Basketball miracles

Chapter 188 [A Demonstration of Crushing Defeat]

In the Shohoku positional play, Xiao Tu controlled the ball on the perimeter, waiting for his teammates to make runs, and Akagi Takenori pulled out to set a screen again.

Xiao Tu explained the tactics, clearly telling Akagi that there was no need to go toe-to-toe with Uozumi; it was a foolish move. Even if Akagi could score against Uozumi one-on-one, it would consume a lot of his energy and wouldn't be able to motivate his teammates. By pulling Uozumi out of the paint, his teammates could score more easily with a higher shooting percentage.

In this play, Uozumi didn't come out to defend the pick-and-roll again, instead standing around near the paint. Mitsui Hisashi used a screen to get past Koshino Hiroaki, received a pass from Xiao Tu at the right 60-degree angle, and made an open three-pointer from the same spot! 12-2.

Taoka Moichi didn't call a timeout yet because Ryonan's strongest players were already on the court.

Jun's back-and-forth running was useless; he immediately became agitated and started trash-talking. "Akagi, why aren't you attacking? Aren't you afraid to challenge me?"

Akagi only needed to look at the current score to know that Xiao Tu's strategy was correct, and he smiled slightly at Uozumi. "You can come and force your way through me with the ball."

Xiao Tu and Akagi made it very clear that he wasn't incapable of scoring; he was waiting for the right opportunity to cut inside and score easily.

With Uozumi on the court, Shohoku mainly relied on fast breaks and outside shooting. Uozumi couldn't keep up with the pace, and his defense was useless.

Ryonan players passed the ball several times, and Sendoh was double-teamed in the paint and passed it to Koshino, whose mid-range shot was blocked by Mitsui Hisashi.

Akagi grabbed the rebound and passed it to Xiao Tu to launch a counterattack. This was the simplest and most effective tactic. After Sendoh broke through, he couldn't immediately focus on defending Xiao Tu, creating a mismatch on the court.

Xiao Tu dribbled between his legs to get past Uekusa, then dribbled behind his back to get past Koshino, and drove into the penalty area to draw Sendoh's attention. He then jumped, turned halfway, and passed the ball to the middle.

Sendoh's jump block attempt failed, leaving Rukawa completely exposed. Rukawa received the ball in the middle, took a step, and slammed it home with his right hand! 14-2.

Three die-hard female fans on the sidelines started raising their legs high and shouting, "Shaw, I love you! Shaw, I love you!"

Uozumi failed to get back on defense in time again; neither he nor Akagi were the main players on the field today.

This was also unexpected by Taoka Shigeichi, who had assumed that Shohoku would primarily rely on Akagi's low-post offense. He believed that as long as Uozumi contained Akagi, Ryonan would secure a decisive victory today.

Ryonan is on offense. Uozumi, determined to defeat Akagi, calls for the ball and forces his way past Akagi before turning and shooting. He avoids the block, and the ball goes wide under pressure. Sakuragi takes off and grabs the rebound.

When Sakuragi practiced shooting and dunking in the paint, he developed a good habit of jumping repeatedly, but he wasn't quite familiar with positioning. Once he successfully jumped, Ikegami had no chance of getting past him.

Sakuragi passed the ball to Xiao Tu, a clear tactical move. Xiao Tu changed direction to get past Uekusa, drew Koshino's help defense, and then bounced a pass to Mitsui Hisashi, who was unguarded and easily scored a layup. 16-2.

Uozumi once again received the ball in the low post on the right and went one-on-one against Akagi, but he got carried away. This time he was even more embarrassing, dribbling the ball around in the penalty area several times without shooting, and was called for an offensive three-second violation by the referee.

Uozumi's technique was too rough; he clearly stayed in the penalty area for more than three seconds without shooting. Akagi didn't actually have any advanced defensive techniques; he just raised his arms for close-quarters combat.

Xiao Tu watched from the sidelines and couldn't help but laugh. Normal low-post one-on-one plays rely on footwork, but Yu Zhu's one-on-one play is all about fancy footwork with his upper body, raising the ball and elbows, while his lower body doesn't move at all. He's a player who completely separates shooting from footwork.

No wonder you couldn't score a single point against Akagi last year.

What's the use of your height advantage if you're so clumsy?

In the Shohoku positional play, Sendoh was the main defender, closely marking Xiao Tu. Xiao Tu calmly backed down to protect the ball, waiting for his teammates to make runs. Suddenly, he stepped back to create distance from Sendoh, facing the basket and performing a series of crossover steps. He dribbled with his left hand, changed direction to the right, and got past Sendoh in one step.

He made a sudden 50-degree stop and jump on the left side, drawing Uozumi's help defense, and passed the ball to the middle. Rukawa Kaede squeezed past the slender Uekasa and cut to receive the ball, then took three steps and jumped to avoid Ikegami's block, scoring a layup. 18-2.

The tactic wasn't executed well this time; Sakuragi completely forgot about high screens. But whenever Uozumi went out to defend, Ryonan's paint area was wide open.

Uozumi's turning speed was pitifully slow, and it was too late for him to block Rukawa's shot.

Seeing Xiao Tu deliver assist after assist, Taoka Moichi finally called a timeout.

Ryonan's defense was a complete mess, utterly unstoppable; Taoka was no match for Coach Anzai's composure. In the manga, Shohoku started 0-19 down, but Coach Anzai didn't call a timeout, appearing completely confident.

