Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 160 Sakuragi's Unlimited Right to Shoot

Sakuragi Hanamichi stood in the center circle, beckoning his right hand towards Miyagi to pass the ball.

Miyagi decisively passed the ball over, and everyone thought that Sakuragi was going to do what he did against Meihou yesterday, dribble the ball and then jump from the free throw line to dunk and shock the whole audience.

But then Sakuragi did something that no one expected. He didn't dribble, didn't sprint, and didn't jump to dunk.

He took a step forward from where he stood, stepping on the edge of the center circle, and then jumped straight up, his body rising vertically, his right hand holding the ball above his head, and flicking his wrist slightly.

Shoot, shoot from the center circle line.

"What?"

On the coaching bench of Sannoh Industrial, Goro Domoto stared wide-eyed, his mouth slightly agape, his face filled with disbelief.

A shot from the center circle?

At the very top of the stands, several college scouts wearing shirts and carrying notebooks opened their eyes wide almost simultaneously. They could clearly see the spot where Sakuragi's feet were planted: the center circle, a dozen meters away from the basket.

"Is he crazy?!" a bespectacled scout muttered.

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, the basketball flew from Sakuragi's fingertips, tracing an extremely high arc, as thousands of people in the stadium watched.

All eyes were fixed on that orange ball.

Time seemed to stretch out. The spinning basketball tumbled slowly through the air, the texture of its leather surface clearly visible under the light. It crossed the free-throw line, the three-point line, and the top edge of the backboard before falling toward the basket.

"Swish." It went in cleanly, without even touching the rim of the basket.

The stadium was quiet, absolutely quiet.

Then, it exploded.

In the stands of Shohoku High School, the four members of Sakuragi's gang jumped up from their seats at the same time.

"Aww—Flower Path!"

Takamiya Nozomi's glasses flew off and landed on Oonan's shoulder, but he didn't bother to pick them up. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Hanamichi, you're fucking crazy! You're so cool!"

Yohei Mito and the other two joined in the shouting and cheering.

On the Xiangyang side, Kenji Fujima was also dumbfounded. He had been a recognized genius point guard since junior high school and had seen too many exceptionally talented players.

But this was the first time he had ever seen someone pull up for a jump shot directly from the center line.

Hanagata Toru pushed up his glasses and whispered, "Fujima, can you even shoot a three-pointer like that?"

Fujima sighed, "How could that be? It's too far!"

On the Sannoh stands, the chanting subsided. They exchanged glances, and someone whispered, "They must have been guessing."

However, his tone lacked any confidence.

Amid cheers, Sakuragi Hanamichi turned around and waved to his teammates, signaling them to continue passing the ball.

Akagi hesitated for a moment, then threw the ball over.

The moment Sakuragi received the ball, his body was already prepared. His knees were slightly bent, his feet were shoulder-width apart, his fingers were naturally spread, his palms were not touching the ball, and his wrists were slightly turned backward.

Jump and shoot.

The second ball flew out, its arc still ridiculously high, its spin still clean and crisp.

"Swish." It's hollow again.

The stands at Sannoh were even quieter. The first shot could be attributed to luck, but what about the second one?

But before everyone could even process the second ball, Sakuragi waved again, and this time Kogure passed the ball to him.

The stands suddenly quieted down. Everyone realized this wasn't a coincidence; he was going to throw a third one.

Sakuragi catches the ball. He jumps. He shoots.

The third ball's trajectory was slightly lower than the first two, but it still flew precisely towards the basket.

"Swish." Three shots, three makes.

Sakuragi Hanamichi clapped his hands, as if he had just finished a very simple warm-up routine, and turned to walk towards Shohoku's half of the court.

The entire Shohoku team rushed forward.

"Are you crazy?!" Mitsui was the first to pounce, his large hand ruffling Sakuragi's red buzz cut, rubbing it hard several times. "Three consecutive center-court shots! How am I supposed to ever show my face again?!"

Others gathered around and started praising him in various ways.

Coach Anzai stood in front of the bench, looking at Sakuragi surrounded by his teammates, his eyes shining even brighter.

The college scouts and sports reporters in the stands were still whispering among themselves. They exchanged glances, and some had already started rewriting something in their notebooks.

Three consecutive shots from the center circle aren't official points in a match, but they can tell insiders a lot: core strength, upper body stability, the softness of the touch, and most importantly: confidence.

Not everyone has the guts to take three consecutive shots while standing on the center circle line during the warm-up for the national finals. That kind of confidence either comes from madness or genuine skill.

The referee's whistle interrupted the noise in the stands. After the warm-up, both sides returned to their benches to make final arrangements.

In front of the Shohoku bench, everyone formed a semi-circle.

Coach Anzai first looked at Sakuragi, his eyes crinkling behind his glasses.

"Sakuragi-kun, that warm-up was fantastic."

After praising Sakuragi, Coach Anzai got down to business, "Next, I'll announce the starting lineup."

"Akagi-kun. Sakuragi-kun. Rukawa-kun. Mitsui-kun." Coach Anzai paused, his gaze sweeping over the curly-haired point guard standing in the back row, "and Kogure-kun."

