The first round of confrontation between the youth training team and Xiangbei High School showed the characteristics of each team.
During the transition between offense and defense, the ball was in the hands of the youth team. Rukawa received a pass from Kawata Masashi from the backcourt, and then slowly advanced towards the frontcourt with the ball.
As a member of Shohoku High School, Rukawa is quite clear about the abilities of Shohoku players. Currently, the two players guarding the basket of Shohoku High School are freshmen Koichiro Minamigo and Ryumasa Oda. Although the strength of the two is quite good, if they face a duo lineup of Masashi Kawata and Hanamichi Sakuragi, then they will be a little short.
Since they have an absolute advantage in the interior, their youth team's offensive rhythm does not need to be so tight, although it does not matter if they make full use of the offensive time.
Rukawa has now completely broken away from the mindset of a small forward and is organizing the team's offense and controlling the team's offensive rhythm as a point guard.
As Rukawa dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, 6 seconds of the offensive time had already passed.
After Jinguji Budo got into position, he felt like he had been waiting for a long time before he finally saw Rukawa Kaede dribbling the ball into the front court. He squinted at the timer on the side of the court and couldn't help but smile and exclaimed: "Have you learned to control the team's offensive rhythm? Rukawa Kaede has made great progress."
After Rukawa dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, Zebei Rongji, who was originally standing in front of Jinguji Budou, moved quickly and went directly to the top of the arc to set a screen for Rukawa.
"Qingtian, change defense."
When Jinguji Budo was chasing Zebei Rongji, he saw Rukawa Kaede breaking through, and hurriedly reminded Kiyota Nobunaga, and then quickly stood in front of Rukawa Kaede.
Wu Dao felt that Rukawa would not miss the opportunity to challenge him on the court. Wu Dao thought he had seen through Rukawa, but Rukawa, who was dribbling forward, suddenly accelerated, but the basketball in his hand was passed directly to Zebei Rongzhi.
Rukawa Kaede had no intention of forcing himself into martial arts.
After getting the ball, Zebei Rongzhi played against a smaller player. After a fake shot, he quickly broke through. When he reached the mid-range, he made a layup and sent the ball into the basket, helping the youth training team get two points.
The score between the two teams came to 4:2.
Wu Dao heard the sound of the basketball going into the net behind him. He turned his head slightly and glanced at the basket. Then he smiled at Rukawa Kaede and asked, "What's wrong? Don't you dare to challenge me?"
"Do you think you have no chance of winning?"
Facing Wudao's slightly sarcastic words, Rukawa shook his head coldly, and a smile appeared on his expressionless face. He replied to Wudao: "I just used the most efficient fighting style."
As he spoke, Rukawa turned around and quickly returned to the field without chatting with Wudao anymore.
"He has really grown. After the baptism of the national competition, Rukawa Kaede has obviously received very good guidance in the youth training team."
"That's right... The team is full of experts, and Rukawa Kaede's arrogance should have been worn away."
"Facing your own weakness is the beginning of becoming stronger."
Wu Dao thought to himself, clapped his hands and shouted to the team members:
"Start attacking, speed up the pace!"
"Run more actively. Only by moving can you create opportunities for yourself."
"There are first-year students on the other team, too. Kiyota, Nango, Katsumi, and Oda. If you feel that you are inferior to them, get out of here as soon as possible!"
"We're both first years, I don't think you're weaker than each other!"
Budou loudly encouraged the Xiangbei players. Originally, this task was done by Mitsui Hisashi, and Budou was usually only responsible for scoring.
However, after the adjustments of Xiangbei High School, the oldest player on the field was Budou Jinguji, and he had to take on other tasks besides scoring.
"Of course! How could we lose to the stinky fox and the red-haired monkey?"
"And there are those defeated warriors of our Xiangbei! Even if the losers unite, they can never defeat us, the winners!"
Kiyota Nobunaga and Nango were the most easily influenced by words. As soon as Jinguji Budou finished speaking, the two of them could not wait to respond loudly. Nango quickly sent the ball from the baseline, and Kiyota Nobunaga quickly dribbled the ball to the front court after getting the basketball. As soon as he approached the three-point line, he quickly passed the ball to Jinguji Budou.
After passing the ball, Kiyota Nobunaga also cut in quickly, and the moment he cut past Rukawa, the basketball in Wudao's hand had already been passed towards him quickly.
Kiyota Nobunaga got the basketball, took a step forward and then made a diving leap, while the basketball in his hand quickly hooked towards the basket.
