Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 371 Defense First
Coach Anzai agreed mainly because he valued Sakuragi's potential.

"Play however you want in the second half!"

Coach Anzai glanced at Kogure, then lazily lay back in his chair.

It wasn't that he underestimated Ryonan, but rather that he couldn't imagine Ryonan having the potential to defeat Shohoku. In fact, even if he paired Kogure with four substitutes, Ryonan might not be able to win.

That's what makes Kogure so powerful!

Coach Anzai himself has no idea how strong Kogure is now.

Because Kogure has already transcended Coach Anzai's understanding.

The second half began shortly afterward.

Both teams' players returned to the field, with Ryonan making a slight change to their lineup, and Kiyota Nobunaga replacing Ikegami.

Therefore, the Ryonan lineup became Uozumi, Nango, Atami, Kiyota Nobunaga, and Sendoh.

After seeing Shohoku's main players enter the game, Ryonan's players, including Sendoh, were all filled with solemnity.

During the jump ball phase, Akagi, with a slight advantage, hit the ball towards Kogure first.

Kiyota Nobunaga quickly stepped forward, trying to grab the basketball.

He is very fast, second only to Miyagi in speed.

However, Kogure was faster and grabbed the basketball before Kiyota could.

However, Kogure did not immediately launch a fast attack, but patiently waited for his teammates to get into position.

"Senior Xiandao, I'll take care of him!"

Kiyota Nobunaga clapped his hands forcefully, staring at Kogure with a fanatical gaze.

He chose to switch positions with Sendoh, wanting to test the strength of the nation's top high school student.

"Kiyota, is this really going to work?"

Sendoh stared at Kiyota Nobunaga strangely. "You can't even beat me, yet you dare to challenge Kogure?"
At that moment, Nango Koichiro's taunting voice rang out: "Kiyota, if you lose, then it's my turn!"

The two monkeys, young and fearless, both wanted to challenge Kogure.

Where do these two guys get their confidence from?

Looking at his two monkeys, Sendoh felt a headache coming on for no reason. Could this be the nature of apes?
Thinking of this, Sendoh couldn't help but glance at the other four monkeys, especially Sakuragi.

There were five monkeys on the field, making up half of the total.

"How will you know if you don't try!"

Kiyota Nobunaga knew that Kogure was strong, but he was even more interested in knowing the difference between the two.

"Innocent!"

Not far away, Rukawa Kaede's eyes were cold as he silently muttered a complaint.

"Come on, let me see the strength of the nation's number one high school student!" Kiyota Nobunaga's voice was full of anticipation.

He lowered his center of gravity slightly, his eyes more focused than ever before, ready to defend.

Kogure tilted his head and asked, "Have you ever seen me at my peak?"

A month later, his strength had improved again.

As soon as he finished speaking, Kogure chose to drive to the basket.

"So fast!"

To Kiyota Nobunaga's surprise, Kogure was so fast that he didn't have time to react and could only watch helplessly as Kogure brushed past him.

Kogure displayed amazing physical abilities and ball-handling skills, breaking through the defense like a gust of wind and heading straight for the basket.

This is the extraordinary aspect of 'Pokémon', allowing Kogure to further integrate with his Pokémon.

Uozumi thought that even if Kiyota Nobunaga was incompetent, he could at least slow down Kogure's progress, but reality was beyond his expectations.

By the time Uozumi finally realized what had happened, it was too late.

Uozumi's eyes widened as he tried to stop him, but Kogure was too fast, and he didn't even have enough time to adjust.

Kogure drove straight to the basket, leaped high, skillfully avoided Uozumi who was trying to block him, found an opening in the air, and then slammed the ball into the hoop.

The basketball hoop shook violently from the enormous impact.

This powerful dunk over an opponent stunned everyone present.

Uozumi had no way to deal with this ball.

What could he do? He was desperate too!

If you really have to blame someone, it's because their teammates were too weak, leaving them completely unprepared.

"Kiyota, are you sure you can handle this? If not, let me do it?"

Just then, Koichiro Nango's voice broke the silence.

Kiyota Nobunaga, forcing a smile, said, "It was just a ball. I wasn't prepared just now!"

"Then let you try again!"

Offense and defense reversed!

Ryonan serves, and Sendoh quickly dribbles the ball across half the court.

Beyond the three-point line, Sendoh intently observed the situation on the court, preparing to organize the team's offense.

At that moment, Kogure immediately entangled himself with Death Coil without hesitation.

Even though Sendoh was on guard, he still felt a suffocating pressure.

"His defense seems to have improved!"

Sendoh was taken aback and tried to get out of the predicament, but under Kogure's defense, his movements became increasingly chaotic.

