After the dunk, Jinguji Budo turned around and returned to defense.
Under the basket, Mike Okita lowered his head and looked at his hands. After a long time, he turned his head and looked at Jinguji Budo who was leaving.
The feeling of touching the basketball just now was so clear, and my fingertips were slightly numb because of the friction between my fingers and the basketball.
"There is no doubt that I definitely caught up with that ball just now."
"It seems that we must block him from the front!"
Mike Okita clenched his right fist, his expression firm. At this time, the Green Wind players also returned to their own half of the court. After Mike Okita served the ball from the baseline, he immediately ran to the front court.
Jinguji Budo's two consecutive slam dunks had a significant impact on Green Wind, which could be heard from the cheers of the audience.
The Green Wind students, who were originally in high spirits, were surprisingly silent at this moment. Jinguji Budo's two consecutive slams directly shut the Green Wind students up.
Mike Okita was also very experienced in playing basketball, and he knew that he had to score immediately, otherwise Midorikaze would be overwhelmed by Jinguji Budo's spirit.
Quickly entering the frontcourt, Mike Okita still positioned himself outside the three-point line this time. It was not because he didn't want to cut into the inside, but the main reason was that the inside of Xiangbei was already full of people at this time.
Sakuragi and Nango from Shohoku, Mitsuru Nagao and Tetsuya Naito from Green Wind, these four people stood in the inside, and the inside was already airtight, and there was no so-called opportunity for open cutting at all.
If they want to break into the inside, what they have to do is to find a way to pull people out of the inside.
The prerequisite for this is that Mike Okita needs to break through Jinguji Budo's defense and attract the inside players to make up for the defense. Otherwise, Sakuragi and the others will not be able to pull out and will only stand inside waiting for the rebound.
"Snap!" The basketball hit the ground and Mike Okita took a step forward and caught the ball in his hands.
This time, Jinguji Budou did not come up immediately. Because Mike Okita stepped forward to receive the ball, he was about one meter away from the three-point line.
Takeshi Jinguji and Mike Okita were half a meter apart, guarding against the opponent's breakthrough, but Takeshi Jinguji had no defense at all against the long three-pointer.
Not everyone is like him and Mitsui Hisashi who can shoot three-pointers from this position. People of this generation will never shoot if they can break through, and will never ask for three-pointers if they can get two points.
The times will more or less limit players' breakthroughs.
Sure enough, Mike Okita, who was holding the ball, didn't even make a fake shot, but dropped the ball directly and moved to the top of the arc. Tsurumi Seiji, who was originally standing at the top of the arc, also sank to the bottom corner. Even the two Green Wind players in the interior moved to the bottom corners on both sides, leaving the middle empty.
Sakuragi and Nanxiang didn't understand what was going on, but they knew what their mission was. They stood guard on both sides of the paint area, glancing at the people they were guarding from time to time, waiting for Green Wind to launch an attack.
"One-on-one at the top of the arc?!"
"good!
”
"Come!"
When Mike Okita was dribbling the ball sideways, Wu Dao observed the running positions of other Green Wind players while following up. Realizing what Mike Okita was going to do, Wu Dao became excited, lowered his body, slammed the floor with his hands, and growled.
Mike Okita is worthy of being a player who grew up in the United States. Regardless of his strength, his playing style is very American.
Mike Okita lowered his waist, dribbled the ball between his legs, and slowly approached the three-point line. Without thinking too much, Wudao rushed forward and stuck directly in front of Mike Okita, with his chest directly against Mike Okita's body.
As the power came, Mike Okita turned around, releasing the power of martial arts, and tried to break through martial arts' defense. However, the light in front of him disappeared in an instant, replaced by a bright red.
"The footwork is very fast, and the transition from lifting step to sliding step is very quick."
Mike Okita's heart sank, he made an abrupt stop, changed his dribble between his legs, and accelerated again. On the opposite side of him, Jinguji Takeshi slid and changed direction, easily following Mike Okita's change of direction, and Mike's body directly hit Takeshi's chest.
The huge force made Mike Okita pause, and even the rhythm of his dribbling became disordered. Mike Okita had no choice but to stop, dribbling the ball with one hand and retreating, while adjusting the rhythm of his dribbling.
Budo didn't follow this time, allowing Mike Okita to adjust his rhythm and attack again.
"This guy is so tall, but his footwork is very flexible. It's not easy for him to break through facing the basket."
"Hit me from behind? No, this guy is quite strong."
"So strong... He is indeed a player who has made a name for himself in the United States."
While adjusting the rhythm, Mike Okita was also thinking about ways to break through Jinguji Budou. He did not think of relying on his teammates' pick-and-roll. This was a battle between him and Jinguji Budou.
