Not long after Jinguji Takeshi and Shinomiya Tano came on the court, the match between Kanagawa Prefecture and Akita Prefecture really reached a turning point.
17 minutes into the first half, the score between the two teams was 44:32. Led by Jinguji Takeshi, Kanagawa Prefecture not only eliminated the previous deficit, but also widened the gap by 12 points.
In just seven minutes since Takeshi Jinguji came on the court, his personal score has reached a terrifying 17 points.
Kanagawa Prefecture has the ball.
As Maki Shinichi entered the frontcourt, everyone in Kanagawa Prefecture took their positions. Sendoh Akira sank directly to the bottom corner of the court, engaging Matsumoto Minoru's defense and leaving a large space. Maki Shinichi also deliberately avoided the 1/4 area where Jinguji Budou was at the time when he dribbled the ball, and quickly passed the ball to Jinguji Budou in the distance when he approached the three-point line.
As soon as the basketball was in hand, cheers began to ring out from the stands.
Zebei Rongzhi, standing in front of Jinguji Budao, stared at the basketball in Budao's hand, with his arms spread out, looking alert. Beads of sweat slid down his forehead, gathered at the center of his eyebrows, and slowly slid down along the bridge of his nose. Zebei Rongzhi was completely unaware, and all his attention was on Jinguji Budao.
After Jinguji Budou came on the court, he scored points crazily on Zebei Rongzhi's head. Zebei's defense line was useless and did not pose any threat to Jinguji Budou. On the contrary, Zebei Rongzhi's offensive coefficient was intercepted by Jinguji Budou. Since Jinguji Budou defended him, he has not scored any points.
The point guard of Akita Prefecture, Kazunari Fukatsu, also stopped giving the ball to Zebei because of his weakness. At first, Zebei was filled with anger, thinking that his teammates did not believe in his ability by not giving him the ball. But after several consecutive defeats on the defensive end, Zebei Rongzhi simply stopped thinking about offense.
He put all his energy into defense, in order to block Jinguji Budou's attack. He didn't believe that Jinguji Budou, who was also a high school student, could be so strong that he was helpless.
It was precisely because of Jinguji Budou's strength at both ends that Kanagawa Prefecture was able to overtake the score in such a short time, and even opened up a 12-point gap. Jinguji Budou, who scored 17 points in just seven minutes, naturally became the focus of the audience.
Zebei Rongji's defensive center of gravity was very low. Faced with such a defensive posture, Jinguji Takeshi grabbed the ball with both hands and protected it at his waist. He leaned forward slightly, actively seeking confrontation, and half of his body was lightly pressed against Zebei Rongji.
Although it was just a simple probing move, the defensive player Zebei Rongji reacted very strongly. He retreated directly to create distance between himself and Wudao, not giving Wudao the opportunity to exert force on his upper body. At the same time, his left hand rested on Wudao's waist. Once Wudao dropped the ball, he would be able to steal the ball in the first time.
Zebei's hand defense was relatively clean, his hands were only placed on Wudao's waist, and he did not actively exert force.
But Wudao would not allow Zebei to judge his offensive intentions by hand measurement. Wudao Jinguji grabbed the ball with one hand and raised it above his head. The ball protector gently pushed Zebei Rongzhi's hand. The next second, Wudao Jinguji quickly blew the ball. Almost at the same time, Wudao started directly and pressed his body directly on Zebei.
The huge force made Zebei Rongzhi's breathing stagnate, and Zebei Rongzhi held his breath in his chest, and his body also showed a brief stagnation. But it was just this brief stagnation that made it impossible for him to chase and defend Jinguji Budo.
With just one step, Jinguji Budo directly passed Zebei and rushed towards the inside line of Akita Prefecture.
Masashi Kawata was far away from the basket and did not move, while Masahiro Nobe, who was not far away, saw Takeshi Jinguji rushing towards his defense area. He wanted to step forward to provide defense, but as soon as he moved his feet, his body hit a solid back.
"Where are you going?" Shinomiya Tano murmured, secretly blocking Nobe Masahiro's position. He watched Jinguji Takeshi approach the basket quickly without slowing down. He was about to say something, but his face suddenly changed and he quickly ran away from the basket.
"Damn it!" When Nobe Masahiro saw nothing in front of him, he was about to start, when he saw a black shadow rising into the air. The next second, everything went black in front of him, and a huge force poured onto him.
“Bang!!!”
With a loud bang, Jinguji Budou rushed to the Akita basket and dunked directly with both hands. Nobe Masahiro under the basket was also caught in the trap and became the background board for Jinguji Budou's dunk.
"That bastard Wu Dao... If I hadn't dodged quickly, this guy would have definitely dunked on me as well."
Shinomiya Tano, who avoided at the first opportunity, looked at Jinguji Takeshi who was grabbing the basket with both hands with a slightly dark face. He said "nice choke" but in his heart he was "greeting" Jinguji Takeshi.
As Jinguji Budo scored a dunk, the audience cheered in waves. The substitutes from Kanagawa Prefecture on the sidelines were all smiling, and Coach Tanaoka was also laughing, even imagining the scene of himself holding the trophy and showing off in front of Gaotou.
However, the rest area in Akita Prefecture on the other side of the venue was dead silent.
Goro Domoto held a tactical board in one hand and a pen in the other, his hands on his knees, staring at the game on the field, his lips tightly pursed, his face serious.
Suddenly, Goro Domoto took a deep breath, turned his head and glanced at the remaining time in the first half of the game, and finally made up his mind to ask the players to go to the referee's seat to call a timeout.
However, when Coach Domoto called for a timeout, Akita Prefecture had already served the ball. There was no dead ball, so the timeout was not executed. The team could only wait for the dead ball or for Akita Prefecture to finish attacking this round before calling for a timeout.
By this point in the game, the people in Kanagawa Prefecture were already very familiar with Akita Prefecture's offensive methods.
When Kazunari Fukatsu dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, Shinomiya Tano let go of Masahiro Nobe who was about to enter the basket, and went to the mid-range near the free throw line in advance, subtly blocking Akita Prefecture's inside and outside connection.
At the same time, Kawata Masashi wanted to repeat his old trick and go to the high post to set a pick-and-roll for Kazunari Fukatsu. However, when he saw Shinomiya Tano in position, he decisively gave up this plan and ran along the baseline to the bottom corner. Akagi, who was defending Kawata Masashi, did not dare to let Kawata Masashi catch the ball and shoot, so he followed directly.
Just when Kawata was halfway through the move, Kazunari Fukatsu at the top of the arc quickly passed the ball to Masashi Kawata. After the shot, he quickly moved towards the inside of Kanagawa Prefecture.
Seeing this, Shimonoseki silently took a few steps back and returned to the basket, and stood behind Akagi. If Akagi Takenori was broken through by Kawata Masashi, he would be able to react immediately.
Masashi Kawata, who received the ball near the baseline, also stopped immediately, held the ball in front of his chest with both hands, and pressed his back against Takenori Akagi's body, making a simple "leaning" action. The next second, Masashi Kawata dropped the ball and turned around, with his hand protecting the ball against Akagi's chest, easily passing Akagi's defense line.
When Akagi reacted and turned around to chase, Kawata Masashi paused, took a step back, instantly shortened the distance between him and Akagi, and then made a mid-range shot.
The basketball flew out of Masashi Kawata's hands and hit the backboard into the net.
Masashi Kawata's goal brought some life to the silent Akita Prefecture rest area, and when Goro Domoto saw this scene, his eyes narrowed slightly and he became more determined.
“Beep!”
"The Akita Prefecture team requests a timeout!"
Just after Masashi Kawata scored the goal, a long whistle sounded and the game entered a timeout.
"Haha, well done, well done!"
"Budo, you feel pretty good today. Keep up the good work next time. Don't hold back when dealing with Akita Prefecture. Fight me hard!"
"Amu, Sendoh, you both performed very well. Keep it up. If you have the chance, you can also take action. Don't make Wudao work too hard. Hahaha!"
"Akagi, Kawata Masashi's ability is good. Looking at the entire high school basketball world, he is definitely one of the best centers."
"It's normal to have some disadvantages against him. Don't take it to heart. Just try your best. By the way, don't be afraid of physical confrontation with him. I don't think you will lose to him in a physical confrontation!"
"In the second half, Yuzumi will replace you as the center. No matter how powerful Kawada is, can he beat the two of you?"
"Take advantage of this break and take a break!"
Coach Tanaoka stood on the sidelines to greet the players leaving the field, and encouraged the players who were about to enter the field. However, when it came to Shinomiya Tano, Coach Tanaoka suddenly changed the subject:
"The fields..."
"You bastard! Are you here to slack off?! Huh?!"
"Can't you see that Akagi can't defend against Kawata Masashi? Are you blind? Why didn't you make up for it? With your mobility, how could you not make up for it?!"
