When coach Domoto of Sanno Industrial realized that his ace was inferior to Shinomiya Tano, the game was not long before it started.
As time went on and the game progressed, the outcome of the duel between the two teams’ aces became obvious.
Nine minutes into the first half, Ryonan High School led Sanno Industrial by 6 points, 27:21. Both teams had very good scoring efficiency at the beginning of the game.
Ryonan High School's Shinomiya Tano completely dominated Ryonan's offense. Before the first half was even halfway through, his personal score had already reached a terrifying 15 points, and he also had 3 blocks and 3 rebounds.
On the other hand, Sawakita Eiji, who is the team's offensive support, scored 7 points under Sendō's defense. From the perspective of Sawakita Eiji's personal score, he was able to get this data against an opponent like Sendō, which shows that his ability is not bad, but if compared with Ryonan High School's Shinomiya Tano, this scoring efficiency seems a bit lacking.
The attacking style of Ryonan in the first half was very monotonous. They opened up and passed the ball to Shinomiya Tano, who held the ball and played one-on-one. Moreover, Sanno Industrial was inexplicably stubborn. Facing the tactics of Ryonan High School, they did not arrange any players to cooperate with Zebei Rongzhi to double-team Shinomiya Tano.
Instead, Zebei Rongzhi was left alone to face the attack of Shigong Tianye, and the other players of Sanwang could only stay under the basket to grab rebounds, or try to make up for the defense after Shigong Tianye broke through. However, Shigong Tianye's impact was not enough to make up for the defense.
Once Shinomiya Tano broke through Zebei Rongzhi and started to speed up, no one on Sannoh's side could suppress Shinomiya Tano's attack in the air battle. Whether it was Sannoh's power forward Harada Hiroki or center Kawata Masashi, both of them served as background boards in Shinomiya Tano's attack.
As for Zekita Eiji, who had been trying to stop Shinomiya Tano from breaking through, he had already turned into a road, so it was effortless for Shinomiya Tano to pass him.
Zebei Rongji is indeed an experienced and talented young player, but faced with the absolute physical gap, Zebei Rongji's talent and experience are of no use.
On the court, Ryonan High School's offensive rounds.
Shinomiya Tano was dribbling the ball outside the three-point line. His eyes did not stay on Zebei Rongji in front of him for even a second. Instead, he passed Zebei and observed the positions of Kawata Masashi and Harada Hiroki.
For Shinomiya Tano, Zekita Eiji was just an ordinary player in front of him who could break through at any time. What he should pay attention to was the two players of Sannoh who came to defend after he broke through Zekita Eiji.
The defending player, Zebei Rongji, obviously knew that his physical fitness was far inferior to that of Shinomiya Tano, so without waiting for Shinomiya Tano to break through the rhythm, he hurried forward and made a steal.
He couldn't just stay there and wait for Sigong Tianye to break through. After so many rounds of confrontation, Zebei realized that he needed to be more active and proactive in defense against such a player. He used active steals to disrupt Sigong Tianye's dribbling rhythm. Only in this way could the opponent make mistakes, and he, Zebei, could defend against it.
Otherwise, what awaits him is being passed!
However, Shinomiya Tano's basic dribbling skills are also quite solid. When Zebei Rongji tried to steal the ball, Shinomiya Tano dribbled the ball with his back and easily avoided Zebei's outstretched hand. At the same time, Shinomiya Tano lowered his body, controlled the basketball with his left hand, and used his right hand as a ball protector to directly press against Zebei Rongji's body, quickly accelerating to break through.
When Shigong Tianye's body was close to Zebei Rongzhi, Zebei Rongzhi felt like he was hit by a tank, and the huge force directly knocked him back. Shigong Tianye, who had no obstacles in front of him, easily broke through to the middle distance. When he completed the breakthrough, Kawata Masashi and Harada Hiroki also reacted quickly.
This time, the two men had already prepared to provide backup defense. The moment Shigong Tianye completed the breakthrough, they immediately gave up the people they were defending and ran towards Shigong Tianye.
"After fighting for so long, I finally got both of you out at once!"
Facing the assisting defense of Masashi Kawata and Hiroki Harada, Shinomiya Tano not only did not show any fear, but instead showed a smile on his face. He adjusted his pace slightly, and when he was about two meters away from the basket, he grabbed the ball with one arm, raised it high, and jumped directly with the ball.
