Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 305: Nearly a Quadruple-Double in the First Half!
Even though he only played half the game, Kogure still managed to achieve a triple-double with 30+ points.

There was nothing they could do; the Iwate team was simply too weak and couldn't limit his performance at all.

As for his counterpart, Junichiro Kojima, he scored 8 points in the game, but all of them came in the second half.

In other words, Junichiro Kojima did not score a single point in his matchup against Kogure.

In response, Kishimoto couldn't help but tease his friend: "Nan Lie, are you even capable? You actually let the opponent score 8 points over you!"

Nan Lie sighed softly and said, "Alas, perhaps this is the difference between me and Kogure!"

He played the first half, but there was a huge gap between him and Kogure in five statistical categories, and Junichiro Kojima scored 8 points against him.

"Take it easy. Let alone us, even they are no match for us."

Kishimoto pointed to Fujima, Sendoh, Mitsui, and others, whose strength was subtly superior to theirs.

Even so, there is still a huge gap between them and Kogure.

You're absolutely right!

Having followed Coach Kitano to Shohoku, Minami and Kishimoto had no regrets and naturally didn't dwell on the matter.

After the match, the Kanagawa team did not go to watch other teams' games and went straight back to their dormitory.

Just like last year, the dormitory is very close to the Taipei Arena, only a five-minute walk away.

The second round of the competition was held as scheduled at 9:00 a.m. the following day.

In this match, the Kanagawa team will face the Fukushima team.

Without a doubt, this is a city of sin.

When Fukushima is mentioned, Kogure immediately thinks of nuclear power plants and wastewater.

So, Kogure decided to give the Fukushima team a 'surprise' and let them experience pain.

That's right, he's going to carry rice!

At Kogure's suggestion, the Kanagawa team changed its lineup.

Center: Uozumi

Ohmae: Mugure

Komae: Ikegami

Shooting Guard: Mitsui

Point Guard: Amu

These five players all share one characteristic: they are all excellent defenders, arguably the best defenders in their respective positions.

Of course, their attack was equally impressive compared to the weak Fukushima team.

In Basketball Weekly's ratings, the Fukushima team only received a B+, a huge gap compared to the AAA rating of the Kanagawa team.

"Our goal for this game is to win by a margin of 100 points. Does everyone have confidence?"

Coach Taoka stood at the front of the team, scanning the faces of each player before making his final instructions.

"Have!"

The players responded enthusiastically, their eyes shining with determination.

"You said it yourselves. If anyone messes up, they can forget about playing in the next game."

Seeing the players' high morale, Coach Taoka nodded in satisfaction, but also put some pressure on them.

Although Coach Taoka is only an assistant coach, Coach Anzai does not handle any affairs and entrusts all the responsibility for the matches to Coach Taoka.

As for Coach Kazumi Kawasaki, he is mainly responsible for logistics and daily training.

"We're ready, Coach!"

As captain, Kogure made a promise to Coach Taoka on behalf of the entire team.

At that moment, they had a new belief in their hearts: to achieve their goal, they would spare no effort to wipe out this bunch of scum.

Soon, the competition officially began!
Uozumi easily won possession of the ball and passed it to Maki.

Amu dribbled the ball across half-court and began organizing the team's attack.

Once Kogure landed in the low post, Maki immediately chose to pass the ball.

Kogure easily broke past his marker, drawing the attention of Fukushima's center, and casually tossed the ball toward the basket.

Bang~
With a loud bang, Uozumi made an aerial pass, and Monkey Boss dunked for a score.

The Kanagawa team took an early lead, scoring two points first.

Offense and defense reversed!

Fukushima's point guard dribbled the ball past half-court, preparing to orchestrate the team's offense.

Suddenly, Amu lunged forward.

Although Maki failed to steal the ball, Fukushima's point guard was forced to hold the ball with both hands under his pressure.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Fukushima's small forward immediately stepped forward to receive the pass.

Without hesitation, Fukushima's point guard passed the ball to the basket.

slap~
Just as Fukushima's small forward was about to receive the ball, Ikegami intercepted it first.

Fast break!

The Kanagawa team launched a quick attack immediately.

Kogure, Maki, and Mitsui took off running, rushing towards the front from three different directions.

Only Uozumi stood motionless under the basket, because he knew that the Fukushima team couldn't stop the Kanagawa team's fast break at all.

