Minami Reipor's pull-up three-pointer after passing Rukawa made Rukawa start to take the opponent in front of him seriously.
Since joining Xiangbei High School, Rukawa Kaede's personal strength has greatly improved compared to his junior high school years. And as Xiangbei High School has fought in so many competitions, Rukawa Kaede has rarely encountered an opponent of Nan Lie's level.
In the Kanagawa Prefecture tournament, only the two people from Ryonan High School could be looked up to by Rukawa Kaede, and strictly speaking, Shinichi Maki from Hainan was not in the same position as him. In such a large Kanagawa Prefecture, there were only a handful of people who could be considered his rivals.
And the ace of Touou High School, Nan Lie, in front of him is also an opponent that Rukawa Kaede should be on his guard against!
Worth a try!
During the transition between offense and defense, all the players of Xiangbei High School had already pressed to Touou's half.
Miyagi Ryouta's advancement speed was very fast, and the other players of Shohoku also cooperated with Miyagi's offensive rhythm. In just a few seconds, everyone had taken their positions in Touou's half.
After entering the frontcourt, Miyagi Ryouta was ready to pass the ball to Rukawa Kaede in the corner, and at this moment, Kiyota Nobunaga used the same trick again, sliding along the baseline and cutting into the inside, but his action was noticed by the Touou people, and Kishimoto Misaki moved slightly, leaving Kiyota no chance to receive the ball.
However, Kiyota Nobunaga's cut-in gave Sakuragi Hanamichi enough space.
On the left side of the court, Sakuragi quickly left the basket, went to the mid-range, and raised his hand to ask Miyagi Ryouta for the ball.
Without hesitation, Miyagi Ryouta used a fake breakthrough to pull Itakura Daijiro's defense, and then passed the ball directly to Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Oh! Miyagi actually passed the ball to Hanamichi!"
"Go ahead! Flower path!"
In a corner of the stands, Mito Yohei and others who came to watch the game immediately became excited when they saw Sakuragi Hanamichi getting the ball, and shouted loudly.
On the court, Sakuragi, who held the ball with both hands, immediately attracted the attention of Kishimoto Misaki. He ignored Kiyota Nobunaga who had slipped to the other corner, and quickly went to defend Sakuragi.
"Hey!"
"Look! This is my genius' secret weapon!"
The moment he got the basketball, Sakuragi Hanamichi showed a bright smile on his face, and when Kishimoto Miri rushed over, he raised the ball and took a shooting posture. His action also made Kishimoto, who didn't know Sakuragi's strength, quickly raise his center of gravity and raise his arms high to block the shot.
"!"
And at the moment when Kishimoto raised his hand, Sakuragi Hanamichi dropped the ball, moved sideways, and the next second, he made an abrupt stop and then shot.
His movements were exactly the same as those of Minami Reiporari who drove away Rukawa Kaede before, a lateral stop and a dry jump shot after a fake shot.
"What?!"
The basketball flew out of Sakuragi Hanamichi's hands. Rukawa and others who watched Sakuragi complete this series of actions, as well as Mitsui and others in the sidelines, were stunned. They looked at the basketball in the air in disbelief, unable to believe what was happening before their eyes.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who has only been learning basketball for a year and shooting for only half a year, actually used such an offensive technique? !
“Swish!”
As the basketball went into the net, the surprised expressions on Mitsui and others' faces were completely frozen.
"How is this possible?!"
"Goal?!"
The most surprised person on the Xiangbei side must be Miyagi Ryouta. As the main guard of Xiangbei, he has not mastered such offensive skills until now, or in other words, he can use it to replicate it, but his shooting accuracy is very poor!
Offensive skills without hit rate cannot be considered mastered at all.
“Ohhhhh!
”
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who scored the goal, raised his arms and shouted with excitement on his face. Yohei and others on the sidelines also cheered and applauded Sakuragi's goal.
"Isn't it just a goal? Why such a big reaction?!"
"What are these guys from Xiangbei doing?!"
Kishimoto Miri put his hands on his hips, looking at the excited and surprised Xiangbei people with a puzzled look on his face. Sakuragi Hanamichi's attack in this round was indeed very good, making good use of his weakness of raising his center of gravity, and the opponent was also very smart, not choosing to break through, but choosing to shoot, leaving him no chance to chase and defend.
Kishimoto admitted that he underestimated his opponent in this goal.
But he didn't understand. The other team only scored a goal. What was there to be excited about? !
What Kishimoto Misaki didn't know was that before this, Sakuragi Hanamichi's only offensive methods were spot shooting, simple three-threat step-throughs, and weapons like dunks and layups.
Sakuragi Hanamichi doesn't know the "high-tech" offensive skills like today, and strictly speaking, Sakuragi Hanamichi has only been learning basketball for one year!
"Is this... the technique you taught Sakuragi?"