Masashi Kawata and Hiroki Harada both raised their arms high, and all the shooting routes in front of Shinomiya Tano were blocked by these two people. Shinomiya Tano, who jumped high, had no intention of rushing to the basket this time. He instantly put the raised basketball into his arms and then passed the ball from the side!
"What?! This guy passed the ball?!" Masashi Kawata's eyes followed the basketball as it flew out. There, Hanagata Toru was staring at the flying basketball, his knees bent, his hands placed in front of his chest, as if he was ready to catch the ball and shoot.
The next second, the basketball fell into Huaxing's hands. Huaxing, who was in an open position, made a jump shot without any hesitation.
Shooting near the basket poses no pressure for Hua Xing, and the basketball goes directly into the net.
As the basketball went into the basket, the Ryonan bench cheered for Shinomiya and Hanagata. Shinomiya and Hanagata, who played a beautiful match, high-fived to celebrate and then quickly returned to the court.
"Shigong Tianye didn't force the ball himself, but instead made a wonderful pass."
"This guy's serving style is very different from before. He can already share the ball during offense."
"I didn't choose to pass the ball before, probably because I felt that Sanwang didn't pay enough attention to me, so I used my own points to attract enough defense."
"When the defense is mobilized, he can pass the ball without any worries."
"Hua Xing is a stable mid-range shooter. If there is no one to defend him, his shooting is definitely the most lethal weapon."
Mitsui Shou finished watching this round of Ryonan High School's attack and analyzed it with a serious look. Wudao beside him nodded and continued:
"Well, the breakaway is a very efficient offensive method no matter what level of competition it is."
"Ryonan High School allowed Shinomiya Tano to play solo, but Hanagata and Uozumi were in the mid-range and at the basket respectively. Sendoh was in the corner and Fujima was on the side at the top of the arc. Although the four of them were roughly on the same side, each person's position was very particular."
"No matter who on Sannoh's side goes to defend the breakthrough Shimono, the Ryonan player in the open position will be a good passing point."
"Ryonan is scary in this regard. The five people they have on the court, everyone can convert open space into points wherever they are."
"This is something that the former Ryonan didn't have, and it's also something that we at Shohoku don't have."
"The core of Ryonan's offensive system is Shinomiya Tano. Everything is based on his ability to break through alone. If he can't break through alone easily, the subsequent changes will not work."
"But Shinomiya Tano is the most outstanding and stable point of Ryonan High School. No one on Sannoh's side can defend Shinomiya Tano alone!"
Jinguji Budou said this while frowning and deducing how they could suppress Ryonan's attack if they met Shohoku. What Shohoku was better than Ryonan was the confrontation with Shinomiya Tano. In the same single defense, Budou could do much better than Zebei Rongzhi.
But I'm afraid the result will not be much different. Facing Shohoku, Shinomiya Tano can completely divert Budo's attention and then pass the ball to Hanagata or Fujima. In these two positions, Ryonan has an absolute advantage. With Miyagi Ryouta's ability, it is quite difficult to defend Fujima alone.
And when Chiba Daishi faces Hanagata, he will probably be hit and exploded.
"It's not optimistic. Even such a strong Sanno Industrial was suppressed by Ryonan. If we meet Shohoku, we will be in danger. At that time, I'm afraid we can only rely on Mitsui and I to grab points."
"Even if we have a points-grabbing battle with Ryonan, the chances of winning are slim."
Wudao sighed softly and suddenly thought of the two guys, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede. If the two of them were in Shohoku, Shohoku would be able to confront Ryonan head-on. Rukawa Kaede could increase the firepower so that Wudao and Mitsui Hisashi would not be over-consumed on the offensive end, and Sakuragi Hanamichi could strengthen the defense.
At least in the fight for rebounds, Xiangbei can improve to a higher level.
Only at that time will Xiangbei have the capital to confront teams like Ryonan and Sannoh head-on.
As for now, we can only place our hopes on the path of death charge.
Just when Jinguji Budo felt that Ryonan was in trouble, some small accidents occurred on the court.
When Sannoh was attacking, Zebei Rongji, who was holding the ball, showed some impatience when facing Sendoh. His movements were a bit big when breaking through, and Sendoh seized the opportunity and fell to the ground, perfectly creating an offensive foul for Zebei Rongji.
"How can this be a foul?! You didn't call a foul on that guy's big move, so why is this a foul on me?!"
After being beaten by Shinomiya Tano for nearly ten minutes, Zebei Rongji was obviously very angry. Young people always have a hot temper. Faced with the referee's decision, he blamed and questioned unwillingly.
