"What's going on? Xiangbei's ace had a chance to shoot, so why did he pass the ball? Doesn't he have the ability to shoot three-pointers?"
"It's so easy to score in the paint. That gorilla-looking player is so strong!"
The players of Teiko Junior High School were talking a lot. Akagi Takenori, who had just scored a goal and was running back to defense, had sharp ears and heard the word "gorilla".
Then his tiger eyes glared directly at the middle school students in the audience.
Under the pressure from Akagi Takenori, some of Teiko's players kept their mouths shut. After all, even the dumbest people know that gorillas are not docile animals... .
"Hey, Dye Monkey, defend well!"
"Don't let the gorilla score so easily."
During the transition between offense and defense, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Nango Koichiro ran side by side towards the front court. Sakuragi seemed quite dissatisfied with Nango's defensive strength and taught him a lesson.
"Red monkey, take care of yourself."
"Where do you get the energy to care about me? You are an outsider who is often beaten into a sieve by Jinguji Senior, and you are qualified to teach me a lesson?"
"Has your recent victory over the rookie made you lose your sense of yourself?"
Nango Kouichirō sneered at Sakuragi's attitude. If a senior regular player said this kind of lesson to a junior, he would have endured it, but who are you, Sakuragi!
"Asshole bleach-and-dye monkey."
"I'm going to defeat them today, don't hold this genius back!"
Sakuragi cursed softly, but since he had already entered the frontcourt, he did not argue with Nango Koichirō and hurriedly cut into the inside.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's position in the first-year team belongs to the role of a forward-guard swingman. Obviously, Sakuragi's personal strength is obviously not enough to support the tasks that this role needs to undertake, but Coach Anzai's positioning for Sakuragi Hanamichi is just like this.
Originally, Coach Anzai planned to train Sakuragi Hanamichi towards the power forward direction. In the future, he would be able to replace Chiba Daishi and become the starting power forward of Xiangbei High School.
But after Coach Anzai saw Jinguji Budo playing basketball after returning from the United States, he gave up the idea.
Sakuragi Hanamichi is very talented, and it is still uncertain how tall he will grow in the future. However, based on Coach Anzai's experience, Sakuragi, who is at this height in his first year of high school, may be able to reach around two meters in height in the future.
This height is certainly enough to play inside in China, but if you go to higher-level competitions, this height is obviously still a little short.
With Jinguji Budou as an example, Coach Anzai did not stereotype Sakuragi too early when training him. Now the training arranged for Sakuragi is gradually moving towards the direction of a forward-guard swingman.
While focusing on defense and rebounding, we also develop the ability to hold the ball, cut, and shoot.
In the freshman's triangle offense tactical system, Sakuragi is a weak triangle, but he is also an important link in the offense.
Sakuragi Hanamichi entered the frontcourt and moved to the mid-range position on the left side of the court. Nango Koichiro moved outside the paint area under the basket on the right side of the court, Katsume Ichiro sank directly to the right bottom corner, and Rukawa Kaede moved to the 45° position outside the right three-point line.
With the ball, Kiyota Nobunaga finally entered the frontcourt and approached the top of the arc.
A strong and weak triangle was formed, and Kiyota Nobunaga began to act as the dealer, quickly passing the ball to Rukawa Kaede, and then tried to cut into the inside, trying to find the defensive flaws of the senior team.
Jinguji Budo was in charge of defending Rukawa, while Mitsui Hisashi sank to the bottom corner to defend Katsume Ichiro. Chiba Daishi observed Sakuragi's movements and simply adjusted his position, but did not follow him out, not wanting to be too far away from the paint area. While guarding against Sakuragi, he also guarded the basket.
Akagi was holding onto Nango's back, looking at Rukawa with his tiger eyes, firmly occupying the best rebounding position. Miyagi Ryouta on the outside followed Kiyota Nobunaga who was running without the ball, and was led away from Rukawa's right half by Kiyota.
"The triangle offense tactics of the first graders is mainly initiated by the singles of the ace Rukawa Kaede."
"Unlike us seniors, Nanxiang in the interior does not have an overwhelming advantage over Akagi. In comparison, it is a more appropriate choice to let Rukawa take the lead in the offensive selection."
"Of course, provided this kid doesn't challenge me recklessly."
Wu Dao maintained a defensive posture in front of Rukawa, thinking to himself, waiting for Rukawa's attack.
Rukawa held the ball and slightly adjusted the position of the basketball. At the same time, he scanned the entire court and then used a three-threat to test Wudao's defensive tendencies.
Even when facing Jinguji Budo's defense, Rukawa Kaede never gave up the idea of breaking through.
Seeing this, Wudao took a small step forward, further closing the distance between them. He put his left hand directly on Rukawa's waist and grabbed the basketball with his right hand. Although Rukawa dodged it, Wudao's hand did not stop. He used his arm span to interfere with Rukawa's falling ball.
Rukawa knew that if he held the ball for too long, Budo would catch his weakness, and the interference from Budo Jinguji also made him very uncomfortable. The defensive pressure from Budo Jinguji, who was more than two meters tall, was too strong for him. Rukawa, who could not hold back, took a step forward, turned around and swept the ball.
