Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 163 Sakuragi's Inside Sweep

When Sakuragi Hanamichi once again advanced the ball to the top of the arc, Nobe Masahiro continued to stick to him closely, preventing him from driving or shooting.

Sakuragi immediately went for a strong drive, cutting towards the left side of the field.

Nobe's pupils contracted, and he felt an unreasonable impact on his chest through two layers of jersey, as if he had been headbutted by a calf.

His center of gravity was thrown off balance upon impact, and he slid two steps on the floor before barely regaining his balance, but Sakuragi had already run over him.

Such immense power.

The thought popped into Nobe's head as he stumbled. He had faced countless low-post isolation plays from inside players, but the power of a frontal attack from the outside was completely different from a low-post back-to-the-basket move.

Masashi Kawata also started his career as a point guard.

Nobe remembers that Kawata would occasionally talk about his junior high school days during training. Back then, Kawata hadn't grown tall enough yet, and he played point guard on the team, practicing dribbling, passing, and organizing the offense.

But as his height and weight increased, his agility and speed couldn't keep up, so he had to switch to playing center.

The essence of a point guard remains in his passing touch and mid-range shooting, but his mobility is gone forever; this is the price of physical development and increased height and weight.

But this red-haired guy in front of me has the strength to back down Zebei, and his first step when facing the basket is faster than most guards.

This kind of physical ability is abnormal. Nobe has seen tall guys who can run and jump, but there is no other tall guy in the national high school basketball world who can run, jump and dribble to break through.

The moment Sakuragi broke into the paint, the Sannoh defense, which was prepared, immediately tightened its defensive formation.

This is a defensive fundamental skill that Sannoh has practiced repeatedly: when the ball handler breaks through the first line of defense, the second and third lines of defense on the weak side must close in immediately to deny the ball a layup angle.

The reason why Sannoh is Sannoh is not because of the individual defensive ability of any one player, but because of the excellent teamwork of these five players on the defensive end.

Nobe lunged in from the inside. At the same time, Sawakita Eiji abandoned his marking of Rukawa Kaede from the wing and moved over to him.

The two defensive lines closed in simultaneously, blocking Sakuragi's path to the basket.

Sakuragi's breakthrough speed was forced to a stop by the two surrounding him, and his feet came to an abrupt halt on the floor.

Nobe and Sawakita's four arms formed a dense canopy above his head.

The Sannoh double-team isn't meant to steal the ball; it's meant to force you into making a mistake.

They don't give you shooting angles or passing space, trapping you in an increasingly smaller triangular area, waiting for you to lose the ball or rush to shoot.

"Eyes-kun!" Just before the double team was formed, Sakuragi had already gathered the ball at his waist and jumped up. The ball in his hand was tossed around by Kogure, who was wide open. The basketball drew a low arc, passed over Sawakita's fingertips, and flew precisely into Kogure's hands.

Kiminobu Kogure receives the ball, open beyond the three-point line.

The Shohoku bench had already started chanting, "Kogure-senpai! Shoot!"

Kogure, who was in an open position, jumped and threw the ball.

"Clang!" The blacksmith strikes.

The basketball slammed against the back of the rim, bounced into the air, and two huge shadows bounced up from the floor at the same time.

Takenori Akagi and Masashi Kawata simultaneously reached out their arms toward the basketball that bounced through the air.

Akagi touched the ball first, then landed and grabbed the rebound with both hands.

The two then jumped again almost simultaneously.

But Akagi was faster; his second jump was full of ferocity.

The words that Uo said while staying at the hot spring inn, "Kawata Masashi's strength is above yours," weighed on his mind all night, keeping him tossing and turning and unable to sleep.

He acknowledged that Kawata was very strong, and that the title of the best high school center in the country was well-deserved, but he still wanted to prove that he was no worse than Kawata.

When Akagi jumped to the highest point, he leaned back slightly, held the ball above his head with both hands, and aimed at the basket.

Masashi Kawata's block came from the front, his hands raised high, blocking Akagi's dunk.

Akagi, mid-air, directly blocked Kawata's shot and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.

"Bang!"

The Shohoku bench erupted. "Gorilla—Dunk!"

In the stands, the cheers of the ragtag Shohoku fans erupted.

After landing, Akagi Takenori straightened his chest, squinted his eyes, and looked at Kawada Masashi with a stern face.

Masashi Kawata caught that look, narrowed his eyes, and met Akagi's gaze defiantly.

Sparks seemed to fly out in the silent collision.

Kawada then looked away, bent down to pick up the ball that had fallen from the basket, and walked to the baseline to prepare to inbound the ball.

Kazunari Fukatsu dribbled past half-court and stopped at the top of the arc, where he was still being defended by Kiminobu Kogure.

Kogure defended even more tightly this time, swinging his arms faster as he tried his best to defend.

But it was no use. Fukatsu's first change of pace tricked Kogure's center of gravity again, and he easily slipped past him.

Fukatsu once again penetrated the paint. Shohoku's defense tightened again, and Akagi and Mitsui simultaneously rushed towards the middle from two directions.

Then Fukatsu passed the ball out again, and the basketball flew straight to Sawakita, who was left wide open at a 45-degree angle on the weak side.

Zebei received the ball, jumped, and shot. Just as the ball left his hand, he caught a glimpse of a red shadow rushing towards him from near the free-throw line.

Sakuragi Hanamichi's lateral movement began before Sawakita even received the ball. The moment Fukatsu passed the ball, Sakuragi's right foot had already pushed off the ground and moved laterally, covering the entire width of the free-throw line in two steps.

Just as Sawakita released his shot, Sakuragi's hand arrived, slapping the ball away.

While still in the air, Zebei was stunned. Such a fast defensive response.

The ball was swatted towards the sideline, and Kazunari Fukatsu and Kiminobu Kogure rushed towards it at the same time.

Fukatsu intercepted the ball with his right hand and passed it to Nobe, who was in an open position.

Nobe caught the ball and was just about to jump when Akagi had already pounced back.

Akagi's defensive speed was faster than Nobe expected; he lunged forward, raising his arms high to block Nobe's shooting angle.

Nobe made a bounce pass to Kawata Masashi behind Akagi.

As Masashi Kawata caught the ball and jumped to throw it, that red shadow pounced on him again.

The ball flew from Kawata's fingertips. Sakuragi's palm didn't completely cover the ball, but his fingertips grazed the bottom edge of the basketball, and the ball bounced off the front edge of the rim.

Domoto Goro stood on the sidelines, stunned. He had coached Sannoh for so many years and had seen countless defensive geniuses, but what this red-haired kid was doing on the defensive end left him speechless.

Akagi grabbed the rebound and sent a long pass to Rukawa, who had already started his run.

Sawakita and Fukatsu reacted extremely quickly, almost simultaneously retreating to defend as Rukawa initiated his attack.

Rukawa dribbled the ball towards the frontcourt, but Sawakita and Fukatsu had already returned to their defensive positions, their defensive positioning completely blocking Rukawa's path to the basket.

Without looking, Rukawa passed the ball backwards, and Sakuragi caught it right behind him.

Sawakita immediately abandoned Rukawa and rushed over to help defend Sakuragi.

Sakuragi received the ball, stopped abruptly, and pulled up for a shot, facing Sawakita's leaping block attempt.

The ball arced through the air and swished into the net.

The scoreboard reads: 12 to 6.