Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 282 The Bet of the Three Giants of Shohoku

Chapter 282 The Bet of the Three Giants of Shohoku
The next morning, the four seeded teams finally took to the court.

Shohoku's first opponent was Yurai Kogyo from Hiroshima.

Like Kanagawa Prefecture, Hiroshima also has two spots in the national tournament.

Besides Yurai Industrial School, the other one is Koikawa High School.

If all goes as expected, these two high schools will represent Hiroshima in the national tournament during the story's year.

Coach Anzai did not field his full starting lineup in this match, which was expected.

Shohoku has no need to go all out against Tanglai Industrial.

This is also related to Coach Anzai reviewing information about Tora Industrial before the match.

According to Coach Anzai, Tanglai Commercial's strength is only at the mid-level of the Kanagawa Prefecture Tournament's top 8, and their strength is far behind that of Tsukubu, let alone Hainan Affiliated High School, which is also among the top 8 in the prefectural tournament.

Coach Gao: ? ? ?
Coach Anzai: Just asking you, were you among the top eight in the county tournament?

In the first match, Coach Anzai fielded a lineup of two veterans and three newcomers: Akagi, Kakuta Satoru, Sato Ichiro, and the Tsurumi brothers.

Seeing Shohoku's lineup, the players from Tanglai Industrial not only did not feel humiliated, but also breathed a sigh of relief.

Before the match, they were prepared to lose, but they wanted to save face.

Simply put, as long as it's not a major defeat, losing less is a victory.

Now that Shohoku has only sent two main players and three freshmen, the players from Tanglai Industrial even had some inappropriate thoughts.

However, once the game started, Shohoku firmly gained the upper hand.

Among them, the Tsurumi brothers took the lead.

The moment Akagi successfully jumped the ball, the Tsurumi brothers immediately launched an attack.

With incredible teamwork, the two dribbled back and forth, getting past four players from Tanglai Industrial in one go.

Facing the final barrier of Tanglai Industrial, the two jumped simultaneously and successfully shot the basket.

The level of understanding between the Tsurumi brothers is astonishing; in terms of understanding, they even surpass the Watanabe brothers in Takesato.

Unfortunately, although the Tsurumi brothers had a better teamwork, their individual strength was far inferior to that of the Watanabe brothers.

If they encounter a good defender, they might catch their opponent off guard in the first few rounds, but once the opponent gets used to it, the Tsurumi brothers' power will be greatly reduced.

Unfortunately, the perimeter players at Tanglai Industrial are mediocre; their strengths are mainly concentrated in the paint.

In fact, even Tanglai Industrial's inside players are no match for Akagi.

Even with Tanglai Industries' attempts to contain Akagi, it was still difficult to limit his performance.

Akagi is no longer the same as before, and is subtly stronger than the Akagi who awakened in the story.

In one year, Akagi experienced numerous national competitions, gaining far more experience than he did in the original story.

Furthermore, the guidance from Kogure and the Watanabe brothers enriched Akagi's inside skills, making him more than just a player who relied solely on brute force in the original work.

As for his physical condition, it was not much different from that of the same period, after all, Akagi never slacked off in training.

However, this also limits Akagi's potential.

If Akagi's physical abilities cannot improve further before graduating from high school, his ceiling will probably be that of a starting center at a well-known university.

On the field, the Akagi and Tsurumi brothers were quite active.

In addition, Ichiro Sato would occasionally use his accurate shooting skills to send the ball into the basket time and time again, showing his cold-blooded killer nature.

Only Emperor Kakuta became almost invisible on the field.

However, Kakuta's status as a regular starter for Shohoku was largely due to his role as a supporting player.

As long as Emperor Kakuta plays, Shohoku will be invincible.

Thanks to their outstanding performance, Shohoku steadily suppressed Tanglai Industrial.

By the end of the first half, Shohoku had a 20-point lead.

In the second half, the Tanglai Industrial team did not give up the game; they continued to fight hard on the field, trying to turn the tide.

Tanglai Industrial's coach devised a series of targeted strategies to break through Shohoku's defense and gradually narrow the score gap.

Unfortunately, Shohoku had Coach Anzai.

Faced with an absolute disparity in strength, Coach Tang's industrial strategy appeared weak and ineffective.

