"Hahahaha! Mortals of Takeishi, I, Sakuragi Hanamichi, will defeat you all!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi stood at the gate of the arena, hands on hips, and shouted loudly.
Mito Yohei stared blankly at Sakuragi Hanamichi who had entered the arena, his eyes almost bulging out, and he quickly shrank his head, fearing that Takeshi's people would see him and think he was with Sakuragi Hanamichi.
At the same time, the members of Takeishi Middle School stopped in unison and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Sakuragi seemed to enjoy the attention, with his hands on his hips and a somewhat complacent expression on his face.
"Who is this? Is he also a junior high school student?"
"Red hair, are you a delinquent?"
"I feel like a fool, so just leave him alone. The coach will be here soon."
Takeishi's team members looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi and immediately started talking.
"This big idiot..."
The current captain of the Takeishi Basketball Club is Rukawa Kaede, and he is the one who leads the team members to warm up. Looking in the direction of the sound, Rukawa Kaede recognized Sakuragi Hanamichi at a glance and was speechless.
He ignored Sakuragi's thoughts, clapped his hands, and started to lead again. Seeing their captain's reaction, the other team members didn't say much, ignored Sakuragi, and followed Rukawa Kaede's footsteps.
"..."
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was left alone, felt that he had been insulted by his eyes. Just when he was about to take action, Yohei suddenly grabbed Sakuragi Hanamichi's arm and wanted to pull Sakuragi aside, but Sakuragi stood still It is very stable and has not been pulled.
"Hey, Hanamichi, wait for Martial Arts Brother to come!"
"Don't cause trouble!"
Mito Yohei persuaded in a low voice, but as soon as he finished speaking, Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly threw away Yohei's arm, sat down on the floor and started to change his shoes.
Although Rukawa Kaede didn't pay attention to Sakuragi Hanamichi's intention, some of Takeshi's team members still didn't focus on training, and their attention was always on Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Hey, did you see that guy changing his shoes?"
"What is this going to do?"
"Isn't that guy really a junior high school student? Is he from the basketball club of another school? From the gym?"
Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi sitting on the ground and changing his shoes, there was another discussion in the queue.
The chatter in the queue became louder and louder, and Takeishi's team members began to have their minds active. Rukawa Kaede, who was at the front of the team, knew that the team members were starting to get distracted, and was about to remind the team members to focus on training. Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi having changed his shoes, he actually walked into the arena.
Sakuragi Hanamichi glanced at the entire court, then walked to the sidelines, picked up a basketball, dribbled it twice to test the feel, and then ran towards the court with the ball.
The confused Takeshi team member finally stopped warming up and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi again.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was dribbling the ball, quickly entered the court and crossed the three-point line. The next second, Sakuragi Hanamichi combined the ball near the free throw line. Two steps later, he jumped up directly with the basketball in his right hand.
"So high!" Sakuragi Hanamichi's bounce was quite good. In the sight of Takeshi and everyone, Sakuragi's head was already level with the basket. Exclaims of exclamation came from the queue, even Rukawa Feng shrank in surprise when he saw this scene.
….
"Bang!
"With a loud noise, Sakuragi Hanamichi dunked with one hand and poured the basketball into the basket. The huge sound echoed in the empty basketball hall.
After dunking, Sakuragi Hanamichi grabbed the basket with one hand, and his body swayed slightly as the basket rose and fell. A few seconds later, Sakuragi Hanamichi fell back to the ground, bent down and picked up the basketball on the ground, looking at it with a relaxed expression. To the Takeishi players headed by Rukawa Kaede.
"say hi!"
"Now, are you willing to accept my challenge?"
As Sakuragi Hanamichi spoke, he casually threw the basketball in his hand towards Rukawa Kaede. Rukawa Kaede subconsciously received the
He caught the basketball thrown by Sakuragi Hanamichi, and his expression became grim.
fighting! He, Rukawa Kaede, loves fighting the most!
Rukawa Kaede took the ball and took a step forward, and was about to give Sakuragi Hanamichi a lesson when a player wearing a white No. 9 jersey pulled him from behind Rukawa Kaede.
"Rukawa-senpai, why do you need to come on stage for such a trivial matter? I'll go and drive him away!"
Mizusawa Ichiro walked out of the queue, stopped in front of Rukawa Kaede, took the basketball from Rukawa Kaede's hand without any explanation, and walked towards Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Mizusawa..." Rukawa Kaede saw Ichiro Mizusawa walking out of the queue, and was about to stop him. Katsumi Ichiro, a third grader on the side, patted Rukawa Kaede on the shoulder and persuaded:
"Let Mizusawa compete with that red-haired boy. This guy is very capable and won't lose to that kind of person!"
Hearing what his teammates said, Rukawa Kaede didn't say much. He just reminded Mizusawa Ichiro: "Be serious and don't take it lightly."
Mizusawa Ichiro nodded, walked up to Sakuragi Hanamichi, threw the ball to Sakuragi, and said, "I will accept your challenge!"
"You? Who are you?"
Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Mizusawa Ichiro, who was half a head shorter than him, raised his head slightly and asked in a disdainful tone. In Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes, the only one who could be his opponent in Takeishi Middle School was Rukawa Kaede, who was wearing the No. 4 jersey and was the captain of the team. How could this unknown little character in front of him deserve to play against him? !
"What a waste of time!"
"If you want to fight, fight, if you don't want to fight, get out! We don't have time to waste on people like you!"
Mizusawa Ichiro felt that he was being underestimated by Sakuragi Hanamichi, and his anger suddenly surged. He didn't care about Sakuragi Hanamichi's evil look on his face, and directly scolded him angrily.
Hearing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi also grinned: "In that case, let's defeat you first."
When Ichiro Mizusawa saw Sakuragi Hanamichi agreeing, he immediately said: "One on one, bullfight, three balls!"
"Let you drive first!"
Mizusawa Ichiro was thinking of a quick victory, so after finishing speaking, he walked directly to the three-point line and let Sakuragi Hanamichi attack first with the ball.
However, Sakuragi Hanamichi became a little arrogant at this time. He threw the ball in front of Ichiro Mizusawa and said calmly:
"You attack first! Otherwise, you will have no chance!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi said boldly, as if he didn't take the other party seriously.
"This bastard! If I drive, I'll drive!"
Mizusawa Ichiro cursed, picked up the basketball and walked towards the center circle. He was also angered by Sakuragi Hanamichi's posture and wanted to quickly deal with Sakuragi. At the same time, other players from Takeishi Middle School also stopped warming up and gathered around the court, cheering for Ichiro Mizusawa loudly.
….
Mito Yohei also silently blended into the crowd of onlookers and looked at Sakuragi with some worry.
Sakuragi Hanamichi has only been exposed to basketball for a few months. At first, he practiced with Takenori Akagi and Jinguji Martial Arts. Takenori Akagi taught Sakuragi Hanamichi the basic knowledge of basketball, and also taught him dribbling and basket skills. There are also blocking positions, rebounding and defense. As for offense, Akagi has never taught it at all.
As for Jinguji Martial Arts, the number of appearances was relatively small. He taught Sakuragi the basic three threats of layups and slam dunks, as well as some training methods for practicing ball skills. Most of the time, it was free-range training.
On the other hand, Sakuragi usually goes to see Haruko when he has something to do, under the guise of practicing, but what he wants in his heart is to have time alone with Haruko. God knows whether Sakuragi Hanamichi has focused on practicing basketball, nor does he know what his current basketball level is.
Although Yohei follows Sakuragi Hanamichi every day, his knowledge of basketball is quite shallow. Yohei has also watched some Shohoku games. If nothing else, he only thinks that Sakuragi Hanamichi and Jinguji Martial Arts are the best. There is a huge gap between them. Therefore, in Yohei's mind, Sakuragi's level is one that cannot be put on the table.
While Yohei was thinking, Ichiro Mizusawa had already brought the ball
He walked to a position more than one meter outside the three-point line, bent down slightly, and threw the ball to Sakuragi Hanamichi.
The starting position of the two people's bullfight was not far from the three-point line. Sakuragi, who was holding the ball, also spread his legs and bent down. He handed the ball to Ichiro Mizusawa hand-to-hand, and at the same time, he took a defensive posture.
Ichiro Mizusawa, who was holding the ball, slightly raised his head and glanced at Sakuragi Hanamichi. Without any nonsense, he crossed his right foot and moved the ball to the right with both hands. It was a simple three-threat test, but it instantly attracted Sakuragi Hanamichi's attention and defended. Fang's Sakuragi Hanamichi moved directly after the ball, completely vacating the position on his right side.
"?!"
Mizusawa Ichiro obviously didn't expect that such a simple test move would directly give him a chance to break through. Although he was surprised, the movement of his hand was not slow. The ball fell directly from his left side, which was Sakuragi Hanamichi's right. Breaking through from the side, he was not slow and quickly surpassed Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"What...you are so arrogant, how could Mizusawa break through so easily?"
"Well, don't say that. Mizusawa is Takeshi's third scorer. It's not a shame to be beaten by him."
The Takeshi team members who were watching the game saw Ichiro Mizusawa easily breaking through Sakuragi Hanamichi, and their hearts that had been hanging around were relieved at this moment, and they started teasing easily.
"not yet!"
On the contrary, Rukawa Kaede, who had been silent all this time, whispered and cast his eyes on Sakuragi Hanamichi. That is, at the moment Mizusawa Ichiro broke through, Sakuragi Hanamichi had already completed his turn around, but he did not pursue him immediately. Instead, he deliberately allowed Mizusawa Ichiro to keep a certain distance from him, and then struck with both feet. He kicked off the ground and ran directly behind Mizusawa Ichiro in the blink of an eye.
After the breakthrough, Mizusawa looked back at Sakuragi. When he found that he and the opponent had already opened a certain distance, he completely relaxed. He quickly entered the basket with the ball without any unnecessary movements, and took off lightly. He pushed the ball toward the backboard and tried to send the ball to the board.