The Ryonan players were completely dumbfounded. Last year, they had utterly crushed Shohoku, but this season, beating them was a piece of cake.

In Xiao Tu's view, Ryonan's defense was full of gaps, and he could easily pass the ball to an open player. They seemed strong in the manga because it was just a bunch of rookies pecking at each other.

In Xiao Tu's previous life, his high school basketball team was no less powerful than Ryonan or Shohoku. They all had fast breaks, dunks, and were often dumbfounded when facing zone defenses, attempting three-pointers.

With Fukuda Kichou absent, Ryonan's defense was weak, and their offense lacked scoring options. If it weren't for Yasuda, Shiozaki, and Kogure's virtually non-existent defense, they wouldn't have scored many points in practice. Xiao Tu had already gone easy on them, not pressing Uekusa any further, afraid of making the kid cry.

The funniest thing is that Uekusa and Koshino were called the "Iron Wall Twin Guards" by Aida Hikoichi. These two lousy players with no height, no strength, and no speed were praised like defensive experts.

Xiao Tu remembered that in the manga, Yasuda could score on fast breaks even against Uekusa's defense, and even made a three-pointer. Koshino was even more outrageous; at 174cm, his crotch was huge, allowing Rukawa to dribble the ball through his legs.

Taoka praised Uekusa as a guard with zero turnovers, but didn't mention his assist ability; Sendoh was responsible for organizing the offense. Xiao Tu felt that this guy might also be a guard with zero assists, with an astonishingly low assist-to-turnover ratio—both were zero.

After the timeout, Shohoku continued to maintain control and dominated Ryonan.

Before the game, Taoka arranged the tactics, focusing on Uozumi guarding Akagi one-on-one, while the other players strictly guarded their respective matchups and did not double-team any player.

He now realizes that no one can defend against Xiao Tu; even double-teaming him can't stop him.

Xiao Tu weaved past Sendoh several times with his signature flutter-the-flank moves, Euro-step, and behind-the-back dribble. He could draw double teams and then assist his teammates; when no one was guarding him, he could pull up for a jump shot or drive to the basket.

Sendoh's feelings were very similar to those of Rukawa Kaede when he first challenged Xiao Tu to a one-on-one match, feeling utterly powerless and having the thought that "my ball skills are not that good at all."

The two are not on the same level at all. Xiao Tu is very professional in every aspect, while Xian Dao is just a top student.

Sendoh is primarily responsible for defending against Xiao Tu, and Yueke is responsible for defending against Mitsui Hisashi, meaning that Uekusa is primarily responsible for defending against Rukawa Kaede. All positions in Ryonan were completely outmatched, and Rukawa Kaede easily scored many points.

In the first half, Shohoku led Ryonan 72-30 by 42 points. All the starting players scored, and Kogure, who came off the bench for Sakuragi, also made a mid-range shot and a three-pointer.

Sakuragi lacked experience in both offense and defense. He was easily fooled by fakes and jumped when defending, and quickly accumulated three fouls before being substituted for rest.

During halftime, Sakuragi, who wanted to play, started patting Coach Anzai's bouncy chin, making a "duang, duang" sound, which shocked everyone in Ryonan.

Is this how geniuses are treated? They can even tolerate disrespect for their coaches.

Anzai could tolerate it, but Akagi Takenori couldn't. He punched Sakuragi in the head and forcibly dragged him aside.

The people of Shohoku didn't find it strange; they were used to it.

Xiao Tu explained to Sakuragi, "The coach is letting you rest not because you played badly, but because you need to learn from the sidelines. You can't just keep charging around recklessly; you also need to learn to control your fouls, otherwise you'll be ejected after five fouls."

"Huh? You can be fouled out in a basketball game?" Sakuragi had never heard of such a thing before.

"Yes, the player fouled out of the game with five fouls," Xiao Tu said patiently.

Sakuragi lacked basic basketball knowledge, and many people wouldn't have thought to teach him if he hadn't asked.

This is common sense; only a complete layman wouldn't know it.

In the second half, Shohoku continued to take the initiative. After Sakuragi left the court, Ryonan's offense became even more difficult because Xiao Tu began to focus on defending Sendoh. Sendoh scored 18 points in the first half, a pretty good performance.

Xiao Tu wanted to see how powerful Xian Dao was, so he focused on defending one person on the perimeter while the others continued their area-wide coordinated defense.

At this point, Shohoku stopped using the Hawks' offense and instead had one Hawks and four Shooters on the court, allowing them to spread out and run pick-and-roll offense.

Akagi was responsible for setting a screen for Xiao Tu. As long as he blocked Sendoh, Xiao Tu could dribble past him and pull up for a jump shot. Uozumi was too slow to get out of the paint. If Uozumi tried to defend him out, it would only make things worse; Xiao Tu would simply accelerate past him, either fouling him and giving him free throws or watching him score a layup.

Rukawa Kaede watched Xiao Tu play basketball and felt he learned a lot.

In middle school, Rukawa Kaede rarely passed the ball, and even when triple-teamed, he would still choose to force his way through. In the manga, during this practice match, he even tried to get the ball in the low post and back down Uozumi, showing a lack of basketball IQ.

Xiao Tu leads the team's offense, taking shots when he's open and drawing the defensive attention to immediately pass the ball to a teammate in a better position.

Xiao Tu's main focus is to set an example for Rukawa Kaede, and he will also become stronger before the National Tournament.

(End of this chapter)