The next moment, Ikegami slammed the ball down, and the basketball whistled as it flew rapidly toward the frontcourt.

Kogure slightly changed direction; instead of catching the ball, he slapped it to the side with his left hand.

The basketball instantly changed direction and flew towards Mitsui, who appeared at a 45° angle beyond the three-point line on the right.

As soon as Mitsui stood still, he saw the basketball flying towards him.

After receiving the ball, Mitsui made no adjustments and immediately made a three-pointer.

shuh~
The basketball traced a beautiful arc, piercing straight through the hoop, the white net swirling wildly.

Soon, the Fukushima team served.

slap~
Kogure deliberately slowed down his defensive retreat, and the moment the Fukushima team served, he instantly made a steal.

"not good!"

The Fukushima players sensed something was wrong, and the closest Fukushima player immediately rushed forward and desperately lunged for the basketball.

Despite being closer to the basketball than the Fukushima players, Kogure's explosive power allowed him to touch the ball first.

As he secured the basketball, Kogure made a breakthrough.

Before the other Fukushima players could react, Kogure rushed into the basket and unleashed a 360° windmill dunk.

Bang~
As Kogure completed his dunk, the atmosphere in the arena was instantly ignited.

Many Akita residents even forgot their original intentions and subconsciously joined in cheering for Kogure.

The Fukushima players stared helplessly at Kogure hanging from the basket, their hearts filled with unease and uncertainty.

What right do they have to fight against the Kanagawa team? This is even more absurd than Benboerba eliminating Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

The game continued, and the audience's eyes followed the players' movements closely, with shouts and cheers rising and falling.

Just like in the opening minute, the Kanagawa players coordinated perfectly, as if they had rehearsed it meticulously.

With their all-out defense, it's easy to imagine how inefficient the Fukushima players were at scoring.

With Uozumi fully committed to protecting the rim in the restricted area, Kogure focused on filling in any gaps and concentrating his efforts on help defense.

As for the other three, they are all excellent perimeter defensive players.

With their targeted defense, the game became one-sided from the very beginning.

Despite the Fukushima team's tenacious spirit, they were unable to bridge the vast gap between the two teams. The Kanagawa players consistently anticipated Fukushima's intentions, their interceptions always perfectly timed, rendering Fukushima's attacks weak and ineffective, and forcing them into numerous errors.

This almost became a microcosm of the entire match.

As time went on, the gap between the two sides widened like a snowball.

In just ten minutes, the Kanagawa team built a 28-point lead.

The atmosphere inside the stadium quickly became even more enthusiastic.

As time slowly passed, more and more Akita residents joined the ranks of those supporting the Kanagawa delegation.

Despite being completely suppressed, the fans of the Fukushima team continued to cheer and encourage them, hoping for a miracle.

However, reality is harsh; the situation in the game did not change despite their efforts.

After losing by 28 points in just ten minutes, the morale of the Fukushima players almost collapsed.

They started stalling, hoping to lose less.

"Press and defend!"

Kogure saw through their plan and immediately led the Kanagawa team to implement a tight defensive press.

"Yes, Captain!"

The teammates responded enthusiastically and immediately sprang into action.

Unlike Sannoh Industrial's full-court press, the Kanagawa team adopted a man-to-man pressing defensive strategy.

This is mainly related to the strength of both sides!
The next moment, the Fukushima players found themselves in an unprecedented predicament.

The opponent's defense was exceptionally tight, making it almost impossible for them to find a breakthrough.

The Fukushima players appeared to be struggling on the field, trying to get past the opponent's defense through passing and movement.

However, the Kanagawa players clung to them like shadows, not giving them an easy chance to receive the ball.

Faced with such a defense, the Fukushima players seemed somewhat at a loss.

They tried various offensive tactics, but none of them worked.

Under the pressure of the tight defense, their offensive rhythm was completely disrupted, and they were even unable to cross the halfway line.

For a moment, anxiety and helplessness were written all over the faces of the Fukushima players.

Coach Fukushima also appeared worried. He kept thinking of countermeasures and made attempts to break through the Kanagawa team's tight defense.

However, in the face of absolute power, everything is just a paper tiger.

Faced with such a tight defensive system, Coach Fukushima's adjustments seemed weak and ineffective.

As time went on, the difficulties faced by the Fukushima team became increasingly apparent.

In just five minutes, they failed to score a single point and made a series of mistakes, losing another 30 points.

