The players from Yanshui Middle School and Shirong Middle School began to take their positions in the center circle. As the referee blew the whistle to start the game, the centers of both teams jumped up almost at the same time, raised their arms high and hit the basketball.
In the jump ball, the center of Yanshui Middle School had an absolute advantage. The centers of both teams had a good grasp of the timing of jumping, but the center of Yanshui Middle School was taller than the center of Shirong, and his arm span was also more advantageous, so he was the first to grab the basketball.
After receiving the basketball, Maki Shinichi in the back position quickly took two steps towards his own backcourt. After creating some distance between himself and the defensive players, he directed his teammates to move while slowly dribbling the ball towards the frontcourt.
After losing the jump ball, Shirong Middle School quickly returned to defense and took positions on their own court. They seemed to have deliberately investigated the tactics of Yanshui Middle School before the game. The defensive players on the court adopted a restricted area defense tactic. All the players were positioned around the three-second zone, guarding the inside line tightly and ignoring the outside line.
There are not even any defensive players in the large area from mid-range to the three-point line, and the situation seems to be that the outside lines are left empty and the inside lines are defended.
"What kind of defense does Shirong Middle School use?"
"Who can defend against this kind of defense?"
Mitsui Shou looked at the positions of the players of Shirong Middle School and couldn't help but questioned. Mitsui Shou was still looking forward to the first round of the second round of the national competition, but looking at Shirong's defense, Mitsui Shou felt quite upset.
Mitsui felt indescribably awkward when he thought that a team like Shiei was able to advance to the second round.
"You are such a bad player, but I am actually at the same level as you." This must be the feeling in Mitsui Shou's heart at this moment.
"Don't say that. Shi Rong's defense may be used after studying the opponent's playing style."
“Maybe there will be unexpected results.”
Jinguji Budo touched his chin, leaned forward slightly, focused his eyes on Maki Shinichi, and said softly. He had seen such a defense by Shirong before. It was a tactic used by Xiangbei to restrict Maki Shinichi when they played against Kainan.
However, because Hainan had Ichiro Kamiso and Yoshinori Miyagi, Shohoku adopted boxone and 23 zone defense successively.
The purpose is to limit Maki Shinichi's breakthrough scoring and to block Hainan's three-point shooting.
At this time, the purpose of Shirong Middle School's restricted area defense tactics was probably to limit Maki Shinichi's breakthrough.
"Did Maki Shinichi already have strong breakthrough abilities in junior high school? Is it worth it for Shirong to give up perimeter defense?"
"Or is it simply because Yanshui has no mid-range scoring point?"
While Jinguji Budo was thinking, Maki Shinichi had already entered the front court with the ball. Obviously, Maki Shinichi had noticed the opponent's intention, and was not in a hurry to attack. After sending a look to the center of his team, he quickly took the ball to the mid-range and quickly jumped to shoot.
At the same time as Maki Shinichi shot the ball, the center of Yanshui Middle School had already moved into the three-second zone. He looked up at the basketball and squeezed towards the basket.
Yanshui's center not only has a huge advantage in height, but also has a large body. Although Shirong's people tried hard to block his position, they were forcefully squeezed out by the opponent. The most advantageous position under the basket was easily occupied by the center of Yanshui Middle School.
“Swish!”
The basketball thrown by Mu Shenyi went accurately into the basket. Without any defensive pressure, Mu successfully scored the ball. After smiling and high-fiving his teammates, he quickly returned to defense.
Shirong Middle School, which lost the first goal, served the ball and began to organize an attack with the encouragement of the coach off the court.
"It seems that the situation is already very clear." Anxi Zhengyi sighed lightly, shook his head slightly and said.
Wu Dao, who was sitting next to him, nodded in agreement, then stretched and leaned back on the chair.
"Hasn't the game just started? How come the situation is clear now?" In the back row, second-year student Chiba Daishi heard his coach's words and asked in confusion. He couldn't see what the situation was clear about. In his eyes, the game had just begun.
"Shi Rong Middle School's hard power is not enough to compete with Yanshui."
