When everyone's attention was focused on Sakuragi Hanamichi, almost no one paid attention to Rukawa Kaede's expression at this time.
The five special recruits selected by Coach Anzai have not shown their abilities at the beginning of the game. So far, only Sakuragi Hanamichi has shown his abilities to the Shohoku players. It is precisely because Sakuragi Hanamichi The active performance allowed the Shohoku players on those courts to focus most of their attention on Sakuragi.
At the bottom line, Chiba Oishi served from the backcourt, and the basketball fell into the hands of Miyagi Ryota.
At this time, most of the junior high school students were in the backcourt, and Sakuragi Hanamichi and Kiyota Nobunaga, who were playing fast break, also hurried back to the court after Shohoku served. Miyagi had just received the basketball and started to advance. The junior high school students They have already positioned themselves on defense.
The person responsible for defending Miyagi Ryota is Kiyota Nobunaga. When Miyagi dribbles the ball forward, Kiyota Nobunaga is standing at the top of the arc in his own half. When Miyagi is close to the three-point line, Kiyota Nobunaga Changjia immediately ran up, which limited Miyagi's ball play.
"Senior! Is your role on the court just to pass the ball?"
"In this case, wouldn't the effect on the team be too small?"
Kiyota Nobunaga has a flamboyant temperament. In this practice match, he also wants to perform well. Not only his offensive ability, he also wants to show his defensive ability in front of coach Anzai.
But if the opposing Miyagi Ryota always brings the ball into the frontcourt and then passes the ball to others instead of playing it himself, his chances of performance will be quite rare.
Nobunaga Kiyota doesn't want to be transparent on the court. He hopes that his opponent Ryota Miyagi can take the initiative to attack. Only in this way can he, Kiyota, express himself in front of coach Anzai!
"Huh?" Miyagi Ryota, who was about to play the ball, heard this and stopped. He let out a light sigh and looked at Kiyota Nobunaga.
"Hey, come on, senior, try and see if you can break through my defense!"
Kiyota Nobunaga was very confident and raised his fingers towards Miyagi Ryota, signaling Miyagi Ryota to attack. This provocative action caused Ryota Miyagi to frown, and his dribbling rhythm began to speed up subconsciously.
Suddenly, Miyagi Ryota stopped dribbling, spread his arms, and made a breakthrough. Kiyota Nobunaga's eyes lit up, and he immediately bent down and reached out to grab the basketball. Just as his hand was close to the basketball, Miyagi Ryota quickly pulled the ball back, and with a beautiful quick cross step, he instantly passed Kiyota Nobunaga. .
"What?!" Kiyota Nobunaga was shocked when he was passed by, and wanted to turn around and pursue the defense, but at this time, Miyagi Ryota quickly dribbled the ball inside.
Miyagi Ryota's breakthrough speed was too fast. Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was near the top of the arc, focused all his attention on Chiba Oishi and didn't pay attention to the matchup on Kiyota's side. . He has watched Shohoku's games and knows that Shohoku's offensive end is dominated by Jinguji Budo and Mitsui Hisashi.
As for Miyagi Ryota, he is a solid "point guard" and does not have a strong offense.
But what Sakuragi Hanamichi doesn't know is that Miyagi's offensive ability is weak only because he is comparing players like Jinguji Budo and Mitsui Hisashi, and it is precisely because there are Mitsui Hisashi and Jinguji Budō in Shohoku. Miyagi rarely played singles on the court.
In this practice match, among the players in Shohoku, the one with the strongest outside offensive ability was actually the most inconspicuous Miyagi Ryota.
Miyagi Ryota crossed the middle of Kiyota Nobunaga and entered the paint area. Before Nango Koichiro and Rukawa Kaede on the inside arrived, Miyagi made a small throw.
The basketball hit the backboard and hit the net. With a soft sound, Xiangbei High School took the lead in scoring.
"Well done! Miyagi!"
"Well done, Miyagi~"
Miyagi Ryota scored, and the Shohoku players watching the ball clapped their hands to encourage him. Even Ayako waved towards Miyagi. After hearing Ayako's voice, Miyagi's face was full of spring breeze and he was full of confidence in his abilities.
"Very good! I'm in great shape today."
"Although it's just a practice match, I will never lose to a junior high school student!"
"I will never give up my position as the starter in Xiangbei to anyone!"
Miyagi Ryota clenched his fists and defended while strengthening his confidence. Miyagi Ryota obviously felt threatened by the junior high school students. Facing this practice match, he was ready to use all his strength to deal with it.
When Miyagi Ryota returned to the defense, he did not forget to glance back at Kiyota Nobunaga. His glance was like a declaration of war and a mockery.
"hateful!
! I was actually broken through so easily. "
"You underestimated that guy."
