"How's that?! This genius slam dunk?!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi fell back to the ground and pounded his chest excitedly, shouting at senior students such as Takeshi and Chiba, with a smile on his handsome face.
The freshmen who were watching the game on the sidelines were stunned for a few seconds, then burst into exclamations.
"Alley-oop! It's actually an aerial relay!"
"Is this red-haired guy really a first-year?"
"He slam-dunked over a third-year senior. What a great guy!"
"Well done! Sakuragi~~"
Amid the exclamations of the spectators, Sakuragi Hanamichi instantly caught the soft "Sakuragi". Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was originally smiling, suddenly became serious. He turned his head to look at Haruko on the sidelines from an angle that he thought was handsome. He stroked his hair with both hands and gave Haruko a smile that was unique to her.
"..." Sakuragi Hanamichi's actions were seen by Akagi Takenori. Although the gorilla was so angry that his eyes were wide open, he did not discourage Sakuragi's enthusiasm at this time. He just moved towards Haruko and blocked her behind him.
"It was an aerial oop, and it looked like it wasn't done by luck."
"This kid has a good grasp of the passing path and where the basketball will land."
"It seems that in the past six months, not only has my physical fitness improved, but my skills have also improved a lot!"
Jinguji Takeshi looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was standing under the basket and was so proud of himself, and thought to himself. Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's growth, Takeshi was happy, but he also secretly sighed at Sakuragi's terrible talent.
Since Sakuragi Hanamichi has made such progress, has the other guy also made great progress
While thinking, Wudao looked at Rukawa who was already on his way back to defense. He looked at Rukawa's back, pondered for a few seconds, then moved his feet and ran towards the front court.
"Let me try your quality myself, Rukawa Kaede."
In the backcourt, Chiba Oishi served the ball from the baseline and passed it to Tetsu Shiozaki, who took the ball and slowly advanced to the frontcourt. When Shiozaki entered the frontcourt with the ball, the freshmen had already taken their positions.
Special recruits like Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede are different from the first-year students that Wudao and his team had met before. As special recruits of Xiangbei High School, these guys have been training in Xiangbei early, and Coach Anxi often puts them into a team during training.
There is already a tacit understanding between these five people, which can be seen from their offensive running, engaging the defense, and completing a series of alley-oop actions.
The first graders adopted a zone defense, but the perimeter defense line was wider, with Rukawa, Katsume Ichiro and Kiyota Nobunaga standing at 45 degrees on both sides of the three-point line and at the top of the arc.
They knew about Tetsu Shiosaki's ability. Although Tetsu Shiosaki had already approached the top of the arc with the ball, Ichiro Katsumi at the top of the arc kept glancing at Jinguji Budou who was not far away. In front of Jinguji Budou stood Rukawa Kaede. Compared with the loose appearance of Ichiro Katsumi when defending, Rukawa Kaede seemed quite serious.
"Shiozaki, give me the ball!"
Seeing Shiozaki approaching the top of the arc, Jinguji Budou immediately turned sideways, put one hand on Rukawa Kaede's chest, raised the other hand, and asked Shiozaki for the ball. At the moment when Budou asked for the ball, Katsume Ichiro took the opportunity to move out, and when Shiozaki passed the ball, he flashed forward, forced Shiozaki Tetsu away, and knocked the ball down with one hand.
In his first year of high school, Ichiro Katsume was 185cm tall and weighed 75kg. His opponent, Tetsu Shiosaki, was only 170cm tall and weighed only 61kg. In terms of basketball skills, experience, and talent, Ichiro Katsume was better than Tetsu Shiosaki in every aspect. In front of Ichiro Katsume, even Tetsu Shiosaki had a hard time passing the ball.
“Oh no!”
Shiozaki only felt a black shadow flash before his eyes, and immediately cried out that something was wrong, but at this time, Ichiro Katsumi had already taken the ball. And almost at the same time when Ichiro Katsumi completed the steal, Rukawa Kaede also accelerated suddenly and ran towards the front court.
"Katsumi Ichiro is really quick!"
The moment Katsumi Ichiro stole the ball, Budou also reacted. The moment Rukawa started, Jinguji Budou also started. Originally, Budou planned to go around in front of Rukawa and return to the court to defend in advance.
But after thinking about it, Wudao still decided to hang behind Rukawa Kaede and block him from behind when Rukawa Kaede took the ball to attack the basket! With his speed and burst, he could easily do this.
Sure enough, Rukawa was one step ahead of Budo, and soon, Rukawa and Budo passed the ball forward, one after the other. Kusume Ichiro sensed an opportunity, gave it a head start, and passed the ball to Rukawa.
"Um?!"
"You're underestimating me. Pass the ball over my head?"
Wudao turned his head and glanced at the basketball, and happened to see it flying over his head. Although the ball was flying high, it was not that high.
