Kurumiya Sora's fast break score obviously caught everyone off guard. The players of Xiangbei High School were very familiar with the players on the field at that time.
The only one who I didn’t know much about was Kurumi Sora, who had just come to the basketball hall for a practice game today.
No one in Shohoku High School was optimistic about this short and skinny transfer student. Even Jinguji Budou didn't take this first-year student too seriously.
Sending him into the field was just to give him a chance to show himself. In fact, Wu Dao had no expectations for Kurumiya Sora at all.
However, the first ball that Sora Kurumiya hit after coming on the court really surprised Jinguji Budo.
He is very fast, his movements are smoothly connected, and his timing is excellent. It is hard to imagine that he can see a crossover of this quality in high school basketball.
Jinguji Budou couldn't see much about other aspects for the time being. What he could see now was that Sora Kurumi's dribbling skills were quite proficient, and his breakthrough movements were clean and smooth. He had obviously received professional training, and most likely, he had been trained in basketball since he was a child.
Otherwise it would be difficult to achieve this level of coordination.
"Uh... well done!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi obviously didn't expect that the first person to score for his team would be this short guy. When he saw Yasuda Yasuharu passing the ball to this guy, he was about to curse.
Fortunately... Fortunately...
If he had cursed just now, he would be embarrassed now.
"Oh!"
Che Gukong responded excitedly and quickly returned to defense.
The Red Team members had recovered from their surprise. Nango Koichiro picked up the basketball and went to the baseline to serve the ball. He shook his head and whispered in surprise:
"This kid's speed is really good, he doesn't hold back."
"If you're not careful, he'll pass you by."
"Although he is a short transfer student, you can't underestimate him!"
After reaching the baseline, Nango quickly passed the ball to Kiyota Nobunaga. After getting the ball, Kiyota quickly dribbled into the frontcourt. At the same time he entered the frontcourt, Rukawa had also approached the three-point line and immediately looked towards Kiyota Nobunaga.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's team uses zone defense.
The standard standing position of two inside and three outside.
At the top of the arc was Yasuharu Yasuda. As Nobunaga Kiyota approached the three-point line, Yasuharu Yasuda slowly took two steps back and returned to a position two steps inside the three-point line. He was completely unprepared for Nobunaga Kiyota's three-point shot.
On both sides of Yasuda Yasuharu were Katsume Ichiro and Kurumiya Sora. Katsume stood slightly to the outside, close to Rukawa Kaede, while Kurumiya Sora stood very close to the inside, with his arms outstretched, his knees slightly bent, his eyes constantly paying attention to the position of Kiyota Nobunaga.
The defensive posture is quite excellent.
"Sure enough, he has indeed undergone relatively professional basketball training."
"He has a good defensive posture and is able to keep an eye on other players' movements. His vision is also very good."
At this time, Takeshi Jinguji was no longer looking at Nobunaga Kiyota who had the ball, but focused his attention on Sora Kurumiya. The opponent's series of actions of diverting Kiyota and then breaking through Nango had attracted the attention of Takeshi Jinguji.
"Hey!"
Kiyota Nobunaga dribbled the ball on the spot, as if he was looking for his opponent's weakness. Seeing that Kiyota was slow to pass the ball, Rukawa quickly turned his back and stuck to Katsume. His body just touched Katsume's body. Rukawa quickly turned around without the ball and cut directly into the inside.
At the same time as Rukawa cut in, Kiyota Nobunaga quickly passed the ball to the ground, and the basketball was quickly handed to Rukawa.
Rukawa successfully got the basketball in the mid-range and quickly rushed to the basket. When approaching the basket, he quickly passed the ball and jumped up after two steps. Under the block of Sakuragi Hanamichi, Rukawa made a light pull-up shot and then a reverse layup to send the ball into the basket.
The series of layups were exaggerated yet smooth, leaving Kurumi Sora in the distance stunned.
“Swish!”
The basketball hit the backboard and went into the net, making a crisp sound.
"So... so awesome?"
Rukawa's pull-up layup was quite easy, it felt like eating and drinking, and it seemed like there was no difficulty at all for him.
Che Gukong looked at the handsome young man who passed by and quickly returned to defense, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
"Is this the Xiangbei High School that won the national championship?"
“So strong!
!”
Rukawa and his team returned to defense quickly. When Kurumi Sora was amazed, Rukawa and his team had already returned to the court quickly, and their own team had already passed the basketball to Yasuharu Yasuda.
While marching, Yasuharu Yasuda raised his left hand, pointed his index finger to the sky, and made a tactical gesture.
After seeing Yasuharu Yasuda's signal, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Oda Ryumasa did not choose to enter the inside line immediately after entering the frontcourt, but instead sank to the baseline on both sides.
