"Oh! Budo's ball just crossed half court, and Rukawa and Katsuragi Ichiro can't help themselves."
"The double team came just in time!"
After learning that Chiba Daishi had no injuries, Mitsui Hisashi turned his attention back to the court.
Mitsui Shou saw the double-teaming of Takeshi, and he was looking forward to it. He wanted to see how these two juniors would perform when facing a player like Jinguji Takeshi.
As Takeshi Jinguji dribbled the ball across the center line, Rukawa Kaede and Katsume Ichiro left Kogure Konobu and Kakuta Satoru open one after another, and quickly came to Takeshi's side. When Takeshi approached the three-point line, they blocked his way at the same time.
Seeing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who originally wanted to defend Wudao, turned his head to look at Kakuta Satoru near the inside line and chose to go inside instead of continuing to defend Wudao.
"You stinky fox, and that hermaphrodite, since you are so enthusiastic, go ahead. I will come back to clean up the mess after you are defeated by Brother Wudao!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi stood beside Kakuda Satoru and watched the matchup on the outside, waiting to see the joke of Rukawa Kaede and Katsume Ichiro.
Both Rukawa and Katsumi Ichiro had a solid foundation, and their center of gravity was very low when defending, ready to start and follow up at any time. Seeing this, Wudao looked past the two and fell on Mugure Konobu who was in an open position not far away, and casually lobbed the ball over the heads of the two.
Jinguji Budo was much taller than Rukawa and Ichiro Kusanagi, so he seemed to be able to throw the ball easily. In the surprised eyes of Rukawa and Ichiro Kusanagi, the basketball flew over their heads and landed in the hands of Mugure Konobu.
Murasakibara received the ball without any hesitation. He adjusted his posture slightly and shot directly along the three-point line.
Open three-pointers, Kogure Mitsunobu has been practicing three-pointers every day after training for the past few months, and his three-point shooting rate has improved significantly. If the game is fierce, Kogure Mitsunobu's three-pointers may not be able to play much role, but with the current game intensity, his three-pointers are already a big threat.
"Swish!" With a slight sound, the basketball went into the net, and three points were added to the scoreboard of Xiangbei as the players on the sidelines flipped it.
"Good shot, Kogure!" Jinguji Takeshi walked up to Kogure to celebrate with a fist bump, and encouraged him with a smile. Kogure Konobu was also very happy that he successfully made a three-pointer, and nodded heavily. Kogure Konobu thought that Jinguji Takeshi got the ball in the backcourt for his own singles, but he didn't expect that Takeshi would actually pass the ball to him.
Kogure Mitsunobu also greatly appreciated the trust that Wudao showed him.
"Senior, are you scared?"
Just as Wu Dao was about to return to defense with his teammates, a voice came from behind Wu Dao. Wu Dao couldn't help but stop and look back, and found that Rukawa Kaede was standing not far behind him, looking at him with a cold expression, looking a little unhappy.
"Kume, I'll just deal with Senpai on my own later."
Without waiting for Budou to reply, Rukawa spoke to Katsumi Ichiro beside him. He thought Budou chose to pass the ball because he was afraid to fight them head-on. If that was the case, then he would come alone. In this way, Jinguji Budou would not be afraid to escape!
"... .." Jinguji Budo glanced at Rukawa Kaede, smiled without saying anything, turned around and followed his teammates in returning to defense.
With the coming on of Jinguji Budou, Shohoku High School made some adjustments to its defensive formation.
It was originally a man-to-man defense, but after Wu Dao came on the court, it was changed to a 23-zone defense.
The inside was guarded by Jinguji Takenori and Akagi Takenori, while Kakuda Satoru, Miyagi Ryouta and Kogure Konobu expanded the defense line to the three-point area.
At the same time, Wudao also revealed some information about the junior high school students to his teammates.
"Miyagi, the guy you're defending doesn't have a basket, just pay attention to his breakthrough."
"Tsunoda, you go defend Rukawa Kaede and make sure he doesn't shoot. If the opponent breaks through, just let him in."
"Akagi, the bleached boy you're targeting isn't as strong as you, but he has pretty good jumping ability. Grab the rebound and block his position. Don't be fooled by the defense, don't jump, just interfere."
"Kumure, pay attention to Ichiro Katsumi's three-point shot, just let it go."
Budou stood inside and directed the defensive deployment of the players before the junior high school students entered the front court. The Xiangbei teammates present knew that Jinguji Budou went to the junior high school to recruit students with Coach Anzai and Mitsui Hisashi.
It was not surprising for Wudao to know the situation of the junior high school students. After receiving Wudao's instructions, the Xiangbei players also had their own defensive ideas, and were waiting for the junior high school students to enter the frontcourt with full information.
