large.
"So high! Is Xiangbei playing with two cores inside?!"
"It may not be possible for Mikoshiba and I to handle it."
Chang Cheng's No. 6 boy raised his head slightly and looked at Jinguji Budou, thinking secretly in his heart. His eyes attracted Budou's attention, and he lowered his head slightly, glanced at the boy in front of him, and then a gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Please give me your guidance." Wu Dao said softly, his tone gentle, making Chang Cheng team members, who were under some psychological pressure, nod in agreement subconsciously:
"No... You're welcome. Please advise me."
Wu Dao glanced at the other person and stopped paying attention to him, his eyes fell on the court.
With a whistle, the referee threw the basketball high into the air.
Akagi Takenori and Mikoshiba, who had been prepared for a long time, jumped up and hit the basketball together.
“Bang!”
With a slight sound, two big hands hit the basketball at the same time. The next second, the basketball flew out and was caught by Chang Cheng No. 4 who rushed over.
"What?!" After losing the jump ball, Mitsui Hisashi and Takeshi looked at Akagi at the same time.
Surprisingly, quite unexpectedly, Akagi Takenori actually lost the jump ball with Mikoshiba?! Mikoshiba, who is also a second-year student like Akagi, is only about 192cm tall, a little shorter than Akagi. The two have similar figures, and judging by the appearance, their strength should not be much different.
With the strength difference being almost the same, Akagi's failure in the jump ball due to his height advantage was unexpected to both Takeshi and Mitsui.
"Return to defense!" Mitsui Shou shouted, his surprise fleeting. Jinguji Budou had already adjusted himself, and now he was following Chang Cheng's No. 6 back to the court. At the same time, Chiba Daishi and Akagi Takenori quickly retreated to the basket. Budou saw that his team's inside line was in position, so he did not follow Chang Cheng's No. 6 into the inside line, but instead defended outside the three-point line.
“Huh?!”
"Isn't that tall guy supposed to be playing inside? Why is he defending when he's standing on the three-point line?!"
"Huh? Don't you know this? That's Jinguji Budo from Shohoku, one of the five AA-level players selected by Basketball Weekly!"
“That guy plays small forward.”
As Chang Cheng launched the attack, Xiangbei completed the positioning. Jinguji Budou's position caused quite a commotion in the stands.
Wu Dao is somewhat famous in Kanagawa Prefecture, but many people still don't know him on the national stage. The audience couldn't understand why Wu Dao, who is nearly two meters tall, stood on the outside.
Some audience members who knew about martial arts briefly introduced the martial arts to their companions and friends, which also aroused a considerable degree of curiosity among the audience about martial arts.
Changcheng High School is a team that has always focused on the inside, and its main player is the sophomore Mikoshiba. Although Wudou doesn't know how Mikoshiba can become the main player, this is indeed how Changcheng's team operates.
The basketball was passed several times and successfully landed in the hands of Mikoshiba in the inside.
The defense of Xiangbei High School was basically spread out on the perimeter, with only Chiba and Akagi standing inside. When Mikoshiba received the ball, Akagi Takenori immediately stuck to him, and Chiba on the side had no intention of helping, guarding his own people, but he paid some attention to Mikoshiba's movements.
"Hey, Akagi, the guy across from you is the ace center of Changcheng High School."
"Their team is rated B-level just like us. If you can beat them, it means you also have the ability of an ace player."
"Come on!"
Inside, the two began to wrestle. Mikoshiba did not use footwork in the first ball, but used strength to test Akagi. Outside, Mitsui Shou had a smile on his face and shouted loudly. The sarcastic tone made Akagi unable to tell whether the other party was encouraging or mocking.
However, knowing that Mikoshiba was Chang Cheng's trump card, Akagi's defensive motivation suddenly became much stronger. Akagi, who had been pushed back a little by the opponent, immediately stood firm and refused to give an inch.
"Ace! It's actually the inside ace!" Akagi thought secretly in his heart, with fighting spirit surging in his eyes.
"This guy... is so strong!" Mikoshiba didn't have any advantage in terms of strength, so he immediately changed his offensive style, turned around, faced the basket, grabbed the ball with one hand, made a shooting gesture, and made a false move. After tricking Akagi's center of gravity, he lowered his body, passed under Akagi's armpit, and shot with a hook shot.
The position where Mikoshiba received the ball was very close to the basket. The series of actions were very smooth and fast. Akagi Takenori had no time to react before he heard the sound of the basketball hitting the backboard. He turned around and saw the basketball falling from the net.
"Well done, Mikoshiba!" After scoring the goal, Chang Cheng began to retreat quickly. The captain of Chang Cheng encouraged Mikoshiba and felt relaxed.
At the center position, Mikoshiba faces Akagi Takenori, and they have the advantage!
"Hey, hey, hey, I just told you to work harder, and now you're letting him score easily?"
"Akagi, try harder!"
Mitsui Shou quietly walked to Akagi's side, poked Akagi in the waist, and encouraged him. However, Mitsui Shou's encouragement was not much different from ridicule in Akagi's ears.
"Nonsense!"
"Just wait and see! I won't lose!"
Akagi Takenori said in a deep voice, walked to the baseline and kicked the ball. After passing the ball, Akagi quickly ran to the front court, exuding a dangerous aura.
"Hey, Xiaosan, you've really aroused Akagi's enthusiasm."
Miyagi in the backcourt received the ball, and Takeshi and Mitsui Shou supported and advanced slowly around Miyagi. Looking at the aggressive Akagi, Takeshi was surprised. Because of Jinguji Takeshi, Akagi Takenori had long recognized his position in the Xiangbei team. In terms of offense, he was indeed not as good as Takeshi and Mitsui Shou.
In previous matches against Shoyo, Kainan, Ryonan and other teams, Akagi also tasted the taste of defeat in his matchups.
Although Akagi knows his position in the team, Akagi Takenori is still proud. He does not think that he is an insignificant character in the Xiangbei High School team.
He felt that Xiangbei needed him, needed his defense, and needed his rebounding, so Akagi also focused on strengthening these two aspects during normal training, and only practiced offensive techniques when he was really free. Akagi Takenori felt that he was definitely an ace player in both offense and defense, but he just didn't have the opportunity to show it in Xiangbei.
Today's opponent is Changcheng High School, which is also ranked in the national ranking and is rated B. Akagi Takenori knows that the opportunity to show his strength has come.
As long as he can defeat Chang Cheng's ace center, it means that Akagi is also a first-line player with ace level!
Transition from offense to defense.
Xiangbei High School was led by Miyagi Ryouta, who held the ball. Before the game, Budo had agreed with Miyagi to give the ball to Mitsui and others as much as possible, so that they could have a chance to perform. Therefore, after entering the frontcourt, Budo helped Mitsui do a pick-and-roll without the ball, and Mitsui, who escaped smoothly, received the pass from Miyagi immediately.
Without any hesitation, Mitsui Shou took a long three-point shot from two steps outside the three-point line.
The extremely long shooting distance and extremely fast shooting speed surprised all the Chang Cheng players on the field.
"What a fast attack! So far? This guy is so confident!"
"Grab the rebound, this ball won't go in, it's too far!"
"Give me a chance, Mikoshiba, rebound!"
After Chang Cheng's players realized what was happening, they shouted towards the inside. Mitsui Shou listened to the shouts from Chang Cheng's players, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
The basketball flew through the air and hit the edge of the basket when it fell, bouncing out.
The shot missed and Mitsui's smile froze on his face.
"Rebound!" Wu Dao shouted as he ran towards the inside. Before he arrived, the basketball had already started to fall, but at this moment, Akagi Takenori shouted loudly, jumped up, tapped the bottom of the basketball with his fingertips, and directly pointed the ball towards the basket.
"Swish!" After a barely perceptible sound, the basketball went into the net.
"Roar!" After scoring the goal, Akagi let out a long roar, pounded his chest excitedly, and then quickly began to return to defense.
Wu Dao was a little surprised when he saw Akagi tip in the ball, but then he clapped his hands and encouraged him, "Beautiful, Akagi!"
After the encouragement, Wu Dao began to retreat, and when he passed by Mitsui Shou, he whispered: "Xiao San, you pulled it up, not only the rating pulled up, but also the shooting pulled up."
"I would like to call you the Clown King!"
Budo smiled and patted Mitsui's shoulder, quickly taking his place.
After hearing what Wu Dao said, Mitsui Shou's handsome face turned red.
Missing the open three-pointer had already made him quite out of control, but the most embarrassing thing was the confident look on his face after the shot. The missed shot turned Mitsui Shou into a clown.
"Asshole, Wu Dao's mouth should be sewn shut!"
Mitsui Shou cursed softly, immediately transformed his anger into strength, and threw himself into defense with all his strength.
Xiangbei began to defend seriously, and Changcheng High School's offense suddenly became difficult.
Changcheng High School is a team that focuses on the inside, but the absolute height of this team is not that outstanding. Although all the players on the court are over 180cm tall, the tallest center, Mikoshiba, is less than 195cm tall.
Although Xiangbei is a team that focuses on outside offense, the players are not short.
Mitsui's height has now reached 186cm, Takeshi and Akagi are both nearly two meters tall, Chiba is also close to 190cm, Miyagi Ryouta is short, but his speed is much faster than the defender Chang Cheng who is on the opposite side. He can't defend the opponent's pass, but it's not so easy for the opponent to break through.
