Ryonan High School easily broke through Hainan's defense with a simple cooperation. With Fujima Kenji's first three-pointer, the difference between the two teams reached 3 points. Since the victory condition given by Coach Tanaoka is which team leads by 15 points first, Fujima Kenji's three-pointer put Hainan under great pressure.
"Amu!" Hainan High School served the ball from the backcourt. Da Zheng Sifu greeted Maku Shinichi in a low voice and gave him a look.
His idea was simple, he wanted to quickly tie the score with a three-pointer.
Maki Shinichi nodded slightly, while advancing the ball to the front court, he observed the defensive formation of Ryonan High School. On the defensive end, Ryonan was just simple man-to-man defense. Takasago Kazuma and Maekawa Daiki were guarded by Hanagata and Uozumi Jun respectively, Sendoh found Jinso Ichiro, and Shinomiya Tano was watching Omasa Shifuku. As for Maki Shinichi, Fujima Kenji was in charge.
"Playing man-to-man against Hainan is indeed very suitable for the current lineup of Ryonan High School."
"Hainan's strengths lie in Daiki Maekawa and Shinichi Maki. Although Hanagata and Fujima on the defensive side are slightly weaker than these two, they are more than enough to slow down the opponent's attack speed and disrupt the opponent's offense."
"If Sendoh and Shinomiya Tano seal Kamisouichiro and Omasa Shifuku, Kainan's attack will be delayed in no time."
"Ryonan has an overwhelming advantage in rebounding. I'm afraid the outcome of this game will be decided soon."
Mitsui looked at Hainan's defensive formation and deduced the direction of the game. He was not optimistic about Hainan, and everyone present was actually not optimistic about Hainan.
"Break!" After entering the frontcourt, Shinichi Maki, with the help of a pick-and-roll by Shifuku Omasa, quickly passed the basketball in his hand to Ichiro Kamiso on the side. After the basketball was shot, Shinichi Maki quickly cut into the inside, and Ryonan High School also quickly switched defense. Shinomiya Tano chased Shinichi Maki into the inside, while Fujima switched in front of Shifuku Omasa.
As soon as Kamiso Ichiro raised his hand after receiving the basketball and preparing to pass it inside, he saw Sendoh moving in front of him and instantly blocking him. Kamiso Ichiro, who had no chance to pass inside and no way to shoot, could only pass the ball sideways to Omasa Shifuku, but his intention to pass the ball was too obvious.
Fujima, who noticed this, rushed forward and blocked Omasa Shifuku who was about to receive the ball and completed the steal.
With the basketball in hand, Fujima Kenji quickly dribbled forward, and Sendoh also started quickly. Shimonoseki, who had just crossed the three-point line and taken a few steps, also turned quickly and accelerated suddenly.
Ryonan High School's fast break was very fast. Fujima, who was advancing with the ball, was stuck by the chasing Omasa Shifuku, but the next second, Fujima passed the ball directly to Sendoh on the side with a back pass. Sendoh had no intention of catching the ball at all. When the ball was passed to him, he seemed to casually tap the ball, which directly changed the trajectory of the basketball.
The ball was directly sent into the hands of Sigong Tianye. After getting the basketball, Sigong Tianye increased his speed a few points and quickly entered the basket. Then he dunked the ball into the basket with a light slam dunk.
Ryonan High School made a smooth defensive counterattack and easily narrowed the gap to 5 points.
After scoring, the players of Ryonan high-fived each other and began to retreat.
"It seems that it is not easy for Hainan to move the ball freely in front of Ryonan."
"Kamiso Ichiro's level is quite poor, and Omasa Shifuku is also being watched by Shinomiya Tano. On the offensive end, once Maki Shinichi passes the ball, it may not be so easy to get it back."
"The gap between the two teams is bigger than I expected."
Jinguji Budo looked at Hainan who was serving the ball again on the court, shook his head and said softly, Hainan's problem was not with Maki Shinichi, but with the other two outside players.
When attacking, if the outside players are unable to give some support to Maki Shinichi, Maki Shinichi will have a very difficult time.
"How are we going to deal with Lingnan?"
Looking at Kainan High School on the court, Mitsui Shou seemed to see the next game of Xiangbei. If Xiangbei had the ball in Miyagi Ryouta, the situation they faced would probably not be much better than that of Kainan. However, Xiangbei has an advantage over Kainan in that they have a strong scorer. However, playing like this would require a lot of the scorer's physical strength.
"I don't know... Let's try and see."
"Miyagi, the match between Shohoku and Ryonan will be decided by you!"
"As long as you are not suppressed by Fujima, we still have a chance to fight Ryonan!"
