Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 162 The Number One High School Student! That's it?

Kazunari Fukatsu regained possession of the ball and crossed the halfway line, but at the top of the arc, he saw Eiji Sawakita stop on the wing, raise his right hand high, and make a clear gesture of asking for the ball in Fukatsu's direction.

The moment Sawakita received the ball, the other four Sannoh players simultaneously spread outwards. These four players caused the defender to expand outwards, clearing the entire right flank for Sawakita Eiji to score one-on-one.

A commotion broke out in the stands of Sannoh, as the top high school player in Japan was determined to get revenge after being dunked on.

"Zebei's about to fight!" someone in the stands shouted.

Rukawa, who was marking Sawakita, lowered his center of gravity and adopted a cautious defensive stance.

He admitted he couldn't beat Sakuragi Hanamichi, that freak. But the person in front of him was different: Sawakita Eiji, the number one high school student in all of Japan. Rukawa Kaede wanted to prove he was stronger than him.

At the same moment he was dribbling, Zebei stepped forward with his right foot to the right, shifting his weight to the right and slightly raising his right hand holding the ball.

Rukawa's center of gravity shifted upwards by half an inch, his heels lifted off the ground, and his left hand instinctively reached upwards.

Then Zebei's right wrist suddenly flipped downwards, the ball hit the floor from the right and bounced back to his left hand. In an instant, his center of gravity shifted from right to left, his left foot pushed off the ground, and his body cut in from the left like an arrow shot from a slingshot.

Rukawa had already lost his balance. His left hand was still raised in the air, and his right heel had just landed and he couldn't push off the ground in time. He could only watch helplessly as Sawakita brushed past him on his right side.

Zebei's shoulder almost brushed against Rukawa's chest, and the resulting wind ruffled a strand of black hair on Rukawa's forehead.

Rukawa turned to chase and defend, but he was already a body length behind.

Sawakita drove straight to the basket with the ball, and Shohoku's defensive formation immediately collapsed. Akagi Takenori decisively abandoned his defense against Kawata Masashi and moved laterally from the weak side to block him.

Akagi's timing for the defensive play was perfect; at the same moment that Sawakita jumped to catch the ball, his foot was already off the ground.

The two people took off almost simultaneously.

Zebei's waist and abdomen folded slightly in the air, his arm holding the ball passed under Akagi's armpit, circled around, and then flicked his wrist upwards.

A simple pull-up shot puts the ball in.

The Sannoh stands finally erupted, and the unified chants once again filled the air above the stadium: "Sawakita! Ace!"

"Sawakita! Ace!"

Rukawa recalled the ball from earlier. He had correctly judged the direction of Sawakita's first change of direction; he knew Sawakita would move to the left, but his body couldn't keep up with his judgment.

Kogure inbounds the ball from the baseline and passes it to Sakuragi Hanamichi. Sakuragi dribbles the ball across half-court and reaches the top of the arc.

This time, standing in front of him was not Eiji Sawakita, but rather the power forward for Sannoh, Masahiro Nobe, who is 198cm tall.

The defense was very tight, focusing on preventing shots but not drives, while the Sannoh players in the paint were positioned to provide backup defense at any time.

Domoto Goro stood on the sidelines, stroking his beard. He knew that this red-haired kid's back-to-the-basket power was something no guard could withstand; neither Sawakita nor Fukatsu could stop him.

Then we should use someone who can withstand his back-to-the-basket moves to defend him. Off-field defense is slow and can only defend against shots, not drives. At the same time, other players should position themselves to help defend and limit his driving routes.

Sakuragi saw Rukawa waving at him from the wing. Rukawa's eyes were fixed on Sakuragi, his eyes saying: Give me the ball, I'm going to hit it back.

Sakuragi pushed with his right hand, and the ball was passed from Nobe's side, a straight bounce pass that landed steadily in Rukawa's hands.

After passing the ball, Sakuragi took a step into the paint, bringing Nobe to the low post and clearing space on the wing.

Rukawa Kaede receives the ball and faces Sawakita Eiji.

Zebei has already adopted a defensive stance.

Rukawa dribbled the ball with his right hand and took a step forward to the right, shifting his weight to the right and lowering his shoulder to an angle where he could start moving, almost exactly the same move Sawakita had made to get past him earlier.

Zebei shifted his weight half a step to the right, lightly touching the floor with the ball of his foot, defending very steadily.

Then Rukawa suddenly pulled the ball from his right hand back to his left hand, leaned his body to the left front, pushed off with his left foot, and took his first explosive step.

When Rukawa made his first step, Zebei's right heel hadn't even had time to push off the ground yet. He judged the direction correctly, just like Rukawa had just done. He realized that his body couldn't keep up.

Just as Rukawa Kaede broke into the paint, Kawata Masashi came over from the weak side and jumped to block the shot.

Facing Kawata's block, Rukawa Kaede made almost the exact same move as Sawakita in mid-air, slightly folding his body and flicking the ball upwards through Kawata's armpit.

It's also a small lever action.

The basketball flew past Kawada's fingertips, grazed the backboard, and rolled into the basket.

In the stands, in the Kanagawa camp, in the area of ​​Rukawa Kaede's cheerleading squad, dozens of girls wearing white tank tops and short skirts simultaneously sprang up from their seats. Their synchronized kicking movements were disrupted several times in their excitement, and the ribbon balls swung through the air, creating a golden wave.

The screams of countless girls were like an awl, piercing straight into the uniform chants of the Sannoh, tearing a hole in the Sannoh's orderly roar.

"Lucawa! Lukawa! Love Lukawa!"

Rukawa Kaede turned and ran back to his half of the court. As he passed Sawakita Eiji, he scoffed, "So-called number one high school student in all of Japan? You..."

this?"

Domoto Goro stood on the sidelines. He knew that Rukawa was no worse than Sawakita, and he had written it clearly on the tactics board during the pre-match analysis:

No. 11 of Shohoku High School, Rukawa Kaede, 187 cm tall, second only to Maki Shinichi of Hainan in the prefectural tournament in average points per game. He has extremely strong breakthrough ability and a stable mid-range shot. His weakness is that his passing awareness is relatively weak.

With Sakuragi and Rukawa combined, plus the third-year students Mitsui Hisashi and Akagi Takenori, this lineup is a luxury in any high school in the country.

Shohoku is just a public school, a public school that has never entered the national tournament.

Domoto took a deep breath, but Sannoh's dominance over the years has never relied solely on the individual abilities of their star players.

On Sannoh's offensive possession, Kazunari Fukatsu had the ball at the top of the arc, facing Kiminobu Kogure. This time, he chose to overpower him, cutting straight from the right side, cleanly getting past Kogure, and then pulling up for a jump shot at the free-throw line.

Shohoku's defense immediately tightened up, with Akagi coming up from the low post and Mitsui also moving from the wing towards the inside.

Fukatsu jumped up to block Akagi and Mitsui simultaneously. Then the ball was slipped through the gap between Akagi and Mitsui, a bounce pass to Kawata Masashi, who was left open and took a jump shot.

"Swish." Hollowed out and into the net.

Watching the offensive and defensive transitions on the court, Goro Domoto knew very well that Shohoku's overall defense was weak and their teamwork was rusty. In particular, Kogure's defense had become Sannoh's Achilles' heel.

As long as the score stays close in the first half, and Mitsui and Rukawa's stamina is depleted, even if Shohoku's number 10 with red hair is incredibly strong and scores a lot in the second half, he ultimately cannot take on five opponents at once.

Sannoh can win the game by relying on their bench depth and full-court press.