Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 215 The Rise of Sakuragi

"As we said before, I am the boss of this team now." Kaneki Ken looked at Stephen Jackson with a hint of aggression in his eyes.

"Alright, alright, don't tell anyone about this game." Stevenson looked at Stephen Jackson, who was standing there in a daze, and stepped out to smooth things over, saying, "We're all teammates from now on."

"David, do we have any other plans later?" Kaneki Ken smiled, did not look at Stephen Jackson again, but turned to David Falk and asked.

"Of course, Big Boy." David Falk checked his memo and said, "We are going to visit the headquarters of Golden Arches Company in a while, and help you complete the international player registration by the way."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Kaneki Ken shrugged and said, "Let's go."

As he spoke, Kaneki Ken came to David Falk, took his coat, and walked towards the stadium door.

"Oh, by the way, Coach Stevenson." Just as he was about to step out of the stadium, Kaneki Ken turned around, smiled at Stevenson and said, "I admire your players very much. We will be teammates in the future."

After saying that, Kaneki Ken left the gym without looking back.

"Fuck, this is the first time I've seen such an awesome Asian player." It wasn't until Kaneki Ken's figure completely disappeared from everyone's sight that Amar Bailey couldn't help but exclaimed, "I always thought Asians were good at playing table tennis..."

"Shut your stinky mouth, Amare." Stephen Jackson, who had just been beaten, suddenly said, "He is not called an Asian player, he is called Kaneki Ken, our future boss, we must learn to respect him."

"Wow, our Oak Hill boxing champion has now learned to respect others?" Amar'e Bailey pouted and teased.

"Of course. If you can also dunk from the free throw line now, I will respect you." Stephen Jackson said with a blank look at Amare.

"Big boy, what do you think of Oak Hill High School?" After leaving the gym, David Falk looked at Kaneki Ken in the back seat and asked with a smile, "I feel like you quite admire Stephen."

"A very brave guy." Kaneki Ken raised his eyebrows slightly and said noncommittally, "I need a Bulldog like this in my team."

"Michael is right. You like players like this." David Falk said with a chuckle, "Take a good rest. We still have about two hours to get to the airport."

"Airport?" Kaneki Ken, who had just gotten off the plane, said with some resistance, "I really don't want to take a plane anymore..."

"Kid, Illinois is 600 miles away from Virginia." David Falk said with a calm smile, "If we drive there, we will arrive in the early morning. You have to get used to the journey in the sky. This is a stage that every famous person must go through."

"Then I think I will adapt quickly." Kaneki Ken smiled and said, "I have always been the one in the sky."

……

"I never expected that Shonan High School, without Kaneki Ken, could still play such a smooth tactic..." exclaimed Takao Kazunari, who was standing aside watching the game.

"The pass was very concise and powerful." Midorima Shintaro narrowed his eyes and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi meaningfully, "But these are not the fundamental reasons for their lead..."

"Damn it, I can't beat that red-haired monkey!" Kagami Daiga, who was sitting on the bench, shouted angrily, thinking back to the first quarter of the game, "He has only played for less than a year!"

"Be quiet, Kagami-san." Reiko Aida stared at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was sitting on the sidelines to rest, wondering what she was thinking.

"Well done, Sakuragi." Mitsui patted Sakuragi Hanamichi on the shoulder and said, "I didn't expect that you can attack with the ball so smoothly now!"

Mitsui Shou's words were true. After the national competition finals, Kaneki Ken deliberately increased the intensity of Sakuragi Hanamichi's ball-holding offensive training. With Kaneki Ken's trip to Milan, a large amount of ball possession was released, and the proportion of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede holding the ball also increased greatly.

"Is this what it feels like when Gilgamesh plays basketball..." Sakuragi Hanamichi stared blankly at his hands, his mind full of scenes from the first quarter of the game.

"Reiko, what should we do now?" Hinata Junpei looked at the score of 27:16 on the scoreboard with a headache and asked anxiously.

"You should strengthen the training of Kagami's left hand..."

"Alas... that annoying guy defeated me again." Taoi Satsuki's laughter echoed in Aida Reiko's ears.

Aida Reiko sighed and slowly said, "In the next game, we will play pick-and-roll."

"Pick and roll?" Hinata Junpei looked at Aida Reiko in confusion and asked, "But Kagami is the only serious inside player on our team. What you mean is..."

"Yes, Kagami has been seen through by Shonan High School on the offensive end." Aida Reiko said in a deep voice, "We can only use Kagami's cutting ability to contain Shonan High School's defensive formation and create offensive space for other players as much as possible."

Reiko Aida's voice did not deliberately avoid the other players of Seirin High School. Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya naturally also heard Reiko Aida's tactical arrangements.

"Kagami-san..." Kuroko Tetsuya looked at Kagami Daiga with a hint of comfort in his eyes. He was about to say something but was interrupted by Kagami Daiga.

"It's okay, don't worry about me, Heizi. I understand." Kagami Daigo clenched his fists, looking forward unwillingly, but his tone was extremely firm, "Even if I have to sit on the bench and wave the towel, as long as I don't lose to this red-haired monkey, I can do anything!"

"The second quarter begins!"

Just as the coaches of both teams were still making tactical arrangements, Kiyoshi Miyachi blew the whistle to start the second quarter.

"Get ready!" Mitsui Shou stood up, stretched his shoulders, took off the towel around his neck and shouted.

"Oh!" The players of Shonan High School responded in a deep voice.

"Xiao Jia!" Katsume Ichiro passed the sideline ball to Ebina Jia, starting the first attack of the second quarter of Seirin High School.