"Huh?!" The referee did not give any explanation in response to Zebei's questioning. Instead, he raised his brows, looked at Zebei Rongji with a sharp expression, and uttered a dissatisfied sound.
"How could I..." Before Zebei Rongzhi could finish his words, Fukatsu Kazunari, who was not far away, quickly came to Zebei Rongzhi's side, quickly covered Zebei's mouth, and apologized to the referee.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this kid is not very smart."
"I'm sorry to trouble you!"
As Kazunari Fukatsu said nice things, Goro Domoto in the sidelines also reacted quickly and called a timeout. As the whistle of the timeout sounded, Zebei Rongzhi was forcibly controlled by Kazunari Fukatsu and dragged to the rest area. When they arrived at the rest area, Fukatsu released his hands that were holding Zebei.
"Fukatsu-senpai! Why did you stop me?! That referee actually called a foul on me?! Open his eyes and see what Shinomiya Tano looked like when he broke through? Why didn't he call the foul on Shinomiya Tano, but on me?!"
"That bastard, he can't even..."
Zebei was chattering about the referee's penalty standards. Domoto Goro, who had been watching coldly, finally couldn't hold back and snorted.
"snort!"
"Shut up!"
"You said that in front of the referee, you've been sent off the field right now!"
"I don't have time to show you the replay of your breakthrough right now. I really want you to see how distorted your breakthrough has become!"
"What? It's your first time facing an opponent like Shinomiya Tano, and you're already not used to it?!"
"Let me tell you, players like him are rare in this country, but in the United States, there are many players like him!"
"Zebei, if you can't adapt to the intensity of Sigong Tianye's offense, I advise you to give up the idea of going to the United States and stay in Neon to play basketball."
"Because even if you go, you definitely won't be able to play!"
Goro Domoto changed his previous kind and gentle appearance and gave Sawakita Eiji a stern lecture.
“Coach....” Zebei was also frightened by Domoto Goro’s stern attitude. He murmured and dared not say anything else.
"Ryonan High School is a very strong team. I think you have all seen this."
"To be frank, they will be the most formidable challengers that our Sanwang has encountered in all these years."
"But I still believe that you won't lose to them!"
"Now, we need to change our defensive tactics. According to the information I have, there is only one person on this team of Ryonan who has good three-point shooting ability."
"In the next game, we need to shrink the defense inside. The main purpose is to limit the space that Shigong Tianye can play after the breakthrough."
"Harada and Kawada, the two of you guard the bottom corners on both sides of the paint area."
"Zebei and Murakatsu, the two of you are at both ends of the free throw line. Don't let the defense be pulled by Ryonan's people to shoot three-pointers. If Ryonan tries to shoot a three-pointer, don't worry about it."
"If Shigong Tianye breaks through, you must immediately surround him and prevent him from having the chance to pass or shoot."
"As for Fukatsu, you will defend Ryonan's Fujima alone and pay attention to the opponent's three-point shots."
While Goro Domoto was speaking, he demonstrated the positions of the players on the tactical board to the Sanno players and deduced some tactical changes. One-on-four, an old-fashioned tactic, but it was the best defensive option that Sanno Industrial could make today.
Ryonan is different from Shohoku. Their offensive tactics have not jumped out of this era. Defensive tactics such as one-on-four still have some effect on Ryonan.
"Zebei, this game is a test for you."
"To test whether you have the ability to withstand adversity!"
"You are very strong, so strong that even college students may not be your opponents, but you also need to recognize one thing."
"You are strong, but not the strongest. There are people who are stronger than you, and there are definitely more than one person."
"You need to calm down and let go of all the honors and praise you received. Now, you need to face this game and Shigong Tianye with the attitude of a challenger."
"Your life has been smooth, but today is the time for you to transform, Zebei, if you can understand what I mean, your future ceiling will be greatly improved!"
After arranging the defensive tactics, Goro Domoto talked a lot with Zebei Rongzhi alone. Although he was reluctant to admit it, Goro Domoto knew that Shinomiya Tano would be the one standing at the top of high school basketball. He originally thought that Zebei would have to go to the United States to taste the taste of defeat for the first time, but he did not expect that Zebei's setback came so suddenly and so violently.
Facing someone like Shigong Tianye, Zebei is probably no longer a small defeat. He said so much just hoping that Zebei can withstand this blow.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .