Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 287 Four Doubles! Top Four!
"Have it!"

The moment the basketball left his hands, Itakura's heart skipped a beat.

He felt this shot was in the bag!
Just then, a dark figure suddenly appeared from the side and smashed the ball away.

slap~
That block was Kogure's masterpiece!
This also means that Kogure has achieved a quadruple double in the National Tournament, which is undoubtedly a remarkable honor.

No one has ever achieved a quadruple-double in national competitions.

The NBA only started recording quadruple-doubles in the 1973-74 season. In the recorded history of the NBA, only four players have ever achieved a quadruple-double in a single game.

The four are Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson.

Kogure landed on the ground and immediately turned and rushed towards the front.

Because the basketball that was slapped was caught by Yamamoto Kuma.

"not good!"

Led by Jun Tsuchiya, the Daiei players sensed something was wrong and frantically chased after Kogure.

Among them, Jun Tsuchiya, Itakura, and Aotahama were the fastest, closely following Kogure.

Yamamoto threw the ball with great force, but due to a slight deviation in the passing route, Kogure had to take an extra step to the side.

By the time he received the ball and drove to the basket, Jun Tsuchiya, Itakura, and Aotahama had already completed their defensive rotations.

The next moment, all four of them jumped up.

Jun Tsuchiya, Itakura, and Aotahama all stretched out their hands, forming an impenetrable wall of steel, to interfere from all directions.

In mid-air, Kogure pulled up his cue stick at the limit, straightened his back and hung in the air, and reached the ball under Tsuchiya Jun's armpit with his left hand.

With a slight flick of his wrist, Kogure sent the basketball flying straight toward the basket.

shuh~
The basketball spun around the rim once before finally falling into it.

Hua Hua Hua~
As Kogure sank the ball, the atmosphere in the arena instantly reached a fever pitch.

In the stands, countless fans' faces were filled with barely suppressed excitement, followed by an amazing burst of cheers and applause.

"Mumu, Mumu!"

The fans chanted Kogure's name in a deafening roar, as if they were about to lift the roof off.

In this round, Kogure not only scored a powerful basket, but also achieved an unprecedented quadruple-double in the national tournament.

How could this not excite and thrill the fans, as it meant they were witnessing history?

On the other side, the Daeyong players looked at each other in bewilderment.

At this point, they were severely affected and almost lost their spirit.

The score difference between the two sides exceeded 30 points, and Kogure even achieved an unprecedented quadruple-double. How could they possibly win?
beep~
Seeing that the situation was not good, Coach Da Rong immediately requested a timeout.

However, it was all for naught. When the timeout ended, the Daiei players were still demoralized and were completely dominated by Shohoku.

Ten minutes into the second half, with Kogure assisting Okamoto Nobuhiko to sink a three-pointer, Shohoku's lead reached 40 points.

For the Daeyong players, they have completely lost any chance of a comeback.

To prevent the players from suffering too much of a blow, Coach Daeyong took timely measures to mitigate the damage by substituting the key players off the field.

Seeing this, at Kogure's signal, Coach Anzai substituted him with Miyagi.

When Kogure left the stage, the entire arena erupted in deafening applause.

这场比赛，木暮上场30分钟，获得了31分13助攻15篮板10盖帽的佳绩。

If his teammates hadn't struggled in the second half, his stats would likely have been even more impressive.

As soon as Juntsu Tsuchiya arrived at the sidelines, he covered his head with a towel, too ashamed to show his face.

In this game, Tsuchiya Jun had a poor performance under Kogure's defense, scoring 5 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 5 turnovers.

How cruel!

Shohoku's substitutes are in no way inferior to Daiei's, and they have a huge advantage in morale and psychology.

Even after Kogure was substituted, Shohoku continued to dominate Daiei.

Coach Da Rong was helpless in this situation. They had already surrendered, and he couldn't very well let the main players play again.

What if the opponent also sends out Kogure?
When the final whistle blew, Shohoku defeated Daiei Academy by 53 points, successfully advancing to the semifinals of the national tournament.

"I wish it were 58 points!"

Kogure shook his head, seemingly still somewhat dissatisfied.

As we all know, 58 is a magical number in the world of basketball.

This represents the peak and trough of a player's future career.

Peak: Fame!
Low point: Results!
On the Shohoku bench, Mitsui grinned arrogantly and said to Akagi beside him, "Gorilla, a bet's a bet. This month's smelly socks are yours. Make sure you wash them clean!"

thump~
Akagi was in a bad mood and immediately delivered a powerful punch.

