Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 157 Anzai: With Gundams, what tactics do we need?

Dinner at the hot spring inn was spent in complete silence.

On the Ryonan side, apart from Sendoh who still had his usual lazy expression, everyone else looked rather grim, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

Influenced by the atmosphere at Ryonan, and with the final match against Sannoh tomorrow, the Shohoku players didn't dare to breathe too loudly.

Taoka Shigeichi finally couldn't hold back any longer and slammed his hand on the table: "What kind of expressions are those! Losing to Sannoh makes you all look like you're in a mourning state?! Are you guys holding a funeral?!"

Uozumi raised his head, opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"So what if we lost to Sannoh! This is Ryonan's first time in the national tournament, and we've already made it to the semifinals! Semifinals! Do you know what that means? Fourth in the whole country! Before I came here, my goal was to reach the quarterfinals, and you guys have exceeded that!"

Moreover, we only lost by 5 points. Do you know Sannoh's past record? No matter which team they faced, they always won by more than 20 points.

"Uozumi!" Taoka called out directly, "You think you played badly?"

Uozumi was silent for a moment, then his deep voice rang out: "That Kawata Masashi—is stronger than I imagined."

"Of course! He's widely recognized as the best high school center in the country!"

Taoka showed no mercy to his own players, "But didn't you contain him well enough? Look at the stats, Uozumi, you had 17 rebounds and 4 blocks today, two of which were against Kawata. You contained him very well!"

Uozumi was stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected his coach to comfort him like this.

Hiroaki Koshino, standing next to him, muttered quietly, "The coach is right, we really have played very well."

"The sound is too soft!" Taoka yelled.

"Great play!" The entire Ryonan team was forced to shout.

The atmosphere finally eased a bit.

Sendoh picked up his teacup, a lazy smile on his lips as always: "Coach, everyone has tried their best and done their best, but we are not as skilled as others, and there is nothing we can do about it."

He has the best mindset; he's already recovered from his setback.

Taoka glanced at Sendoh, "You—sigh—if you could break through the first double-team during the full-court press, we might have already defeated Sannoh and advanced to the finals."

But breaking through the first double-team of Sannoh's tight full-court press is easier said than done.

Sendoh didn't refute, only smiled, but a hint of seriousness flashed in his eyes. He also knew that his strength was indeed no match for Sannoh's relentless pressure; he was still just a little bit short.

After scolding Ryonan, Taoka turned to look at Coach Anzai, who was leisurely sipping his after-dinner tea.

"Teacher Anzai," Taoka said with genuine concern, "the finals are tomorrow, aren't you going to do any pre-match analysis?"

You watched Sannoh's game today, and their full-court press—if we don't prepare in advance, Shohoku will suffer a great loss.

Coach Anzai slowly took a sip of tea, then gently put down the teacup.

"Hehehe. Coach Taoka, don't worry. After watching today's match, I already have a strategy for tomorrow's game. Pre-match analysis is unnecessary."

Taoka paused for a moment upon hearing this. He had a plan?

Sannoh's full-court press was something no team in the entire national tournament could perfectly counter, yet Coach Anzai claimed he already had a solution.

Taoka wanted to ask more questions, but seeing Coach Anzai's calm demeanor, he swallowed his words.

He glanced at Sakuragi, who was rubbing his stomach contentedly after eating and drinking his fill, and suddenly realized what Coach Anzai's strategy was.

"Uozumi," Akagi said, sitting down next to Uozumi, "your match is over, aren't you planning to go back today?"

That's not a very polite way of putting it.

But Uozumi understood what Akagi meant: You lost, and you're still here watching us play in the finals. Aren't you upset?

Uozumi retorted, "What? You don't want us to stay and watch Shohoku make a fool of themselves in the finals?"

"Akagi, based on my experience playing against Masashi Kawata today, he's very strong, extremely strong. He's not called the best high school center in the country for nothing."

"His strength, footwork, and post-up skills are all top-notch," Uozumi said, emphasizing each word. "His skill level is above yours."

Akagi was taken aback by what he heard. He knew that Uozumi wasn't deliberately trying to provoke him, but was simply stating a fact.

He watched the entire game today, and Masashi Kawata's dominance under the basket was indeed stronger than any center he had ever seen.

Sendoh's voice suddenly drifted over from the side.

"Actually, everyone wanted to stay and watch tomorrow's final, since we are all teams from Kanagawa."

Moreover, Shohoku is currently the team with the best chance of defeating Sannoh.

Meanwhile, the Shohoku players on the other side started talking amongst themselves, all mentioning Sannoh's full-court press.

"3 minutes, Sannoh only took 3 minutes —"

Yasuda's voice was a little hoarse. As a backup point guard, he could better understand the terror of being surrounded by an omnipresent sense of pressure and having his passing lanes completely blocked.

"Their team's movement and coordination are too fast. Once they start pressing the field, they are too adept at intercepting the ball." Kogure Kiminobu's face was full of worry.

"Then—can we break through this full-court press defense?" Kentaro Ishii whispered, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

The immense pressure of the finals felt like an invisible boulder weighing heavily on everyone's chest. They were only one step away from the pinnacle of their dreams, but standing in their way was the undisputed "long-time champion" of Japanese high school basketball.

Miyagi began to put himself in the shoes of the immortal, and then his face turned pale.

He recalled the scene earlier that day when Sendoh was forced into a series of mistakes after being relentlessly pressed by the entire crowd. Sendoh was taller and had better vision than him, yet he was still pushed to that point.