"Senior, over here!" Just as Ebina Ka just came to the three-point line and looked at Mitsui Hisashi in front of him and considered how to organize the first attack, Kagami Daigo took a step forward and blocked an open space for Ebina Ka.

"Thank you, Kagami." Seeing this, Ebina Jia rushed into the three-point line.

"I'll make up for it." Seeing this, Rukawa Kaede decisively put down Hinata Junpei and came to Ebina Ka.

"Senior, here!" Upon seeing this, Kagami Daigo immediately cut into the inside and reached out for the ball.

"Pass the ball?" Rukawa looked at Ebina Kayo's eyes that kept glancing inside and decisively denied his own idea, "With that idiot in the inside, there's no point in passing the ball..."

"Boom!"

Just as Rukawa was still predicting Ebinaka's next plan, Ebinaka took action.

He pretended to break through on the right and then changed direction to the left. Seeing this, Rukawa Kaede decisively moved sideways and stopped Ebina Yoshi.

"Kagami!" Ebina Kashiwa was naturally not so arrogant as to think that he could break through Rukawa's defense by himself. He just raised the basketball high, looked at Kagami Taiga who was facing the basket, and shouted loudly.

"Shh!"

Just when everyone thought that Ebina Yoshi was going to pass the ball to Kagami Taiga, Sakuragi Hanamichi appeared like a flash and blocked the pass route.

"Oh no, we're going to lose this ball..." Takao Kazunari said with some regret.

"No, not yet!" Midorima Shintaro subconsciously tightened the remote control in his hand and said in a firm tone.

As Midorima Shintaro finished his words, Ebina Ka smiled slightly and shook his right hand lightly. The basketball that was about to slip out of his hand suddenly changed direction and landed in the hands of Hinata Junpei in the right corner.

"Leave it to me!" Seeing this, Shuji Izawa immediately prepared to step forward to defend, but was blocked by Ichiro Katsume who had been prepared.

"This is..." Mitsui Shou murmured in surprise as he looked at Hyuga Junpei's shot, "Off-ball pick-and-roll?"

"You must make the shot, captain!" Mitsuki Furihata and others sitting on the bench cheered for Junpei Hinata at the top of their lungs.

"Don't say such useless nonsense, you first-year rookie." After Hinata Junpei completed the shot easily, he gently twisted his neck, looked at the bench with sharp eyes and said, "When I shoot, you just need to cheer!"

"Gurgle...Senior has switched his personality again..."

"very scary……"

Furihata Mitsuki and the others whispered to each other as they looked at Hinata Junpei, whose temperament suddenly became a little cold and gloomy.

"We've finally got the score down to double digits..." Takao Kazunari exclaimed, "The Seirin players can finally take a breath..."

"It's not the right time yet." Midorima Shintaro sighed as he looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who received the ball in the middle distance, "We still have to see if Kagami can defend against Sakuragi's shot..."

"Red-haired monkey, I must beat you today!" Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Kagami Daigo with eyes full of desire to challenge.

"Come on, red-haired monkey!" Kagami Daigo waved at Sakuragi Hanamichi, his eyes full of a desire to refuse to admit defeat.

"boom!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi took a quick look at Kagami Taiga's defensive position, then he made a simple explosive shot and flew out like an arrow.

"So fast!" Takao Kazunari's pupils shrank slightly, "I didn't expect Sakuragi's ability to combine man and ball has reached such a high level!"

"Mada Mada!" Kagami Daigo growled, trying to adjust his defensive posture and closely follow Sakuragi Hanamichi's footsteps.

"Not bad, red-haired monkey." Sakuragi Hanamichi was infected by Kagami Taiga's fighting spirit, and his expression became excited. He passed the ball to his left hand under his crotch, and took advantage of the situation to do a half turn, changing from a face-to-face posture to a back-to-the-basket posture, "Then let me show you the golden flash's direct pass and back-to-the-basket attack!"

"What the hell..." Before Kagami Daiga could react, he saw Sakuragi Hanamichi lower his center of gravity slightly, and then a huge force came from his back. Kagami Daiga staggered and took two steps back.

"What a huge strength..." Midorima Shintaro was dumbfounded as he looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was carried out of the space, "This level of brute force... is at least on the same level as Kabaji Shigehiro!"

"You can't do it either, red-haired monkey!" Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was carrying Kagami Daigo, laughed and mocked, "Did you miss breakfast?"

"Don't be so complacent, red-haired monkey!" Kagami Daigo looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's smug expression, gritted his teeth, steadied his body, and pounced on him decisively, but it was too late.

Sakuragi Hanamichi used a blast to completely widen the distance between himself and Kagami Taiga, and then he stood one step inside the three-point line, took the ball and jumped to shoot. The basketball drew a precise arc in the air and easily fell into the basket.

"Sakuragi-san already has stable mid-range and long-range shooting ability... As expected, a team with Kaneki Ken can really solve many problems effortlessly..." Aida Reiko looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's defensive figure, her eyes almost popping out with envy, "Isn't the current Sakuragi... the direction of Kagami's evolution?"

"Momoi said before that Kaneki Ken will come back for the Winter Cup, right?" Midorima Shintaro looked at the scene in front of him, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and turned to ask Takao Kazunari a question.

"Yes..." Takao Kazunari lowered his head and calculated the time and replied, "But by that time, it should have been 2 or 3 rounds after the national competition..."

"Let's pray that one of us can eliminate Sakuragi Hanamichi and Shonan High School before Kaneki Ken comes back." Midorima Shintaro sighed and said, "Although it seems... this goal is also very difficult now..."

(End of this chapter)