During the timeout, Coach Anzai's instructions to Takeshi Jinguji and Mitsui Hisashi were not to find a way to win the game, but to let Takeshi Jinguji and Mitsui Hisashi relax appropriately.
This was something Jinguji Budo had not expected at first. Budo had wanted to fight quickly and get rid of Green Wind High School as soon as possible. After gaining an absolute advantage, he would take a good rest. He and Mike Okita had already had several confrontations and had a clear understanding of each other's strength.
From a martial arts perspective, there was no way Mike Okita could be his opponent, the gap between the two was obvious.
However, Coach Anzai really didn't want to miss such a good opportunity. Although Mike Okita was not as good as Jinguji Budou, he was still a four-star high school student in the United States. He might be a little tender to be Budou's opponent, but he was just right to be Mitsui Shou and Rukawa Kaede's opponent.
For a player to grow, it is obviously not enough to rely on his own practice. Excellent opponents are also indispensable on the player's growth path.
A good competitive environment is very conducive to the growth of players.
The reason why Chinese table tennis is so strong is not only because of the system construction, nor because the yellow race really has more advantages than other races in this event. It is just because the growth environment of the players is extremely harsh. Every player who stands out has defeated countless talented opponents before he can successfully get to the top.
The same is true for American basketball.
After fierce competition among countless talented players, only the real strong ones can stand out.
Coach Anzai hopes that Rukawa and Mitsui can play against more powerful opponents, but in the current high school basketball environment in Kanagawa, strong opponents are hard to come by. Mike Okita and his Green Wind High School are a rare opponent!
"Since you said so, coach, I will switch defense with Xiao San first."
"Let Xiao San feel the strength of the 'star player' first."
Wudao listened to Coach Anxi's words, nodded, and agreed immediately. To be honest, Wudao no longer has much interest in Mike Okita.
However, when Mitsui Shou heard this, he shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's give this opportunity to that kid Rukawa Kaede."
"I have trained in the United States for a while, and I know what opponents of that level are like."
“Although I didn’t fight Mike Okita directly, I think he and I were just exploding each other.”
"His physical fitness and jumping ability are better than mine. Once he rushes into the inside, I can't stop him."
"But at the same time, if I want to attack, he can't stop me."
"Compared to me, this opponent is more suitable for Rukawa Kaede."
"Budou and I will escort Rukawa Kaede on the court!"
Mitsui Shou said this, turning his head to look at Rukawa Kaede, who was standing and resting with his hands on his hips, with a smile on his face.
Mitsui Shou actually had something in his heart that he hadn't said yet, which was his current grade! Compared to the first-year Rukawa Kaede, he, a third-year senior, was already considered an old man of Xiangbei.
After this year, Mitsui will go to college. At the same time, Mitsui is also planning to see the outside world. His family has already contacted American schools for him. Through some financial means, Mitsui has actually received commitments from some American colleges. It can be said that Mitsui has already stepped half a foot into the American college basketball world.
After he leaves, the future of Xiangbei will ultimately depend on first-year players like Rukawa Kaede.
Rukawa Kaede's growth is very important to Shohoku!
"What's there to be modest about?!"
"There's still a lot of time left in the game. Rukawa Kaede should go test the waters first. When they're almost there, you can go in."
"It's not like the other side only fought for a few minutes."
Jinguji Takeshi didn't know what Mitsui Shou was thinking, and he couldn't understand why there was anything to be entangled about such a thing. He patted Mitsui Shou on the back and said immediately.
While the two were talking, the one-minute pause passed quietly.
As the referee blew the whistle, the players from Xiangbei High School and Green Wind High School returned to the court.
I don’t know what advice Green Wind’s coach Dachuan gave to these players, but after returning to the court, the Green Wind players seemed to have regained their confidence, and the previous team conflicts seemed to have been completely resolved after the timeout.
When Wu Dao saw the expressions of the Green Wind team members, he touched his chin and suddenly laughed.
"That's fine. If we give up like this, this competition will really be meaningless!"
"Hey, Rukawa Kaede, I'm going to switch defense with you. I'll leave that yellow-haired guy to you!"
The Xiangbei players returned to the court and took position in their own half. Before the timeout, Xiangbei had just scored an attack. While Green Wind High School was organizing the attack, Wudao immediately shouted to Rukawa.
Rukawa Kaede, whose name was called, turned and looked at Jinguji Budo with a confused look on his face.
Although he wanted to play against Mike Okita, Rukawa Kaede could see that Mike Okita was obviously going after Jinguji Budou. Why would Budou suddenly let him play in a match between two ace teams? !
