The formation of Xiangbei High School indeed exceeded many people's expectations.
Even though some spectators knew something about Shohoku High School, they still couldn't help but comment when they saw that Shohoku sent a group of first- and second-year "rookies" to play.
In the eyes of the audience, Xiangbei is really awesome!
This is a national competition. As long as you lose one game, you can buy a ticket and go home. Even if Xiangbei High School plans to train, it can completely let the main players of the senior class have an absolute advantage and then replace them with substitutes.
The audience has never seen a formation like this in Xiangbei!
In the stadium, Sakuragi Hanamichi and others could also hear the discussion in the stands. However, Sakuragi and the others were not moved at all. Except for Miyagi, it was the first time for all of them to be on such a stage, but they had no fear at all and no stage fright.
Rukawa Kaede looked indifferent, while Sakuragi Hanamichi, Kiyota Nobunaga, and Nango all had excited faces, and their eyes were full of fighting spirit.
And Miyagi Ryota, who was in his own half, was smiling at this time, not paying attention to Toyotama High School, who was also in the A-level.
These new generations of Xiangbei High School are each more proud than the other!
"Beep——" After another long whistle, the referee stood in the center circle holding a basketball.
After signaling the centers of both teams, the referee raised the ball and then threw it high into the air.
As Nango Koichiro and Toyotama's Miaki Iwata let out loud shouts, the match between Shohoku High School and Toyotama officially began.
This year's lineup of Toyotama High School has not changed much from last year. The main scorer is the third-year Retsu Minami, and the team's second scorer is the third-year Miuri Kishimoto. Center center Mitsuaki Iwata, the team's The position is a bit awkward, it can be considered a blue-collar job.
In addition to these three people, there are two other players on the field, namely second-year Itakura Daijiro and Shiyao Kyohei.
Although point guard Daijiro Itakura is a sophomore, he is the third scorer in the team. He is 183cm tall, has excellent mid-to-long-range shooting ability, and has superb breakthrough skills.
Compared with him, the third-year player Wei Jingping is a bit ordinary. He is best at defense and assisting in pick-and-rolls, and his personal scoring ability is average.
Among Feng Yu's players, Nan Lie could barely be considered one of the top players, and the rest were at an excellent level. But these players each have their own characteristics. When these people are integrated together, the power they can unleash is terrifying.
"Pa~"
In the court, after a soft sound, Nango Koichiro won the jump ball, took the lead in hitting the basketball, and pointed the ball towards Miyagi Ryota in the backcourt.
At the center position, Iwata Miaki, who has just reached 190cm tall, is not as explosive as Nango Koichiro, and the jump ball cannot win against Nango, who has excellent explosiveness.
"Hahaha!"
"Easily win my first jump ball in the national competition! Toyotama, I will lead Shohoku and completely defeat you!"
After Nango Koichiro won the jump ball, he immediately became elated and laughed. Although young people like Toyotama were irritated by the arrogant boy Nango, they immediately chose to return to defense after losing the jump ball.
Toyotama High School, who is good at running and gunning, has a very good speed in returning to defense.
Miyagi Ryota just got the basketball and when he dribbled the ball across the center line, Toyotama had already completed his position and was waiting for Shohoku's attack.
In this game, the tactic arranged by coach Anxi was a triangle offense. This set of tactics is not only used by the upperclassmen of Shohoku, but also by the new forces of Shohoku High School. However, in today's game, the triangle offensive tactic of the lower grades of Shohoku is missing Katsumi Ichiro.
Therefore, the player who fills this corner is Nobunaga Kiyota, who was robbed of the ball-handling position by Ryota Miyagi.
The Shohoku players were in position, Kiyota Nobunaga sank into the bottom corner, Rukawa Kaede stood in the corner on the same side, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Nango Koichiro quickly cut to the basket after entering the frontcourt. Nango stood on the same side as Rukawa Kaede and Kiyota, while Sakuragi stood on the other side and moved independently.
Miyagi Ryota, who was approaching the top of the arc with the ball, completed the ball early before Daijiro Itakura came up and gave the ball to Rukawa Kaede.
One of the cores of the triangle offense - a big core who can hold the ball and play in isolation!
And Rukawa Kaede is the player who assumes this role on the Shohoku Stadium today. Before him, those who did this work here in Xiangbei had always been the ace Jinguji Martial Arts.
Coach Anzai's formation arrangement today also regards Rukawa Kaede as the new ace after Jinguji Martial Arts.
