As time passed, the stands were filled with spectators.
In the stadium, the warm-up of both teams has ended. At this moment, the players of Xiangbei and Touou are in their respective rest areas, listening to their coaches making final arrangements before the game begins.
Coach Anzai still did not make any changes in the tactical play. He simply delegated the right of on-the-spot command to Mitsui Hisashi, gave the players a few words of encouragement, and then sat calmly in the chair, waiting for the game to begin.
The situation on Touou's side was completely the opposite. The coach of Touou seemed to have studied the Shohoku team carefully before this game. He was now instilling his own ideas into the players, hoping that the team would operate according to his ideas after they came on the court.
"Shohoku High School is a multi-core team, and their strongest scoring point is Mitsui Shou."
"They are best at fast breaks. When we play against them, we must not play according to their rhythm, but must slow it down."
"Their individual defensive abilities are all quite outstanding, but the point guard of Xiangbei is very short, which is a breakthrough point."
"Control every offensive opportunity, focus on his spot, and use pick-and-roll to create mismatches."
"Our players all have good shooting ability. By using the pass to create space, we can easily win this game."
The Touou coach was talking to his players, but the Touou players standing in front of him were looking far away towards the Shohoku rest area, and no one listened to him.
The coach seemed to have sensed the attitude of his players towards him. He frowned and was about to raise his voice when Nan Lie suddenly turned his head and looked at him with a ferocious look in his eyes.
"You mean... if we play fast break against Xiangbei, we will lose to them?!"
Nan Lie found it strange that he grasped the key points of the coach's words and asked directly.
Fengyu's coach was startled by Nan Lie's fierce look, and the words came to his lips but he didn't continue. Seeing that the coach didn't say anything, Nan Lie looked a little contemptuous, then turned his head and began to gather the players without looking at him.
"Shohoku High School is a team that likes to play fast breaks!"
"But we, Touou, are also a team that is good at fast breaks!"
"In terms of the application of bombardment tactics, we will never lose to them!"
"To defeat Xiangbei, we have to win by being fast. They are fast, but we have to be faster than them!"
Nan Lie directly took over the captain's job and began to cheer on the players, while also arranging the playing style of the game on his own initiative.
His ideas and Coach Feng Yu's arrangements cannot be said to be the same, they can only be said to be completely opposite! However, after the players received Nan Lie's arrangements, they cheered instead.
Seeing that he was being ignored, Feng Yu's coach opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He just snorted and sat down on the bench. He was in a very bad mood at the moment. He couldn't sit still on the bench at all. His right foot was shaking, and he didn't look like a coach at all.
His loss of composure also shows his mood at the moment.
"Assholes... these assholes!"
"You didn't even stop my plan! I'll be at a disadvantage later. Let's see what you're going to do!"
The coach of Fengyu thought secretly in his heart that he did not expect the team to lose because Nan Lie and the others kept following his arrangements. He just hoped that Fengyu would suffer a small loss so that Nan Lie and the others would realize their mistakes and adopt his playing arrangements.
As the referee blew the whistle, players from both teams began to gather in the center of the field.
After Nan Lie came on the court, he walked to Jinguji Budou without saying a word and took his position. The others also took their positions in the center circle. Standing in front of Mitsui Shou was No. 4 from Touoma High School, who was about the same height and build as Mitsui Shou.
The Touou player standing in front of Akagi was wearing a blue No. 7 jersey. He was a little shorter than Akagi, estimated to be around 191cm tall, and looked thinner than Akagi.
The player from Touou standing in front of Chiba is wearing the No. 8 jersey and is about 185cm tall, while the player from No. 10 standing in front of Miyagi is also over 180cm tall, much taller than Miyagi.
Overall, Shohoku's absolute height is taller than Touou's, but if we look at the average height, the two teams are not much different.
"Your name is Nan Lie, right?"
"I've heard of you. You're a pretty good three-point shooter."
Jinguji Wudao looked at Nan Lie, who was half a head shorter than him, and suddenly spoke.
"?"
Nan Lie glanced at Wu Dao in confusion and ignored him. Jinguji Wu Dao was embarrassed and smiled to cover up his embarrassment. He had originally wanted to get close to Nan Lie and get to know him well, so that some minor conflicts during the game could be eased.
However, Nan Lie obviously didn't know what Wudao was thinking. Faced with the unfamiliar Wudao, Nan Lie chose not to talk to him.
Jinguji Budo didn't get confused and started to focus after the referee blew the whistle.
“Beep!
”
Another sharp whistle sounded, and the referee threw the ball into the air. The next second, Akagi Takenori and Toyotama's center both jumped up and reached out to touch the basketball.
Akagi Takenori's height and explosiveness were much better than that of Touou's center. He was half a palm's length ahead of the opponent and got the basketball first.
The basketball flew out and was caught by Mitsui Shou who was not far away. Mitsui Shou quickly passed the ball to Miyagi and ran quickly to the front court.
"Quick attack!"