Jinguji Takeshi put his arm around Miyagi's shoulders and whispered in his ear. Miyagi obviously knew about the situation of Xiangbei, and nodded when he heard it. There was no fear in his expression, but a calm look, which made him look extremely confident.
After such a long period of training since the national competition, Miyagi Ryouta's personal ability has also improved significantly. In addition to the improvement of his mid-range shooting ability, Miyagi's dribbling level has also improved.
After being teammates with Budou for such a long time, Miyagi Ryouta finally learned some luck skills from Budou. In the past, he believed that speed was everything, and as long as he was fast enough, he could break through any opponent.
This is of course true, but the reality is that Miyagi's speed is not so fast that even top defenders can't react. Whether it's Fujima of Ryonan or Shinichi Maki of Kainan, they can keep up.
For this reason, Miyagi Ryouta also specifically asked Jinguji Budou for advice on how to do it, because Jinguji Budou, who also has an extremely fast speed, can often break through opponents with equally terrifying speed.
And martial arts’ answer is also very simple, just two words - rhythm.
After that, Miyagi worked hard on the rhythm changes while dribbling during training. In this regard, Miyagi Ryouta really has some talent. In just a few months, Miyagi's dribbling level has improved greatly. At the same time, with the improvement of physical fitness, Miyagi's confrontation ability has also become much stronger.
At least within the Shohoku team, Miyagi's competition is even stronger than that of Kogure Mitsunobu, who is taller and heavier than him.
On the court, Hainan High School, which had been losing the ball continuously, finally scored a goal. The offense was also initiated by Maki Shinichi. This time, Maekawa Daiki in the interior stepped forward to screen and assist Maki Shinichi in breaking through. Maki Shinichi, who broke through, directly shot from a high position. The basketball bounced twice on the basket and fell into the net.
The difference between the two teams reached 3 points, and Ryonan High School launched an attack again.
Sendoh slowly advanced with the ball, and the Ryonan players entered the frontcourt in advance. As Sendoh approached the three-point line, Fujima Kenji slipped to the baseline and attracted some of Hainan's attention. At the same time, Shimonoseki also broke through Hainan's defense line and went straight to the basket.
Seeing this, Sendoh threw the ball high. With his height, such a pass was impossible for Maki Shinichi to block.
Shigong Tianye, who went straight to the basket, looked at the basketball flying over his head, and didn't take the inside players of Hainan seriously at all. He jumped into the air, grabbed the ball in the air, and then dunked with both hands. Although Kazuma Takasago of Hainan tried hard to stop him, he just became the background of Shigong Tianye's dunk.
The score difference was widened to five points again. Although the game was only a few balls, the newcomer in the national competition, the champion Ryonan, showed overwhelming strength. In the next few rounds, Hainan High School's offense was struggling. Although they occasionally scored, they missed more shots than they made.
The breakthrough of Shinichi Maki would often attract the backup defense of Shinomiya Tano, and in the aerial battle with Shinomiya Tano, Shinichi Maki was completely at a disadvantage. Not only was the ball blocked, but he also missed several shots.
The other players of Hainan also played mediocrely. It was thought that Hainan's inside line would have a slight advantage over Hanagata and Uozumi. However, it was unexpected that Hanagata and Uozumi, who had been trained in the big game, had greatly improved their level compared to before. Under the basket, Maekawa Daiki could not gain much advantage at all, and Takasago Kazuma was beaten by Uozumi in the fight for rebounds.
The match between Hainan High School and Ryonan lasted less than 10 minutes before Hainan High School was crushed by Ryonan with a score of 21:6, becoming the first team to fail in this training camp.
As Hainan lost the game, Ryonan showed an overwhelming advantage. The third mixed team that registered for the competition couldn't stand it and surrendered without even playing the ball.
"Haha, one team was defeated, and the other team declared surrender."
"Shohoku, you are the last one to qualify for the challenge today, go ahead."
"My players, your hands are really hot. No need to rest, let's start the game right away."
After the Hainan players walked off the court, Coach Tiangang shouted directly to the Xiangbei players. The players of Ryonan were just as he said, none of them were sweating at all, and they were in peak condition.
“Ouch!!!!”
When they heard that Ryonan's next opponent was Xiangbei High School, the Ryonan students who were watching the game once again booed loudly. The huge sound waves overwhelmed everyone else's voices and reached the ears of the Xiangbei people.
"Look, these people from Lingnan are cheering for us!"
Listening to the boos from the Ryonan crowd, Mitsui led the Xiangbei players into the court. Unlike the people from Hainan, the Xiangbei players remained calm in the midst of such a tsunami of boos. The audience's voices had no effect on them at all.
Such a scene is already a small scene for them, Xiangbei.
As a dark horse in the national competition, Xiangbei had to endure countless boos before they came to prominence. But unfortunately, most of the teams that had underestimated Xiangbei had already been defeated by them.
