"This is... a national-level ace!"
“So strong!
”
Jinguji Budou's dunk plunged the Xiangbei Arena into silence. Rukawa raised his head and looked at Jinguji Budou in surprise, and cried out in his heart.
"Amazing! He was able to perform a pull-up dunk like this in actual combat."
"Do I... really have a chance of beating him?"
As Jinguji Budo landed, Kiyota Nobunaga, who witnessed Budo's dunk from a distance, couldn't help but doubt his own ability. After seeing Jinguji Budo's strength, he felt ashamed of himself for challenging him so easily before.
He is a confident person, but he also has some self-awareness. He knows clearly that he cannot do what Jinguji Budo can do now. Not only now, but also in the future, he may not be able to do it.
After a long time, the Xiangbei players who were watching the game got rid of their shock and cheered. The Xiangbei players on the court were also full of confidence when they saw Wu Dao Dan Ding returning to defense.
"It's really pitiful. These middle school students are obviously full of talent."
"But today they have to endure such a blow. I hope they can hold on."
After returning to defense, Miyagi Ryouta blew a whistle and said with some emotion. The game had just started, and he was already worried about whether these future juniors could withstand such a blow.
The players of Xiangbei have taken their positions, but the junior high school students have not yet served the ball. Nango Koichiro no longer has much interest in playing the game.
"How... do we win?"
Nango Koichiro wanted to give up, so he didn't serve the ball at the baseline. Instead, he ran toward the front court symbolically, giving the impression that he was ready to attack. However, his steps were loose, his expression was dull, and even his running posture conveyed a sense of powerlessness. None of his movements were decent. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this guy seemed to have been hit too hard and had lost his will to fight.
The conditions of Kiyota Nobunaga and Katsume Ichiro are not much different from that of Nango Koichiro. This is not their first day playing. Just by looking at Jinguji Budo's round of attack, they realized the gap between themselves and the opponent. Facing such an opponent, they all lost the courage to challenge.
If your opponent is weaker than you, you can enjoy the pleasure of bullying him; if your opponent is not much different in level from you, you can enjoy the thrill of fighting; if your opponent is only slightly stronger than you, you can satisfy your desire to conquer him.
But if your opponent is a mountain that seems to have no end in sight, most people will lose the courage to climb.
It is true that Kiyota Nobunaga and his teammates are young players with outstanding talents, but at the same time, they are just junior high school students.
"Hey! Pass the ball! Pass the ball to this genius!"
Just when the junior high school students lost their will to fight, a clear and urgent voice reached everyone's ears. Ichiro Katsumi, who was looking down at the ground, heard the shout and looked up in the direction of the voice. He found Sakuragi Hanamichi standing near the baseline and shouting to his teammates.
Everyone was intimidated by Jinguji Budo's slam dunk, but there were some people who were fearless.
"Oh!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi's voice attracted everyone's attention. At this moment when all the junior high school students were silent, Sakuragi Hanamichi's voice seemed so harsh.
Ichiro Kusami was also angered by Sakuragi Hanamichi's condition.
Obviously... Obviously he is a rookie. Why, at this time, not only is he not desperate, but he also has the mind to attack
Many people may not be able to understand Katsume Ichiro's psychology, but the fact is that facing Sakuragi Hanamichi who tried to reorganize the attack, Katsume Ichiro not only did not feel encouraged, but felt insulted by the opponent.
Without waiting for Katsume Ichiro to say anything, Rukawa Kaede silently picked up the basketball, walked to the baseline, held the ball, and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi.
The moment their eyes met, they both felt each other's emotions. Sakuragi Hanamichi read the strong fighting spirit in Rukawa's eyes. At this moment, Rukawa had quickly adjusted his state and was ready to climb the mountain that was so high that the top could not be seen.
Rukawa Kaede got the desire and passion from Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes. Not long ago, Sakuragi Hanamichi completed his first dunk on the court. The feeling of dunking made his pores relax and he fell in love with this feeling.
Sakuragi Hanamichi doesn't care whether his opponent is strong or not, or whether he can beat him or not. What he wants is to experience that feeling once.
The basketball was passed from Rukawa Kaede's hand to Sakuragi Hanamichi's hand. Sakuragi Hanamichi ignored his teammates and ran to the front court with the ball.
Xiangbei still played zone defense. When Sakuragi was holding the ball, Xiangbei took their positions early, waiting for the opponent to enter the court. However, only Rukawa Kaede quickly caught up with Sakuragi Hanamichi's pace. Nango Koichiro, who ran first, was overtaken by Sakuragi and Rukawa Kaede.