Kiyota Nobunaga gritted his teeth and roared, his face full of unwillingness. Sakuragi Hanamichi glanced at Kiyota, patted him on the shoulder, and said: "Wild monkey, your gaffe was already expected by this genius. It doesn't matter. I will get my points back soon."
"You just need to remember to give the ball to this genius. You can't control something as hard as scoring."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Kiyota Nobunaga was easily passed by Miyagi Ryota. Instead of comforting and encouraging his teammates, Sakuragi Hanamichi was a little gloating. Sakuragi laughed and ran ahead of the field, leaving behind a resentful Kiyota Nobunaga.
"Asshole...I was actually underestimated by this red-haired monkey, damn it!
! "Qingtian was quite angry. He wanted to regain the court by himself, and then angrily walked towards the baseline and shouted at Rukawa Kaede who was about to serve: "Pass the ball!
Pass the ball to me! "
But Rukawa Kaede, who was serving from the baseline, simply ignored Kiyota Nobunaga's intention and gave the ball to his teammate Katsumi Ichiro. Katsumi Ichiro, who caught the ball, smiled at Nobunaga Kiyota and advanced forward with the ball.
"Hey, pass the ball! Pass the ball!" Seeing that Katsumi Ichiro had no intention of throwing the ball, Kiyota Nobunaga trotted to Katsumi Ichiro's side and urged in the opponent's ear. Katsumi Ichiro frowned slightly, ignored Kiyota Nobunaga, and continued to advance with the ball.
For a time, a very strange phenomenon formed in the stadium. Kiyota Nobunaga and Katsumi Ichiro were less than 30cm apart, and they entered the frontcourt side by side. The Xiangbei players were a little confused when faced with such a situation. At the same time, they also temporarily changed their defensive plan. They originally planned to defend with two people, but only one person was left.
Because Kiyota Nobunaga and Katsumi Ichiro were close to each other, Shohoku only sent Miyagi Ryota alone to cover the attack area of the two. And Mu Mugong extended his position to the middle distance, guarding against someone making an empty cut.
"Pass the ball! Pass the ball!
"Kiyota Nobunaga was still chattering endlessly. Katsumi Ichiro looked at Miyagi Ryota in front of him, glanced at Kiyota Nobunaga from the corner of his eye, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
When Katsumi Ichiro was approaching Miyagi with the ball, he suddenly sank and dropped the ball towards the other side of Kiyota to break through. Miyagi Ryota had just stepped up to pursue the defense, but Katsumi Ichiro instantly moved his body and made a backhand move, close to Kiyota Nobu. The long body instantly changed the direction of the breakthrough. Breakthrough from Qingtian's side.
As for the defensive Miyagi Ryota, he was also caught off guard by this sudden change. When he was pursuing the defense, he was blocked by Kiyota and lost the possibility of following up.
"Kugure-senpai!" Miyagi knew that there was no hope of pursuing him, so he shouted at Kōnobu Kigure, and quickly blocked the passing path of Katsumi Ichiro and Kiyota.
It wasn't until his line of sight was blocked by Miyagi that this silly boy Kiyota Nobunaga realized that he was being used by Katsumi Ichiro. Oh, no, he made a beautiful screen for Katsumi Ichiro~
Katsumi Ichiro completed the breakthrough, and Konobu Kigure's defense was also in place quickly. Facing the defense, Katsumi Ichiro paused and raised the ball to make a shooting posture. However, when Komure raised his center of gravity to defend the shot, Katsumi Ichiro hit the ball to the ground. , quickly passed the ball to Rukawa Kaede in the inside position.
"Oh! Beautiful passing action." Katsumi Ichiro's breakthrough pass was very smooth, which attracted a burst of admiration. Rukawa Kaede, who received the ball inside, quickly gathered the ball after one dribble, then suddenly turned around to face the frame, and shot a fadeaway jumper.
Rukawa Kaede was not far from the basket, less than one meter from the paint area, and his fadeaway jumper was so sudden that Tsunoda Satoru, who was guarding him, didn't react at all. Until Rukawa Kaede made the shot, Tsunoda was stunned. He stood there, as if his legs had taken root and he couldn't jump up.
"Snapped!"
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hits the board at an angle and hits the net, the sound is crisp and clear. After scoring the goal, Rukawa Kaede did not look at Tsunoda Satoru in front of him, but turned to look at Jinguji Budo on the sidelines, his eyes full of fighting spirit.
"Rukawa Kaede's fadeaway jumper was clean and neat, a pretty good move."
"Satoru Tsunoda and Kaede Rukawa are similar in height. If Kaede Rukawa catches the ball in that position, Tsunoda may not be able to guard against this kid."
"Among the five specially recruited players, Rukawa Kaede's physical condition is not the best, but he is still top-notch, and not only that, Rukawa Kaede's skills should also be better than the other four."
"In the future in Xiangbei, after I and you graduate, I'm afraid Rukawa Kaede will have to fight against the banner!"
Mitsui Shou looked at Rukawa Kaede's back as he returned to defense, his tone full of appreciation. Mitsui Hisashi's impression of Rukawa Kaede is that he talks less and has strong skills. Among the five special recruits, Mitsui Hisashi's favorite is Rukawa Kaede and Katsumi Ichiro.
"It's too early to talk about resisting the banner. I'm only a freshman in high school and this guy is in junior high school."
"When I retire, this guy will be able to carry the flag."
"And...although Tsunoda can't guard him, Rukawa Kaede doesn't necessarily have many opportunities to touch the ball."
Budo smiled and said after hearing Mitsui Hisashi's words, Rukawa Kaede is indeed very capable. When he enters high school in the future, he will definitely make the high school basketball world tremble. But when it comes to carrying the flag, it's too early. Rukawa Kaede is still a little immature, and the journey has been too smooth. The high school competition will make Rukawa Kaede more mature. Before that, martial arts is not going to give way. .
At the same time, Budo has reservations about how good Rukawa Kaede can perform in this practice match.
The biggest problem for this junior high school student team is probably within their team.
After Rukawa Kaede scored, the junior high school students retreated quickly. Kiyota Nobunaga kept thinking quietly during the retreat, saying words like "pass the ball". Sakuragi Hanamichi also looked dissatisfied. He was not the one who scored the team's first goal, which made him very unhappy. Nango Koichiro also had a stern look on his face, not knowing what he was thinking.
Although the junior high school students have settled into position, the atmosphere in the team is quite strange.
"There is only one basketball, and not everyone has the opportunity to express themselves."
"What young players like most is to attack, but a team often needs that kind of threading role."
"One person is not enough for this kind of role!"
"When the possession of the ball is uncertain, the team needs someone with considerable leadership to coordinate the team."
"Who will be the leader?"
Coach Anxi looked at the junior high school students who were back on defense and thought to himself. He couldn't sit still anymore, so he slowly stood up from his seat and walked to the sidelines, wanting to see it more clearly.
"Come on! Show your momentum!"
"Let these junior high school students see how high school students play basketball!"
Takenori Akagi quickly ran towards the frontcourt after serving from the baseline, shouting at the players as he ran.
On the court at this time, Takenori Akagi was undoubtedly the leader of Shohoku, and the rest of the Shohoku players gathered tightly around him to form a team.
Miyagi Ryota advanced quickly after receiving the ball in the backcourt. This time, he did not choose to attack by himself. After entering the frontcourt, he directly lobbed the ball to Takenori Akagi inside.
Takenori Akagi, who caught the ball inside, didn't make any extra moves. When he exploded the ball, he leaned hard against Nango Koichiro's body. The huge force directly pushed Nango Koichiro back a big step, and then Akagi quickly turned to face the basket, cut to the basket in the blink of an eye, jumped up, and dunked the ball into the basket with both hands.
“Hohoho!
! "
Akagi made a strange sound in his mouth, and the huge force pulled down the entire basketball stand. The sound of slam dunk resounded throughout the entire court. The enthusiasm of the Shohoku players watching the ball around was also ignited by Akagi's powerful dunk. Applause.
"Hey, bleached monkey, can you defend well?"
"It's so ugly!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi saw that Nango Koichiro was broken through and watched Akagi dunk. He still looked gloating, giving people the feeling that the more gifts from his teammates, the happier he would be.
Before Nango Koichiro could reply, Takenori Akagi was the first to be unable to stand Sakuragi Hanamichi's face. When he returned to defense, he punched Sakuragi on the head, forcing the guy to silence himself. .
Shohoku scored two goals easily, but Rukawa Kaede actually looked a little unhappy. The reason for Rukawa Kaede's ugly face was not because his teammates were easily broken through. The reason for Rukawa Kaede's ugly face was that during Shohoku's two attacks, his defense was unable to keep up immediately.
He is a person who has extremely strict demands on himself. On the contrary, he has very few demands on his teammates.
The team lost points easily, and Rukawa Kaede felt that it was his own problem.
Since it's your own problem, you have to make up for it yourself, Rukawa Kaede, that's what he thinks.
"Pass the ball to me." Rukawa Kaede said expressionlessly to Katsumi Ichiro, and then ran towards the frontcourt. Looking at Rukawa Kaede's appearance, Katsumi Ichiro knew that Rukawa Kaede was starting to enter the state. He spread his hands helplessly and was about to receive the backcourt serve from his teammate.
I saw that Nango Koichiro's baseline ball was actually intercepted by Kiyota Nobunaga.
"Hahaha!
"
"Xiangbei, let me show you how powerful I am!"
"Look at it, red-haired monkey, dyed monkey, I will use this ball to convince you!"
.....................................