The strange timing of the shot made it impossible for Masashi Kawata, who was defending under the basket, to react. Rukawa Kaede, who was following behind Nobunaga Kiyota, was also left behind by Kiyota's diving jump and could only watch the basketball fly towards the basket.
"Swish!" The basketball just passed the top edge of the basket and then fell accurately into the net with a crisp sound.
Having lost his balance, Kiyota Nobunaga fell directly to the ground. He raised his head and saw the basketball go into the net. He let out a low cry of excitement, then quickly got up from the ground, ran to the three-point line and celebrated with Jinguji Budou by high-fiving.
"That's a good lesson! Senior Martial Arts Master!"
Wu Dao also smiled and praised: "It was an excellent layup, even Kawata Masashi didn't expect it."
Shohoku quickly returned to defense, and after picking up the basketball, Masashi Kawata under the basket couldn't help but look at Kiyota Nobunaga's back again. The point guard of Shohoku did not play by the rules at all, and his playing style gave people a novel feeling.
“Although he’s not very tall, he’s very fast and has a good sense of cutting.”
"That kid's advantage should be speed."
"But he threw away his speed in the layup and caught Kawada off guard with the change of rhythm."
“He’s a good player.”
On the sidelines, Coach Otani watched Kiyoda Nobunaga returning to defense and gave his own evaluation, indicating that he recognized Kiyoda Nobunaga's strength.
“Hehehe… ..”
"You did a great job, Wild Monkey... But you won't be able to defeat the team led by this genius just like that!"
After seeing Kiyota Nobunaga score a layup, Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly chuckled, and then shouted arrogantly to Kiyota who had already returned to defense.
As soon as he finished speaking, Sakuragi Hanamichi started running and rushed towards the frontcourt. When Sakuragi crossed the center line, Rukawa had just received the basketball in the backcourt. Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's enthusiasm, Rukawa also quickly dribbled the ball into the frontcourt.
At the same time, when Rukawa approached the three-point line, Sakuragi also quickly cut towards the inside from the bottom corner.
This time, Oda Ryumasa noticed Sakuragi Hanamichi's movements and immediately chased after him. Just when Sakuragi Hanamichi had rushed less than three meters towards the basket, Sakuragi, who was moving at high speed, suddenly stopped, and the soles of his shoes rubbed against the floor violently, making a sharp sound.
The moment he stopped, Sakuragi quickly ran back. At the same time, Rukawa passed the ball to Sakuragi Hanamichi at the right time and it accurately fell into Sakuragi Hanamichi's hands.
When Sakuragi got the ball, Oda Ryumasa had already stopped and turned around to chase after Sakuragi. At this time, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had the ball, also raised the ball high above his head.
Seeing this scene, Ryumasa Oda jumped up without hesitation to block the shot and stretched out his hand to block the basketball in Sakuragi's hand.
"snort!"
"You're so naive, Oda!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi looked up at Oda Ryumasa, curled up the corners of his mouth, chuckled, quickly dropped the ball, and rushed directly to the basket. Then he grabbed the ball with his right hand and dunked it into the basket.
"Bang!
!”
After a loud bang, the rest area of the youth training team was already filled with jubilation. Sakuragi laughed loudly after landing, and then quickly returned to defense.
"Nice fake move." Masashi Kawata said to Koichiro Minamigo in front of him before returning to defense.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's fake shot not only fooled Oda Ryumasa, but also Nango Koichiro who was in front of him. Because of this, when Sakuragi broke through, Nango who was standing under the basket was unable to make up for the defense in time.
Because at that time, Koichiro Minamigo was struggling with Masashi Kawata for the best position to grab the rebound.
Masashi Kawata's praise for Hanamichi Sakuragi is actually a mockery of Koichiro Nango.
"hateful!
!”
Masashi Kawata left to return to defense, Koichiro Nango clenched his fists, cursed softly, then picked up the basketball and went to the baseline without saying a word.
The basketball was kicked out and Kiyota Nobunaga quickly dribbled forward.
After entering the frontcourt, he did not shoot immediately, but tried to break through Rukawa's defense alone. However, after wasting more than ten seconds of offensive time, Kiyota Nobunaga still failed to break through Rukawa's defense line, and finally chose to pass the ball to Jinguji Budou.
I still chose to cut without the ball.
Kiyota Nobunaga also recognized his own strength. It would be very difficult for him to defeat Rukawa alone. Instead of wasting time holding the ball, it would be better to give the ball to Jinguji Budou.
If he doesn't have the ball, Kiyota Nobunaga is confident that he can find offensive opportunities under Rukawa Kaede's defense.
"Snap!" The basketball was in the hand, Jinguji Takeshi received the ball sideways, and his ball protection hand gently pressed against Zebei Rongji's abdomen. At the moment the basketball was in the hand, he quickly changed his posture and swept the ball towards the basket.
After the ball fell, it came into Wudao's right hand. At the same time, Wudao's legs were staggered forward and backward. At the moment of dribbling in suspension, his body quickly swayed in the opposite direction.
However, Zebei Rongji was also a man with rich defensive experience. He was not fooled by Takeshi's fake moves. Instead, he focused his eyes on Takeshi's feet and paid attention to Takeshi's offensive steps.
From Zebei's perspective, Jinguji Budo quickly raised his left foot and stepped directly to his left. Seeing this, Zebei also quickly slid to his left to block.
However, the next second after Zebei Rongzhi slid forward, Jinguji Budou, who had the ball, turned around quickly and passed Zebei Rongzhi in an instant.
Realizing that something was wrong, Zebei hurriedly chased after him, but just as he picked up his speed, Jinguji Budo, who was rushing forward with the ball, suddenly stopped, took a step back, and then made a quick high-post shot.
When Takeshi was shooting, Rukawa Kaede and Mike Okita had already double-teamed him from both sides behind Zebei Rongji, but they didn't even have a chance to use the double-team and could only watch Takeshi Jinguji shoot.
The basketball flew directly over everyone's heads and fell steadily into the net with a crisp sound.
The attack was completed easily. From the time Jinguji Budo received the basketball to the time he scored the ball, less than four seconds passed.
Zebei Rongji's defense and his teammates' backup defense were like nothing in the face of Jinguji Budou's offensive skills, and they did not pose any threat to Jinguji Budou at all.
At the side of the court, the youth team players who saw this scene fell into silence one by one. These people were all selected by Coach Otani from all over the country to participate in the youth training. They either had skills, talents, or both.
These people all understand basketball. Jinguji Budo's series of moves do not seem to be very difficult. They are nothing more than shuffling steps, fake moves, turning around and stepping back, as well as mid-range shots.
But anyone who has played basketball knows how difficult it is to connect this series of movements smoothly like Jinguji Budo.
Not to mention the frequent transitions between movement and stillness, but also the need to maintain the body posture after these transitions and have a terrifying hit rate, this kind of thing simply cannot be achieved through so-called hard training.
On the road of basketball, even something like shooting, which seems to be something that can be accumulated through training, requires terrifying talent.
Not everyone can shoot a mid-range shot, and not everyone can shoot a three-point shot!
"With such skills and physical fitness, Jinguji's martial arts strength, just how terrifying is it!"
“It’s hard to imagine what kind of opponent would be able to stop someone like this.”
"Coach Otani, should we change our defensive style? I don't think one-on-one defense will be able to stop Jinguji Budo."
A black player looked at Jinguji Budou who was returning to defense, sighed, and at the same time gave his opinion to Coach Otani.
The black player originally played basketball in an American college, but that high school had no reputation or presence in the American high school basketball world. At this time, he and his teammates happened to receive an invitation from Mike Okita and Green Wind High School, so they went to Green Wind to play basketball.
During the youth training selection, the two of them also signed up. Although they were originally not qualified, they were successfully selected thanks to the strong "money ability" of the Green Wind High School director.
Although they entered the youth training system through connections, their personal strength is real. It is also because of this that black players can feel the horror of Jinguji Budou more deeply, because even in the United States, there are not many high school students who can play like Jinguji Budou.
"Well, it is indeed impossible to contain Jinguji Budo by single-handedly defending him."
"Double-teaming and zone defense are absolutely necessary, but there is no rush. Let's wait and see."
"I want to see what other skills he has."
While the two were talking off the court, the youth training team, led by Rukawa, had already completed an attack. Rukawa assisted Masashi Kawata, helping the team score two more points.
During the transition between offense and defense, the basketball was already in the hands of Jinguji Budou, who was more than two meters away from the three-point line when he received the ball. Budou, holding the ball, stretched out his arms, made a breakthrough fake move, and then shot a three-pointer without warning.
Under the slightly surprised gaze of everyone in the audience, the basketball drew a large arc in the air and then hit the basket directly with a crisp sound.
6:7, Xiangbei High School, leading by one point!
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