Could it be that... .
While Rukawa was thinking, Budo had already looked at the direction Tsurumi Keiji was heading and moved in that direction in advance. Mike Okita entered the front court and no one was guarding him.
Rukawa realized this and immediately moved his feet. When Mike Okita was about to approach the three-point line, he came in front of Mike Okita and guarded him.
"Um?!"
"Young man, what are you doing here?! I'm not looking for you, get out of the way!"
When Mike Okita saw Rukawa Kaede standing in front of him, he frowned immediately, turned his head to look at Jinguji Budo in the distance, and said somewhat unhappily.
Rukawa Kaede heard this, but did not say anything. He turned his head to look at Jinguji Budou, and happened to see Jinguji Budou making an encouraging gesture of "awesome" to him. Then he turned around and replied calmly:
"It's enough for me to deal with you."
Rukawa's words did not anger Mike Okita. He just glanced at Jinguji Budo from a distance, then his eyes fell on Rukawa and he looked at him deeply.
At the same time, Seiji Tsurumi approached the top of the arc with the ball. The defending Mitsui Hisashi did not press forward, but stood inside the three-point line at the top of the arc, casually stretched out his arms, and assumed a defensive posture.
But his defensive posture was full of loopholes!
However, Tsurumi Seiji, who was facing Mitsui, was obviously not the kind of player who could seize the opponent's flaws and break through. This point guard of Green Wind was really a pure "point" guard.
Mitsui Hisashi opened up a gap, but Tsurumi Seiji passed the ball directly to Mike Okita.
The latter took the ball, straightened his waist slightly, and raised the ball above his head, while Rukawa Kaede in front of him had already lowered his center of gravity, ready to deal with Mike Okita's breakthrough. Looking at Rukawa Kaede's defensive posture, Mike Okita did not underestimate him at all.
As he stepped his right foot in front of his left side, he also brought the basketball to his waist. His action immediately alerted Rukawa Kaede. Just as Rukawa Kaede was adjusting his defensive position, Mike Okita suddenly retracted his foot and dropped the ball to his right, preparing to rush to the right.
Rukawa Kaede hurriedly adjusted his position, however, at this moment, Mike Okita changed direction in front of his body, and in the blink of an eye, he slipped past Rukawa Kaede and rushed quickly towards the inside.
"Ah! You stinky fox! Don't let him get here so easily!"
Seeing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi under the basket shouted immediately, but he had no intention of letting Mike Okita break through, and quickly went to defend Mike Okita.
"Wow, what a strong aura!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi who was rushing towards him had a ferocious look on his face. Mike Okita glanced at the position of Jinguji Takeshi with his peripheral vision, and seeing that Takeshi was very far away, he relaxed, smiled and exclaimed in admiration, then made an emergency stop and shot a mid-range shot.
“Don’t even think about it!
!”
Sakuragi Hanamichi roared and pounced forward. At the moment of taking off, Sakuragi Hanamichi's calf muscles were fully tensed and his jumping ability was maximized.
A huge hand, covering the sky and the sun, came over to cover Mike Okita.
"It's so high!" Mike Okita, who had a relaxed look on his face, was startled when he saw it getting dark in front of him.
When he broke through, Sakuragi Hanamichi was obviously very far away, and he felt that the opponent should not be able to catch up with him. Not only did the opponent's defensive speed exceed Mike Okita's expectations, but the opponent's bounce also surprised him.
Even a well-informed "four-star high school student" like him was surprised by Sakuragi Hanamichi's bounce at this moment!
After a moment of hesitation, Mike Okita, who was holding the ball and preparing to shoot a second ago, decisively gave up the shot under the defense of Sakuragi Hanamichi. He grabbed the ball with both hands and pulled it downward, then passed the ball directly from Sakuragi's side to the inside.
All I can say is that he is worthy of being a talented young man who can make a name for himself in a place like the United States. His ability to respond in critical moments even made Jinguji Budo marvel.
"Snap!" The basketball fell into the hands of Tetsuya Naito. After Naito was in an open position, he exploded and turned around to face the basket and was about to dunk.
And not far in front of him, Koichirō Nango had also reacted. He jumped up almost at the same time and put his hands on the basketball.
However... .
“Roar!”
With Naito's loud shout, Nango Koichirō's body was actually bounced away by the opponent while in the air. The next second, there was a loud noise from the basket, and Naito dunked the ball directly into the basket.
A violent dunk by breaking through the defense head-on.
