Basketball miracles

Chapter 192 [Prefectural Tournament, Miuradai]

The Shohoku team's roster is finally complete. One day, Anzai Mitsuyoshi came to the arena, and Xiao Tu suggested that they have dinner together that night.

Xiao Tu treated everyone to a barbecue buffet, and the players were allowed to bring their family and friends. Not only did Haruko Akagi and Yuki Uchida go, but Tokuo Horita, Yohei Mito, and others also joined in the fun.

Xiao Tu didn't treat them as outsiders and would be watching the games regularly. In the manga, after defeating Sannoh Industrial, these cheerleaders and Shohoku players took a group photo, with extra Takashima even cunningly standing in the center of the second row.

For Xiao Tu, treating people to dinner was a small matter; it earned him the favor of the entire team.

Two weeks later, the rest of the Shohoku team hadn't made much progress, but Sakuragi Hanamichi was completely transformed compared to when he first joined the team.

He mastered his high-post mid-range shot and free throws, and also learned post-up techniques. He would receive the ball in the low post with his back to the basket, land on both feet, and move with either foot, then quickly spin and drive to the basket before releasing his shot near the rim.

Sakuragi's turning speed and spring speed are faster than Akagi's, and he has also improved his shooting under the basket, making him a significant threat in the low post. He has firmly established himself as the starting power forward, easily outmaneuvering Kakuta Satoru one-on-one.

With Xiao Tu's help, Sakuragi realized his potential ahead of schedule.

The teammates all know that Xiao Tu is the real coach of Shohoku. If Anzai Mitsuyoshi is receiving a salary from Shohoku, he should at least get half of it. Coach Anzai usually comes to the arena a maximum of three times a week, which is quite a lot for him this year.

Previously, Shohoku had no geniuses, and the players would not see the coach for ten days or half a month at a time.

Xiao Tu can even help the members of the judo club become stronger, and he occasionally goes to play judo with Aota Tatsuhiko. The two have a very good relationship and both consider the other a worthy opponent.

Xiao Tu had unknowingly lived in Japan for nearly three months, leading a fulfilling life.

He not only participated in sports, but also went to music lessons with Yuki Uchida to learn basic music theory.

He has a great voice and plans to release an album in the future. Rather than sleeping in high school classes, he wants to learn something useful.

Yuki Uchida will also be singing in the future. The company has plans for her career and intends to promote her as a triple-threat star in film, television, and music.

Xiao Tu can provide emotional support to women, and the two of them have more to talk about as they grow together. However, Uchida Yuki will definitely be even more upset when he returns to the United States, as she has become accustomed to relying on him.

The Kanagawa Prefecture tournament officially kicked off on May 19.

Everyone from Shohoku High School was full of confidence and set off with the slogan "Conquer the whole country".

The tournament schedule is as follows: the four seeded teams advance directly to the quarterfinals. The other teams will play four matches in a single-elimination format to earn a chance to challenge one of the four semifinalists.

Shohoku was assigned to the same division as Shoyo, which was extremely unlucky for Shoyo.

The competition venue was quite formal; it wasn't the school gymnasium, but the Hiratsuka City Gymnasium. Xiao Tu felt that the scale and atmosphere of this prefectural competition were much better than those of high school competitions in China.

In his previous life, when Xiao Tu was in high school, there were only local high school basketball tournaments, with home and away games played on open-air, concrete courts. The national high school league was only held for the first time in 2019, and it didn't have much influence.

Many people came to watch Shohoku's game today, including the entire Ryonan team. They wanted to learn about Shohoku's playing style by watching the game so they could minimize their losses if they met again in the semifinals.

The students from Miura Dai Junior High School knew nothing about Shohoku. When the players came on the field, Captain Kengo Murasame immediately provoked Takenori Akagi with inexplicable confidence.

"Akagi, even if you can beat Ryonan, you're no match for us! This year we're going to defeat Hainan and conquer the whole country! Don't compare us to Ryonan!"