This had a devastating impact on their morale; the Fukushima players were demoralized and just wanted the game to end as soon as possible.

In this way, the Kanagawa team could get whatever they wanted.

By the end of the first half, the Kanagawa team had built a 70-point lead.

The 70-point halftime lead also broke the record for the largest halftime lead in the Autumn National Sports Games.
Given the difference in strength between the two sides, the Kanagawa team should be able to easily achieve their goal of winning by 100 points in the second half.

During halftime, Ayako proactively handed the data book to Kogure.

"Captain, you only need to play five more minutes in the second half to have a chance to achieve a quadruple-double!"

Four pairs!

The Kanagawa players were clearly taken aback, and Mitsui, sitting next to Kogure, quickly looked at the data book.

“30分12篮板10助攻9抢断3盖帽！你告诉我是半场数据？？？”

For a moment, Mitsui began to question the meaning of life.

"I wish I were half as strong as the captain!"

"Go wash up and go to sleep. You can have anything in your dreams!"

……

As soon as Mitsui finished speaking, a series of gasps of cold air followed.

With just one steal away, Kogure would have achieved the remarkable feat of a quadruple-double in the first half.

They only knew that Kogure was performing well, but they never expected him to be this good.

Horror!
At this point, Ayako explained, "During the full-court press, the captain made 5 steals!"

"As expected, it's easy for weak teams to rack up stats! The question is, should we continue in the second half?"

Kogure couldn't help but hesitate, after all, the four pairs were only half a step away.

However, such blatant manipulation of data can easily damage public opinion!
This is like the future of gOat. If you observe the game closely, you will find that he mostly plays simple shots and doesn't play as many tough battles as you might imagine. On the contrary, the proportion of tough battles is not as high as you might think.

Fast break, free throws, defensive rebounds!
In addition, there's the much-talked-about practice of shifting blame!
If a teammate scores, he gets an assist; if they don't, it's their problem. That's why his teammates are always getting beaten like they're in the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association).

"Forget it, let's learn from Bird. It's not honorable to pad stats during garbage time!"

After quickly weighing the pros and cons, Kogure made his decision.

Therefore, Kogure chose to give up playing, citing exhaustion and the need for rest.

Although they missed the chance to achieve a quadruple-double, this is still an opportunity to improve their public image.

"Nani!!"

His teammates were all taken aback, because Kogure's choice seemed particularly capricious.

They asked themselves honestly if they had the chance, they would likely continue playing.

Given Kogure's status, the coaching staff would naturally not refuse if he continued to play, but Kogure chose to give up, which is undoubtedly a very shocking thing.

That is, Kogure had achieved four doubles, otherwise he might not have been able to resist such temptation.

Even so, Kogure's impulsive choice still earned him unanimous praise from his teammates.

Coach Anzai stared at Kogure, as if he had noticed something, and then let out his signature laugh.

In the second half, Coach Anzai made a bold move, bringing on five players and substituting five for the weakest lineup.

Center: Kazuhiro Ikeda

Ohmae: Minori Kishimoto

Komae: Ichiro Sato

Shooting Guard: Ryoji Ikegami

Point Guard: Tomokazu Godai

This is the weakest lineup of the Kanagawa representative team; it really couldn't be weaker.

However, even with such a weak lineup, they were still able to defeat the vast majority of representative teams, far surpassing the Fukushima representative team.

This is Kanagawa, a place of insane competition!
In the second half, the Kanagawa team continued their excellent performance.

Under these circumstances, the gap between the two sides continued to widen.

Beep~
After a long period of preparation, the long whistle, symbolizing the end of the competition, finally sounded.

The Fukushima players seemed completely exhausted, collapsing to the ground and staring at the electronic scoreboard in despair.

Despite their best efforts to stall for time, the Kanagawa team easily achieved their goal of winning by 100 points.

This was only because they were playing conservatively in the second half to avoid the opponent making a desperate move. Otherwise, the point difference between the two sides would have been even greater.

Even so, this match still broke the record for the largest point difference in the Autumn National Sports Festival.

As expected, after the match, Aida Yayoi couldn't wait to interview Kogure.

Whether it's a 100-point margin of victory or a near quadruple-double in the first half, these are all highly sensational news headlines.

Aida Yayoi would naturally not let such an opportunity pass by, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, Kogure will grace the cover of the next issue of "Basketball Weekly".

(End of this chapter)