The first half of the game lasted 7 and a half minutes. As Mitsui Hisashi hit a three-pointer steadily, the score of the two teams reached 16:20.
Lingnan High School encountered an unprecedented disadvantageous situation.
In response, Lingnan High School, which had not changed its playing style, began to make some adjustments.
"Sendō, Fujima, Hanagata, that's it. Let's execute strategy B."
Shinomiya looked at the people in Shohoku who had returned to the field, and decisively called out to several of his teammates, planning to implement new tactics.
Upon hearing this, Xiandao and the others nodded, looking towards the front court.
"It's a little late. If we execute it earlier, we won't be two goals ahead by Shohoku."
Fujima received the serve from his teammate in the backcourt. After grunting, he began to advance quickly towards the frontcourt with the ball. His dribbling speed was not very fast. After his teammates entered the frontcourt, it took a few seconds before he brought the ball with him. The ball enters the frontcourt.
The entire offensive rhythm of Lingnan High School began to slow down significantly.
After Shinomiya entered the frontcourt, he quickly ran towards Sendō. As the two of them staggered, Jinguji Budō and Mitsui Hisashi did not switch defenses and pursued directly. Shinomiya and Sendō were each pulled away by one. Due to their position, the two people who got the gap actually cut inside from the top of the arc on both sides at the same time.
At the same time, Jun Uozumi and Toru Hanagata, who were standing on the inside, stepped forward to help Shinomiya Tano and Sendō respectively in the pick-and-roll.
Jinguji Budo's follow-up speed was very fast. Although Shinomiya got a gap in position, he was quickly caught up by Budo. Moreover, Uozumi Jun's pick-and-roll quality was also average, and Budo easily bypassed it.
However, there is no problem with Budo's defense, but there is a big problem with Mitsui Hisashi's defense. Hanagata Toru's pick-and-roll quality is very good, and there are also some communication problems between Mitsui Hisashi and Sakuragi Hanamichi. They should have made up for their positions. The flower-shaped Sakuragi subconsciously switched defenses with Hisashi Mitsui at this moment, and made up for Xiandao.
However, it was such a lack of tacit understanding of movement that allowed Fujima to see an opportunity.
The basketball was lobbed and passed steadily to Hanaxing's hands. After receiving the basketball, Hanaxing directly shot the ball into the open space and sent the ball into the net.
At 18:20, the point difference was reduced to two points.
"Lingnan's offensive tactics have changed."
"Have any adjustments been made to increase the success rate?"
On the sidelines, Coach Anxi was not surprised when he saw this scene on the court. He touched the thick flesh on his chin and thought to himself.
In the stadium, everyone in Shohoku also noticed that the opponent's offensive tactics had changed. Hisashi Mitsui made a prompt decision and shouted directly to his teammates:
"Change the way we defend and play zone defense."
"Don't stare at the person you're defending and chase after him."
After saying that, everyone in Xiangbei began to advance towards the front court.
Not long after, Rukawa Kaede entered the frontcourt with the ball. It wasn't until Rukawa Kaede dribbled the ball into the frontcourt that he realized that not only the offensive tactics of Lingnan High School had changed, but also the defensive tactics had also undergone major changes.
When Rukawa Kaede dribbled the ball into the frontcourt and handed the ball to Jinguji Budo, Lingnan's players began to take action.
Hanagata Tohru, who was originally guarding Sakuragi Hanamichi, actually let Sakuragi go and ran quickly towards Jinguji Martial Arts. During the running process, Hanagata was also wary of Jinguji Budokai passing the ball, so he was always stuck between Budokai and Sakuragi.
When Jinguji Budo gets the ball, he is in the right corner, and Sakuragi is in the left corner in the middle distance. There is a big distance between the two. If Budo wants to pass the ball to Sakuragi over the flower shape, he must use a high Drop ball.
However, the slower lob can easily be intercepted by Fujima at the top of the arc. Although Fujima is not very tall, he is very fast and can run in front of Sakuragi to intercept.
"Hanagata and Shinomiya are double-teaming."
"Short Sakuragi, but in this case, wouldn't Sakuragi have a good chance?"
Budo glanced at Hanagata, who was rushing towards him quickly, and passed the ball back to Rukawa Kaede with his backhand, hoping that Rukawa Kaede could pass the ball to the open Sakuragi, allowing Sakuragi to hit the target.
But when the basketball entered Rukawa Kaede's hands, Fujima, who was guarding Rukawa Kaede, ignored Rukawa Kaede at all and stepped back, leaving a breakthrough position.
Faced with this situation, Rukawa Kaede certainly could not miss such an opportunity and directly drop the ball to break through. However, as soon as Rukawa Kaede activated, Hanagata, who was originally rushing toward the martial arts, instantly formed a double-team with Fujima, blocking Rukawa Kaede's breakthrough route.
Just when Rukawa Kaede was about to pass the ball, Shinomiya's figure suddenly appeared behind Rukawa Kaede, pointed his finger accurately on the basketball, and knocked the basketball down.
"What?!" Feeling that his hand was empty, Rukawa Kaede couldn't help exhaling in surprise. He turned his head and saw the basketball flying forward directly and falling into Fujima's hands.
"Three guarantees one!"
"The target is Rukawa Kaede!"
Lingnan High School's double-teaming of Jinguji Budo was just a feint attack. From the beginning, they were targeting Shohoku High School's first-year point guard, Rukawa Kaede!
"Return to defense! Return to defense quickly!"
The basketball was cut off, and Hisashi Mitsui shouted loudly and quickly returned to the court.
At this time, Fujima, who got the basketball, quickly passed the ball to Sendō, who was running forward. After the latter took the ball, he quickly dribbled the ball towards the Shohoku half.
Along with Akira Sendō, there was Shinomiya Tōno who participated in the double-teaming.
In the blink of an eye, Lingnan's Xiandao and Shinomiya Tano had already entered the Xiangbei half.
"Immortal path, behind you!"
Just when Sendō crossed the three-point line with the ball, Shinomiya Tano not far away reminded loudly. As soon as Shinomiya Tōno's words fell, Jinguji Budō's figure was already level with Sendō. From the corner of his eyes, While paying attention to the immortal path, he was also observing the position of the fourth palace field.
"What a speed!"
"You were caught up so quickly!"
Xiandao sighed secretly in his heart, and then without any fear, he actively sought physical confrontation when dribbling forward, and directly pushed his body sideways against Jinguji Budou who was pursuing him.
Having been teammates with Shinomiya for a long time, Sendō's offensive habits will inevitably be affected by Shinomiya.
"Oh, it's so powerful."
Immortal Dao pressed against Jinguji Martial Arts, and he was suddenly shocked to realize that the opponent's strength was not inferior to his own at all. He took the initiative to seek confrontation, but not only failed to push back the opponent, but was hit by Jinguji Martial Arts, and he lost his center of gravity.
Sendō's speed slowed down, and his dribbling rhythm was obviously affected. Jinguji Budō looked stern and reached out to grab the basketball.
"Snapped!!!"
Jinguji Budo's hand hit the basketball directly, knocking it to the ground.
Very precise and crisp tackle.
However, after the basketball hit the ground, there was no chance for Budao to get the ball. Xiandao paused. At the moment when Budao stole the ball, he took the ball in his arms with a diving jump. At the same time, he slammed his hands towards his crotch and knocked the ball away. It spread to Shinomiya Fields behind Martial Arts.
Sendō's passing angle was very low, and a player of Jinguji Budō's height had no time to bend down and steal the ball. He could only watch the basketball fly past him and fall into Shinomiya's hands.
Sendō's passing angle was low, and Shinomiya was bent deeply when receiving the ball.
When he straightened up and took off with a dribble, the rest of the Shohoku High School players were already in place to defend him!
"Don't even think about it!"
Rukawa Kaede shouted softly, and almost jumped into the air with Shinomiya Nono, and slapped the basketball in Shinomiya Nono's hand with one hand.
"Boy, who are you talking to?!"
Shinomiya shouted loudly, and his body twisted strangely in mid-air. His original posture facing the frame turned into facing the basket sideways, and the basketball in his hand fell downwards, directly avoiding Rukawa Kaede's block. .
"Bang!"
Approaching the basket, Shinomiya dunked the ball into the net with both hands. The sound of dunking exploded in the court, igniting the enthusiasm of the audience in the stands.
"Ohhh! What is that?! Pull the lever and you can dunk?!"
"How is this possible, that you can half turn around in the air?!"
"So strong! What a powerful slam dunk!"
The audience surged into the stadium with exclamations. Jinguji Budo stood in front of Sendao. He also looked back at Shinomiya Tōno, who was grabbing the basket with both hands, and raised his eyebrows.
"Huh~ It's really dangerous."
"I was almost intercepted by you. If the ball was intercepted like this, I would be scolded to death by Coach Taoka."
"Fortunately~fortunately~"
Xiandao slowly got up from the floor, patted the dust on his body which was not much at all, and said with a smile.
After saying that, Xiandao looked deeply at Miyaji Budao, turned around and ran towards his own half.
"Kid, are you worthy of challenging me?!"
Under the Shohoku basket, Shinomiya Tōno let go of his hands grabbing the basket, fell back to the ground, turned his head, glanced at Rukawa Kaede contemptuously, and said.
Before Rukawa Kaede could react, Shinomiya Tano had already taken steps and left the basket, completely ignoring Rukawa Kaede.
"." Rukawa Kaede lowered his head and said nothing. He clenched his fists tightly and felt a depression in his chest. When he raised his head, he saw the figure of Jinguji Martial Arts.
"Rukawa Kaede, don't think too much, that guy just wants to anger you."
"This guy Shinomiya Tano is very strong personally, and his trash talk is not much different from his strength."
"Don't let him provoke you."
"Lingnan High School has set its sights on you."
Budo patted Rukawa Kaede on the shoulder, then walked to the baseline, picked up the basketball, gave the ball to Rukawa Kaede's hands, and then ran quickly towards the front court.
After starting with the basketball, Rukawa Kaede glanced at Shinomiya and others who had returned to their own half-court defense, and a smile suddenly appeared on his stern face.
"The target. Is it me?!"
With a low murmur, Rukawa Kaede quickly dribbled the ball into the frontcourt.
Rukawa Kaede's expression management is quite good. Just looking at his face, you can't tell what kind of emotion he is in right now.
However, Lingnan's players still used the previous defensive strategy. I don't know if it was because Lingnan knew that Rukawa Kaede would not pass the ball to Sakuragi Hanamichi. Anyway, Hanagata seemed to be very relieved about Rukawa Kaede.
When Rukawa Kaede entered the frontcourt, he and Sakuragi opened up some distance, intending to move his position near the free throw line, so that he could cover both Fujima and Shinomiya Tanano.
"Pass the ball!"
"Hurry up and pass the ball! Stinky fox!"
"Opportunity! I have a chance!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was relieved, was very excited at this moment. He patted his chest and shouted loudly towards Rukawa Kaede.
Hey, don't say it, his words really had some effect. Hanagata Toru leaned closer and paid more attention to Sakuragi.
"fool!"
"Your chances are not as good as mine!"
Rukawa Kaede whispered in his heart, after a crotch luck, the basketball switched to his left hand. While floating and dribbling, Rukawa Kaede broke through the feint, and then quickly broke through with dragging steps.
Rukawa Kaede's body directly collided with Fujima's body, and the huge force directly pushed Fujima away, opening a path for himself.
"Um?!"
Rukawa Kaede's breakthrough was somewhat unexpected. No one in Lingnan expected that Rukawa Kaede, who had just been intercepted a second ago, would dare to fight again at this moment.
"You little brat with no long memory!"
Shinomiya Tano smiled and murmured. He did not wrap it up immediately. Instead, he leaned towards the martial arts, intending to restrict the Jinguji martial arts from catching the ball first.
At this time, the flower shape near the free throw line stepped forward and blocked Rukawa Kaede's path. At the same time that Rukawa Kaede was stopped, Fujima also quickly moved towards Rukawa Kaede from behind, trying to steal from behind Rukawa Kaede.
And just when Fujima made a move, Rukawa Kaede paused and jumped directly with the ball.
"Has this kid lost his mind!?"
"Strong shot! What are you thinking?!"
When Hanagata and Fujima saw Rukawa Kaede's movements, their hearts sank. Hanagata Toru, who was blocking Rukawa Kaede, jumped up directly and sealed herself in front of Rukawa Kaede.
However, Rukawa Kaede jumped back after the emergency stop. The flower-shaped hand only reached Rukawa Kaede's forearm, and at most it blocked Rukawa Kaede's sight.
As for Fujima, he himself was beaten by Rukawa Kaede and left behind. At this moment, with his height, he could not interfere with Rukawa Kaede's jump shot.
While breathing, the basketball was thrown from Rukawa Kaede's hand, directly over the flower shape, and flew towards the basket.
The upright and straight shooting line made Lingnan's players turn around and look at the basket.
"Shua!" The next second, a soft sound sounded.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was watching Rukawa Kaede's shot, seemed to be the one who couldn't accept it the most. He covered his head with his hands and looked in disbelief, whispering: "What?!"
The eyes of the other Lingnan team members all changed when they looked at Rukawa Kaede.
No one expected that Rukawa Kaede, a first-year player, would dare to play so hard. The ball was stolen just now, and now he would dare to force a shot by himself.
If it were a normal player, if he had made a mistake just now, he would have been very cautious with the next ball. He would not break through easily or pass the ball easily. He would definitely be cautious.
But Rukawa Kaede, this first grader, seemed to have no idea what "caution" was.
Seeing Rukawa Kaede score, Budo also smiled and clapped his hands, encouraging: "Well done, Rukawa Kaede!"
“Keep it your style, it’s cool!”
After saying that, he turned to Shinomiya Tōno and asked:
"How's it going? Our first graders in Xiangbei are not bad, right?"
(End of chapter)