The one guarding Rukawa Kaede was Nan Lie from Toyotama High School. Not that Nan Lie knew that Rukawa Kaede was Shohoku's most threatening offensive player on the court. But among the several outsiders in Xiangbei, the one with the most outstanding height was Rukawa Kaede. Nan Lie subconsciously targeted Rukawa Kaede.
"Nan Retsu from Toyotama High School!"
"Osaka's top scorer!"
The moment Nan Lie stood in front of him, Rukawa Feng remembered some information about the other party in his mind. He had seen Nan Lie's introduction in a magazine before, so he knew this person.
Rukawa Kaede was very interested in the other party's name!
"The top scorer!" Rukawa Kaede murmured in his heart, moving to sweep the ball. After a simple test step, Rukawa Kaede dropped the ball and accelerated.
"Huh?" Rukawa Kaede's breakthrough speed was very fast. Nan Lie was surprised when Rukawa Kaede broke through. In just a blink of an eye, Rukawa Kaede's body was already on the same level as him and quickly passed through his waist. Passed by and rushed towards the inside line.
The extremely low center of gravity allowed Rukawa Kaede to accelerate instantly and directly passed Nanlie's defense line.
"Breakthrough! So fast!"
"Who is this first grader from Xiangbei?"
"Nan Lie's defense was actually broken through?"
Rukawa Kaede's sudden advance caused exclamations from the stands. On the court, Rukawa Kaede, who entered the mid-range, suddenly stopped and stood up to prepare to throw the ball. However, at this moment, Nan Lie, who had been thrown away by him, had actually arrived in front of Rukawa Feng, raising his arms high and sealing the basketball.
However, Nanlie was a little late after all, and his jumping ability was not as good as Rukawa Kaede, so he couldn't block the basketball at all. However, his defense still successfully affected the accuracy of Rukawa Kaede's shooting.
"Dang~"
Kaede Rukawa's mid-range pull-up jump shot came out of the frame. Miaki Iwata and Mari Kishimoto, who were guarding the basket, sank directly, blocking their opponents.
"The rebound is mine!"
The basketball fell and landed directly above Minori Kishimoto. Just when Kishimoto was about to take off and grab the ball in his hands, the top of his head was suddenly shrouded in shadow.
A figure actually jumped up when the basketball had just started to fall and reached out to grab the basketball.
"What?!"
"impossible!"
Rukawa Kaede missed the shot, and the basketball bounced quite high when it crashed out of the basket. Minori Kishimoto didn't bounce enough, and while she was waiting for the basketball to fall, someone was already rising from the ground.
In Kishimoto Minori's shocked eyes, the man actually easily picked up the basketball that had just begun to fall into his arms. The bright red hair made Kishimoto Minori's eyes shrink suddenly.
"This guy has such an amazing bounce!"
After a brief moment of glory, Miri Kishimoto also took off and tried to snatch the basketball from Sakuragi Hanamichi's hands, but Sakuragi had already held the ball firmly and began to fall.
"What!"
"The rebound actually..."
"Oh! Who is that red-haired guy? He actually grabbed the rebound. Moreover, that guy's lever jump is so high!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who successfully picked off the board, completely ignored the exclamations of the audience in the stands. After landing, he raised the ball a little and easily deceived Kishimoto Minori.
After the fake move was successful, Sakuragi dropped the ball and rushed directly into the basket with a big step, and then the ball exploded.
"Bang!"
There was a loud noise, and the basketball was directly poured into the basket by Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Grabbing rebounds, shooting feints, breaking through and slamming dunks, Hanamichi Sakuragi's series of actions were clean and smooth, and his powerful slam dunk silenced the audience who were originally talking about Shohoku's formation.
There was silence for a long time, and amazing cheers erupted from the stands.
"Slam dunk! What a slam dunk!"
"It looks like it was easy to drink. Who is this red-haired person? Is he a first-year student in Xiangbei?!"
"ohhhhh! Shohoku!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who successfully dunked, did not get lost in the cheers of the audience this time. After successfully scoring, he curled his lips in disdain and said to himself:
"It's just a slam dunk, don't be so excited!"
"This genius has other unique skills that he hasn't come up with yet!"
When Sakuragi Hanamichi quickly returned to defense, everyone on the Shohoku bench looked at each other. No one expected that it was Sakuragi who scored first on Shohoku's side. Moreover, after Sakuragi dunked, he didn't even scream and show off, which was really contrary to common sense.
Seeing Sakuragi's calm look after scoring, Mumu couldn't help but nodded and praised: "This kid Sakuragi has finally grown up."
However, Mitsui Hisashi is not as optimistic as Mumu. He knows Sakuragi very well. I am afraid that this kid is holding back some big work.
"Damn it! I was actually deceived by such an idiot!"
"hateful!"
Watching Sakuragi score in front of her, Kishimoto Minori grabbed the ball and slammed it on the ground. She looked unhappy and angrily threw the ball away before running quickly towards the Shohoku half.
Toyotama High School advanced very quickly, but in just a few seconds, Itakura had already entered the Shohoku half with the ball.
The one guarding him was Miyagi. Facing Miyagi Ryota, who was more than ten centimeters shorter than himself, Itakura just made a simple suspended dribble, pretended to break through, and then suddenly joined the ball and shot a three-pointer.
At this time, only 8 seconds had passed before Shohoku High School scored.
"If you take action so quickly, it won't go in!"
"rebound!"
Seeing the haste of the opponent's attack, Miyagi Ryota immediately turned around and shouted. However, under his gaze, the basketball went directly into the net and hit the ground.
"What!
! "
The small holes in Miyagi's farmland are a bit unbelievable. When Itakura Daijiro saw the basketball enter the net, his big face came close to Miyagi Ryota, gave him a "smile", and then whispered:
"Dwarf, guard me!"
Itakura's sarcasm made Ryota Miyagi blush with anger.
Height has always been a pain for him, and Itakura's words have firmly stepped on his pain point!
"Counterattack!" Miyagi roared and quickly entered the inside lane. Nango served quickly from the baseline. After releasing the ball, he quickly ran towards Toyotama High School's half court at an extremely fast speed.
Facing Toyotama High School, which is good at playing run & gun, Miyagi Ryota was aroused and angered and had no intention of slowing down at all. He planned to play fast and quickly to get back the points he just lost!
"That boy Miyagi, the advancement speed has become faster!"
"When we play the triangle offense, we don't need such a fast advancement at all."
"What did that guy say in Miyagi's ear just now? Did he lose his mind?"
When Miyagi advanced quickly, Mitsui Shou immediately realized the problem and said immediately. However, Wu Dao shook his head slightly when he heard this and said:
"It's certain what he said, but it's impossible to say that Miyagi lost his mind."
"You're not a first-year rookie. You can't lose your mind over a few words."
"Let's see, it's no problem. Although Feng Yu's strength is good, these guys from northern Hunan are not bad either!"
As soon as Budo finished speaking, Miyagi Ryota was already approaching the three-point line with the ball. His advancement speed became faster, and the running speed of others in Shohoku also accelerated. While Miyagi was approaching the three-pointer, Rukawa Kaede and others had also completed their positions.
Shohoku's players on the court don't have the traditional center that slows them down. Whether it's Sakuragi or Nango, their foot strength is terrifying and they can easily keep up with Miyagi's advancing speed.
Toyotama's players didn't seem to expect Shohoku's counterattack to come so quickly. Center Mitsuaki Iwata was still in the mid-range and had not yet entered the basket.
Miyagi Ryota accurately found this defensive loophole, looked at Rukawa Kaede, but the basketball in his hand hit Itakura's crotch hard, and passed directly towards the inside.
"Huh?!" Itakura, who had been deceived by Miyagi's gaze, was looking at Rukawa Kaede, but the next second, the basketball passed directly through his crotch.
It accurately fell into the hands of Kiyota Nobunaga, who was cutting through the basket. Kiyota got up directly with the ball, dunked it with one hand with his height of 178cm, and poured the ball into the basket.
"oh!"
"Well done, Miyagi-senpai!"
After Kiyota Nobunaga scored, he shouted excitedly towards Miyagi. The two approaching men fist-bumped in celebration, and then quickly returned to defense.
The two consecutive slam dunks from Xianghoku High School at the beginning also aroused the enthusiasm of the audience. At this time, even the stupidest people realized that these players from Xianghoku High School are all good players!
Kiyota Nobunaga's slam dunk convinced the audience of this. A first-year student with a height of less than 180cm was actually able to dunk with one hand. This terrifying talent is rare in the entire high school basketball world.
Toyotama did not dwell too much on this mistake. After Shohoku scored, he quickly organized a counterattack.
This time, Itakura, who entered the frontcourt with the ball, passed the fake shot to Nanlie, who came up to support him. The latter faked a shot and then quickly moved sideways along the three-point line. Take action.
And with a crisp sound of the net slamming, the basketball entered the net.
Just over a minute into the game, Shohoku and Toyotama had already competed for several rounds. Facing a veteran and strong team like Toyotama, these first-year players from Shohoku were not at a disadvantage.
I thought it was a crushing game, but now everyone no longer underestimated the first graders from Xiangbei.
.....................