"But... how is this possible? As I recall, it only took us a week to go out and play a practice match with Chang Cheng."
"How could Sakuragi master the pull-up jump shot in just one week?!"
"Spot shooting and this kind of combined moving and still shooting are two completely different things!"
The Xiangbei High School team on the field began to defend. Mitsui Shou looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was defending. He still looked at Sakuragi in disbelief and did not come back to his senses for a long time. When Mitsui Shou came back to his senses, he immediately looked at Jinguji Budou beside him and asked hurriedly:
"nothing is impossible."
"Sakuragi Hanamichi has practiced a lot of spot shooting, and his movements and postures are already very standard."
"That is to say, we just add some changes on this basis."
"If you can shoot 20,000 balls in a week, you can also learn it in a short time like him!"
Wu Dao replied casually after hearing this. However, his words made the surrounding Xiangbei players even more shocked. When Oda Ryuzheng heard this, his eyes were shocked and he murmured in disbelief: "Two... twenty thousand balls?!"
Mitsui Shou also exclaimed when he heard this answer: "20,000 balls?! In a week?! Or a pull-up jump shot?"
"How is this possible?!"
When Wudao saw the "shocked" expressions of the Xiangbei players around him, he couldn't help but smile. He looked at Sakuragi who was returning to defense on the court and nodded with satisfaction.
Twenty thousand pull-up jump shot training in one week. In fact, when Sakuragi Hanamichi completed this training, Takeshi himself was also shocked.
At the beginning, he simply set an unattainable goal for Sakuragi. If the goal is set to 100 points, many people would be very good if they could achieve 80 points.
But what Wudao didn't expect was that with the help and encouragement of Yohei, Haruko and others, Sakuragi Hanamichi actually achieved the goal of 20,000 pull-up jump shots. As he completed the training, this shooting action still allowed Sakuragi to form short-term muscle memory.
What Sakuragi needs to do next is to do proper training every day so that this feeling can be engraved in his bones.
Although it is a method of forcing things to grow, if handled well, it can greatly improve Sakuragi in a short period of time. This method is not suitable for most people, but it is suitable for Sakuragi!
On the court, Sakuragi, who scored with his "secret weapon", was very excited. The other players on the court also looked at Sakuragi a few more times after returning to defense, and then focused on the game.
Because at this time, the attack from Touou High School has also arrived!
Shiqiao Jingping made a high pick-and-roll, and Itakura, who already had the advantage in the matchup, broke through and then shot a three-pointer directly along the three-point line.
“Ding~”
Itakura's shot was almost open, but he made a mistake and the basketball bounced out of the basket. Fortunately, he used too much power when shooting, and the basketball flew far away, allowing Kishimoto Misaki, who had completely failed to position himself inside, to take advantage of the opportunity in the mid-range.
Kishimoto grabbed the frontcourt rebound and shot a mid-range shot, sending the ball steadily into the basket.
Just one second after Touou High School scored, Nango Koichiro made a quick throw from the baseline. The players of Shohoku High School followed the Touou High School players who were returning to defense and played a fast break.
The basketball was quickly passed between Kiyota Nobunaga and Miyagi Ryouta. After two simple passes, the basketball fell into Kiyota's hands. At this time, Kiyota had already crossed the three-point line.
At the same time, the only inside player from Touou High School who returned to defense was Kishimoto Miri, and the other inside player, Iwata Miaki, failed to keep up with the rhythm of Shohoku.
Kiyota Nobunaga dribbled the ball across the three-point line, then passed the ball near the basket when he broke through. After two steps, he made a reverse layup under Kishimoto's defense and sent the ball into the basket.
The excellent offensive rhythm made Kishimoto Minoru's defensive changes ineffective.
At the same time, Xiangbei's fast break also boosted the confidence of the players on the sidelines. The Xiangbei substitutes suddenly discovered that these first and second graders on their team, even when facing a national powerhouse like Touou, even when fighting with the opponent in the field where the opponent is best, they are not at a disadvantage at all, and even have the initiative.
"Return to defense faster!"
"Shohoku's offense is fast, their defense is more aggressive, and their pressure is tighter!"
“Force them to make mistakes.”
"When attacking, pass the ball more often, don't always think about winning with three-pointers. Itakura, you have an advantage in your body, so make more breakthroughs!"
"If the defense line shrinks a bit, there will be too much empty space in the mid-range!"
Seeing that Xiangbei High School's offensive momentum was so high and the team was losing points continuously, Coach Jinping on the sidelines couldn't help but walk to the sidelines and loudly reminded the players on the field.
He was afraid that Touou's rhythm would be taken away by the opponent and start a mindless fast break. If they played like this, it would be too unstable.
The overall height of the Xiangbei team is not as good as that of the Touou team. Although the outside players Kiyota Nobunaga and Miyagi Ryouta are excellent, it is difficult to make up for the weakness in their physique. Wouldn't it be stupid to fight a pure offensive battle with such a small and agile opponent? !
