What Coach Gaotou said to the players in the locker room really gave the players great encouragement.
Many of the Hainan players had lost confidence in the second half of the game. They were already 12 points behind Shohoku High School when Jinguji Budou didn't play at full strength. It was hard for them to imagine how the game would turn out if Jinguji Budou took over the offensive ball in the second half.
However, Coach Gaotou's remarks restored the confidence of the Hainan players.
Yes! Even if they couldn't defend Jinguji Budo, what would happen? Didn't Xiangbei High School also fail to defend their first-year star center, Mori Shigehiro
As long as Hainan can maintain their offensive firepower, the outcome of the game is still uncertain.
Will Xiangbei High School definitely be stronger than Kainan by relying on Jinguji Budo's outside shooting? !
With this mentality, Hainan's players suddenly became full of confidence, and the substitutes who were originally a little disappointed were all excitedly looking forward to the start of the second half of the game.
Twenty minutes of halftime.
For high school games in this era, such a long rest period is enough for the players to recover most of their physical strength. This competition system also allows some teams that are stubborn about starting to survive.
Even the once powerful team, Hainan High School, has now benefited from this competition system. After the starting players such as Maki Shinichi and Mori Shigehiro had sufficient rest time, they were all in very good mental states when they returned to the court.
First-year player Mori Shigehiro was clearly shouldering the most tiring task of a center, taking care of both offense and defense, but after returning to the court, no one could see even a hint of fatigue on his face.
"Oh! Hainan's players are in pretty good spirits."
"It seems that we had a good rest during the halftime break, not only in terms of physical strength, but also in terms of fighting spirit."
In the rest area of Shohoku High School, Jinguji Takeshi and his teammates stood together, waiting for the start of the second half of the game while observing the status of the Hainan players.
The injured Akagi Takenori has also returned to the court, but he did not appear on the court, but sat in the rest area, ready to watch his teammates' game. His foot injury has been properly treated, and the rest is to rely on recuperation.
"Of course. The difference was only 12 points. How could Hainan lose its fighting spirit like that?"
"In the second half, Hainan will definitely show even stronger strength. These guys are definitely not the kind of people who will give up easily!"
Mitsui said as a matter of course that he was not surprised that the Hainan players were in such a mental state.
"You have a point."
"If that's the case, then I'll personally put an end to Hainan's idea of winning."
Budou stretched the muscles of his shoulders and neck, pinched his neck, and said with a smile. Upon hearing this, the surrounding Xiangbei players also looked at Jinguji Budou, their eyes full of expectation.
However, Rukawa Kaede did not show a similar expression on his face. He was different from the other members of the Shohoku team. They could accept being knocked down by Jinguji Budo, but he absolutely could not accept it!
On the court, Rukawa Kaede will never allow himself to accept mediocrity.
In this game, he will also use his strength to contribute to the victory of Xiangbei High School!
With this in mind, Rukawa's aura changed significantly, becoming eager for victory and showing his edge. Most of the Xiangbei players focused their attention on Budo, and only a few people noticed the change in Rukawa's aura.
"Ryukawa Kaede..."
"This stinky fox will definitely want to be in the spotlight, I absolutely cannot let him succeed!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi is worthy of being Rukawa's "archenemy". He was the first to notice the change in Rukawa's momentum. Looking at Rukawa's cold expression, he said in his heart.
"This kid... is very motivated!"
"Maybe I can save some energy."
"Come to think of it, since entering Shohoku, Rukawa Kaede hasn't played a formal game happily, right?"
"Give this kid some room to perform."
Wudao also noticed Rukawa's condition. He could feel Rukawa's fighting spirit and smiled secretly in his heart.
Not long after, three referees stood up from the referee's seat and began to walk towards the court. At the same time, a sharp whistle sounded from the sidelines.
Before the Xiangbei team went on the court, they gathered in a circle and shouted "Come on" before entering the court. This kind of self-encouragement before the game also happened in the rest area of Hainan. In fact, Hainan's shout of "Win" was even louder than that of Xiangbei, showing high morale.
As the players of both teams returned to the field, the audience in the stands cheered enthusiastically. The twenty-minute break did not dampen the audience's enthusiasm for watching the game.
The court changed, and a jump ball was called in the center circle. Koichirō Nango and Shigehiro Mori stood on the center circle, one on the left and one on the right.
The rest of the players took their positions in the center circle, leaving only the point guards of the two teams standing in their respective half of the court, waiting for the jump ball to start.
“Beep—”
The referee stood on the center line with the basketball, and after a whistle, he threw the ball high into the air.
"I will never lose to you, Fatty from Hainan!