As for the junior high school students, after the disruption caused by Kiyota Nobunaga and Sakuragi Hanamichi the previous two times, Nango Koichiro and Katsume Ichiro had also become wary. This time when serving the ball, Katsume Ichiro deliberately moved closer to the baseline and almost passed the ball to the other player to get the basketball.
Sakuragi and Kiyota, who were watching closely from the sidelines, saw that they had no chance and snorted at the same time before running towards the front court.
"A three-pointer... In that case, I'll just take it back!"
Ichiro Katsume pushed forward with the ball. While running, he glanced at the scoreboard on the sidelines, thinking about the three-pointer that Kogure Mitsunobu had just made. He already had a plan for this round of offense in his mind.
Katsumi Ichiro's advancement speed was not fast, and by the time he came to the front court, his teammates had already completed their positions. Unlike Sakuragi Hanamichi who was isolated and helpless with the ball before, as Katsumi Ichiro approached the three-point line, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Kiyota Nobunaga, one on the left and one on the right, were several meters apart, waving at Katsumi Ichiro for the ball.
Rukawa was in the mid-range position, with his back against Kakuta Satoru, stretching out his arms to ask for the ball. Even Nango Koichiro in the inside slipped out of the basket at this moment and asked for the ball near the baseline.
Katsume Ichiro saw these teammates asking for the ball, but he just took a quick glance and then focused his attention on Kogure Konobu in front of him. His high-center-of-gravity dribbling method was also quickly changed, and his center of gravity was lowered.
"He's almost as tall as me, he can't stop me!"
Katsume Ichiro thought to himself as he dribbled the ball between his legs and observed the defensive direction of Mugure Konobu.
Suddenly, Ichiro Katsumi straightened his back and took a three-pointer. At the moment he took the ball, Kogure Mitsunobu, who had been prepared, quickly flew over. Although he was unable to block the shot due to his height and jumping ability, his sudden block still had some impact on Ichiro Katsumi.
The power of the shot inevitably deviated, and the basketball flew across half the court, hitting the front edge of the basket as it fell and burst outward. Nango Koichiro, who was outside the paint area at the baseline, obviously did not expect that Katsumi Ichiro would shoot so suddenly. Just as he was about to rush into the paint to grab the rebound, he was directly blocked by Akagi Takenori.
The flying basketball was directly caught by Jinguji Budou.
"Quick attack!"
Jinguji Budou grabbed the board with one hand, and before the ball landed, he shouted and threw the ball to the front court. Without Budou's reminder, the moment Katsumi Ichiro missed the shot, Miyagi had already rushed to the front court. The moment Budou passed the ball, Miyagi Ryouta had already crossed the center line, and then caught the basketball thrown by Budou in the front court.
Shohoku's defensive counterattack was very fast, and the junior high school students were completely unprepared. After receiving the ball, Miyagi Ryouta went straight to an empty basket and scored easily.
As the scores on the scoreboard were flipped, the gap between the two teams began to widen.
"Damn it! Stop throwing the ball blindly, you bastard!"
"It's all because you didn't pass the ball."
"The opponent scored again!"
When Sakuragi Hanamichi saw his opponent score, he threw all the blame onto Ichiro Katsumi. The game hadn't started for long, and the score difference wasn't so big that it couldn't be caught up, but at this point, Sakuragi Hanamichi had already started to blame others.
"Tsk, it's not your turn as a guy who can't even make an aerial shot to criticize me!" Ichiro Katsume rolled his eyes at Hanamichi Sakuragi, looked deeply at Kogure Konobu, and quickly trotted back to the court, along with Rukawa Kaede.
"Damn it! This hermaphrodite!"
"It's impossible to expect this guy to pass the ball to me. I have to find a way to get the basketball myself!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Ichiro Katsume's departing back, gritted his teeth, then turned his head to look at Takenori Jinguji and Takenori Akagi in the inside, made up his mind, and walked directly towards the inside.
"Rebound! As long as I can get the rebound, I can get a second chance!"
"Although Brother Budo and the gorilla are both inside, this is the only way I can get the ball!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi remained silent, walked towards Jinguji Takeshi step by step, then stood beside Takeshi, bent down, supported his hands on his knees, waiting for his teammate to bring the ball into the frontcourt.
"Hanamichi, it looks like you want to compete with me!"
"You better try your best and don't let me down!"
Wudao looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was standing in front of him and said with a smile. Then he moved his feet and walked in front of Sakuragi Hanamichi, and in turn trapped Sakuragi behind him.
Facing Takeshi Jinguji, Sakuragi was not to be outdone. He tensed all his muscles and held on to Takeshi Jinguji tightly so that he would not lose his position. Sakuragi exerted all his strength, looking like he was trying hard to gain position. On the other hand, Takeshi Jinguji just leaned back and used his weight to gain position. He looked indifferent, as if it was not effort at all.