Aim at the weaknesses and play steadily and cautiously. The physical advantages of the Toyotama players will start to snowball as the game progresses, and the more they play, the greater the advantage will be.
Coach Jinping saw through this, so he asked his players to pass the ball more on the offensive end and not rush to shoot.
The Fengyu team members and Coach Jinping have a good working relationship with each other. Nan Lie and his teammates are no longer as stubborn as they were in the first year, when they only cared about speed.
Sometimes, slow is fast. Nan Lie and his team have already grasped the essence of the run-and-gun tactics.
The essence of run-and-gun is actually to use a fast-paced offense to target the opponent's weaknesses. Its essence is to make the opponent reveal a weakness, and now, the weakness has appeared, hasn't it
Itakura Daijiro's advancing speed was still very fast. It only took him five or six seconds to dribble the ball into the frontcourt. After entering the frontcourt, he quickly passed the ball to Nan Lie.
The latter got the ball, made a fake breakthrough, and then a fake shot. After two consecutive fake moves, he dropped the ball and moved sideways. At the same time, he also called for a pick-and-roll. Kishimoto Miri in the inside moved to the outside and passed the ball to Nan Lie.
Nan Lie, who was holding the ball, instantly attracted the attention of everyone in Xiangbei.
But at this moment, Nan Lie took advantage of the pick-and-roll to move quickly. Instead of breaking through to the inside, he leaned towards Itakura Daijiro at the top of the arc. After quickly passing the ball, he actually made a pick-and-roll for Itakura in return. Kishimoto, who had screened for Nan Lie in the high position, also went down and entered the inside.
Sakuragi followed Kishimoto into the inside, but because of the pick-and-roll, Rukawa fell behind Nan Lie by one body position. When Nan Lie completed the pick-and-roll, Itakura also took advantage of the pick-and-roll to become an open position.
After adjusting his breathing slightly, Daijiro Itakura received the ball and shot another three-pointer. This time, without any surprises, the basketball went straight into the net!
A beautiful pick-and-roll allowed Touou High School to score easily.
"Very good! Toyotama's positioning was excellent this round."
"Although the speed is still very fast, it is very methodical!"
When Mitsui saw Toyotama score easily, he couldn't help but praise them.
After all, it is an A-level team, and Touou High School is very strong.
"This opponent is not easy to deal with!"
Mitsui Shou said with a smile, although he said that it was difficult to deal with, but his words did not reveal the slightest worry.
"Well, I can't defend against Toyotama. I expected that."
"Miyagi and Kiyota are not very tall, so it's easy for opponents to shoot or pass in front of them."
"And unfortunately, Toyotama is a team that relies on mid-range and long-range attacks as its main scoring method."
"The continuous pick-and-roll on the outside will give their outside players a lot of shooting opportunities."
"Even without the pick-and-roll, it wouldn't be easy for Miyagi and Kiyota. With the pick-and-roll, it's even harder."
"If these guys want to win, they can only defend the rebounds, grasp the offense, and compete with the scoring efficiency of both teams!"
"The person who decided the outcome was that kid!"
As Wudao spoke, his eyes fell on Sakuragi Hanamichi in the field.
At this time, Shohoku High School had already launched an attack. Kiyoda Nobunaga received a wonderful pass from Miyagi when he cut in, but Touou's Kishimoto Misaki also noticed Kiyoda Nobunaga's cutting in and made some defensive moves.
In order to avoid the defense, Kiyota Nobunaga used a jump shot to try to avoid the defense and score.
However, his accuracy in the jump shot was so-so that the basketball bounced out of the rim. When Kiyota Nobunaga, who missed the shot, was disappointed and ready to return to defense, Sakuragi Hanamichi rushed to the basket, jumped high and caught the rebounded basketball in his hand. The height of his palm was almost a forearm higher than that of Iwata Miaki who was grabbing the rebound.
After landing, Sakuragi jumped again and forced the ball into the net.
At this time, Iwata Miaki, who had fallen back to the ground, had not adjusted his posture at all, and could not jump continuously like Sakuragi. He could only watch the basketball pass over his head and hit the backboard into the net.
“Roar, roar, roar~~”
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who scored the goal, made a "monkey" sound and winked at Kiyota Nobunaga. His joyful look made Kiyota Nobunaga's face turn dark.
"You bastard red-haired monkey, how dare you laugh at me!"
“Damn it!
! This bastard! "
Although these freshmen of Xiangbei are teammates, when they get together, the most thing they do is to insult each other. Seeing Sakuragi stealing the show, Kiyota Nobunaga was very unhappy, and at the same time he secretly made up his mind to perform well and overshadow Sakuragi!
"Haha, it's started!"
"His talent is beginning to show!"
Coach Anzai pushed up his glasses and looked at Sakuragi with anticipation in his eyes.
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