"The reason why their team put up that defensive formation was mainly to defend the inside. The target was undoubtedly No. 12 Maki Shinichi."
"But they misjudged one thing, and that was Yanshui's center."
"In junior high school competitions, the benefits that a center like that brings to the team are unimaginable. Take this game as an example, Yanshui's players can shoot without restraint, without worrying about the ownership of rebounds."
"The positioning just now couldn't restrict Yanshui's center from entering the inside. From this point of view, Shirong can no longer pose a threat to Yanshui."
"Shi Rong doesn't have a pillar that can defend the inside. They have no hope in this game."
Anzai Masayoshi turned his head and analyzed the situation on the court for the players. While speaking, he glanced at Fujii Masao imperceptibly. Although his tone was light, his eyes were full of worry.
If Takeishi were to face Iwasui Junior High School, it would be important for them to have an advantage in the interior. At present, Takeishi's main scoring method is to rely on the shooting of Mitsui Shou and Takeshi Takeishi, and a small part of the scoring is based on Mitsui's breakthrough layup.
However, the scoring method based mainly on shooting requires support from the inside. If the inside is crushed, whether it is Mitsui Hisashi or Budou, the psychological pressure they will bear when shooting will definitely increase significantly, thus affecting the offensive efficiency of the shooting.
The situation was okay when they faced the First Middle School affiliated to the University of Tokyo before. Takeishi did a good job in protecting the basket, and Shinomiya Tano, who was capable of grabbing rebounds, was always restrained on the periphery by Takeshi and Mitsui Hisashi.
However, if facing Iwasui who has an orthodox center, it will be almost impossible for Takeishi to move the opponent's center out of the inside.
Sure enough, not long after Anxi Zhengyi finished his analysis, Shirong Middle School made a mistake on the offensive end. The player's shot missed and a rebound appeared.
And Iwasui's center, who was just over 190cm tall, overpowered everyone else and took the rebound into his arms. At the same time, he quickly passed the ball to Maki Shinichi who was already running forward, launching a counterattack fast break.
Yanshui Middle School took the lead 4:0 in less than 30 seconds after the start of the game.
The subsequent trend of the game was exactly as Anxi Zhengyi had expected. Without air superiority, Shirong Middle School was quickly defeated by Yanshui Middle School's offensive. Less than ten minutes into the first half, the difference between the two teams widened to 12 points. By the halftime, the difference between the two teams had even widened to 20 points.
In the second half, Shirong Middle School was unable to organize a decent counterattack, and the suspense of the game was lost early on.
At the end of the game, Yanshui defeated Shirong Middle School with a score of 93:37 and advanced to the third round of the national competition. In the junior high school competition, a score of over 90 points is already somewhat shocking. Just looking at the score, it is enough to see the terrifying scoring ability of Yanshui Middle School.
Shinichi Maki's performance in this game was quite impressive, with 16 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. As for the center of Iwasui, his statistics were even more impressive, with 41 points and 15 rebounds. With the help of Shinichi Maki, he was a king of cakes.
"Okay, their game is over, let's go warm up."
"Our opponent today is Aoyama High School in Nagano Prefecture. Only if we beat them will we be qualified to play against Iwasui."
"Forget about this game for now and put all your energy into the next game!"
Anzai Zhengyi stood up from his seat and spoke to the people behind him. With the response from the players, Takeishi's team left the audience seats, passed through the player tunnel, and entered the stadium.
When Takeishi arrived, Yanshui's people were packing up to leave. When Yanshui's players saw Takeishi's players, they unconsciously slowed down their packing and looked at Takeishi's players.
The handsome, tall and thin Jinguji Takeshi naturally attracted a lot of people's attention.
"It looks like our opponent tomorrow will be Takeishi Junior High School in Kanagawa." Maki Shinichi was packing his luggage while looking at the players of Takeishi. Meanwhile, the players of Aoyama Junior High School also began to gather in the rest area on the other side. Maki Shinichi only took a look at the height of the players of Aoyama Junior High School and made up his mind.
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