Hanamichi was also a straightforward person and didn't know how to move the stool. He just pushed against Wudao and waited for the opportunity to grab the rebound.
Rukawa served the ball from the baseline, and the basketball was still given to Katsume Ichiro. Katsume Ichiro dribbled the ball into the frontcourt and suffered a loss once at the hands of Kogure Konobu. This time, Katsume Ichiro, who had the ball, was obviously much more cautious.
After approaching Kogure Konobu's defense, he kept passing the ball left and right in front of him, changing his position to look for a chance to break through. Although the young Ichiro Katsumi was two grades lower than Kogure, he was not as good as Ichiro Katsumi in terms of ball skills. As Ichiro Katsumi swayed, Kogure Konobu's defense was still exposed.
After a tentative physical confrontation by Katsume Ichiro, Kogure Konobu stumbled, giving Katsume Ichiro an opportunity to break through. He quickly stopped and changed direction in front of his body to quickly pass Kogure Konobu's defense.
Then, Ichiro Katsume dribbled across the three-point line and took an open long shot.
This time, there were no more accidents and the basketball went directly into the net, narrowing the gap between the two teams.
"Nice breakthrough moves, and a pretty good shooting form. In terms of technique alone, he's already at the level of a high school student."
“With this skill, you can enter high school and secure a starting spot in an average county top 4 team, and even gain ace status.”
The quality of Katsume Ichiro's goal was very high. Mitsui nodded and gave his evaluation.
"Never mind, just attack."
Wudao clapped his hands, attracted Muguro Konobu's attention, and then said to Muguro. With Wudao's encouragement, Muguro also adjusted his mentality and quickly ran to the front court.
The one in charge of holding the ball on the Xiangbei side was Miyagi Ryouta, and Budou quickly ran across the center line and landed near the three-point line.
On defense, Budo is an inside player, but on offense, he is an outside player. Shohoku's inside players on offense are only Kakuta Satoru and Akagi Takenori.
As Miyagi Ryouta entered the front court with the ball, Rukawa quickly ran to Budo's front to be on guard. This time, Katsumi Ichiro did not join Rukawa, but guarded Mugure Konobu.
Miyagi Ryouta glanced towards Wudao and gave him a look.
Seeing this, Takeshi understood and quickly ran towards Miyagi. As the two of them crossed, the basketball passed from Miyagi Ryouta's hand to Takeshi's. Kiyota Nobunaga, who was defending Miyagi, didn't realize that the basketball had been passed to him by Miyagi, and chased after Miyagi.
Wudao, who had just received the ball, used Miyagi Ryouta's body to block the basketball in his hand, and it entered Rukawa's blind spot.
Rukawa could only judge the direction of Wudao's ball by the swing of Wudao's arm. Wudao was also very clear about this. After a fake, he quickly dropped the ball and accelerated to break through. In an instant, he passed Rukawa and broke into the inside.
Seeing Jinguji Takenori's breakthrough, Rukawa Kaede hurriedly chased after him, and Sakuragi Hanamichi in the interior also quickly took action, not daring to neglect, and quickly blocked Takenori's way. Even Nango Koichiro, who was defending Akagi Takenori, relaxed his vigilance against Akagi at this time and cast his eyes on the breakthrough Takenori.
There was Sakuragi Hanamichi blocking him in front, Rukawa Kaede chasing him from behind, and Koichiro Nango watching him closely from the side.
Although Budo broke through Rukawa's defense line, the pressure he faced did not decrease, but increased exponentially.
Under such pressure, Takeshi Jinguji continued to advance at an unslow pace, and soon arrived in front of Sakuragi Hanamichi. Facing Sakuragi Hanamichi's defense, Takeshi suddenly paused, straightened his back, and looked towards the basket. It was just a simple Buddha-worshiping gesture that deceived the innocent Sakuragi Hanamichi.
As Sakuragi Hanamichi stood up, Jinguji Takeshi successfully crossed Sakuragi's defense line and entered the basket.
Jinguji Budo approached the basket, then jumped up with the ball.
"Don't even think about it!" However, as Wudao jumped, Rukawa Kaede actually jumped out from Wudao's side, raised his right arm high, and slapped the basketball hard.
Seeing that Rukawa's hand was about to touch the basketball, Jinguji Takeshi, who was holding the basketball high and preparing to slam dunk, suddenly retracted his arm in the air and put the ball into his arms, instantly avoiding Rukawa's block. At the same time, Takeshi's body made a strange half turn in the air and dunked the ball directly into the basket with his backhand.
Pull-on back buckle.
Takeshi Jinguji grabbed the basket with one hand, his body swaying slightly, and looked down at Rukawa Kaede who had fallen back to the ground with a look of surprise on his face.
"This is... a national-level ace!"
“So strong!
”
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