The Chang Cheng player who was facing Wu Dao was now being guarded by Wu Dao so hard that he had no chance to even pass the ball. Wu Dao, who was tall and strong and fast, was completely out of position when defending the opponent.
As for Mitsui's opponent, Mitsui Shou, who turned his anger into strength, defended impenetrably. Chang Cheng, who was facing him, did not have the ability to break through Mitsui Shou's defense.
There was no chance at all from the outside. Although Chang Cheng tried to use pick-and-roll tactics to allow his players to have comfortable opportunities to break through and shoot, the defense of Xiangbei rotated smoothly and did not give the opponent any chance at all.
Helpless Chang Cheng finally chose to pass the ball high, giving it to Mikoshiba who was standing in the middle distance at this time, allowing the team's ace to complete the attack.
Chang Cheng's offensive intention was obvious, but on the defensive end, Xiangbei still defended themselves and did not double-team Mikoshiba.
After receiving the ball, Mikoshiba, who was still a little cautious, saw that no one from Xiangbei was double-teaming him, so he sneered and began to calm down.
"Do you think you can stop me with a nobody like this?!"
"You're underestimating me. I'm the ace!"
Mikoshiba received the ball with his back to the basket, and after getting the ball, he half turned around and faked a shot. He couldn't see whether Akagi's defensive position had any gaps. After the faked shot, Mikoshiba directly dropped the ball and turned around to break through.
Mikoshiba's series of movements were smooth, but far from being swift. Akagi had seen the same breakthrough technique from Takeshi many times, not to mention that Mikoshiba's speed was far inferior to Takeshi's.
With a sliding step, Akagi Takenori instantly caught up with Mikoshiba, raised one arm high, and blocked Mikoshiba's hook shot. Mikoshiba's strength was not much different from Akagi's. Although Mikoshiba broke through when Akagi was on guard, he was moving forward, but he was heading towards the baseline, which was completely different from the direction of the basket.
Mikoshiba, who was forcing his way to the basket, had no time to brake and was driven to the baseline by Akagi Takenori. The angle of his shot also changed from about 45 degrees at the beginning to -10 degrees.
When the defensive position reached this angle, Takenori Akagi no longer defended the shot, but instead became wary of the opponent's pass.
However, Mikoshiba's choice was beyond Akagi's expectations. Mikoshiba, who was about to be forced out of the game, suddenly stopped, raised his body to face the basket, and shot directly at a negative angle.
“That’s too much of a stretch!”
When Mikoshiba broke through, Wudao had already realized that there was an opportunity for a double-team. Seeing the opponent shooting at a negative angle, he took the opportunity to position himself under the basket and directly blocked Chang Cheng behind him.
Sure enough, Mikoshiba is not Kobe. This kind of negative-angle shot in a running game is too difficult for him. The basketball hit the backboard directly and did not even go over the backboard.
"Damn, there's one less rebound!"
"This weakling!"
The referee blew the whistle, and Wu Dao was also stunned when he saw this, and then he cursed inwardly. He had already taken his position, but Mikoshiba was like this...
The audience who supported Chang Cheng sighed when they saw Mikoshiba's poor shot. Some people couldn't help laughing, and there was a lot of noise in the stands.
Mikoshiba, who just entered the second grade this year, was a little inexperienced and played a little anxiously. When he heard the audience laughing at him, his face turned red.
"Don't worry about it, Mikoshiba."
"Next time if we have enough time to attack, we won't have a chance to pass the ball first."
"Don't be discouraged, defend!"
Captain Chang Cheng comforted Mikoshiba with a few words, and then everyone started to defend without waiting for Xiangbei to kick off.
"This is a bit worrying compared to the level of the core members of the family!"
"The idea is good, but just having an idea is useless!"
"In this match, either... let Akagi get some good training?!"
Mitsui Shou served the ball in the backcourt. After serving it to Miyagi, he ran forward and thought secretly. He was used to seeing the core players of teams like Ryonan and Kainan, and his own martial arts were also very strong. Suddenly seeing an ace of Mikoshiba's level, Mitsui Shou felt uneasy.
He had been planning to perform well today, but now it seems that it would be better to let Akagi have some exercise.
"Weakling, why is Chang Cheng so weak?"
"It's strange... Next year's Chang Cheng and the remaining Xiangbei are evenly matched. Apart from anything else, when Xiangbei and Chang Cheng played the practice match, only Sakuragi, an outsider, was not there."
"To be able to tie with a team like Xiangbei, Chang Cheng shouldn't be that weak this year."
"What the hell is going on?!"
Wu Dao was somewhat surprised by Chang Cheng's level, but he didn't know that Chang Cheng No. 5, who was playing against him, was really suffering. There was an important piece of the puzzle in Chang Cheng's inside play that was being suppressed unconsciously by Wu Dao.
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