….
But the next second, a black shadow enveloped him from behind.
At this moment, Hanamichi Sakuragi actually jumped out from behind Ichiro Mizusawa, and slapped the ball directly onto the backboard, making a "pop" sound.
"What?! How is this possible?!" Ichiro Mizusawa looked sideways at Sakuragi Hanamichi and exclaimed. He had just seen that he had gotten rid of Sakuragi Hanamichi. How could the other party catch up so quickly and even give him a big hat?
A second after Ichiro Mizusawa fell back to the ground, Sakuragi Hanamichi fell back to the ground and easily caught the falling basketball. Such a block was too easy for Sakuragi, as easy as hitting a fly.
"Unexpectedly..."
"This redhead's bounce is really amazing, Mizusawa is underestimating her!"
After a brief silence, Takeishi's team members began to look for relief for Mizusawa. But Rukawa Kaede knew clearly that Mizusawa Ichiro would be blocked, not because he underestimated the enemy.
Mizusawa Ichiro is not as good as Sakuragi Hanamichi in terms of explosive power, bounce, and speed, and Mizusawa Ichiro has obviously fallen into Sakuragi Hanamichi's defensive trap. No matter from every aspect, Mizusawa was overwhelmed by Sakuragi Hanamichi, was he underestimating the enemy? What can we do if we don’t underestimate the enemy?
"Hey, kid, you don't think you can get past me like this, do you?"
Sakuragi grabbed the ball with one hand and said to Ichiro Mizusawa while walking towards the three-point line with a smile on his face.
"whispering sound!"
"It's just to defend against the next ball. It's your turn to attack!"
"I won't let you have a chance to score!"
Ichiro Mizusawa obviously would not lose his fighting spirit because of this block. He spat lightly and followed Sakuragi to the three-point line.
Just as the two were preparing to continue the game, Takeishi Middle School coach Masayoshi Anzai walked into the gym wearing a straight suit and immediately noticed the court surrounded by his players. He didn't say anything, silently walked into the arena, stood behind the spectators, and looked towards the court.
"Huh? Is this a bullfight? Who is this red-haired boy?"
Masayoshi Anzai looked at Hanamichi Sakuragi holding the ball and thought to himself.
At the same time, Ichiro Mizusawa on the court checked the ball and passed the ball back to Sakuragi Hanamichi. Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was holding the ball, slightly staggered his front and rear feet, and suddenly raised the ball as if he was about to shoot. The next second, he kicked the ground with his right foot and started to break through from his right side.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's breakthrough speed was very fast. He didn't care whether the fake move of lifting the ball to shoot was deceiving the opponent. He quickly broke through after lifting the ball. Sakuragi's body was directly attached to Mizusawa Ichiro's body, and the huge force made Mizusawa unable to defend himself immediately.
In the blink of an eye, Sakuragi Hanamichi had already separated from him and successfully entered the basket.
Sakuragi, who was holding the ball, had no intention of looking back at Ichiro Mizusawa. He had already completed the ball when he stepped on the free throw line. Two steps later, he took the ball with both hands and jumped directly, and then poured the ball into the basket.
The power of the two-handed dunk was much more powerful than the one-handed dunk just now. The entire basketball stand was shaken by Sakuragi Hanamichi's dunk. The steel structures rubbed against each other and made a loud noise. A harsh "squeak" sound.
….
The players of Takeishi Middle School all looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was holding the basket with both hands, and they were all shocked by Sakuragi Hanamichi's dunk. However, coach Masayoshi Anzai saw a familiar shadow in Hanamichi Sakuragi's breakthrough action.
"That weird triple threat move... belongs to that guy from Jinguji Martial Arts..."
Coach Anzai murmured in his heart, sensing the "unusual" nature of Sakuragi's breakthrough move.
Normally, triple threats refer to dribbling, breakthrough, and passing. When most people are holding the ball as a three-threat, their pivot foot will not move, and the other foot will choose to move horizontally, and the basketball in their hands will also sweep in the direction of the horizontal movement of the foot. This is to maximize the position of the defender, thereby maximizing the position of the defender. Find gaps for breakthroughs or passes.
However, Sakuragi Hanamichi's movements are different. The front and rear feet are slightly staggered in order to allow the back foot to push the ground when breaking through. At the beginning of doing this movement, he has already made up his mind to break through.
This is a breakthrough method that utilizes one's own explosive power and speed to the greatest extent. The same technique, at the junior high school level, Masayoshi Anzai has only seen it in Jinguji Martial Arts.
The former three-threat method tests the offensive players' skills, vision, and ability to grasp timing. But Sakuragi Hanamichi's kind is a way to maximize one's own advantages. Simply put, it is a way to make forceful eating more violent.
If the strength, speed, and explosive power of the defensive players cannot keep up with the offensive players, then it will be impossible to defend them!
.....................................
Chief Disciple of the Beggar Clan