In fact, Miyagi Ryouta didn't need to remind them, as the Xiangbei players had already started running fast after the ball was kicked off. Miyagi, who received the ball, turned forward and instantly shook off the defender, running towards the front court with the ball.
However, Touou High School's reaction speed was also very fast. Just as Miyagi received the ball and crossed half the court, three Touou players had already returned to their own court, one inside and two outside, blocking the fast-moving Mitsui Hisashi and Jinguji Budou.
"What a fast speed in returning to defense!" Miyagi Ryouta was a little surprised at the speed of the opponent's return to defense. After realizing that there was no way to launch a fast break, he decisively slowed down the pace and waited for Akagi Takenori to enter the inside before passing the ball sideways to Mitsui Hisashi.
Jinguji Takeshi saw Mitsui Shou receiving the ball, and silently left the side of the arc, and landed directly outside the three-point line at the bottom. Nan Lie glanced at Mitsui Shou who was holding the ball, and then looked back at Takeshi who was the same height as the center. He did not choose to defend Takeshi, but opened a distance of about 2 meters from Takeshi, and sank to the baseline.
Facing Shohoku, Touou's defense chose a 23-man zone. Nan Lie, and Touou's No. 7 and No. 8 consolidated the inside defense, while outside, two players were responsible for guarding Mitsui Hisashi and Miyagi.
On the martial arts side, the long shots were selectively missed.
"Didn't these guys from Touou do any pre-match research?"
Mitsui Hisashi looked at the position of Touou High School and thought secretly in his heart that he had originally planned to do it himself, but when he saw that there was a wide open space on Budo's side, he chose to pass the ball to Budo.
When Wudao got the ball, Nan Lie still did not defend him. He actually stretched out his arms, guarding against Wudao's breakthrough, without any concern that Wudao might shoot a three-pointer.
"this... .."
"What the hell is this, Touou? Don't they know Jinguji Budo?"
"Didn't these guys watch Xiangbei's games before the game?!"
In the stands, the Ryonan people who were watching the game were speechless when they saw Touou's defensive style.
At this time on the court, Wu Dao who received the ball raised the ball and shot it, but Nan Lie in front of him saw Wu Dao's action and he didn't even move, and had no intention of defending at all.
“… … .”
"Am I... underestimated?"
Wudao was speechless when he saw Nan Lie's defensive posture. He really didn't want to participate in the offense, but if he didn't take a shot in such a wide-open position, he would really be sorry for Nan Lie's "politeness".
Without further testing, Jinguji Budo raised his hand again in a wide-open position. This time, it was no longer a fake move, but a direct jump shot from outside the three-point line.
Seeing Wu Dao shooting, Nan Lie seemed a little surprised, and turned his head to look at the basketball in the air. Under his gaze, the basketball drew a perfect arc in the air and fell directly into the net.
After scoring the goal, Wu Dao snapped his fingers to attract Nan Lie's attention, then stretched out two fingers, pointed at Nan Lie's eyes from a distance, then turned his head and began to defend.
"That guy... can actually shoot a three-pointer?!"
Nan Lie knew what Wu Dao's move meant. The opponent was telling him to defend well. Nan Lie was also a little surprised that Jinguji Wu Dao could shoot three-pointers.
As the Ryonan players expected, Touou High School's research on Shohoku was mediocre. They only watched the previous match between Shohoku and Chang Cheng. When they knew that Touou was facing Shohoku, which was rated as B, they didn't take the opponent seriously at all.
In the previous game, Wudao didn't play much, and they subconsciously thought that Wudao was just a tall blue-collar worker who grabbed rebounds and passed the ball.
3:0, less than ten seconds after the start of the game, Xiangbei High School took the first point.
After scoring the goal, Xiangbei retreated very quickly, and Touou was preparing to quickly launch a chase ball, but when they advanced to the frontcourt, Xiangbei had already completed their position, and the fast break opportunity was lost.
Seeing that there was no hope of catching up, Fengyu's point guard immediately passed the ball to Nan Lie, intending to let Nan Lie complete the attack.
Nan Lie, a sophomore, is 181cm tall and weighs 72kg. He is holding the ball and standing at a 45° angle outside the three-point line. In front of him is Jinguji Budou, who is 15cm taller than him. He slightly lowers his center of gravity, blocks Nan Lie's sight with his right hand, and raises his left hand to prevent the opponent from breaking through.
Nan Lie was obviously a little surprised that the person who came to defend him from Xiangbei was actually Jinguji Budou, one of the tallest two people in the Xiangbei team.
With his vision blocked by martial arts, he planned to use his speed to force a breakthrough.
In his opinion, with Wu Dao's height, his speed must not be as fast as his!
Without any time to think, Nan Lie received the ball and broke through to his right side. He was very fast and his body was slightly tilted, like a motorcycle turning.
"Bang!"
The next second, Nan Lie's side body hit Wu Dao's body with a dull sound. However, at this moment, the red basketball flew out of Nan Lie's hand and rolled towards the center line.