Just when everyone thought that Rukawa would use this opportunity to break through, he suddenly pulled back with the ball, his pivot foot did not move, and after a fake drop shot, he still had his back to the basket. The martial arts defense was involved and took the initiative to follow up with a step, and there was no space between the two.
Rukawa realized that the opportunity had arisen, so he quickly dropped the ball, turned around to face the basket, and instantly accelerated forward.
"Continuous feints with the ball, breakthrough!"
"Oh!
So fast!
!”
Rukawa's breakthrough speed was very fast, and everyone on the sidelines of Teiko exclaimed in surprise when they saw this scene. However, the next second, Rukawa suddenly paused in his charge and stopped abruptly.
In front of him, Jinguji Budou, who had just been thrown away, unexpectedly reappeared in front of him. It took only two seconds from the time Rukawa Kaede broke through to the time Jinguji Budou caught up with him.
At the same time, Sakuragi Hanamichi realized that Rukawa Kaede could not break through, so he quickly passed from the left side and ran towards the right corner.
Ichiro Kumi moved up from the bottom corner and quickly ran towards Rukawa. After he came behind Rukawa, Rukawa passed the ball to Ichiro Kumi and then quickly ran towards the bottom corner where Kumi was before. The defending Wudao glanced at Ichiro Kumi and noticed that Mitsui was still sticking behind Kumi. He did not choose to switch defense and chased Rukawa to the bottom corner.
With the ball, Ichiro Katsume made a fake shot and passed the ball. Although he failed to touch down on Mitsui Shou, he successfully passed the ball to Sakuragi who was running to the middle distance on the left.
When the basketball fell into Sakuragi's hands, Chiba, who was chasing him, was still two body lengths away from him. This third-year power forward's off-ball running speed was far slower than Sakuragi Hanamichi, so Sakuragi took advantage of the opportunity and successfully ran out of the open space.
"Nice post!"
"Look at this genius's projection!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi shouted excitedly after receiving the ball, then turned around and took a mid-range shot.
"Hahahaha! I really am a genius~"
At a zero-degree angle, Sakuragi Hanamichi's mid-range shot went directly into the net.
"Um?!"
"It's actually this kid Sakuragi. Has he moved to this position already..."
“There has been improvement in tactical literacy.”
Wudao turned his head and happened to see the basketball go into the net. He looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi near the sideline and nodded slightly.
"Qingfeng..."
"If it were you, would you be able to keep up with that person's breakthrough just now?"
Off the court, Akashi Seijuro looked at Rukawa Kaede who was returning to defense and asked with a serious expression.
Although Rukawa's breakthrough just now failed to successfully penetrate Budo's defense, the ability Rukawa showed in that attack and defense left a deep impression on Akashi Seijuro. The continuous fake dribbling with the ball was elegant and smooth. He had never seen such a superb move in a campus basketball game.
Akashi had never seen Rukawa in the previous practice match with Shohoku, and was now full of curiosity about the powerful Rukawa.
"... .." Aomine Daiki did not answer Akashi Seijuro's question. His eyes wandered between Rukawa Kaede and Jinguji, with a dazed look on his face.
Although he did not get a reply from Aomine, Akashi Seijuro already knew the answer to the question.
Qingfeng is the best one-on-one defender in their team and also the fastest. If even he can't keep up, then there's no way the others can catch up.
but... ..
The ace of Xiangbei was obviously on the defensive side, but he was able to keep up with Rukawa's advance. Such leg strength and experience were beyond the imagination of the Teikoku players.
The Xiangbei senior team began to organize an attack.
Aomine Daiki, Akashi and others all focused their attention on the matchup between Jinguji Takeshi and Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Although they don't know what tactics Xiangbei is using now, they know that no matter what tactics it is, the team's ace will never be invisible during the game.
And the red-haired player who was sent to face off against the team's ace had made them lose their minds in defense in the warm-up match just now.
The Jedi is a battle between dragons and tigers, that’s what the members of Teiko think.
The senior team took up their positions, and after Miyagi and other players got into position, they passed the ball to Jinguji Budo.
Facing Sakuragi Hanamichi, Takeshi received the ball and made a fake pass to Akagi. The naive Sakuragi subconsciously turned his head to look. However, Takeshi did not take this opportunity to break through, but instead looked at Sakuragi with a smile on his face.
"Damn it! I got cheated!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi did not see the basketball fly into Akagi's hands. Realizing that he had been deceived, he turned back and cursed, staring at the basketball in Takeshi's hands, trying to judge Takeshi's offensive intentions based on the position of the basketball.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who has been playing for a year, has some rich defensive experience. Moreover, this kid's talent is outstanding and he already knows some defensive skills.
"Sakuragi, when defending, you can't just watch the ball! You have to pay attention to the body movements of the offensive players."