With his rich experience and keen insight, Coach Anzai adjusted the team's tactics in a timely manner, allowing the players to respond more flexibly to the opponent's changes on the field and maintain their lead.

Despite its remarkable resilience, Tanglai Industrial has been unable to find an effective means of counterattack.

As time slowly passed, Shohoku's lead continued to widen.

In the end, under the watchful eyes of the entire audience, Shohoku won the game with a huge advantage of more than 30 points.

As the final whistle blew, the three freshmen from Shohoku excitedly embraced each other in celebration.

This is their first national tournament!
Unlike the three new students, Akagi and Sato Ichiro were already used to it.

For them, beating a weak national team is nothing to brag about.

On the other side, the players from Tanglai Industrial looked very frustrated, as if they had suffered a heavy blow.

Shohoku only fielded two of their main players, yet they easily defeated them.

After the match, Mitsui casually tossed a Brazilian banana to Akagi and asked, "Akagi, the coach said that Naito and I will lead the team in tomorrow's match. Should we have a contest to see who has the higher net score?"

"Row!"

Akagi readily agreed while peeling a banana.

Although the Mitsui + Naito lineup was stronger, their opponents were also stronger than Tomura Industries, so Akagi didn't suffer any losses.

"Add me one!"

Beside him, Kogure looked on with interest.

With the opponent not being strong, Coach Anzai focused on training his players and split up the starting five.

Akagi and Ichiro Sato, Mitsui and Naito, and Mugure!

In this case, Kogure not only had to lead a bunch of substitutes by himself, but his opponents were also teams that had reached the quarterfinals.

This is the treatment he receives as the top high school student in the country, and it's also Coach Anzai's test for him.

Kogure readily accepted this offer.

This means he can unleash his full firepower without restraint during the game.

At this moment, Kogure asked the two of them, "Should we place some bets?"

"What kind of lottery?"

"How about the last person washing the other two's socks for a month?"

Akagi and Mitsui exchanged a glance and both agreed.

They believed they were certain of victory, since Kogure's difficulty was undoubtedly the highest, and if things went wrong, they might even have to save the day.

……

Another day passed quickly.

The second match was held as scheduled, with Shohoku's opponent in the round of 16 being Ebihara High School from Mie Prefecture.

At the same time, Ebihara High School is also the only school in Mie Prefecture to have such a student.

Unlike Kanagawa and Hiroshima, Mie Prefecture only has one spot in the national tournament.

This is mainly related to the population and the number of universities in Mie Prefecture.

Mie Prefecture is located in the central part of Honshu Island. It has a complex topography and is long and narrow from north to south. Its land area ranks 25th among island nations. Natural parks account for more than one-third of its area, and it has a population of just over one million.

Compared to Yurai Industrial, Ebihara High School is stronger, roughly on par with Tsukubu.

Unfortunately, Shohoku fielded a stronger lineup than in the previous round. Coach Anzai made a bold move, fielding a lineup of Naito, Kakuta Satoru, Mitsui, Okamoto Nobuhiko, and Miyagi.

Besides Emperor Kakuta, there are two main players and two main substitutes.

Unlike Tanglai Industrial, Ebihara High School is known for its sharp outside offense.

To put it simply, they're like the Bucks' Three Musketeers of the future!

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Bucks boasted a formidable backcourt lineup consisting of "Big Dog" Robinson, "Gentleman" Ray Allen, and "Alien" Cassell.

Unfortunately, they failed to bring a championship trophy to the Bucks, with their best result being only the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Bucks in those years had an exceptionally strong outside shooting, but their inside game was simply too weak.

After the game started, Naito began to wreak havoc in the paint.

Ebihara's weak interior defense was unable to stop Naito's performance.

However, Ebihara did not fall behind. Their outside shooting duo showed a hot hand and even suppressed Shohoku at one point.

However, their good fortune didn't last long, as Shohoku's outside shooting, led by Mitsui, intensified their defense.

In addition, Naito significantly increased the effectiveness of his defensive support thanks to his outstanding explosive power.

In this situation, the efficiency of Ebihara's outside shots was greatly reduced, and they even went silent for a short period of time.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shohoku quickly widened the score gap.

Meanwhile, Shohoku's outside shooting is also putting on a strong performance.

Mitsui and Okamoto Nobuhiko's three-pointers, and occasionally Miyagi would hit an open mid-range shot.