Ryota Miyagi thought he had misheard.

Coach Anzai said to Miyagi in a calm tone, "Miyagi, you can sit on the bench for now."

Miyagi's face froze.

"Miyagi-kun," Coach Anzai explained, "Sannoh will definitely use their full-court press in the second half. The key to breaking their full-court press is you."

Miyagi's eyes widened.

"Coach, me?" He pointed to himself, his voice rising uncontrollably.

"Hehehe." Coach Anzai interrupted him with a laugh, "So you have to stay in the second half. I need a fully recovered Miyagi Ryota to use your speed to break through their first line of defense when Sannoh uses their full-court press in the second half."

Miyagi was stunned. Coach Anzai had said he was the key to breaking the full-court press; the weight of those words made his chest tighten.

Yesterday, he put himself in Sendoh's shoes and simulated a scenario of being attacked from both sides, and he was quite frightened. Now Coach Anzai says that the key to breaking through is him.

"Next, the offensive tactics." Coach Anzai looked at Sakuragi. "Sakuragi, the offensive organization is yours."

"All the balls should be given to Sakuragi first, and he can decide how to play them. Whether he passes, drives, or shoots, it's up to him."

Coach Anzai paused for a moment.

"Sakuragi-kun, you have unlimited firing rights today. Shoot however you want."

Everyone was stunned for a moment when these words came out. Coach Anzai was directly giving Sakuragi more control. But considering Sakuragi's abilities, well, it made perfect sense.

"It should have been like this a long time ago." Sakuragi said confidently, "Just give the ball to this genius, and you guys can just spread out and wait."

"Mountain King? Hmph. Today we'll show them what a true genius is."

"Don't get cocky." Akagi's deep voice boomed from the side. "Unlimited shooting rights aren't for you to shoot recklessly. Every shot has to be valuable."

"I know, I know, don't worry, gorilla! Just watch my performance."

On the other side, in front of Sannoh's bench.

Domoto Goro's brow hadn't relaxed since Sakuragi's three consecutive baskets from the center circle. He looked down at the tactics board, tapped his pen three times on the paper, then looked up at the players surrounding him.

"Ichinokura Satoshi." He called out a name.

"You're starting. Your job is to stick to Mitsui Hisashi (number 14) on the other side and wear him down."

Ichinokura nodded. "Understood."

"He was out of shape for two years, so his stamina is a weakness. You wore him down in the first half."

Domoto then looked at Sawakita Eiji, "Sawakita, you feel the same way about Rukawa Kaede."

"Rukawa's stamina is also a weakness. As long as he and Mitsui run out of stamina in the first half."

Domoto paused for a moment, then said, "In the second half, both of them will be exhausted and have to leave the field. At that time, we can defeat them by pressing the full court."

"Our goal for the first half," Domoto's voice deepened, "is to avoid falling behind. Try to wear them down as much as possible."

Yes, they lack depth on the bench. In the second half, we sealed the victory with a full-court press.

All five people nodded at the same time.

The referee walked to the center circle, and the players from both sides began to walk towards the center of the field.

Takenori Akagi and Masashi Kawata stood facing each other at opposite ends of the center circle, staring at the ball in the referee's hand.

The referee put the whistle in his mouth and then blew it.

"Beep!"

The basketball was tossed high into the air, spinning and ascending under the lights.

Akagi and Kawata simultaneously crouched, gathered their strength, and jumped.

Akagi Takenori's fingertips touched the ball first. His jump height was half a palm's width higher than Kawata's, and with a powerful flick of his right hand, the ball flew backward.

The ball flew towards Kogure Kiminobu's direction.

Kogure caught the ball steadily and, without the slightest hesitation, immediately passed it to Sakuragi.

Sakuragi received the ball, and the instant it reached his hands, Sannoh's defensive formation quickly took shape.

Sakuragi calmly dribbled the ball to the top of the arc; this was the first attack of the final. His teammates spread out according to their practice positions...

Inoue circled around the baseline, trying to shake off Ichinokura. Rukawa was waiting to receive the ball on the weak side, while Akagi was battling Kawata in the low post. Kogure stood on the wing, ready to receive the pass at any moment.

Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Fukatsu Kazunari, who was defending him.

This top point guard in the nation has an impeccable defensive stance. His center of gravity is low, his feet are shoulder-width apart, his left hand is slightly raised to distract the opponent's vision, and his right hand is always ready to steal the ball.

There was no flaw on that calm face, and her eyes were fixed on Sakuragi's shoulder without blinking.

Sakuragi dribbled with his right hand, leaned forward with long strides, and in two steps he was one step inside the three-point line.

Fukatsu moved swiftly to the side, his footwork clean and precise, blocking Sakuragi's path to break through.

But Sakuragi feinted, then suddenly pulled the ball back with his right hand.

A lateral step back. Push off the ground with your right foot, spring your body back, and the basketball bounces off the floor back into your palm.

Fukatsu reacted quickly, rushing forward to block, but Sakuragi had already taken off.

Sakuragi launched his shot ahead of Fukatsu's lunging block.

The ball arced through the air, and the three-pointer went in.