During the confrontation, Jinguji Budo not lose his position at all, but found the exact moment of the confrontation and made a direct shot to steal the ball. The whole action was clean and neat, as if Nan Lie's action had been anticipated by him.
"What?!" Nan Lie realized that his hands were empty and turned his head quickly. At this time, Jinguji Budo had already passed him and picked up the basketball and started to accelerate.
When it came to the steal at the three-point position, the only person defending on Touou's side was Nan Lie himself, and the rest of the Touou players simply couldn't keep up with Jinguji Budo's speed.
Wudao originally planned to slow down and wait for Mitsui Hisashi or Akagi to come up for assists, but after hearing the hurried footsteps behind him and turning his head to see Nan Lie with a stern face, he decisively gave up this idea and started to speed up.
Originally, Nan Lie was almost catching up with Wu Dao, but as Wu Dao accelerated, the gap between the two actually widened little by little.
Nan Lie, who was running empty-handed, couldn't catch up with Jinguji Budou who was advancing with the ball.
Wu Dao started to slow down only after he crossed the Touou three-point line with the ball, but by this time, Nan Lie had no chance of defending him.
Wu Dao slowed down and quickly caught the ball. After two steps, he flew into the air and slammed the ball into the goal with one hand.
Wu Dao's entire dunk action seemed very light. After landing, he squatted down to release the impact force. He touched the ground with his finger and turned around to start defending. He didn't even look at Nan Lie once during the whole process.
"ohhhh!"
"What a fast speed! What a cool dunk! Is Xiangbei's No. 15 going to show off his power?!"
"It's not even half a minute into the game and this guy has already scored 5 points and 1 steal!"
As Budo dunked the ball in, the stands immediately became lively. Jinguji Budo, who was rated AA by the media, attracted the attention of everyone in the audience in less than half a minute.
"Martial Arts, beautiful filling!"
After Wudao returned to the court, Mitsui Shou smiled and fist-bumped with Wudao to celebrate.
"You were too slow to follow up. I was going to pass the ball~" Wu Dao replied with a smile. Mitsui Shou also smiled and shook his head when he heard it, saying, "I won't compete with you for the limelight of stealing the ball."
Shohoku returned to defense, and at this time, the atmosphere in the entire Touou team became a little depressing.
They lost points too quickly. In the blink of an eye, Touou was already 5 points behind.
"Nan Lie, concentrate, that guy looks difficult to deal with!"
The captain of Touou hurried to the backcourt to serve the ball, and then gave instructions after passing it to Nan Lie. Nan Lie nodded, and silently pushed the ball into the frontcourt. When he once again approached the three-point line, the tall figure of Jinguji Budo appeared in front of him again.
"Nan Lie, you're welcome. Come on over here."
"There are only a few aces I like, and you are one of them."
"Do your best to please me!"
Jinguji Wudao stood in front of Nan Lie and hooked his finger at him.
Nan Lie, the top scorer in this Osaka County Tournament, and he will most likely be the top scorer in the next one. His offensive power is unquestionable, and facing such an opponent, Wu Dao also began to get excited.
"Arrogant!" Nan Lie growled in his heart, his brows raised, and his right hand quickly dropped the ball, breaking through to his right side again. The whole action was exactly the same as his previous breakthrough action.
At the same time, Jinguji Wudao who was opposite him opened his eyes slightly, and slid to block in front of Nan Lie. Just when the two bodies were about to collide, Nan Lie braked suddenly, pulled back with the ball in his right hand, and made a beautiful front-body change of direction, instantly changing the direction of the advance and directly passing Wudao.
"Beautiful! A breakthrough!" The captain of Touou's team's eyes lit up when he saw this scene and exclaimed in his heart.
"Too naive! It's impossible to surpass him with this level of breakthrough."
In the stands, Shinomiya Tano saw this scene, narrowed his eyes slightly, and made a judgment in his heart.
On the court, Takeshi Jinguji's next move was beyond everyone's expectations. Jinguji Takeshi, who had clearly been surpassed by Nan Lie, suddenly turned around, took a step, and appeared directly behind Nan Lie.
Before the other members of Touou could even give them a heads up, Wu Dao had already poked the basketball from behind Nan Lie.
"Snap!" A slight sound reached Nan Lie's ears. He looked down in surprise, only to see that the basketball had once again escaped from his control and rolled directly to the inside, where it was caught in the arms of the quick-eyed and quick-handed Akagi Takenori.
Two consecutive breakthroughs and two consecutive steals.
At this moment, Nan Lie's face was full of astonishment.
"Don't underestimate me! Toyotama!"
Wudao turned his head and said something indifferently, then ran slowly towards the frontcourt. Touou had already begun to retreat, and Shohoku had no plans to speed up. The basketball was given to Miyagi, who held the ball and pushed forward.
Nan Lie quickly recovered from his shock, took a deep look at Jinguji Budo, and then quickly retreated.
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