As he was speaking, Wudao suddenly threw the ball with his back to the basket. After a shake of his shoulder, the basketball fell from Wudao's right hand, hit Sakuragi's feet and bounced backwards. However, Wudao himself turned around from the left side and passed Sakuragi Hanamichi in an instant.
The ball passed to the player.
Sakuragi couldn't see when Takeshi dropped the ball, and his shoulder swing also deceived him. It was not until Takeshi passed through him and caught the ball behind him that Sakuragi realized that he had been broken through by Takeshi Jinguji.
After passing Sakuragi, Budo found himself in an open space but did not take a shot himself. Instead, he passed the ball directly to Takenori Akagi in the inside.
After receiving the ball in the paint, Takenori Akagi raised the ball and shot the fake point, which deceived Nango's center of gravity. He then dropped the ball and took a low step to invade the paint area, pushing Nango Koichiro away and scoring a one-handed dunk.
In attack and defense, Akagi vs. Nanxiang is quite like Yao Ming playing against a small team.
"Good job, Akagi."
Wudao smiled and celebrated by hitting the ball with Akagi who was returning to defense. In response to Wudao's praise, Akagi just nodded calmly, without any arrogance or impetuosity. He was completely different from Sakuragi who scored the goal before.
"Sakuragi, when defending, you have to watch the ball, not just the body movements. Body movements can be deceiving, but the ball can't!"
When Wudao was about to return to defense, he seemed to suddenly remember something and said to Sakuragi Hanamichi with a smile.
"Um?!"
"Didn't you just say that we can't just look at the ball, we have to look at the body parts?!"
Sakuragi was stunned when he heard this and asked angrily.
"Literally."
"You can't just look at the ball, and you can't just look at the body."
"Look at it together!"
"Are you a child? Either black or white?"
Wudao said with a smile, and quickly returned to defense. Sakuragi Hanamichi snorted angrily, stamped his feet as if to vent his anger, and then quickly ran to the front court, ready to attack.
Jinguji Budo's strange behavior on the offensive end obviously attracted the attention of the Teiko players. They all noticed the abnormality of Jinguji Budo just now.
Although he had a wide-open shooting opportunity, he did not shoot it himself, but instead chose to pass the ball.
They may think that Budo does not have the ability to shoot three-pointers, but they will definitely not think that Xiangbei's ace does not have the ability to shoot mid-range shots.
It was obvious that Jinguji Budo did that on purpose, but as to why, the Teiko team members could only guess.
"The ace of Xiangbei is so strong..."
"That red-haired guy is so good at defense, but he can't defend that guy at all."
"He's so tall, but his skills are so superb, and his speed is so terrifying."
"Are all high school basketball team ace players like this?"
Aomine Daiki's expression showed a bit of yearning, and he couldn't help but say to himself. After seeing the level of high school basketball, Aomine Daiki was no longer satisfied with junior high school level games.
“How is it possible…”
"Didn't I say it before? Xiangbei is a strong team with the potential to win the national championship."
"Their ace, Jinguji Budo, is also one of the best high school students in the country."
"That's just a few goals? His ability is much stronger than you think."
"What is revealed now is just the tip of the iceberg."
"It's too early for you to compare with him, but don't be discouraged. With your talent, one day you will reach his level of strength."
“I have no doubt about that.”
Director Sanada came behind Aomine Daiki at some point, patted Aomine on the shoulder and said with a smile. He was full of expectations for the future of Aomine and others.
"Of course!" Qingfeng Daiki nodded heavily, full of confidence in his talent.
On the court, Xiangbei's internal team practice match is still going on.
In this game, Budo, the team's trump card, was completely invisible. He was more of an assist to Akagi and Mitsui Shou, which affected the defense of the first-year players. Akagi was overwhelming in the interior, and Mitsui Shou was able to get whatever he wanted on the outside. Miyagi Ryouta would also double-team from time to time and make open cuts, completely dismembering the defense of the first-year players.
The triangle offense tactic has revealed a glimpse of its power.
As for the freshmen, the triangle offense tactic was difficult to implement. Rukawa was not invincible in singles, and Nango in the interior was unable to push his opponent aside in front of Akagi. Most of the time he could only play supporting role. The two corners of the triangle offense had no advantage at all, and Katsume Ichiro rarely had the chance to receive the ball.
Because Rukawa's outside singles and Nango Koichiro's inside singles could not attract Mitsui's double-team, it was difficult for him to get an open opportunity to receive the ball.
For a moment, the ones who took the most offensive shots were Sakuragi, who was running actively, and Kiyota Nobunaga, who had a slight height advantage.
The weak triangle of the triangle offense has become the main force of the offense.
The same tactics had completely two different effects in Xiangbei High School's warm-up match.
Wudou was quite open-minded about the fact that the first-years were not able to use this tactic well.
After all, the triangle offense is essentially a tactic to strengthen singles. Over the years in the NBA, the ones who dominated with this tactic were the Bulls led by Jordan and Pippen and the Lakers led by O'Neal and Kobe.
Rukawa and Nango are not enough to support Shohoku.
It’s the same old saying.
The future is yours, but the present is still ours!
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