This group of people appeared arrogant and overconfident, completely disregarding Shohoku. The coach of Miura Dai hadn't researched the Shohoku players' information, severely underestimating their opponent.

Xiao Tu did not see a tall, bald man during the players' warm-up.

He confirmed that this was indeed the world of the manga "Slam Dunk," and that original characters from the anime had not appeared. It's said that Tetsuya Naito is 196cm tall, weighs 155kg, and has a 100-meter sprint time of 11 seconds—such an incredible feat is impossible in reality.

In terms of physical stamina, Tetsuya Naito ran 50 consecutive sprints without changing his expression, as described in the anime.

Even more outrageous is the plot: this guy, a former rugby player, used a "flying shoulder strike" to knock Sakuragi away while setting a screen, and the referee didn't call a foul. In King of Fighters, Brian's move is a super special move; you need to have meter to execute it.

In short, this guy probably has an Adamantium skeleton, just like Wolverine; otherwise, he couldn't possibly be heavier than a prime Shaquille O'Neal. And in the cartoon, as a center, he actually dribbles the ball from the backcourt to the frontcourt himself; his weakness is that he can't turn corners…

After Rukawa discovered Naito's weakness, Shohoku scored 50 points in less than 2 minutes.

Xiao Tu couldn't do it, even if he cheated.

No fighting occurred at Shohoku High School, and Coach Anzai immediately fielded his strongest five players: Xiao Tu, Mitsui Hisashi, Rukawa Kaede, Sakuragi Hanamichi, and Akagi Takenori.

Today, Akagi Takenori is in charge of the jump ball. Miura Dai's center is 192cm tall, so Akagi is guaranteed to win the jump ball.

Sakuragi Hanamichi wasn't in charge of the jump ball because Xiao Tu had something more glamorous for him to do; the two had already discussed their opening tactics.

Akagi accurately passed the ball to Xiao Tu, and Sakuragi sprinted towards the basket from the right, shaking off the 186cm power forward Miyamoto Kazunari without the ball. Miyamoto only had height; his athleticism was poor, and he completely left his man open.

Xiao Tu dribbled the ball forward quickly for two steps, then pushed it out forcefully with both hands, heading straight for the right side of the basket.

Xiao Tu often plays alley-oop with his three teammates during practice, and has figured out what height of pass is most comfortable for Sakuragi to receive.

Sakuragi leaped under the basket, his right arm outstretched to catch the ball, and leaned forward to slam it into the hoop. His dunk wasn't particularly powerful, but it was a spectacular alley-oop! 2-0. All the spectators were stunned, and even the referee couldn't believe his eyes.

"A long-range alley-oop dunk? Is this a play that high schoolers can pull off?!"

Has our national team ever completed an alley-oop like this?

"That's incredible! Who is this red-haired guy? I've never heard of him before."

"Why is Shohoku's point guard a foreigner?"

Miura Dai is on offense, and point guard Kazuo Araki dribbles the ball across half-court.

This guard is 186cm tall. Xiao Tu remembers that in the comics, he mocked Yasuda Yasuharu and Miyagi Ryota as shorty, and then Miyagi easily broke through his defense time and time again.

Araki had just crossed half-court when Xiao Tu pressed him, closely marking him. With a slight touch of resistance from Xiao Tu, Araki was forced to try to dribble back to create space, but the referee blew the whistle, calling a backcourt violation.

Many high school students lack experience and a sense of distance on the field, and they panic when pressed.

Shohoku inbounded the ball, and Xiao Tu, holding the ball on the right side, easily beat Araki with a quick change of direction, drove into the basket, drew the center's help defense, and then passed the ball to Akagi Takenori on the left baseline.

Akagi leaped into the open and unleashed his signature two-handed gorilla dunk! 4-0.

After landing, Akagi pounded his chest and roared with exhilaration. Last year, he was double-teamed as soon as he received the ball near the penalty area, but now he has open looks and scoring opportunities.