”
The basketball was thrown into the air, and Nango Koichirō's blood boiled. He shouted, jumped up first, and hit the basketball.
"... ..."
"Dye Monkey.....this big idiot...."
However, Koichirō Nango was apparently a little too excited and wanted to show himself too much, so he jumped up too early. His body reached the highest point, but his hands couldn't reach the basketball, so he began to fall.
Such control of timing made Sakuragi Hanamichi couldn't help but complain.
When Nango Koichiro began to fall, Mori Shigehiro jumped up, easily touched the basketball, and hit the ball towards Maki Shinichi in his backcourt.
Without any pressure, Hainan won the jump ball easily.
"What?!
!”
“Ahhh!”
Nango Koichiro saw the basketball being taken away by the opponent, and he held his head and shouted in frustration, while the other members of Xiangbei had already run back to defend. Rukawa even added:
"Get back on defense, idiot!"
When Nango Koichiro heard Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede mocking him and was about to fight back, he saw the huge figure of Mori Shigehiro passing by him. He immediately closed his mouth, quickened his pace, passed Mori Shigehiro, and quickly returned to his own basket.
Hainan, who controlled the ball, had no intention of launching a fast break, and Maki Shinichi, who had the ball in the backcourt, advanced very slowly.
"It's still a positional battle. Is Hainan still planning to attack Mori Shigekuan?"
"It was a very rational decision. They didn't lose their composure because of the score difference. Hainan is indeed a country trained by Gaotou."
In the stands, Coach Tiangang watched Maki Shinichi's steady progress and Hainan's orderly positioning, and couldn't help but admire him. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he had to say that Hainan, led by Coach Gaotou, was an excellent team.
But... Hainan doesn’t have any national star-level ace brands!
As Maki Shinichi dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, Jinguji Budou's defense immediately came up. The defensive pressure of the two-meter-tall man put considerable pressure on Maki Shinichi, causing him to stop his advance more than two meters away from the three-point line.
"Amu, what's wrong?"
"Are you just going to cling to that first-year student? Do you expect that first-year student to help you win the game?"
"If that's the case, pass the ball quickly. I won't stop you."
Jinguji Takeshi saw Maki Shinichi's intention to pass the ball, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said immediately, even intentionally retracting his open arms, as if he really would not stop you from passing the ball.
Shinichi Maki was not moved at all by the verbal provocation. After a feint, he passed the ball sideways. Jinguji Takeshi, who had pretended not to block the pass a second ago, suddenly took a step forward and tried to steal the ball.
However, Wudao was attracted by Maki Shinichi's feint and was half a beat slower, so he failed to grab the ball.
The basketball was passed sideways smoothly and landed in Muto's hands, and the person responsible for defending Muto was Miyagi Ryouta.
Masaru Muto, a junior at Hainan High School, is 185cm tall and weighs 75kg. He plays as a forward.
His greatest personal achievement was probably leading a group of small-time players from Hainan to easily defeat Wuyuan High School.
Is he strong? That depends on who he is compared with. If he is compared with the regular starting lineups of the top 8 teams in Kanagawa Prefecture, Muto Masaru should be very strong.
Although Miyagi Ryouta, who was facing him, was the main point guard of Shohoku High School, he was 168cm tall and weighed 59kg, so it was a bit difficult for him to deal with Muto.
Coach Takato also saw through this, so he replaced Xiaoguan, who was still pretty good at defense, with Muto Masaru, who was more of an offensive threat.
His plan was to let Muto be the second ball handler besides Maki Shinichi to assist Mori Shigehiro in the attack on the left inside line!
After getting the ball, Muto Masaru did not just pass the ball to the opponent like Xiaoguan in the second half of the court. Instead, he received the ball at the top of the arc and took the ball away from the corner where Wudao and Maki Shinichi were. After creating a certain distance, he actually started to back-up Miyagi Ryouta from outside the three-point line.
The huge physical advantage actually allowed Muto Masaru to carry the ball and forcibly penetrate the defense of Miyagi Ryouta, and successfully pressed into the mid-range. And along the way, Miyagi Ryouta had no choice but to push against the opponent's back and maintain his position as much as possible.
But how could he, who weighs 59kg, possibly stop Masaru Muto, who weighs 75kg and is half a head taller than him
This 16cm height difference and this 30kg weight difference cannot be made up by perseverance and fighting spirit alone.
After entering the mid-range, Kazuma Takasago helped to make a pick-and-roll, and Masaru Muto turned around and broke through, and at the same time attracted Sakuragi Hanamichi's backup defense. However, after Sakuragi chased up, Masaru Muto passed the ball directly back and sent the ball to Takasago who had set the pick-and-roll. Takasago took the ball one step further and easily completed the shot in front of Miyagi Ryouta.