"You're so lazy, you don't even want to run. Do you think I'm going to let you just sit there and eat for free?!"
"14 points! That Kawata Masashi scored 14 points! He scored nearly half of Akita's points!"
"If you don't play well for me, get off! Our Kanagawa team can still win even without you!"
Coach Tanaoka pointed at Shinomiya Tano's nose and cursed. The sudden curse stunned Shinomiya Tano. He wanted to say that he was responsible for defending Nobe Masahiro, and Nobe Masahiro didn't get any points in front of him and only grabbed one rebound.
However, Shigong Tianye did not say this out loud. He just nodded his head in a submissive manner.
Although Coach Tanaoka pointed at Shinomiya Tano's nose and scolded him, Fujima, Hanagata, Kamiso Ichiro and other substitutes secretly glanced at Akagi Takenori's face. Akagi lowered his head, and his face was already very dark, but at this moment, it turned red.
"Coach Tanaoka! I will definitely defend Kawata Masashi till death!"
Akagi Takenori felt that Coach Tianoka was making a veiled accusation, and after listening for a long time, he finally couldn't help it. He raised his head, gathered all his courage, and shouted loudly.
Coach Tiangang was also startled by Akagi's shouting. He turned his head and looked at Akagi in confusion. Seeing Akagi's expression, Coach Tiangang also realized something and waved his hand to comfort him:
“Hey!”
"Akagi, you misunderstood, I didn't mean what you said!"
"You've done very well. I mean it. Even if Yuzumi or Hanagata replaces you, they may not be able to do better than you."
"Your strength has already reached my expectations, so you don't have to feel any burden. Just fight with me."
"Shigong Tianye is still different from you. The requirements for him and for you are also different!"
Although the original intention of Coach Tiangang was to let Akagi not think too much, how could the young man's self-esteem allow Akagi to accept such comfort? After hearing this, Akagi Takenori not only did not relax at all, but stood up straight and shouted again:
"Coach! I will definitely defend Kawada Masashi to death!"
Akagi Takenori shouted so loudly that even the audience who were closer could hear it. Even the people from Akita Prefecture on the other side of the venue heard the noise and looked sideways.
"concentrated!"
"Don't look over there, we'll just fight our own!"
Domoto Goro was adjusting his tactics. Seeing that his teammates were distracted, he immediately reminded them. When the teammates turned around and looked at him, he continued:
"I think you have already seen Jinguji Budo's ability on offense."
"To stop him head-on, I don't think relying on Zebei's strength is enough!"
"From now on, we will abandon the man-to-man defense and start using zone defense!"
"Fukatsu, Matsumoto, on the defensive end, you need to pay more attention to Zebei's matchup and be ready to support at any time."
"Kawata, your opponent isn't very strong. You can ignore him appropriately when defending."
"On the offensive end, reduce the inside-outside connection play and use Matsumoto as the offensive point more often!"
"Zebei, you play off-ball cuts and run more. The other players should do more off-ball pick-and-rolls to avoid direct confrontation with Jinguji Budo or Shinomiya Tano!"
"In the first half, we must not let Kanagawa Prefecture widen the gap. If we hold on for a while longer, Jinguji Budo's physical strength will decline, and his offensive efficiency will inevitably decrease. That's when we can really catch up!"
"Before that, we must persevere and keep the score close!"
"Zebei, you..."
The time of the timeout was very short, but Coach Domoto had a lot to say at this moment. Before he could finish, the referee's whistle sounded, interrupting what he was about to say next.
When Zebei Rongzhi saw that Coach Domoto called his name, he thought that Coach Domoto wanted to encourage him and let him concentrate on fighting Jinguji Budo, so he immediately gave him a thumbs up and said cheerfully:
"Coach, don't worry!"
"I've found a way to deal with Jinguji Budo!"
"Next, let's see how I perform!"
Zebei's words made Domoto Goro swallow back what he was about to say. He originally wanted Zebei to give up the idea of stopping Jinguji Budo and shrink the defense line, but after hearing what Zebei said, he did not discourage the opponent's enthusiasm. He waved to the players, signaling them to go on the court quickly.
Only after all the players entered the field did Domoto Goro look at Zebei Rongzhi's back and murmured:
"A way to stop Jinguji Budo... ..."
"If it's really possible to stop a player like this with just an idea, then basketball as a sport is too easy."
"But basketball... is it really that easy?"
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