Ichiro Katsume calculated the situation very accurately in advance and passed the ball very accurately. Normally, when Rukawa ran to the free throw line, the basketball just fell above his head. Rukawa didn't even need to jump, he could catch the basketball with just one hand.
But... ..the person following behind Rukawa Kaede is Jinguji Budou!
The basketball was falling, and Rukawa turned around and reached out to catch the ball, but the next second, a black shadow rose from the ground and grabbed the falling basketball firmly in his hand.
The shadow blocked the spotlight in the stadium and enveloped Rukawa Kaede.
"What?!"
The basketball in the air was jumped up and grabbed by Takeshi Jinguji. In the eyes of the people watching the game around, it seemed like Takeshi Jinguji was flying and intercepted the ball that ordinary people could not reach.
After completing the steal, Jinguji Budou didn't stop for a moment. He jumped up directly after landing, instantly creating a distance of nearly two meters between him and Rukawa Kaede, and quickly advanced towards the front court.
"Ohhhh! Such a high jump! Such a fast speed!"
Jinguji Budo's sudden rise caused exclamations in the stadium.
On the court, Katsume Ichiro saw Takeshi dribbling forward quickly and immediately blocked him, trying to steal the ball. However, the moment he stepped forward, Takeshi grabbed the ball with one hand, turned around easily, and without slowing down, he went straight to the three-point line.
Takeshi Jinguji's advance made Nango Koichiro and Sakuragi Hanamichi in the interior alert. When Takeshi dribbled the ball and approached the three-point line, the two were ready to defend. But in the blink of an eye, Takeshi Jinguji reached the free throw line, and then one step inside the free throw line, he directly took the ball and jumped.
Jinguji Budou's speed was so fast that before Sakuragi Hanamichi and Nango Koichiro could fully adjust from their attacking state, Jinguji Budou had already caught the ball and flew into the air.
"Bang!
!”
Jinguji Budo jumped from one step inside the free throw line and dunked the ball into the basket with one hand. The terrifying force pulled the entire basketball hoop downward.
Even until Jinguji Budou landed on the ground, the entire basketball hoop was still shaking violently.
Takeshi Jinguji's slam dunk made the audience in the entire stadium hold their breath, and they stared at Takeshi Jinguji in amazement.
“Hohohoho!
”
"It seems that martial arts has indeed grown better in the United States."
"Speed, strength, ball control, and explosiveness, all of these things are combined in a body that is more than two meters tall."
"There is no doubt that players of this level have far surpassed the level of high school students!"
"Martial arts... have surpassed Tani Zeliang by a lot!"
When Coach Anzai saw Jinguji Budou's goal, he clenched his fists excitedly, and his eyes behind his glasses were already a little moist.
After Budo's slam dunk, he immediately looked at Coach Anxi on the sidelines. It was only now that he really began to show his strength. Budo also hoped that his strength could be recognized by Coach Anxi and comfort Coach Anxi's dry heart.
"Sakuragi, don't get complacent just because you've achieved some small success!"
“This world is very vast.”
"I'm here to open the door to a new world for you! Let you see the vastness outside the cage!"
When Jinguji Takeshi said this, Rukawa Kaede and Katsumi Ichiro also ran back to their own half of the court. The five freshmen focused their eyes on Jinguji Takeshi, and they all felt the suffocating and terrifying pressure from Jinguji Takeshi. At this moment, the five of them had something in mind.
Kiyota Nobunaga: "A small forward who is over two meters tall! There is no one like him in the whole country, right? If the martial arts master exerts his full strength, what kind of monster will he become!"
Rukawa: "Are all the players in America... like this?"
Sakuragi: "I can do a dunk like this, too!"
Katsume Ichiro: "Hey, hey, hey, why are you taking it so seriously? We're just first graders!"
Nan Xiang: "Tsk, I was careless just now, I will definitely block the next ball!"
Wudao retracted his gaze and looked around at the five fellow students around him. On their faces, there were expressions of admiration, contemplation, and a strong desire to fight. Wudao saw all these expressions.
"Go on, you're welcome."
While speaking, Jinguji Takeshi turned around and returned to defense. It was not until this time that the others came back to their senses, looked at each other, and began to serve and attack in silence.
During the transition between offense and defense, Kiyota Nobunaga quickly entered the frontcourt with the ball. Facing the defense of Miyagi Ryouta, Kiyota Nobunaga simply called a pick-and-roll, and then rushed to the inside under the cover of Katsume Ichiro. And Kiyota Nobunaga's action instantly attracted the attention of Kakuta Satoru.
The seniors, except for Jinguji Budo, had already played numerous training matches with these special recruits. In the previous training matches, Rukawa Kaede and others who were in junior high school were able to compete with the high school team led by Mitsui Hisashi and Akagi.
And in a match of that level, Kakuta Satoru was no match for these first-year students!
Kakuta Satoru, who was defending, was dodged by Kiyota Nobunaga with a bow. Kiyota Nobunaga, who was attacking the basket, finally attracted Chiba Daishi's backup defense, but it was too late. With Kiyota Nobunaga's high rebound, the basketball easily went into the net.
The senior class's defense was easily torn apart by Kiyota Nobunaga.
"Um?"
The first-year's counterattack was so easy and so fast, which was something that Wu Dao had not expected at the beginning. He did not expect that the basket guarded by Qianye would be broken so easily, which really surprised Wu Dao.
However, Wudao didn't care about this. He had a rough idea of Shiozaki and Kakuta's levels.
"It's our turn to attack."
"Pass the ball to me when you get to the front court!"
Wu Dao clapped his hands, said something encouraging, and then trotted towards the front court.
On the senior side, everyone realized that Shiozaki was not very good at controlling the ball against this group of freshmen, so the task of controlling the ball fell back into the hands of Miyagi Ryouta.
It was visibly that Miyagi, who received the ball in the backcourt, was moving much faster than Shiozaki. Not long after Budou entered the frontcourt, Miyagi Ryouta also quickly crossed the center line.
Miyagi Ryouta entered the frontcourt and briefly observed the first-year's defense. Seeing no obvious loopholes, he quickly passed the ball to Jinguji Takeshi without waiting for Katsume Ichiro to come up.
Budo Jinguji, who was standing outside the three-point line, was also standing on the right side of the court, half sideways facing Rukawa, with his right hand on Rukawa's chest and catching the ball with his left hand.
After the basketball was in hand, Jinguji Budo took the ball with both hands and quickly swept the ball to the basket, lowered his center of gravity, moved his right foot sideways, and tried to move Rukawa's defensive center of gravity. Seeing Rukawa's footsteps retreat, he directly raised his waist and shot from the spot.
Jinguji Budo's core strength is very strong, and he can still take advantage of his jumping ability by pulling up on the spot.
With his height and jumping ability of more than two meters, Wudao shot the three-pointer directly in front of Rukawa Kaede, appearing to be relaxed and comfortable.
Rukawa Kaede, who is in his first year of high school, is already 188cm tall and weighs 77kg.
But in front of the 201cm tall Jinguji Takeshi, it was still not enough. Not to mention that the center of gravity had been moved by Takeshi. Even if it had not been moved, it would be very difficult to defend against Takeshi's pull-up jump shot.
“Swish!”
With a crisp sound, the basketball went into the net.
Pull-up shooting is one of the scoring weapons of outside superstars. Today, Jinguji Budo has developed this skill into a perfect one. If the defensive players cannot put too much pressure on him, they will not be able to defend him at all.
Before returning to China, in the warm-up game against Mount Zion Christian Academy, Wu Dao scored 36 points in a single game thanks to this ultimate shot, while the kid nicknamed T-mac only scored 29 points.
And Rukawa Kaede's defense is too gentle for the current Jinguji Budo!
"Come on, defend! Rukawa Kaede!"
“I don’t feel any pressure!”
Wudao shouted at Rukawa and hooked his finger at him.
After playing more games with American players, Wu Dao's personality has changed imperceptibly, and he has become more talkative on the court.
"Wow~ The three-point shot was so sudden and so accurate!"
"You stinky fox, you better try your best! If you can't stop it, tell me as soon as possible and I will do it for you!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi made sarcastic remarks as he passed by Rukawa Kaede, and followed Jinguji Budou's footsteps to run towards the front court. Sakuragi's words made Rukawa Kaede's eyelids jump, and Rukawa Kaede, who was originally expressionless, looked even colder at this moment.
Soon, the first-year player served the ball from the backcourt, and Kiyota Nobunaga once again carried the ball into the frontcourt.
After reaching the frontcourt, Kiyota Nobunaga used the same trick again and called for a pick-and-roll. This time, Miyagi, who was facing him, noticed Katsume Ichiro's movements and deftly bypassed the pick-and-roll and came in front of Kiyota Nobunaga.
However, Miyagi's arrival did not make Kiyota hesitate. Kiyota Nobunaga advanced a short distance and passed the ball to Sakuragi Hanamichi in the inside.
Sakuragi received the ball and attacked Kadota Satoru under the basket. He easily knocked Kadota away with a back-to-the-basket shot, and then invaded the basket with a low step. Without any long run-up, he turned around and faced the basket, and dunked with both hands.
Chiba Daiishi, who came up to defend, was knocked back by the terrifying power of Sakuragi Hanamichi's dunk, and staggered a few steps before he could stand firm.
The flexible footwork under the basket, the terrifying explosive power and the bounce made Wudao stunned, and he couldn't help but glance at Sakuragi Hanamichi a few more times.
After playing basketball for a year, Sakuragi's talent has been developed a lot by Coach Anzai, and his strength has become visibly stronger!
“These guys… ..”
"The competition is finally interesting. They are much better than those guys before!"