Miura Dai launched a positional attack, with four Shohoku players blocking the penalty area, while Xiao Tu positioned himself on the outside.

Miura Dai's players aren't good shooters, so even if there are lots of people around the paint, they still have to try to shoot towards the basket.

Murasame attempted a layup, but Akagi slapped the ball away.

Xiao Tu picked up the ball and quickly advanced, changing direction to get past the wooden stake-like Araki. He attracted the shooting guard's help defense in front of the three-point line in the middle and passed the ball to Mitsui Hisashi at the right 60-degree angle.

Mitsui Hisashi hits an open three-pointer and swishes it through the net! 7-0.

On Miura Dai's offensive possession, point guard Araki couldn't shake off Xiao Tu and hastily passed the ball to a teammate, but it was intercepted by Rukawa. Shohoku's offensive and defensive transitions were very fast; Rukawa passed the ball forward directly, and Xiao Tu made an off-ball run to get past him and launched a fast break.

The players at Miuradai were mediocre; no one could keep up with Xiao Tu's speed. He didn't need to pass this time; he took three steps, glided through the air, and then slammed the ball down with his right hand! 9-0.

With his natural talent for "fancy moves," Xiao Tu's dribbling and dunking are all fluid and graceful.

The female fans at the scene cheered wildly, and even the eyes of female reporter Yayoi Aida turned into hearts.

Aida Yayoi is Aida Hikoichi's older sister. She likes Sendoh, mainly because he's handsome and a good player. Today, she saw someone even more handsome and skilled than Sendoh.

She wasn't "paying attention" to Xiao Tu, but rather preparing to interview him after the match.

Murasame received the ball in the low post on the right side, turned and jumped to shoot, but three tall players from Shohoku jumped up to block the shot at the same time. Murasame, who is only 186cm tall, passed the ball in mid-air to his teammate, and it went directly to Xiao Tu.

Xiao Tu launched a quick attack, and with a change of direction, he got past Araki again.

The shooting guard gambled to steal the ball, but Xiao Tu dribbled behind his back with his right hand to his left, getting past his defender. With no one guarding him, he took three steps and dunked with both hands! 11-0.

Four out of Xiangbei's five points were dunks, and all of them were related to Xiao Tu.

Shohoku's defense was equally strong. Miura Dai's players couldn't even get into the paint, and could only try to shoot from the perimeter. After missing their shots, they couldn't grab the offensive rebounds. Whoever got the ball immediately looked for Xiao Tu, who quickly advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball, then assisted Rukawa twice for dunks.

With the score at 15-0, Coach Miura Dai hurriedly requested a timeout.

The coach was just encouraging the players from the sidelines, telling them to foul if they couldn't defend, without even making substitutions.

As expected, after the timeout, Shohoku continued to dominate Miura Dai, with Xiao Tu showcasing his fancy dribbling skills and assisting his teammates.

In the second half, Miura Dai tried to tighten their defense, but it didn't work. Mitsui Hisashi, Rukawa Kaede, and Xiao Tu all made three-pointers.

The most exciting moment came when Shohoku launched a fast break with 7 minutes remaining. Sakuragi, having trained well, had a great sense of distance. He caught the ball, took three steps, and not only completed a one-handed dunk, but also knocked Murasame out of bounds, landing flat on his back.

Haruko Akagi had to attend class in the morning and couldn't come to watch the game. Even after Sakuragi scored, he still smiled like a fool.

In the manga, Sakuragi didn't like basketball at first. He played basketball because he could see Haruko often, so his motives weren't pure.

When did Sakuragi start liking basketball?
The answer is during the Shohoku vs. Shoyo match, when Sakuragi successfully dunked for the first time! Although it was a foul and didn't count as a point, he still managed to dunk it in. At that moment, he felt the enthusiasm of the audience, as if in a dream.

Sakuragi loves dunking, and he's already a dunking master.

(End of this chapter)