Although Mike thought so, Huili on the sidelines had no idea what Mike Okita was thinking. Seeing Mike struggling, he immediately shouted to the players on the field:
"Go up and help! Why are you just standing there watching?"
"Pick and roll!"
Coach Ofuna didn't say anything, but the team manager Huili couldn't hold back any longer. Although she liked basketball, her understanding of the game and the players was still not deep enough.
However, as a young lady, she has long been accustomed to giving orders.
Sure enough, when the players on the field heard Huili's call, they all became eager to go for screen and roll.
However, Mike Okita, who was holding the ball at the top of the arc, pressed down with his left hand, signaling his teammates not to get close. After receiving Mike Okita's signal, the Green Wind players froze there for a moment, unable to move forward or not, and could only turn their heads to look at Huili on the sidelines.
Mike Okita knew that he couldn't wait any longer, otherwise, he didn't know what his teammates would do.
He just straightened his waist and bowed outside the three-point line. Then, regardless of Wu Dao's reaction, he dribbled in the air and broke through.
"There is no other way, just use speed!" Mike Okita was determined. He leaned forward, broke through Jinguji Budou's side and rushed quickly to the inside.
“Breakthrough!”
The light in front of him made Mike Okita happy, and the relatively empty basket made Mike feel comfortable. But at this moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was originally planning to move up to defend, seemed to have seen something, and at this moment he actually stopped and stepped aside, leaving the basket empty!
"Um?!"
Mike Okita, who was confused, immediately realized what happened. He dribbled the ball forward and tilted his head slightly to look behind him. Sure enough, Jinguji Budo, who he had just broken through, was following behind him. His indifferent expression made Mike Okita feel depressed.
"It's not that easy!"
"Then let's use our talents to win!"
Mike Okita looked at the basket again, without slowing down, and in the blink of an eye, he was directly approaching the basket.
In the United States, the skill gap between top players at the same position is not that big, if it is big.
Talent is the standard for measuring top players.
Speed, jumping ability, strength, and physical talent are the selection criteria of various colleges and professional leagues.
Mike Okita, who is rated as a four-star player, is definitely one of the top talents in high school basketball.
Kick the ball and jump.
After Mike Okita approached the basket, he took off directly. Mike Okita just lifted the ball slightly and then took it back into his arms, hovering in the air in a curled up posture.
Compared to jumping with arms raised, this curled-up posture can maximize one's ability to stay in the air. Behind him, Jinguji Budo raised his arms and also jumped up. His tall figure enveloped Mike Okita in the shadow.
"Why is he... still here?!"
Although he was suspended in the air for only a short moment, in Mike Okita's mind, time passed very slowly. When he felt that he had almost gotten rid of Jinguji Budou and could make a move, he suddenly realized that Jinguji Budou was still there, and the shadow was still blocking his face.
His body began to fall, and Mike Okita knew that he could not wait any longer.
The basketball switched to his left hand, and he swung his arm directly, hooking the ball into the basket.
The basketball was shot, and the shadow covering his face finally disappeared. However, the next second, Mike Okita heard a soft "bang" sound.
He raised his head slightly and saw that the basketball he had just hooked out was now firmly pressed on the backboard by Jinguji Budou with both hands.
A two-handed block shot shows the absolute talent gap.
Takeshi Jinguji caught the ball with both hands and it fell back to the ground. Mike Okita rushed forward several steps because of the momentum before he could barely stand still. At this time, Takeshi Jinguji had already thrown the ball to Mitsui Hisashi, who took the ball and advanced towards the front court.
Looking back at Mike Okita, Jinguji Budo said calmly:
"Four-star high school student."
"Such a reputation cannot serve as a capital to gain a foothold on the court."
"You becoming a four-star high school student is the culmination of your talent and hard work."
"But I'm different from you. My ranking is just based on my evaluation of playing in Oak Hill for half a year. That's all."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jinguji Budou kept up with Shohoku's pace and ran quickly towards the front court.
However, Shohoku's offense does not need to rely entirely on the performance of Jinguji Budo. At least, a team of the level of Green Wind High School cannot pose much threat to Shohoku.
Although Mitsui Shou played as a point guard in this game, he would not deliberately let go of the opportunity. He slowly dribbled the ball to the three-point line and then accelerated to break through. When he was luring the opponent to chase him, he made an emergency stop, stepped back, and shot a jump shot.
Two points later, as the basketball went into the net, the score between Xiangbei High School and Green Wind High School reached 6:0.
The gap in strength is so huge that even people who don’t know much about football can see the difference in strength between the two teams after watching this opening.
In the transition between offense and defense, Mike Okita had adjusted his mentality. Having played basketball in the United States since he was a child, he quickly faced the reality. After all, he had encountered setbacks more than once or twice, and he had long since corrected his habit of being overambitious and incompetent.