Since ignoring him after the 'Ayako incident', Miyagi has become much more focused and no longer often loses concentration as before. Instead, he spontaneously devotes a lot of energy to shooting practice.

Through extensive practice, Miyagi has gained a certain level of confidence in open shots.

Ebihara, the point guard, is also a short point guard, even shorter than Miyagi.

He had obviously read Miyagi's information and assumed that Miyagi couldn't shoot, so he kept a good two steps away from Miyagi.

Miyagi seized the opportunity; he was in good form and made three consecutive mid-range shots.

At this point, Ebihara, the point guard, dared not let Miyagi shoot any longer and had to close the distance by one step.

Miyagi used his shooting threat to create better opportunities to break through.

With lightning speed, Miyagi easily broke through Ebihara's point guard, and after drawing the defense, assisted his teammate to score.

At that moment, he finally realized the importance of shooting.

In the following time, Miyagi became more and more active, constantly using his speed to break through the defense.

Ebihara was powerless against this; although he was not as tall as Miyagi, his speed and explosiveness were far inferior.

Furthermore, Miyagi's resistance was also superior to his.

Miyagi's dynamic qualities are undeniably good; what he lacks is static qualities.

To paraphrase what Coach Taoka said to Uozumi: Is your size all you're good for? Your size is actually a talent that others can't match!
This statement is very applicable to Miyagi.

If Miyagi could grow to over 180 centimeters tall, he might actually have a chance to become an NBA player.

Of course, it's just an opportunity!
The NBA has never lacked talented individuals, and Miyagi's speed and explosiveness, which he is so proud of, may very well become ordinary.

There are many people of the same height who are faster than him.

Under Miyagi's organization, Shohoku further suppressed Ebihara's performance.

The gap between the two sides gradually widened, and by the end of the game, Shohoku's lead had even increased to 40 points.

Naito scored 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, a typical double-double.

Mitsui hit 7 three-pointers, also scoring 30 points.

Miyagi had 13 points and 15 assists. With teammates like Mitsui and Naito, racking up assists was incredibly easy for him.

On the Shohoku bench, Kogure lamented, "Another long day sitting on the sidelines! Sigh, it's lonely being a top player!"

While reminiscing, Kogure couldn't help but stretch.

He watched two games from the bench, which made him doze off and almost fall asleep.

Hearing Kogure's exclamation, Ayako, sitting next to him, couldn't help but roll her eyes.

After the match, Mitsui triumphantly approached Akagi: "Gorilla, it seems I won."

Perhaps carried away by his success, Mitsui inadvertently revealed Akagi's nickname.

"Mitsui, you'll regret this!"

Upon hearing the word "gorilla," Akagi's fist instantly hardened.

"Hmph, gorilla, I'm the second-in-command!"

Mitsui doesn't seem to realize his mistake yet.

bang~
This wasn't the sound of Danzo slamming the door shut; it was the sound of a fist hitting a head.

"Ouch! What are you doing!"

Mitsui crouched on the ground, clutching his head in pain, with a freshly formed bump on his forehead.

"It seems he isn't!"

Akagi shook his head, but a smile appeared on his lips.

He really enjoys bullying Mitsui; he's bad at the game but has a huge addiction to it!
Watching Mitsui being persuaded by Akagi once again, Kogure couldn't help but sigh, "Mitsui is good in every way, except that his martial spirit isn't strong enough!"

As everyone knows, Mitsui is only fit to kick trash cans.

What, Kogure's glasses?
Kogure stated that he hasn't worn glasses for many years!
"Kogure, it's your turn for the next match. Looks like we'll be handing over our smelly socks to you next month."

The thought of the nation's top high school student washing his socks brought a bright smile to Akagi and Mitsui's faces.

"We might win by 50 points in the next game!"

Kogure was confident in his abilities.

"I do not believe!"

"I don't believe it either!"

Akagi and Mitsui exchanged a glance and both shook their heads.

At this moment, they acted with perfect understanding.

Tomorrow's match will be against a quarter-final team.

If Shohoku were to field their strongest lineup, winning by 50 points would be a piece of cake.

Unfortunately, only Kogure will be the starter tomorrow, and he'll have to play alongside four substitutes who will drag the team down.

It would be good enough to win, let alone win by 50 points.

Impossible, absolutely impossible!
"Then let's wait and see!"