"Ouch, what are you doing!"

Mitsui crouched down, holding his head in his hands, and feigned pain.

I don't like you!

Akagi crossed his arms and made up a random excuse.

"you……"

Mitsui tried to argue, but immediately backed down after seeing Akagi's dangerous look.

As is well known, gorillas are not only wild and untamed, but also have a strong tendency towards violence.

Kogure patted Akagi on the shoulder and said, "Akagi, you've worked hard!"

He was overjoyed that someone washed his socks, especially since it was his best friend Akagi.

"Two bastards!"

Akagi grumbled and cursed, feeling terrible at the thought of having to wash their socks for a month.

Even though he has a washing machine at home, he can't very well use it to wash smelly socks.

Suddenly, Akagi seemed to remember something, turned to look at his younger sister sitting not far away, his eyes flickering.

Akagi: I have a younger sister, 14 years old, petite and cute, and unmarried!

Kogure: So this is the real Akagi! You're really something!
After the match ended, Kogure and the others did not leave the arena, but prepared to watch the next two matches.

At 1 p.m., it was finally time for the match between Shoyo and Hakata.

This match can be considered the highlight of this round, as both teams are rated A+ and their strengths are similar, meaning either team has a chance to win.

In the stands, Kogure asked the two, "Which team do you think has the better chance?"

"Hakata!"

"Hakata!"

The two answered in unison.

Shohoku has played against both teams and knows their strengths and weaknesses very well.

Although the two teams are not far apart, Hakata's steady style is a better counter to Shohoku.

In addition, Hakata has the nation's top center, Nohisa Suzuki, and their interior defense and rebounding are significantly better than Shohoku's.

This doesn't mean that Shohoku has no chance of winning. As long as Shohoku is in hot form, they have a chance to beat not only Hakata, but even Sannoh Kogyo.

"I also think so!"

Kogure expressed the same view.

The first half unfolded exactly as the three giants of Shohoku had anticipated.

With Suzuki Nobisuke on the team, Hakata firmly held the upper hand.

This can be seen from the rebounding of both sides.

Even so, Xiangyang did not fall into a significant disadvantage, with the score difference between the two sides still in single digits.

However, no one can predict whether tomorrow or an accident will come first.

In the second half, the situation changed dramatically, and an unexpected event occurred.

During a defensive play, Suzuki Nohisa slipped and clearly fell hard. He was quickly helped off the court, limping.

He looks like he twisted his ankle!
Therefore, the match was immediately interrupted.

Several staff members took mops and carefully cleaned the floor to prevent any further accidents.

When both teams returned to the court, the situation changed drastically, with Shohoku starting to dominate Hakata.

With Nohisuke Suzuki leaving the field, Hakata's substitute center forward was noticeably inferior, barely reaching the level of a starting forward for a strong team.

For a time, Bodo's advantage in interior defense and rebounding was greatly diminished.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiangyang successfully overtook the score.

Off the court, after much deliberation, Nohisuke Suzuki ultimately decided against playing despite his injury.

He's already a senior in high school and will graduate next year.

Furthermore, he is not Akagi and would never risk his career.

Most importantly, even if Hakata wins, they still have to face Sannoh Kogyo and Shohoku.

No matter how confident Suzuki Nobisuke was, he didn't believe Hakata had a chance to win the national championship.

In the end, even without him, Hakata might not have failed.

Despite being that kind of person, he was genuinely injured, unlike someone in the future whose groin always seems to get hurt at crucial moments.

Unfortunately, the goddess of victory did not favor Hakata.

Before long, with their exceptionally hot shooting touch, Xiangyang quickly widened the gap to double digits.

For teams of similar caliber, closing a double-digit deficit is a significant challenge.

And that was indeed the case; despite Bodo's desperate attempts to catch up, they were unable to overtake the score.

When the match ended, Shoyo defeated Hakata by a narrow margin and advanced to the national semifinals.

The final match was between Aiwa Academy and Jinbo University Affiliated School.

Both are long-established powerhouses in the country, but Aiwa Academy is relatively stronger, especially since they have players of the caliber of Dai Moroboshi.

However, it's not necessarily true that Jinbo Dai's affiliation will lose.

After failing to reach the national top four last year, Jinbo University Affiliated High School began to emulate Hakata Basketball, focusing on team basketball, and made significant progress in teamwork.

To put it simply, Jinbo Dai's affiliation is essentially a weaker version of Hakata.

The question is, Hakata didn't even make it to the semifinals in this national tournament, can Jinbo Dai Affiliated High School do it?

Indeed, at the start of the match, thanks to Dai Moroboshi's outstanding performance, Aiwa Academy steadily suppressed Jinbo University Affiliated High School.

In this game, Moroboshi Dai was in great form, making almost every shot he took.

Under his leadership, Love and Academy's leading advantage has been further accumulated.

As expected, when the competition ended, Aihe Academy emerged victorious and advanced to the national semi-finals.

The match was completely uneventful; Jinbo University Affiliated High School never even took the lead throughout the entire game.

In reality, the gap between the two teams is not that large.

If Jinbo Dai's academy had a player of Moroboshi Dai's caliber, they might not have lost the game.

Unfortunately, players of this caliber are rare even nationwide.

After this round of competition, the top four teams in the nation have finally been determined: Sannoh, Shohoku, Shoyo, and Aiwa.

As for tomorrow's two matches, they will be Sannoh vs. Shohoku and Shohoku vs. Aiwa.

……

The following morning, the highly anticipated national competition finals officially began.

As arranged by the organizing committee, the first match was between Shohoku and Aiwa, which can be considered as a warm-up for the next match.

The next game is the real highlight of today's two matches.

In the eyes of the audience, Aiwa Academy is strong, but only slightly stronger than Daiei Academy.

If Kogure could defeat Daiei Academy with his substitutes, it means that once Shohoku goes all out, Aiwa Academy will be no match for them.

In fact, the biggest highlight of this match was not the outcome, but the duel between Kogure and Moroboshi Dai.

Before the match began, both sides shook hands.

"Coach Anzai, please give me your guidance!"

Coach Ai smiled and bent down to shake Coach Anzai's chubby hand.

He dared not be arrogant in front of Coach Anzai, after all, the other party was far superior to him in terms of both fame and seniority.

To put it bluntly, the two are not on the same level at all.

"Oh ho ho ho!"

Coach Anzai patted Coach Aiwa's hand and let out his signature laugh.

After Coach Anzai returned to his seat, Coach Aiwa breathed a sigh of relief and then looked at Kogure standing to the side.

"Kogure-kun, although you are very strong, our Moroboshi Dai is not necessarily worse than you."

For some reason, Ai and Coach Ai seemed to have an inexplicable confidence in Moroboshi Dai, and bluntly stated that Moroboshi Dai was no worse than him.

Of course, it could also be a tactic of provocation.

"That's great! I've been wanting to experience the 'Stretcher God of War's' skills firsthand!"

Kogure couldn't help but glance at Moroboshi Dai not far away.

Unaware that he had been betrayed by his own coach, Moroboshi Dai instinctively gave Kogure a friendly smile.

"Stretcher God of War?"

Ai and the coach were clearly taken aback, and when they came to their senses, they immediately showed a strange expression.

Yeah, the kind of feeling where you want to laugh but can't.

Coach Ai, fearing he might not be able to hold it in any longer, quickly turned around and walked towards his own bench.

At this moment, Kogure came to Moroboshi Dai.

"Moroboshi, I heard you want to challenge me. You're quite brave!"

Upon hearing this, Moroboshi Dai was completely dumbfounded.

"I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"

Moroboshi Dai clicked "like" three times in a row, then hurriedly shook his head in denial.

He didn't want to follow in Jun's footsteps.

Jun Tsuchiya was a player of his caliber, and he considered himself only slightly better than Jun Tsuchiya.

Since Kogure was able to easily defeat Tsuchiya Jun, defeating him would be just as easy.

"Moroboshi, don't underestimate yourself. To show how much I respect you, I'll only use my left hand in this match!"

Kogure smiled, radiating confidence.

He pointed to his left hand, as if to show the stars his determination.

To make the game more challenging, he decided to follow in the footsteps of Bird and deliberately increase the difficulty for himself.

Moroboshi Daiki was clearly stunned for a moment, and asked incredulously, "What? The left hand? Real or fake?"

In all his years, he had never seen such an arrogant player who actually deliberately limited his own abilities to increase the difficulty.

“Realer than real gold!”

"That's what you said!"

After it was confirmed, Moroboshi Dai immediately agreed.

At that moment, a fighting spirit surged from the depths of Moroboshi Dai's heart.

He was well aware of his own limitations, knowing that he was no match for Kogure under normal circumstances, but if Kogure used only his left hand, he might have a chance to defeat him.

As a result, Moroboshi Dai's confidence returned.

He was determined to seize this rare opportunity, as if he were grasping the future in an instant!
(End of this chapter)