Finally, Sendoh had no choice but to hold the ball with both hands and wait for his teammates to 'rescue' him.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Kiyota immediately stepped forward to help Sendoh out of his predicament.

Sendoh felt a sense of relief and immediately passed the ball to Kiyota.

slap~
Just as Sendoh passed the ball, Kogure, who was prepared in advance, quickly intercepted it.

The basketball hurtled towards the frontcourt like an arrow, and all three players rushed toward it simultaneously.

To Sendoh and Kiyota Nobunaga's dismay, Kogure had the upper hand in both speed and reaction time, and grabbed the basketball first.

The two players did not give up; they pursued relentlessly, trying to regain possession of the ball.

Kogure led the charge, while Sendoh and Kiyota pursued him relentlessly, attempting to restrict his movements by flanking him.

The three figures moved quickly across the court, and the moment they stepped into the free throw line, Kogure leaped up.

Sendoh and Kiyota jumped up as well, reaching out their hands and simultaneously slapping the basketball.

Unfortunately, Kogure displayed amazing coordination and skill, using a mid-air layup to avoid the two blockers and score with a reverse layup.

shuh~
The basketball swished through the net, creating a splash.

Sendoh and Kiyota exchanged a glance and both shook their heads helplessly.

This shot further boosted Shohoku's morale.

After Ryonan served again, Sendoh held up his index finger and shouted to his teammates, "Let's score this point!"

"it is good!"

Uozumi and the others responded in unison.

This time, before Kogure could even get close, Sendoh, like a startled bird, immediately passed the ball to Kiyota.

However, it was all for naught. Kiyota's situation was not much better than Sendoh's, because he was facing Mitsui.

Under Mitsui's solid defense, Kiyota was overwhelmed and almost conceded a goal.

Whether it's defensive positioning, skills, or awareness, Mitsui is top-notch.

The inexperienced Kiyota was completely unable to break through his defense.

With no other option, Kiyota passed the ball to Nango.

Despite Sakuragi's all-out defense, Nango wasn't much better off.

Sakuragi's physical abilities were subtly superior to his, and more importantly, Sakuragi had also received guidance from Kogure.

Left with no other option, Nango had to pass the ball to Ajin, who was there to receive it.

A-Shen attempted to use Nan-Gou's body as cover to make a breakthrough.

However, Rukawa Kaede was not fooled.

In Rukawa's opinion, A-Shen's feint was too clumsy... Regardless of whether it was effective or not, A-Shen leaped up over Nango.

But just as he threw the ball, a large hand slapped it away.

The basketball bounced off the ground and flew straight out of bounds.

"This Shohoku team's defense is too strong!"

At that moment, the Ryonan players looked at each other, all feeling immense pressure.

At the referee's signal, Ryonan began to serve the ball inbounds.

At this point, they had less than ten seconds left to attack.

Uozumi stood outside the sideline but did not serve the ball for a long time.

Because his teammates never managed to create an opportunity.

"Damn it, how can Shohoku's defense be so strong!"

At this moment, Kiyota and Nango, the two first-year Ryonan players, finally witnessed the strength of Shohoku.

Beep~
Before Uozumi could serve, Koshino, acting as the temporary referee, blew his whistle.

It wasn't that he didn't want to give his teammates face, but as a referee, he had to enforce the rules impartially.

High school basketball differs from the NBA, where, for profit, referees can unhesitatingly favor a particular team or star player.

The most typical example of a star player is gOat, who benefited greatly from the game, scoring at least 20,000 points by relying on his six-step shooting and free throws.

For example, the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to play a seven-game series, but the Pacers were hampered by referees and lost a crucial match point.

Ultimately, the Thunder won the championship, and Alexander was awarded the Finals MVP, but he was ridiculed by netizens for his huge number of free throws, with some wondering if the "F" in Finals MVP meant free throws.

Thus, the title of 'Free Throw FMVP' came into being.

After exchanging possession of the ball, Shohoku began their attack.

As soon as Kogure crossed the halfway mark, Kiyota immediately came to greet him.

Unfortunately, in the face of absolute strength, any fancy moves are powerless.

With just a simple crossover, Kiyota was easily shaken off by Kogure.

It wasn't that Kiyota's defense was bad, but rather that there was a huge gap between the two players.

Due to his height disadvantage and the fact that he hasn't developed his shooting skills, Kiyota is at best a starter for a strong team.

Above him are pseudo-strong team core players, strong team core players, college superstars, university stars, NBA benchwarmers, and ordinary NBA substitutes...

This is like punching the Nanshan Nursing Home and kicking the Beihai Kindergarten – one hit after another, leaving them with no chance to fight back.

"We can't defend against it, we can't defend against it!"

Kiyota watched helplessly as Kogure easily broke through his defenses, feeling utterly powerless.

This is still before Kogure took it seriously; otherwise, Kiyota would have been even more devastated.

To paraphrase Kogure, crossing you is like crossing a street in the early morning!

After breaking through Kiyota, Nango seized the opportunity and immediately pounced.

Kogure faked a pass to Sakuragi, and Nango instinctively stopped.

By the time Nango realized he had been tricked, Kogure had already completed his breakthrough like a gust of wind.

shuh~
Kogure dribbled past two defenders and scored a layup.

After scoring, Kogure not only didn't return to defense, but instead made a gesture.

Even first-year students like Sakuragi and Rukawa understood the meaning of this gesture.

For a moment, the Shohoku team did not return to their own half of the court.

Uozumi came to the baseline as usual to serve, only to find Akagi standing in front of him, stretching out his arm and constantly interfering.

In addition, the Shohoku players also closely followed their opponents.

In an instant, all the Ryonan players were pinned down.

At that moment, the Ryonan players all thought of Sannoh Industrial's killer move – tight defense!
The second and third-year players of Ryonan are naturally familiar with tight defense.

Immediately, Sendoh and Ashin responded.

Unfortunately, under the watchful eyes of Kogure and Rukawa, they never had a chance to appear.

Beep~
Yueye had to blow the whistle again and then made a gesture indicating a service violation.

Under Shohoku's tight defense, Ryonan couldn't even get a free pass.

Possession of the ball has changed hands!

Shohoku's attack began, and soon, Kogure received a pass from his teammate.

The moment Kogure received the ball, Kiyota, Nango, and Sendoh seemed to have planned it beforehand; they quickly moved their feet and formed a tight encirclement.

Kiyota applied pressure from the left, Nango blocked from the front, while Sendoh attempted to seize an opportunity from the rear.

They absolutely cannot let Kogure score so easily again.

Kogure remained calm and did not panic.

Surrounded by three opponents, Kogure observed his opponent's every move, looking for an opportunity to break through.

His footwork was agile, and the basketball seemed glued to his hands, moving with ease and constantly changing position.

For a moment, the three of them were helpless.

The three seemed to work together flawlessly, but in reality, their teamwork was riddled with errors and they didn't coordinate much.

With his excellent ball control and experience, Kogure quickly found an opening.

He deliberately created an opening to lure Kiyota into making a steal.

In that instant, Kogure easily dodged the attack and suddenly accelerated, passing through the gap between Kiyota and Nango.

The whole process can be described as seamless!

"Oops!"

The three pursued relentlessly, but to no avail. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as Kogure leaped high and slammed the ball into the basket.

His composure and skill made him the focus of the entire audience at that moment, changing many people's perception of him.

Kogure's outstanding performance not only earned him points but also greatly boosted the team's morale.

Kiyota and Nango looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

The two of them felt an urge to bury themselves in the ground when they thought about the boast they had just made.

They finally understood why Kogure was called the strongest high school student in history!

Shota Sugiyama, currently the starting center for the national team, praised Kogure, saying that if he were to enter university, he would become the top player in the university.

That's the true value of Kogure!
Beep~
It was at this time that Ryonan chose to replace their player!

Coach Taoka naturally noticed that Kiyota and Nango's confidence had been shaken. In order to prevent the two from losing confidence and to deal with Shohoku's tight defense, he had no choice but to make a substitution.

Soon, Matsumoto Minoru and Ikegami took to the field again.

Ikegami plays as the power forward.

That is, Sakuragi should play as the power forward for Shohoku. Otherwise, if it were Naito, Ikegami would be no different from a free win.

This was Ryonan's strongest lineup before Nango joined the team!
Unfortunately, they were still completely helpless against this Shohoku team.

Under Shohoku's tight defense, Ryonan was completely outmatched.

Compared to Sannoh players, Shohoku's individual defense is better.

During this process, Kogure also filled in the gaps and made improvements.

With his superhuman reaction speed, Kogure always manages to appear at crucial moments, making things very difficult for the Ryonan team.

Even Matsumoto Minoru, who was most familiar with pressing defense, couldn't come up with a countermeasure.

For a time, Ryonan's error rate remained high.

Five minutes later, Shohoku not only erased the score difference, but also took a full 20-point lead.

After removing their tight defense, Shohoku continued to extend their lead.

Kogure only played for ten minutes, and that was enough to secure the victory for Shohoku.

Ultimately, the match ended with a resounding victory for Shohoku.

(End of this chapter)