The movements of these two people instantly attracted the attention of Nango Koichirō and Kakuta.
While Sakuragi and Oda were getting into position, the two also pulled out from the inside and went to the mid-range position to defend.
Since both Sakuragi and Oda Ryumasa are capable of mid-range shots, leaving them completely open will give them opportunities.
As the inside line opened up, Yasuharu Yasuda quickly passed the ball to Ichiro Katsume.
As a small forward, it is natural for Katsume Ichiro to be responsible for things like holding the ball and attacking.
With the ball outside the three-point line, Katsumi took a side step, faked a dribble with the ball, and after shifting Rukawa's center of gravity, he quickly retrieved the ball, raised the basketball and prepared to shoot. His action instantly alerted Rukawa, who quickly adjusted his posture and directly reached out to cover it, not wanting to give Katsumi the chance to shoot a three-pointer.
But at the moment when Rukawa adjusted his defensive posture, Katsume Ichiro quickly passed the ball and rushed forward. At the moment when Rukawa was chasing him, Katsume Ichiro made an abrupt stop, then stepped back to the three-point line and shot a three-pointer directly.
Fake shot, fake shot, sudden stop after dropping the ball, step back jump shot.
The entire series of actions was completed in less than two seconds. The smooth offense and beautiful shooting posture made Kurumi Sora, who was always paying attention to the position of the basketball, stunned again.
"What a beautiful shot!"
As Che Gukong let out a light sigh, the basketball fell directly into the net under the gaze of everyone, making a crisp "swish" sound.
5:2.
The yellow team, which includes Sakuragi Hanamichi, Katsumi and others, took the lead.
"Amazing! This player is amazing too!"
"The movements were not sloppy at all, and the shooting posture was absolutely worthy of the word 'gorgeous'!"
Kurumi Sora was secretly shocked when he saw the outstanding performance of his teammates.
He also had some preliminary understanding of the strength of Xiangbei High School. Before transferring to Xiangbei High School, he had never watched Xiangbei High School's games.
After all, his family's conditions were so-so, and his mother's hospitalization expenses were not small. During the national competition, his Jiuzuryu High School couldn't even make it to the county competition, let alone the national competition.
Therefore, he didn't even watch the national competition.
However, even though he had never watched Xiangbei's games in person, he was familiar with some of Xiangbei's main players.
After all, they were the national champions, and information about Jinguji Budou and other main players had already been spread everywhere by various basketball magazines. As a high school basketball player, Kurumiya Sora had heard of some of them and had also seen their photos.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, with his iconic red hair, also shines in the national competition. Sora Kurumiya knows him!
He had also heard of Rukawa Kaede and knew that these two people were the heroes who helped Xiangbei High School win the championship.
However, Kurumi Ichiro, who just got rid of Rukawa Kaede, had never seen it before, but even such a little-known player in Xiangbei has such outstanding abilities.
This made Che Gukong feel very pressured, but also made him extremely excited.
Such a team... It is also a kind of luck to be able to play in such a strong team, isn't it? !
On the court, offense and defense alternated.
Rukawa and his red team were not panicked by Kemei's three-pointer. As first-year students, they had played countless games against each other and had some understanding of each other's strength.
This kind of goal was not enough to surprise either side.
They are not the ignorant transfer students like Kurumiya Sora!
After receiving the pass from his teammate in the backcourt, Kiyota Nobunaga quickly dribbled the ball into the frontcourt. This time, Kiyota had no intention of passing the ball. Facing Yasuharu Yasuda's defense, he accelerated and rushed forward, using his physical advantage to push his opponent away, and then cut into the middle distance and made a jump shot.
The basketball was sent directly into the net by Kiyota Nobunaga.
The smooth breakthrough attack left the Yellow Team completely unable to defend.
During the ball possession change, Ichiro Katsumi of the Yellow Team got the ball outside the three-point line again, but this time Rukawa chose to defend closely. Katsumi felt that it was risky for him to break through alone, so he turned and made a pick-and-roll gesture towards Hanamichi Sakuragi in the corner.
Then, with the help of Sakuragi's pick-and-roll, he directly dropped the ball and moved horizontally to get rid of Rukawa's clamp, freeing up some space for himself and taking another three-point shot.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's current screen quality is pretty good, and with his help, Ichiro Katsumi managed to get into an open position. This kind of three-pointer is a sure thing for Katsumi.
Perhaps because he was too steady, Kemei was a little relaxed when shooting, and his shot was not strong enough, so the basketball hit the edge of the basket directly and bounced out quickly.