Mike Okita knows very well that the world is big and there are many players who are more talented and stronger than him. When he was playing in the United States, he also encountered many opponents who crushed him.
If you are not the opponent in a one-on-one match, do you have to give up the game? If so, the Bulls led by Jordan probably would not lose a single game. After all, in this era, who can say that they can surpass Jordan in a one-on-one match
Besides, if he is no match for his opponent in a one-on-one fight, is there no other way to break through Jinguji's martial arts
Isn't the purpose of tactics and methods to defeat the strong with the weak? ! Mike Okita is not a stubborn player. It is impossible for him to continue to be stubborn after knowing the strength of the opponent.
As the Tsurumi brothers dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, Mike Okita immediately made a gesture to Naito in the interior. The latter understood Mike Okita's intention and immediately moved up to set a screen. With the help of Naito Tetsuya's screen, Mike Okita quickly passed Jinguji Budo and cut towards the basket.
At this moment, Keiji Tsurumi passed the ball to Mike Okita, who just reached the basket and made a reverse layup, scoring the goal. Sakuragi Hanamichi's attention was attracted by Naito's advancement, while Nango Koichiro's explosiveness was not as good as Mike Okita's. By the time he reached the highest point, the basketball had already entered the net.
It has to be said that Mike Okita's personal strength is quite good. Except for the disadvantage when facing Jinguji Budou, he had no problem facing Nango Koichiro. He was able to use his burst to easily score the ball in front of Nango.
Budou, who was slightly delayed by Naito, did not show any surprise when he saw the opponent score a goal.
In a one-on-one situation, Jinguji Budo could beat Ichiro Katsumi to a pulp, but this was a five-on-five match after all. It was difficult to completely shut down an ace-level player, unless... he met someone like Rukawa Kaede, who would hold the ball and not pass it when he saw an opponent stronger than him.
"Mike Okita has strong personal abilities. His talent is one level higher than Rukawa Kaede and he is on par with Sakuragi. His skills are also very comprehensive."
"If I were to face off against Rukawa Kaede, I'd estimate the odds would be 64-40."
"Also, his playing style is very mature and he can bend and stretch, which is pretty good."
"He's an opponent worth defeating!"
Takeshi Jinguji evaluated Mike Okita in his heart. After entering the frontcourt, he leaned against Mike Okita and raised his hand to ask Mitsui Hisashi for the ball.
When Mitsui saw that Takeshi was actually interested in playing with the ball, he directly passed the ball to Takeshi.
Just like Mike Okita before, Wudao also took a step forward when receiving the ball and held the ball in his hand with his back to the basket. However, Wudao did not rush to turn around and face the basket. Instead, he grabbed the ball with one hand and held it high, straightened his waist slightly, leaned back slightly, and quickly glanced at Mike's position sideways, testing the defensive strength of Mike Okita.
Seeing that the opponent's center of gravity was relatively low, Wudao quickly swept the ball and turned around. After a breakthrough fake, he pulled back and pulled up on the spot.
The position where Jinguji Budou shot was more than one meter away from the three-point line, and there were still about twenty seconds left for the attack. All the Green Wind teammates were stunned by such a hasty shot.
Mike Okita also looked back and happened to see Jinguji Takeshi's figure quickly passing by him, and he also heard Jinguji Takeshi's light voice in his ears.
"Oops, I didn't use enough force~"
Sure enough, the basketball hit the front of the blue ball and went straight out of the rim. The people under the basket raised their heads and looked at the basket, and they didn't notice that Jinguji Budo, who had just shot from outside the three-point line, had already rushed into the inside.
Under the basket, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Naito Tetsuya were blocking each other. Sakuragi, who was at a weight disadvantage, could only rely on a lower center of gravity to ensure that his position was not compressed. In this way, although he managed to maintain his position, it was impossible for Sakuragi to fully utilize his jumping ability.
Although Naito's position is not good, he is able to make full use of his jumping ability.
As the basketball fell, both of them jumped up at the same time. Naito Tetsuya was a little higher than Sakuragi and was about to catch the ball.
But at this moment, something strange happened. An arm suddenly stretched out from behind him. It was 20 to 30 centimeters taller than Naito. It grabbed the ball first and dunked it towards the basket.
“Bang!”
There was a huge force behind me and a loud slam dunk sound above my head.
After landing, Naito Tetsuya was unable to stand steadily and fell to the ground with Sakuragi.
Takeshi Jinguji grabbed the basket with one hand and looked down at Naito on the ground. The spotlight shone down, and the shadow of Takeshi Jinguji completely enveloped Naito Tetsuya and Sakuragi Hanamichi.
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