If it were me—

"Miyagi, why is your face so pale?" Mitsui leaned over to take a look and was startled.

"No way! I'm just looking refreshed." Miyagi denied instinctively.

"Why is it yellow again?"

"A wax coating to prevent frostbite!"

"I'm not trying to be mean, but you're already scared before the fight even starts. How are you going to fight tomorrow?" Mitsui said, looking unconvinced.

"I'm not scared! Don't talk nonsense, which eye of yours saw me scared?" Miyagi immediately bristled.

Kind-hearted Kogure Kiminobu quickly intervened, saying, "Alright, alright, we still have a match tomorrow. Miyagi, don't be nervous, and Mitsui, you should say less too."

Akagi suddenly stood up, and everyone's eyes were on him.

"Um—I'm going out for some fresh air." He strode towards the door.

"I'll go too." Mitsui stood up and followed.

Kogure also stood up, smiled at everyone, and said, "We're going out for a walk, you guys get some rest."

Miyagi remained seated, her face still flushed, when her eyes lit up.

Ayako had just finished getting ready and looked like she was about to leave.

Miyagi's body reacted before his brain; he jumped up and darted to Ayako's side.

"Ayako! Are you going shopping? Let me go with you!"

Ayako glanced at him, perfectly understanding his ulterior motive: "We're running low on water for tomorrow's competition, so I'm going to the convenience store to buy some. You can help me carry my things."

Color instantly returned to Miyagi's face. "No problem! Leave it to me!"

He followed Ayako out, his back ramrod straight, his previously deathly pale face now glowing. All thoughts of Sannoh's relentless pressure vanished in that instant.

The Shohoku substitutes, Yasuda Yasuharu, Shiozaki Tetsushi, and Kakuta Satoru, were still discussing today's Sannoh vs. Ryonan game.

The substitutes chattered amongst themselves, their faces showing varying degrees of tension.

Coach Anzai's gaze fell on Sakuragi Hanamichi, the tall, red-haired boy who was intently enjoying Yanai's massage service.

Tomorrow is the final of the national tournament, and the opponent is still the long-time champion, Sannoh Industrial.

This red-haired kid isn't nervous at all?

Coach Anzai picked up his teacup, his eyes narrowing even more behind his round-framed glasses. He took a sip, slowly put the cup down, and then spoke: "Sakuragi. Aren't you nervous at all?"

Coach Anzai's tone was genuinely curious. "Tomorrow is the final, and the opponent is Sannoh Kogyo. Miyagi and the others were so scared just now, but you were very calm."

Sakuragi was taken aback by his question: "Nervous?"

"Dad, what's there to be nervous about? In my opinion, Sannoh Industries is just so-so."

"So-so?" Yasuda couldn't help but interject. "Sakuragi, Sannoh has been the national champion for many consecutive years, and Ryonan lost to them today—"

"Ryonan's loss is Ryonan's problem." Sakuragi interrupted Yasuda, waving his hand. "Our Shohoku is different from Ryonan. With this genius here, defeating Sannoh will be a piece of cake."

He spoke with such confidence, as if he were facing a team of Miura Dai's caliber tomorrow.

"Hehehe."

Coach Anzai chuckled. "So, what's your opinion on Sannoh's full-court press?"

"Full-court press?"

Sakuragi scratched his red buzz cut and thought for a moment, "It's just two people attacking from behind. Dad, think about it, if they need two people to defend one person, it means there will definitely be one person left unattended."

"Just break through and pass the ball to the open player, right?"

Break through and pass the ball to an open player. It sounds simple, but it is precisely the core logic of breaking a full-court press.

"Besides," Sakuragi continued, looking unconvinced, "that full-court press might have contained Sendoh, but it definitely couldn't contain Benten."

talent."

Coach Anzai held his teacup and slowly sipped his tea, but his mind was racing.

The tactics for tomorrow have been finalized after watching today's game. The key to breaking the full-court press lies with Sakuragi.

Coach Anzai wanted to see if he could break through Sannoh's full-court press with Miyagi's help.

After all, Sakuragi's strength has begun to seem somewhat out of place in Japanese high school basketball; he's too overpowered.

On the other side, Taoka Shigeichi looked at the red-haired boy's confident appearance and felt a mix of emotions.

If, if the school board had been more supportive and willing to allocate more budget, then...

If Sakuragi Hanamichi had better academic performance and a better family background, Ryonan would have easily defeated Sannoh.

Taoka quickly mentally recreated the scene.

Sakuragi Hanamichi and Sendoh Akira formed a dual-ball-handling duo, both possessing top-tier physical attributes and dribbling skills. Facing Sannoh's full-court press, with both ball-handlers advancing simultaneously, Sannoh couldn't possibly defend both of them at the same time.

Sannoh's full-court press will crumble in the face of Sakuragi and Sendoh's double-ball connection.

On the defensive end, Sakuragi and Uozumi formed a twin-tower lineup in the paint. Uozumi's anchoring defense under the basket, combined with Sakuragi's full-court coverage help defense, made the paint a no-fly zone.

Just imagining that scene made Taoka feel a dull ache in his chest.

Taoka took a deep breath and turned to look at Coach Anzai.

The fat old man was leisurely drinking tea, showing no signs of having to compete in the national finals tomorrow.

envious.

Hey.

unwilling.

Three emotions were swirling in Taoka's heart.

Another day of hating the school board and being jealous of Coach Anzai.

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