Even if they beat them, would Ryonan dare to look down on Shohoku
The audience is just here to join in the fun; the real host will not underestimate Shohoku High School.
"I haven't played against Shohoku for a few months. In today's Kanagawa, only Shohoku can compete with us, Ryonan."
"It's really troublesome that the team is too strong! There aren't many opponents that we can arrange practice matches with."
Coach Tanaoka watched the Shohoku players walk into the stadium, and his tone gave people a feeling of loneliness. Those who knew him knew that he was in Versailles, while those who didn't thought that this guy had "lost his love".
The calm expressions and stable emotions of the Xiangbei players were seen by everyone. The Ryonan students who were watching the game booed for a while, but when they saw that Xiangbei and the others didn't show any performance, they felt bored and the booing slowly stopped.
The players of both teams didn't waste any time and took their positions in the center circle, preparing for the jump ball. At the same time, Coach Tiangang, who had been sitting on the sidelines watching the game calmly, picked up a document from the side, took out a pen, and prepared to write something down.
“Beep!”
As a whistle sounded, Akagi Takenori and Uozumi Jun jumped up and shouted to grab the ball.
Today, Akagi Takenori was in pretty good shape. In the jump ball, he actually beat the two-meter-tall mermaid Sumi Jun and got the basketball first. The basketball fell and was caught by Mitsui Shou. Mitsui Shou did not drop the ball, but waited until the Ryonan team began to retreat before passing the ball to Miyagi.
The Ryonan players who returned to defense got into position very quickly. Uozumi and Hanagata stood on both sides of the paint area, and the other three players were outside the three-point line. The defense seemed quite scattered, and there was a large gap in the middle area.
"This defensive formation... focuses on defending our perimeter."
"Ryonan is really mature now! There is no possibility of stealing the opportunity at all."
Jinguji Budo looked at Ryonan's defense and was a little surprised. In this era, most teams' defense is concentrated in the interior, and the defense on the outside is not very strong.
However, this defensive lineup of Ryonan High School was obviously specially trained, and it was aimed at teams that rely on outside shooting as their main means of scoring, such as Shohoku High School.
"Miyagi! Pass the ball."
Facing such a defensive formation, the best way is of course to break through. As Miyagi Ryouta dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, Jinguji Budo quickly ran towards Miyagi along the three-point arc, shouting as he ran.
Miyagi's pass was not very smooth, and the angle at which the basketball hit the ground and entered Takeshi's hands was very bad. After Takeshi got the ball, he adjusted the position of the basketball in his hand, and the figure of Shinomiya Tano had already appeared beside Takeshi.
Wudao, holding the ball, swept the ball and turned to face the basket, took a simple tentative step and followed it up with a fake shot, then quickly dropped the ball and broke through.
Although the defending Shinomiya Tano moved a little slower, he did not lose his position and followed Wudao to the middle distance.
Seeing that he couldn't get rid of the defense, Wu Dao quickly stopped and pulled back, flipped his wrist, and hit the ball directly into the ground and passed it.
The basketball hit Shimonoseki's heel and bounced back into the hands of Takenori Akagi in the paint.
"Huh?" Shinomiya Tano let out a surprised exclamation. He had never expected that Jinguji Budou would pass the ball after reaching this position. It would have been fine if he had just passed the ball, but he actually passed it to the inside.
The only offensive points of Xiangbei High School are Jinguji Takeshi and Mitsui Hisashi. Shinomiya Tano knew this early on, because when faced with Takeshi's pass, his first choice was to focus on Jinguji Takeshi instead of going into the inside to provide backup defense.
"Bang!" A muffled sound was heard. Akagi Takenori received the ball and shot it from behind, his body hitting hard on Uozumi Jun. The two big men collided with each other, causing the spectators watching the game near the baseline to let out a low cry.
Takenori Akagi's footsteps are very heavy near the basket. His back-to-the-basket shots are very solid when landing, and at the same time, his footsteps have less variations.
But Akagi was very strong. With his back against Yuzumi, he actually pushed Yuzumi back half a step. Akagi got the chance and quickly turned over and made a hook layup, and the basketball hit the backboard and went into the net.
"oh!!"
Akagi, who scored the goal, roared. His target was not Jun Uozumi, but the audience on the sidelines. The boos from those people more or less affected Akagi's mentality. Akagi, who had always been very rational, became unrestrained at this moment.
"oh?"
"Shohoku...are they changing their style of play?"
Coach Takeo on the sidelines wanted to appreciate the matchup performance between Jinguji Takeshi and Shinomiya Tano, but he didn't expect that the first goal scored by Shohoku was actually scored by Akagi. This surprised him a little, but also aroused his strong interest.
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