Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 154 Ryonan's Ace

The moment Sannoh took the lead, the entire stadium seemed to have been turned on by a switch activated by the Sannoh cheering squad.

The cheers of thousands of Sannoh students and fans merged into a wall of sound, pouring down from the stands and landing on the shoulders of the Ryonan players.

The imposing presence of Ryonan was suppressed by this wall of sound.

Sendoh Akira used all his skills, forcibly breaking through every time he received the ball, using his shoulder to push away Matsumoto Minoru's close entanglement, and lowering his center of gravity to rush towards the center line.

But Sannoh's double-teaming followed like a tide. Matsumoto and Sawakita stuck to him on the left and right, and just as he managed to get away by half a body length, Fukatsu Kazunari moved over to cover and switch positions.

The other players were also overwhelmed by Sannoh's tight pressing, their passing lanes were blocked, and they had difficulty receiving the ball.

Time was slipping away second by second as the ball crossed half-court, passes were intercepted midway, and offensive time was wasted in pointless passing. Mistakes snowballed and grew bigger and bigger.

Ryonan's backcourt had become a swamp, and every advance felt like struggling in mud, while Sannoh's counterattacks were as fast as lightning.

The gap between the two teams continued to widen.

In the stands, Tsukuba University basketball coach Satoshi Ohno watched the flustered Ryonan players on the court and sighed softly.

He turned to the assistant coach beside him, his tone tinged with regret, but more so with the understanding of someone who had been through it all: "They're still just a bunch of high school students. They're prone to getting flustered under pressure. Sannoh's press isn't something you can break through with individual ability. They've honed this tactic for countless years; every step of the transition is muscle memory."

It's normal to be overwhelmed in three minutes when facing a team with this kind of pressure for the first time.

In the third minute of the second half, Goro Domoto made a tactical gesture from the sidelines.

The Sannoh players immediately switched from full-court press to a normal positional defense formation.

A full-court press is extremely physically demanding; three minutes is enough to widen the score gap to a safe distance.

Sannoh rallied from a 6-point deficit to a 21-point lead, unleashing a terrifying 27-0 run at the start of the second half.

In those three minutes, Ryonan failed to score a single point, and even struggled to bring the ball across half-court.

The Shohoku team members in the stands were completely dumbfounded.

Miyagi Ryota's mouth was open and he forgot to close it, Mitsui Hisashi's Adam's apple bobbed up and down several times, and Kogure Kiminobu pushed up his glasses and stopped his finger on the frame.

Sakuragi Hanamichi held his head in his hands, his mouth agape in a perfect circle: "Only three minutes! 27 to 0?"

Upon seeing this, Shigeichi Taoka decisively called for a pause.

He watched the players walk off the field. Jun Uozumi's jersey was completely soaked in sweat, Kichijou Fukuda was breathing heavily like a bellows and his legs were trembling slightly, and Akira Sendoh was wiping the sweat off his neck with a towel, his chest heaving more than twice as much as usual.

Moreover, the team members' mentality had collapsed, and they kept their heads down, not daring to look Taoka in the eye.

Taoka didn't yell. He simply placed the tactical board beside him, put his hands behind his back, and scanned each player's face with his own light. His voice wasn't shouting or yelling; instead, it was deeper and more composed than usual: "What are you all panicking about? There are still 17 minutes left in the game, and the score difference is only 21 points. Are you trying to give up?"

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No one answered, but several heads that had been hanging low lifted up.

Taoka turned to Uozumi Jun, tapped his chest with his finger, and said in an unquestionable tone, "Uozumi, from now on, the rim protection and rebounding are all up to you. Whether it's a defensive rebound or an offensive rebound, you have to fight for every single one. Rebounding is the key to our comeback. Without rebounds, everything else is meaningless."

Jun Uozumi placed the towel on the chair and nodded: "Understood."

Taoka then looked at Fukuda Kichijou, his gaze sweeping over Fukuda's still slightly trembling calves: "Fukuda, you've exhausted too much energy. You should rest first. Cross-country will take over first, and you can come up for the final sprint in the last five minutes."

Fukuda didn't argue, sitting silently in his chair. He had played the entire first half, including three minutes of full-court press, and his stamina was indeed running out.

Finally, Taoka looked at Sendoh Akira. Sendoh was tilting his head back and chugging water, sweat dripping down his Adam's apple, and the towel draped around his neck was soaked through.

Taoka looked at his star player and suddenly softened his voice: "Sendoh, you're in charge of the remaining time. It's time to show the true strength of Ryonan's ace. Don't worry about the score difference, don't worry about time, just play each round well."

Sendoh Akira put down the water, stood up, and his face no longer had that familiar smile, but rather a look of utter desperation.

He bent down and stretched out his hand, and the team members gathered around, placing their hands on top of each other's.

Sendoh glanced around at his familiar teammates with whom he had trained for two years, took a deep breath, and his voice boomed from the depths of his chest: "Ryonan!"

Everyone shouted in unison, "Victory is certain!"

More than a dozen voices exploded at the same moment.

On the other side, in front of the Sannoh bench, Goro Domoto had his tactical board tucked under his arm and his hands behind his back.

He looked at his teammates, who were arranged in a semi-circle, and spoke calmly and confidently, as if he were recounting a match whose outcome was already decided: "Well done. Their momentum has collapsed. Now, give them the final blow with all your might, and don't let them have any breathing room."

Domoto turned to Sawakita Eiji, his voice carrying a special expectation, "Sawakita Hajime, you shouldn't be slacking off up there either."

Show them what it takes to be the best high school student in the country.

After the timeout ended and the referee blew the whistle, both teams returned to the field.

Ryonan has possession. Sendoh Akira dribbles the ball past half-court and holds it at the top of the arc, facing Matsumoto Minoru's marking.

The full press has been withdrawn, and now we're in a slow-paced, conventional positional warfare situation.

Sendoh lowered his center of gravity, dribbled the ball repeatedly, and faked moves. Matsumoto's center of gravity shifted by just half an inch, and Sendoh used his speed to cut in and rush straight to the basket.

Kazunari Fukatsu came over to defend from the side with lightning speed, and Sendoh changed direction again to get past him and jumped at the basket.

Masashi Kawata lunged forward to block the shot, his massive body leaping into the air, his arms fully extended, completely blocking the layup route.

But Sendoh made a small pull-up in mid-air, slightly turned his body, switched the ball from his right hand to his left hand, and flicked the ball out from under Kawata's blocking hand.

The ball bounces off the backboard and into the basket. At the same time, the referee's whistle blows sharply; Masashi Kawata has committed a foul by hitting the ball's hand. The goal stands, and a free throw is awarded.

The deep blue support zone for Ryonan erupted in that instant. Hundreds of Ryonan students sprang to their feet simultaneously, the drums beat again, and the flags of courage and bravery waved wildly in the stands.

Sendoh stepped to the free-throw line, took a deep breath, adjusted his rhythm, flicked the ball from his fingertips, and made the shot smoothly.

With Sendoh's basket, the point difference was back to 18. More importantly, Ryonan's morale was reignited.

The shouts of Ryonan students began to clash with the sonic waves of Sannoh, the two sound waves colliding, intertwining, and vying for dome beneath the sky.