The huge impact force caused Koichirō Nango to lose his balance when he landed, and he fell directly to the ground. Facing Tetsuya Naito, Koichirō Nango seemed to be back to the time when he faced Shigehiro Mori.
The opponent's terrifying power made him feel extremely powerless.
Green Wind High School had been suppressed from the beginning until now, but finally, with Tetsuya Naito's dunk, the students of Green Wind had a window to vent.
Overwhelming cheers flooded into the stadium, and at this moment, the players of Green Wind finally felt the feeling of playing at home.
Before, the dead silence in the stands made them think they were playing away, and the silence of the audience also affected the players' state. But now, the Green Wind players began to be active, and the audience watching the game was finally motivated.
"Great! Mike!"
"This ball was handled beautifully, better than I expected!"
"We must maintain this momentum and keep going!"
Coach Ofune, who was off the field, clenched his fists excitedly, while Huili, who was sitting next to him, finally relaxed a lot when he saw the Green Wind players score a goal.
However, this situation obviously did not satisfy her. After her players scored a goal, she shouted loudly towards the field:
“Come on!”
"Catch up the points! Our Green Wind must be the strongest!"
Huili's shouts once again inspired others, and after a brief silence, the cheers became even louder.
"Tsk, it's just a goal."
"What are you yelling for?!"
"Shut up right now!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi pouted in dissatisfaction, and after serving the ball from the baseline, he quickly rushed to the front court.
Between offense and defense, Green Wind also quickly returned to his position.
Although Budou and Rukawa Kaede switched defenses on Xiangbei's side, Mike Okita on Green Wind's side still followed Jinguji Budou closely. In Mike Okita's view, the opponent he had to face was Jinguji Budou, and as for the others? ! They were not enough for him to pay attention to.
Even Rukawa Kaede, who just had an excellent defensive posture, was only "excellent".
"Do you still want to fight me?"
"If you were a good player, you would have seen that in the short encounter before."
"The difference in strength between you and me is huge, not only in terms of technique but also in terms of body."
"Don't you realize the difference?"
Wu Dao couldn't help but ask as he looked at Mike Okita who was following him with a serious look on his face.
"Um?!"
"How could words like this come out of your mouth? It shouldn't be like this!"
"Will you give up the fight just because your opponent is stronger than you?"
"If you don't try, how do you know where your limit is?"
Mike Okita raised his eyes and glanced at Takeshi. Coincidentally, at this moment Takeshi Jinguji half turned sideways and asked Mitsui Hisashi for the ball. The basketball was thrown out and was directly caught by Takeshi Jinguji with one hand.
After getting the basketball, Jinguji changed his martial arts stance, half-turned to his back to the basket, looked at Mike Okita with his peripheral vision, and said:
“You and I are actually different.”
"I know my own strength and I won't challenge players who are several levels higher than me."
"I am still playing in high school. On the one hand, I have some feelings for Xiangbei, and on the other hand, I think it is too early to enter a higher-level competition now."
Wu Dao's words made Mike Okita, who was still in a relatively calm state of mind, frown again. Trying hard to suppress his anger, Mike Okita asked in a deep voice:
"So, you consider yourself several levels above me?!"
"I admit that you are better than me, but you underestimate me too much!"
Mike Okita took a step forward and pressed his body against Jinguji Budo's, with his arms raised high.
"Isn't this... obvious?!"
"You fought well."
"But you are not enough to be my opponent!" As he spoke, Jinguji Budou suddenly turned around and accelerated to break through. At the moment when Mike Okita followed up, he stopped abruptly and looked at the basket and prayed.
At the moment when Mike Okita stopped, Jinguji Budo accelerated and broke through, instantly passing Mike Okita and rushed towards the basket.
When Tetsuya Naito in the inside saw Takeshi Jinguji breaking through to the inside, he immediately moved up to provide defense. Behind Takeshi, Mike Okita readjusted his position and quickly chased after Takeshi Jinguji, refusing to give up defense.
“Bang!”
He jumped up with the ball near the basket, and the moment he got close to Naito Tetsuya, Jinguji Takeshi's body turned 360 degrees in the air, instantly passing Naito Tetsuya's defense line and making it completely impossible for Mike Okita behind him to chase him. Jinguji Takeshi, who was facing the basket again, still maintained a good posture in the air, and shot the basketball and easily put it into the basket.
"Varied... .."
“What?!
!”
The players on the field were stunned, and the audience who were originally shouting to cheer for Green Wind on the sidelines were completely silenced as if their throats were strangled.
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