And Kiyota Nobunaga and Katsume Ichiro only ran to the front court symbolically.
Xiangbei's double team defense, Kadota Satoru stood in front of Sakuragi Hanamichi, with his arms raised to guard against Sakuragi's breakthrough. Sakuragi Hanamichi was not afraid of Kadota Satoru at all, he directly rushed forward with the ball, and his body was directly pressed against Kadota's body. However, Sakuragi, a junior high school student, seemed to have turned into a bulldozer at this moment, and he rushed across the three-point line despite Kadota Satoru's defense.
As Sakuragi charged forward, Kakuta Satoru, who was moving sideways with a crab step, finally couldn't keep up with Sakuragi's movements and was completely out of position.
Watching Sakuragi Hanamichi complete the breakthrough, Jinguji Takeshi, who was closer, smiled and looked up at Sakuragi Hanamichi, with no intention of going to provide backup defense.
At this moment, Jinguji Budo let go.
Akagi Takenori, who was a little further away, noticed that Takeshi did not go up to defend, so he rushed towards Sakuragi Hanamichi without thinking. However, when he got in front of Sakuragi, Sakuragi Hanamichi had already jumped with the ball, holding the basketball high in both hands and wanted to dunk.
"Boy, don't underestimate me!"
Akagi Takenori saw through Sakuragi Hanamichi's dunk intention at a glance, and was enraged by Sakuragi's arrogant offensive style. He shouted and jumped to block the shot. Although his defensive speed was a little slower, and his jumping ability was indeed not as good as Sakuragi Hanamichi's, his hands still firmly slammed the lower half of the basketball.
The bodies of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Akagi Takenori collided in the air, and the impact of Sakuragi's dunk was greatly alleviated.
"bang!"
The basketball was dunked on the basket by Sakuragi Hanamichi and bounced out directly. After Sakuragi Hanamichi fell back to the ground, he first looked in the direction where the basketball flew, and then quickly chased after the basketball.
But before he could get there, the basketball was grabbed by Ryouta Miyagi who rushed over. Miyagi grinned at Sakuragi and threw the ball to the front court, where Jinguji Budo was already in the lead and close to the center line.
"Good pass, Miyagi." Takeshi Jinguji shouted after receiving the ball and quickly ran towards the frontcourt with the ball. The junior high school students were unable to defend in time and watched Takeshi dunk with one hand in the frontcourt and score the ball into the basket.
After the dunk, Jinguji Budou started to defend, and at this time, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede were running towards their own backcourt one after the other. Looking at Sakuragi and Rukawa Kaede running back in a hurry, Budou suddenly stopped and said with a smile:
"You two are full of energy, aren't you? Good, keep it up."
Sakuragi didn't stop when he heard the praise. He went to the baseline quickly without looking back. Rukawa just glanced at Budo and went to the baseline.
Seeing that the two ignored him, Wu Dao smiled and quickly returned to his own half.
Sakuragi Hanamichi served the ball from the backcourt and the basketball was given to Rukawa Kaede.
The other three junior high school students had not recovered and looked absent-minded. When they saw Rukawa Kaede dribbling the ball into the frontcourt, they just stood by and watched, not wanting to help. Sakuragi Hanamichi could not do pick-and-roll or screen, so he had already sunk into the paint to grab rebounds.
As Nango Koichiro was slacking off, Akagi Takenori focused his attention on Sakuragi and ignored Nango. Jinguji Budou stood on the other side of the paint area, looking at Rukawa Kaede on the outside, waiting for the opponent to launch an attack.
As Rukawa approached the three-point line, Kadota Satoru quickly defended him, but before Kadota could get close, Rukawa had already broken through, lowered his body, and passed directly through Kadota's defense. In front of Rukawa, Kadota Satoru, a high school student, couldn't even put up a decent defense and was directly passed by Rukawa.
Seeing Rukawa's breakthrough, Wudao took two steps slowly to the free throw line. Rukawa obviously noticed Wudao's action, and after crossing the three-point line and advancing more than one meter, he directly pulled up and shot from a distance.
Rukawa's shooting timing was quite good, and the entire breakthrough, stop and pull-up action was also quite smooth, and the basketball went directly into the net. After successfully scoring the goal, Rukawa clenched his fists, turned around calmly, and began to return to defense.
Sakuragi Hanamichi was a little surprised to see Rukawa Kaede score the ball so easily. At the same time, he was a little disappointed that he didn't have the chance to grab the rebound. He pouted and started to return to defense.
After Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede left, Kiyota Nobunaga, Katsumi Ichiro, and Nango Koichiro looked at the backs of their two teammates leaving in a trance. They couldn't understand why Rukawa Kaede and Sakuragi were still working hard, when... the gap was so obvious and so big!
Before the three of them could figure it out, Xiangbei launched a fast break. Akagi served the ball from the backcourt, and the basketball was quickly passed to Jinguji Budou in the front line by Miyagi's hand. The junior high school students were unable to return to defense in time, and at this time, there were only Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede in the frontcourt.
For Jinguji Budo, in a one-on-two situation, he has an absolute advantage!
Takeshi Jinguji got the ball in the frontcourt and quickly dribbled towards the three-point line. Sakuragi Hanamichi was originally trying to defend in the interior when he heard hurried footsteps behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Takeshi Jinguji rushing forward with the ball.
Rukawa's reaction speed was a little faster than Sakuragi's. As soon as Wudao crossed the center line, he quickly ran up and tried to slow down Wudao's speed.
Facing Rukawa's defense, Jinguji Takeshi did not slow down at all. His body inadvertently stuck to Rukawa while moving. The huge force pushed Rukawa back. While Rukawa's footing was unstable, Takeshi quickly dribbled the ball and changed his stance, instantly passing Rukawa and reaching the three-point line.
Just when everyone thought that the path of martial arts was unobstructed.
Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly jumped out from the side of Jinguji Budou and reached out to hit the basketball. Sakuragi's appearance was so sudden that the Xiangbei players watching the game all exclaimed and belatedly reminded Jinguji Budou.
"side!"
"careful."
If he had to wait until the spectators reminded Jinguji Budou that someone had stolen the ball, it would be too late. Jinguji Budou actually didn't need anyone to remind him. As early as when Sakuragi Hanamichi took a step towards him, Budou had already noticed it.
The moment Sakuragi stretched out his hand, Jinguji Takeshi stepped on the three-point line and directly caught the ball. After two steps, he jumped up. From the three-point line to the distance of several meters near the basket, Takeshi only took two steps and one jump.
As Jinguji Budo made a layup, the basketball hit the front of the board and then bounced into the net.
"You're so naive, Hanamichi."
"When defending against fast breaks, you must use your body to block the offensive players before trying to steal the ball. If you steal the ball directly from the side, it will be in vain if you are caught. There is too much of a loophole."
After scoring the ball, Wudao did not forget to teach Sakuragi Hanamichi a lesson. Looking at Sakuragi who was a little angry and self-blaming, Wudao smiled happily, didn't say anything more, and quickly returned to defense.
I don't know why, even though he just defeated a rookie like Sakuragi, Wudao was still very happy. Maybe it was because Sakuragi was so silly and cute.
"Damn it! I was so close. I was so close to defending him." Sakuragi Hanamichi muttered to himself in annoyance. He walked to the baseline angrily, picked up the basketball and quickly threw it to Rukawa, then ran towards the frontcourt without looking back.
Rukawa didn't show any expression after receiving the ball. He dribbled into the frontcourt on his own, and then made a quick stop jump shot after a strong breakthrough. This time, his opponent defending him was Kogure Mitsunobu, but Kogure's fate was exactly the same as Kakuta Satoru, and both became the background board for Rukawa's shot.
The basketball went into the net again, and Rukawa scored the ball again, keeping the score firmly in his grasp.
"hateful!
”
“Damn it!
!”
"How can I just watch others perform like this!"
"No, I absolutely cannot give up like this!"
The hard work and enthusiasm of Rukawa Kaede and Sakuragi Hanamichi infected Kiyota Nobunaga. This guy himself is a single-core creature and is easily infected by other people's emotions. In the new round, he decisively joined the defensive team.
When Katsume Ichiro saw Rukawa scoring goals in succession and Sakuragi defending hard, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was unwilling to lose to them, so he also joined in the defense. As for Nango Koichiro, with his personality, he would never accept that there were students of the same grade who performed better than him.
When facing a high mountain, you may not dare to climb it alone, but if you see someone who is not as good as you starting to climb, can you still stand still? If you see your competitor has already started to climb, will you be willing to admit defeat
Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede, two completely different people, stimulate the other three junior high school students at the same time.
"Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!"
“Sometimes, the one who can help players grow is not the coach or the elders, but the opponent!”
Coach Anzai could feel the change in the momentum of the junior high school students, and he saw all the changes on the field. The future of Xiangbei will start to show their talents and their value to everyone from now on!
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