The basketball went straight into the net.
Miyagi Ryouta couldn't even defend against Muto, so it was even more impossible for him to defend Takasago Kazuma, who was 191cm tall and weighed 80kg. He could only watch the basketball go into the net.
After an easy and smooth attack, the Hainan players clapped their hands and began to defend. Before leaving, Maki Shinichi did not forget to respond to the ridicule from Jinguji Budou.
"In martial arts, I am indeed not as good as you."
"Seurewa Doukana?"
"As long as we, Hainan, can beat you, Xiangbei, isn't that enough?!"
As expected of being called a "middle-aged man" by Sakuragi, Shinichi Maki has a very stable mentality and does not look like a 17-year-old young man who is easily excited.
Wu Dao smiled when he heard this, but after Mu Shenyi left, Wu Dao's face darkened.
Hainan has finally pointed its fangs at the fertile fields of Miyagi!
Mori Shigehiro's strength made Hainan play inside offense throughout the first half, but after calming down, Hainan finally realized the real weakness of Xiangbei.
It is actually very easy for Xiangbei High School to make up for this weakness. Just replace Mitsui Hisashi with Miyagi. A simple substitution can naturally make up for this weakness.
But Wudao didn't know why Coach Anxi didn't arrange it this way. Maybe he wanted to continue training in Miyagi.
Without thinking any more, as the ball possession changed, the Xiangbei players quickly ran towards the frontcourt.
At present, there are no third-year players on the court at Xiangbei High School. Nanxiang Koichiro, who replaced Akagi Takenori, is also a stamina monster. At the beginning of the second half, there is no need to suppress the number of offensive rounds like in the last minute of the first half.
Xiangbei's offensive rhythm suddenly picked up.
In just a few seconds, Shohoku had already taken position in the frontcourt, and Miyagi Ryouta had already approached the top of the arc with the ball.
Without waiting for Ryouta Miyagi to pass the ball to Jinguji Budou, Rukawa Kaede actually approached Miyagi quickly from the side and actually helped Ryouta Miyagi to set a pick-and-roll.
Miyagi, who was about to pass the ball, was unwilling to give up the opportunity that was right in front of him, so he accelerated and broke through, following the direction of Rukawa's pick-and-roll, and rushed towards the inside.
However, the defensive switch between Kamiso Ichiro and Muto was also quite fast, and the breaking Miyagi was directly blocked by the 189cm tall Asami.
The 21cm height difference brings a sense of oppression that others cannot understand at all.
With the pressure suddenly increasing, Miyagi wanted to perform a classic small-vs-big show for the audience, but he heard a low cry from behind him.
"Hey~"
Rukawa Kaede!
At this time, Rukawa had actually opened up a gap of two body lengths between himself and the pursuing Muto, and asked Miyagi for the ball.
Nice gap.
Miyagi did not hesitate and passed the ball directly, sending it accurately into Rukawa's hands.
Rukawa got the ball and dropped it, accelerating to break through. Muto, who was chasing him from behind, just wanted to block Rukawa at this moment, accelerating with all his strength without stopping for a moment.
However, when Muto came in front of Rukawa and wanted to stop Rukawa from breaking through, Rukawa, who had just dropped the ball, pulled back and suddenly stopped. The next second, he took a mid-range jump shot.
A beautiful fake stop directly shook off Muto's pursuit.
The basketball flew out of Rukawa's hands, and with a "swish" sound, it fell directly and accurately into the basket.
"Oh! What a beautiful shooting posture!"
"Who is that? Is he also a first-year student at Shohoku?"
"Rukawa Kaede! That's Rukawa Kaede from Takeishi Junior High School."
With just one ball, Rukawa attracted the attention of many spectators. Some of the spectators had never seen Rukawa play basketball, and they exclaimed in amazement at this moment.
"Good shot, Rukawa!"
"Os."
Miyagi Ryouta and Rukawa Kaede high-fived to celebrate and then began to return to defense.
Wu Dao watched the cooperation between the two men, pinched the back of his neck, and suddenly laughed.
"This kid... quietly created an 'open space' and seized the initiative in the attack."
"Everyone's attention is on me. That kid is using me as bait."
"Do you want to take away the ball possession from me, the ace on the court?"
Rukawa's move broke the offensive habits of Xiangbei High School.
That is for all positional attacks, the basketball must pass through Wudao's hands before he can shoot.
The appearance of Rukawa Kaede broke this habit of Xiangbei.
This is also an alternative challenge that Rukawa Kaede has launched to martial arts!
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