And at the moment the rebound appeared, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was originally screening for Kemei on the outside, now appeared under the basket.
The rebounding basketball happened to be caught in his hands.
Sakuragi got the basketball, dribbled it once, then went straight to the basket and slammed the ball into the net.
The loud noise of the slam dunk echoed throughout the stadium.
"Well done! Sakuragi~~~"
Just when Sakuragi Hanamichi was reveling in his heroic slam dunk, a sweet voice of encouragement came into the court.
When Sakuragi Hanamichi heard the voice, his ears stood up immediately. He turned his head to look in the direction where the voice came from. When he saw the familiar and beautiful figure, Sakuragi's face suddenly became "blooming with peach blossoms".
"Haru... Haruko♡~~~"
Looking at Akagi Haruko standing on the sidelines, Sakuragi Hanamichi waved at Haruko with a silly smile.
And just when he was absent, Rukawa Kaede and his men had already launched a counterattack.
A red light flashed before Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes. By the time Sakuragi reacted, Kiyota Nobunaga had already approached the center line with the ball.
“Ahhh!
”
"Wild monkey, you despicable villain! You actually attacked me by surprise!"
Sakuragi's attention immediately shifted away from Haruko and he rushed directly towards Kiyota Nobunaga.
Hearing the angry shouts coming from behind him, Kiyota Nobunaga simply cursed "idiot" and then moved the ball into the inside.
Rukawa Kaede quickly cut into the basket, looked at the basketball in the air, jumped up, grabbed the ball with one hand, and prepared to slam dunk.
At this moment, a short figure suddenly appeared in front of Rukawa Kaede, jumped high and tried to block Rukawa Kaede's attack, but this guy who suddenly appeared was too short, and even if he tried his best, he couldn't affect Rukawa Kaede at all!
"Is it this kid?" Rukawa glanced coldly at the boy in front of him who was trying to stop him, and found that the other party was actually the transfer student, Kurumiya Sora!
Bang!
!
With a loud bang, Rukawa Kaede directly knocked Kurumiya Sora, who was trying to stop him, into the air, and dunked the ball into the basket with one hand.
“Plop!
!”
At the same time, Che Gukong's figure fell quickly from the air and fell directly to the ground with a dull sound.
Rukawa Kaede grabbed the basketball hoop and looked down at Kurumi Sora who was lying on the ground and trying to sit up. He felt inexplicable emotions.
Letting go, Rukawa Kaede fell back to the ground, lowered his head and looked at Kurumi Sora, and suddenly asked, "Do you think you can stop me?"
Rukawa's tone was flat, and Kurumi Sora didn't sense any sarcasm in his words. The other party simply asked this question.
At this time, Kurumiya Sora had also sat up, raised his head and looked up at the tall Rukawa Kaede, and suddenly smiled:
"Whether you can stop it or not, how do you know if you don't try?!"
"Even if I can't stop it, at least I tried my best. If I can't stop it, it's because I'm not capable enough, and I accept it."
"But if I don't even have the courage to try, how can I become a good player?!"
Kurumiya Sora supported himself on the ground with his hands and tried to get up, and at this moment, Rukawa Kaede in front of him suddenly bent down and stretched out his hand in front of Kurumiya Sora.
When Kurumi Sora saw Rukawa extending his hand, he was stunned and stared at Rukawa blankly, somewhat surprised.
"Welcome to Xiangbei High School."
When Kurumi Sora heard this, his nose felt sore and a bright smile appeared on his face. He reached out and grabbed Rukawa's hand, and was easily pulled up by Rukawa.
"oh!"
"Please give me your guidance!"
Che Gukong said loudly, even though he was blocked by someone, his face was still full of excitement.
Rukawa glanced at him coldly without responding, and turned around to quickly return to defense. After Rukawa left, Sakuragi Hanamichi also hurried back and asked apologetically: "Hey... Kurumiya Sora, are you okay?"
"Are you hurt?"
Sakuragi Hanamichi's concern made Kurumani Sora feel warm in his heart. Although Sakuragi was harsh in his words, Sakuragi, who was a simple-minded person, had no bad intentions towards Kurumani Sora.
"You shorty, you need to recognize your own strength!
”
"I was dunked by that stinky fox. Damn it, that bastard got the limelight!"
"Don't rush into this situation next time. This time you were lucky. If you were unlucky, you would be penalized!"
“The stinky fox is such a sinister fellow!
”
Before Kurumiya Sora could feel Sakuragi's "concern", the red-haired boy in front of him started to curse and mutter.
The huge contrast between before and after made Kurumi Sora stunned. He didn't react at all. He could only look at Sakuragi in confusion and murmured:
"Clam???"
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .