Rukawa Kaede was intercepted by Lingnan High School for two consecutive goals. With Lingnan's two counterattacks, the score of the two teams reached 57:53. Lingnan High School led Shohoku High School by 4 points.
On the side of the court, coach Tian Gang looked at Rukawa Kaede on the court, chuckled and whispered to himself.
Rookie wall.
Rookie Wall, in the NBA, this term describes that after a rookie enters the NBA, he usually loses his status for a certain period of time, as if there is an invisible wall in front of him blocking the way forward.
This situation usually occurs within 2-6 months of rookies entering the league. There are many talented players who have not been able to adjust their psychological gap throughout their lives. They are firmly blocked by the rookie wall and remain in place forever. Unable to climb over.
And this situation has now appeared in Rukawa Kaede.
Jumping from the fish pond in junior high school to the big lake in high school, Rukawa Kaede faced an unprecedentedly powerful enemy and had an extremely difficult time fighting it.
After being continuously intercepted by players from Lingnan High School on the court, Rukawa Kaede realized that during the short 20-minute intermission, Lingnan had already found a way to target him.
After Xiandao scored a shot, he turned around and started to defend. When he passed by Rukawa Kaede, he turned his head slightly and glanced at Rukawa Kaede.
At this time, Rukawa Kaede lowered his head and looked at the floor in a daze. His long bangs covered Rukawa Kaede's eyes. Although Xiandao couldn't see clearly, he could still feel that Rukawa Kaede's body had lost its energy. Quite a few.
Continuous steals have already affected Rukawa Kaede's mentality.
"Rukawa Kaede, it's too early for you to be on such a stage now!"
Xiandao thought secretly in his heart, and then accelerated his pace to return to defense, passed Rukawa Kaede, and ran quickly towards the Lingnan half.
At this time, Hisashi Mitsui had already walked outside the baseline, picked up the basketball and was about to serve. However, when he saw Rukawa Kaede lowering his head and taking no action, he immediately noticed something was wrong with Rukawa Kaede and quickly shouted:
"Hey! Rukawa Kaede, come back to catch the ball and get ready to attack!"
"Hey, Rukawa Kaede!"
After calling twice in a row, Rukawa Kaede finally reacted after hearing Mitsui Shou's call. He raised his head and looked at Mitsui Shou with a blank expression, and his pupils slowly became focused.
"This kid!" Mitsui Shou saw Rukawa Kaede's eyes and looked startled.
This was the first time he saw such an expression on Rukawa Kaede's face. That confused look made Mitsui Shou's heart sink.
"Are you confused?!" Hisashi Mitsui pushed the ball with both hands and passed the ball to Rukawa Kaede. Then he quickly stepped into the court and trotted to Rukawa Kaede's side. After carefully observing Rukawa Kaede's expression, he encouraged him. :
"Rukawa Kaede, don't worry, maintain your own rhythm."
"These two steals are just because you released the ball a little slower."
"When advancing with the ball, pay attention to the position of other Lingnan players and pass the ball more to let the basketball pass quickly."
What Mitsui Hisashi said can only be regarded as some suggestions for "beginners". Generally speaking, for a mature point guard, these so-called "suggestions" are of no use at all.
But even so, Mitsui Hisashi still said these words to Rukawa Kaede.
"Yes." Rukawa Kaede nodded. At this moment, he seemed to have regained his condition a little, his face looked a little brighter, and his dribbling speed also increased.
Hisashi Mitsui and Rukawa Kaede's attention returned to the court. He stared at Rukawa Kaede for a few seconds and then quickly entered the frontcourt. After entering the frontcourt, Hisashi Mitsui stopped running in the triangle offense and walked directly towards the corner on the left side of the court.
At the same time, it also signals Nango Koichiro to sink inside, leaving him free in the mid-range position, so that the outside players have enough space to display their offensive methods.
When Fujima saw Rukawa Kaede dribbling into the frontcourt, he repeated his old trick and rushed directly towards Rukawa Kaede. He didn't even wait for Rukawa Kaede to approach the three-point line, and directly blocked Rukawa Kaede. In front of him, he pressed his chest against Rukawa Feng's body.
Fujima's strength is not great for Rukawa Kaede, but such physical confrontation still greatly reduces Rukawa Kaede's dribbling space, making holding the ball very uncomfortable.
At the same time as Fujima stepped forward, Sendō and Shinomiya's eyes quickly swept towards the direction of Rukawa Kaede and Fujima.
If Rukawa Kaede breaks through Fujima's defense, these two people will immediately make up the defense.
"Stop! Rukawa Kaede is afraid of making up for the defense? Don't you dare to fight?"
Under the defense of Fujima Kenji, Rukawa Kaede unconsciously stopped and did not use his physical advantage to overpower Fujima. Seeing this scene, Mitsui Hisashi let out a light sigh in his heart, and then immediately moved in the direction of Rukawa Kaede. He rushed over and tried to provide an off-ball screen for Rukawa Kaede.
And at this moment, Jinguji Budo ran counterattack without the ball. Instead of responding to Rukawa Kaede, he cut directly inside. Seeing this, Shinomiya hesitated for a moment, ignored Rukawa Kaede at the top of the arc, and followed Jinguji Budo directly away from the three-point line.
"Rukawa Kaede, don't lose your energy just because of that little setback!"
"No matter what kind of player you are, you will encounter situations where you are intercepted. If you see your own shortcomings and use all the weapons you have, you can break through the predicament!"
Jinguji Budo looked at Rukawa Kaede in the distance. When he was approaching the free throw line, his body suddenly stopped, changed his direction again, and rushed towards the top of the three-point arc in the opposite direction.
Continuous running back and forth finally allowed Jinguji Budo to open up a little, and there was already room to catch the ball.
"Rukawa Kaede! Pass the ball!"
Jinguji Budo saw that Rukawa Kaede was still not playing the ball, so he shouted loudly. Rukawa Kaede, who focused his attention on Fujima, finally heard the shouts of Jinguji Martial Arts. Without thinking much in his mind, he directly passed the ball in the direction of Martial Arts.
"Snapped!"
The basketball flew past Fujima's head and fell directly into Jinguji Budo's hands. Jinguji Budo, who was holding the ball, was still almost two meters away from the three-point line. The moment the basketball came into his hands, Jinguji Budo directly swept the ball and turned to face the frame.
And Shinomiya Tano, who was originally closely following Jinguji Martial Arts to pursue and defend, suddenly stopped at this moment. After taking a step back, he directly opened a distance of nearly 50 centimeters from Martial Arts, leaving enough space for himself. More defensive depth.
In front of the center line, Rukawa Kaede, who successfully passed the ball, felt that his head was clear for some reason, and his tight muscles relaxed at this moment.
The feeling of relief made Rukawa Kaede couldn't help but relax and let out a sigh of relief.
Only now did Rukawa Kaede realize how comfortable it felt to be able to rely on his teammates on the court.
As for Jinguji Martial Arts, who started playing basketball, his nerves were shattered at this moment.
Fujima Kenji, who was originally guarding Rukawa Kaede, immediately let go of Rukawa Kaede in front of the center line, and turned to cover behind Jinguji Budo, hoping to steal Jinguji Budo from behind.
Although Jinguji Budo was holding a spherical frame at this time, Fujima's movements behind him could not escape his attention at all.
In Jinguji Budo's mind, the moment he caught the basketball, he had already preset the reaction that Lingnan might make, and his attack would never allow Lingnan to steal him. !
After a crotch dribble, Jinguji Budō leaned sideways directly against Shinomiya's body. At the moment Budō quickly closed the distance between the two, his posture quickly changed from facing the frame to side facing the basket.
Half-turning with the ball, Jinguji Budo faced the frame again, and at the same time, he smoothly passed through Shinomiya's defense line and was level with Shinomiya. At the moment when Shinomiya followed up with a sliding step, he faced Jinguji Budo of the frame changed direction with another crotch dribble.
Jinguji Budo's continuous and high-frequency changes of direction directly allowed him to successfully shake off Shinomiya Nono's defense and invade to the edge of the three-point line. When Shinomiya Nono's pursuit came up, Jinguji Nobu Dou was already close. The ball took off, and he immediately stopped and shot a three-pointer.
The basketball flew directly out of Jinguji Budo's hands, and fell steadily into the net with a crisp "swish" sound under the astonished eyes of everyone in the audience.
The audience was a little surprised, and then burst into amazing cheers.
"Three-pointers?! Can you still make a three-pointer like this?!"
"After continuous changes of direction, he was able to shoot three-pointers without adjusting his posture at all. Is this guy really a human?!"
"ohhhhhhh! Shohoku! Shohoku!!"
The cheers from the audience flooded into the stadium like a tsunami.
Many of the people watching the game today are players, including college students, high school students, and many college scouts and coaches. These industry insiders all know exactly what kind of body control is required for Jinguji Budo to score a three-pointer.
Jinguji Martial Arts, who was able to complete this attack, was already at the top of his game in terms of rhythm control and physical coordination.
"Jinguji Martial Arts is such a scary guy."
"In the match against the Mountain King, this guy didn't use much of his strength at all."
"Looking at the whole country, I am afraid that only Snomiya Tōno in the south of Lingnan can force such Jinguji Temple martial arts!"
In the corner of the stands, Eiji Sawabita was wearing a peaked cap, staring at Jinguji Budo who was starting to return to defense in the stadium, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
This talented player who has been on a roll since childhood has suffered setbacks one after another on the national stage. Now, he has temporarily given up the idea of going to the United States.
In today's high school arena, there are still people he needs to chase. Zebei plans to wait until he becomes the "truly" number one high school student in the country before heading to the United States.
But seeing the match between Xiangbei and Lingnan today, Zebei suddenly discovered that the gap between himself and the two top players was far more than just physical fitness.
The scoreboard on the sidelines jumped. The score between Lingnan High School and Xiangbei High School had reached 57:56, and the point difference was reduced to one point.
Jinguji Budo's three-pointer was a shot in the arm for Shohoku. Both the players off the court and the players on the court were extremely excited.
After quickly returning to the court, Jinguji Budo sank directly into the paint and assumed the power forward position. After Rukawa Kaede and Hui Chuang took their positions, Budao said loudly towards Rukawa Kaede:
"Rukawa Kaede, the main attacker, does not just hold the ball and play in isolation."
"Cuts without the ball are also very important."
"You slacked off just after the ball was played!"
The voice of Jinguji Martial Arts attracted the attention of Rukawa Kaede who was at the top of the arc. His face tightened slightly. Rukawa Kaede turned around and looked at Jinguji Martial Arts. After a little silence, Rukawa Kaede whispered: "Sorry, I will Pay attention."
Not far away, Hisashi Mitsui clearly heard Rukawa Kaede's apology and was surprised.
Rukawa Kaede, a proud boy, would actually say such a thing, which really surprised him!
Of course, Mitsui Hisashi sneered at what he said about martial arts.
If someone else said this, he would really believe it, but if Jinguji Martial Arts said this, he could only train Rukawa Kaede, a first-year student.
After all, Mitsui Hisako clearly knows that Jinguji Budo rarely passes the ball when he is attacking.
Just as everyone in Shobei was communicating, everyone from Lingnan High School had already entered the frontcourt. Akira Sendō helped Fujima hold the ball with a pick-and-roll, allowing Fujima to successfully pass Rukawa Kaede's defense and break through to the inside.
However, Shohoku also changed defense in time, and Hisashi Mitsui stopped Fujima when he was approaching the free throw line.
And just when Hisashi Mitsui thought the opponent would pass the ball, Shinomiya's figure suddenly appeared beside Hisashi Mitsui, and helped Fujima set up a pick-and-roll.
"This guy... set up a pick-and-roll for Fujima?!"
As Mitsui Hisaru's surprise sounded, Fujima used the pick-and-roll to make a translation and threw directly into the open space on the side of the free throw line.
The basketball flew out and fell directly into the net.
The cooperation of everyone in Lingnan was quite tacit, and Fujima's attack was sudden. The martial arts inside focused their attention on Shinomiya Tano, but they did not expect that Lingnan actually wanted Fujima to attack.
As the basketball entered the net, the score difference between the two teams widened to three points.
Takenori Akagi served quickly from the bottom line and passed the ball to Rukawa Kaede. Budou patted Rukawa Kaede on the shoulder while running forward and passed Rukawa Kaede, and whispered in the opponent's ear: "If you charge forward with the ball, you will be beaten." The opponent intercepted."
"Then you might as well try cutting without the ball."
"Although Fujima's speed is very good, his body size is very different from yours. More importantly, his jumping ability is very different from yours!"
After finishing speaking, Jinguji Martial Arts quickened his pace and quickly entered the frontcourt. Rukawa Kaede's eyes lit up slightly after hearing this. With his talent and consciousness, it was impossible for him to think of this method. It was just that Lingnan blocked several balls in a row, and Rukawa Kaede's mentality was a little unbalanced.
With the guidance of Jinguji martial arts, Rukawa Kaede could easily find advantages that he could take advantage of.
Soon, everyone in Shohoku entered the frontcourt one after another. After Rukawa Kaede entered the frontcourt, he passed the ball directly to Jinguji Budo without waiting for Fujima to defend.
When everyone in Lingnan saw this scene, they were all startled. Coach Tian Gang off the field was a little surprised, then he held his chest and chuckled and shook his head: "Have you realized your incompetence and started passing the ball?"
"This is fine, this is the defensive rhythm we are familiar with in Lingnan."
However, as soon as Coach Tianoka finished his whisper, something happened on the court.
After receiving the basketball, Jinguji Budo did not immediately drop the ball for a single. Instead, he held the basketball high with both hands and looked down slightly at Shinomiya Tōno, who was waiting in front of him.
Suddenly, Jinguji Budo jumped slightly and threw the ball directly.
"Huh?! You don't bend your knees hard enough. This is not a shot!" Shinomiya turned his head, and happened to see Rukawa Kaede actually getting past Kenji Fujima's defense and quickly cutting inside.
The "shooting" of Jinguji Budo is fake, but the passing is real.
Soon, Rukawa Kaede, who entered the basket, jumped up in front of Fujima and grabbed the ball directly in his hands. After blasting the ball, he turned around and shot a short jumper.
Although Kenji Fujima tried very hard to block Rukawa Kaede's shooting, his height and bounce made it impossible to limit Rukawa Kaede's shooting from such a near-basket position.
The basketball hit the board and made a crisp sound.
The score between the two teams reached 59:58, and the point difference was still only one point.
(End of chapter)
