Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi faced Maki Shinichi again at the top of the arc, the entire stadium erupted in cheers.

Thousands of people leaned forward at the same time, their buttocks lifted off their seats, and their voices became a single torrent.

Some members of the purple contingent in Hainan couldn't help but stand up, out of fear.

They had seen too many nights where Maki dominated the game, but tonight, the red-haired man standing in front of Maki made them feel for the first time that the title "Emperor Maki" might not be valid anymore.

Hainan's offense remained highly efficient under Maki Shinichi's orchestration.

Maki Shinichi broke through Shohoku's defense in the calmest way possible.

After a pick-and-roll at the top of the key, the ball is passed to Ajin. When Mitsui rushes out, Ajin fakes a shot and breaks through, drawing Sakuragi's help defense before passing to Muto on the baseline. Muto receives the ball, but Kakuta can't keep up and can only watch the shot go in.

In the next possession, Maki Shinichi drove in, drawing Sakuragi and Kakuta into a double-team, and then passed the ball to Takasago, who was cutting from the weak side. Takasago easily made the layup.

In the next possession, Hainan launched a fast break. A Shen chased down a three-pointer, and Gong Cheng jumped up and hung on his arm. The whistle blew, a three-point foul. A Shen made all three free throws.

Hainan is consistently scoring points.

However, the point difference between the two teams remained unchanged, making it difficult for Hainan to catch up.

Because of Shohoku's offensive cycle, there's only one way to play: teammates spread out, and Sakuragi dribbles the ball and goes one-on-one against Maki Shinichi.

Shinichi Maki lowered his center of gravity, sweat dripping from his chin.

His defensive stance was one where he used all his skills: knees bent, center of gravity lowered, and arms outstretched to their maximum extent.

My chest and collarbone, which had been relentlessly attacked from behind by Sakuragi, were still throbbing with pain.

Shinichi Maki was torn between sticking close to defend against the shot or taking a step back to defend against the drive.

Sakuragi starts dribbling. He crosses his legs, cutting the ball from his right hand to his left, and his shoulder drops to the left.

Maki Shinichi followed and took a step back to defend against the drive, but Sakuragi didn't break through. He pulled the ball back, pushed off with his right foot, bounced back a step, retreated to the three-point line, and jumped.

Another step-back three-pointer.

The movement was exactly the same as before, even the rhythm of the jump and the height of the shot were so precise it was like a copy and paste. Maki Shinichi's fingers were just an inch away from the ball as he lunged forward, and the ball traced that nightmarish arc.

Swish... Goal!

Hainan attacks. A Shen receives a pass from Maki Shinichi beyond the three-point line and pulls up for a shot over Miyagi's defense.

A three-pointer went in; Ah Shen made two more three-pointers in a row.

On Hainan's bench, Gao Tou tapped his broken fan in his palm and moved his lips, probably calculating the score difference.

He knew the outcome of the match was already decided, but the point difference could sometimes determine qualification for the national tournament, so every point he could recover was a point.

This time, Maki changed his defensive strategy, sticking even closer and giving Sakuragi no space to step back. His chest was almost touching Sakuragi's shoulder, and his hands kept interfering with the dribbling rhythm.

Sakuragi didn't back down; instead, he turned his back and leaned against Maki Shinichi's chest.

He started back-to-back attacks again, unleashing another barrage of attacks on Maki Shinichi.

Shinichi Maki's pupils contracted slightly. His core strength was renowned throughout Kanagawa, and the fact that his backcourt position could be described as having a "post-up game" was a rare occurrence in this one match of the Kanagawa Prefecture Tournament.

Moreover, this guy lacked sportsmanship and deliberately punched me in the collarbone area, causing me so much pain that I could only grit my teeth and endure it.

Sakuragi's shoulder bumped against him, and the first time, Maki Shinichi took half a step back. The second time, he took another half a step back.

While relentlessly attacking from behind, Sakuragi didn't forget to spew trash talk as well:

"Uncle, I don't know how many years you've repeated a grade, but at your age, you should give opportunities to younger people. Don't push yourself too hard..."

Shinichi Maki: "..."

Then he got angry for a moment, just once.

Sakuragi charged from beyond the three-point line to the basket, collected the ball, turned, and jumped.

Takasago rushed over to help defend and jumped up with Maki Shinichi to block the shot.

"Bang!" Sakuragi successfully dunked over Maki Shinichi and Takasago.

The audience erupted in cheers once again; this was exactly the scene they had been waiting for.

After landing, Maki Shinichi was panting heavily, looking like he was questioning his life. How could this guy still have such amazing stamina? Doesn't he get tired?

Kenji Fujima in the stands had already leaned back in his chair.

Hanagata Toru, standing next to him, pushed up his glasses and whispered, "Maki can't defend against him at all."

Fujima didn't turn his head, but just nodded slightly: "It's not that Maki's defense is bad. It's that Sakuragi has too many offensive methods. Step-back, turnaround jump shot, back-to-the-basket, strong drive, attacking the basket, you have to defend each one with all your might."

If you move up close to defend his shot, he can drive; if you step back to defend his drive, he can shoot a three-pointer. Crucially, he also has a post-up game, which even Maki can't handle.

On the court. Hainan's next offensive possession was disrupted by Sakuragi and went wide, allowing Shohoku to counterattack.

Sakuragi held the ball at the top of the key, facing Maki Shinichi. This time, he didn't retreat or back down. Instead, he lowered his center of gravity and drove hard to Maki Shinichi's right side.

Sakuragi took two steps to the free-throw line, Takasago rushed out to help defend, and Maki chased from the side, both jumping at the same time to block. In mid-air, Sakuragi switched the ball to his left hand, sideways through the two blocks, and made a left-handed layup off the backboard.

Goal! Whistle blows! Penalty penalty.

He stepped up to the free-throw line and calmly made the shot.

The numbers on the timer jump down.

With six minutes left in the second half, Mitsui Hisashi was substituted off the field, and his legs were shaking as he walked off.

The Shohoku lineup on the court consisted of Yasuda, Miyagi, Kogure, Kakuta, and Sakuragi.

Hainan saw hope in narrowing the gap, as Shohoku's main players were almost all out of the game, leaving only Sakuragi.

But Hainan just couldn't catch up in the score gap.

Every time Maki Shinichi scored a goal by exploiting a defensive lapse in Shohoku, Sakuragi would immediately score another goal by attacking Maki Shinichi one-on-one.

A Shen made a three-pointer, and Sakuragi responded with a step-back three-pointer of his own.

Muto scored with a layup, but Sakuragi responded with a powerful dunk.

Hainan's offensive came wave after wave, but Xiangbei's No. 10 was like a seawall, forcefully pushing back every wave that crashed in.

The score difference fluctuated around 35 points, and we just couldn't catch up.

With only one minute left in the second half, looking at the unbridgeable gap, Maki Shinichi had a thought that even he himself couldn't believe.

A feeling of powerlessness!

He defended against the county's top defenders and the national-level forwards.

He has never felt this way on the defensive end before. Every time the opponent shoots, he feels that he has defended well and that he has judged every move the opponent makes correctly, but he just can't stop it.

He also felt powerless during the defeat against Sannoh Industrial in the national tournament last year, but it was a completely different kind of powerlessness.

Sannoh's weakness lies in its overall dominance. All five players are in the right positions and doing the right things, leaving the opponent with no weaknesses. That kind of weakness is a complete inability to counter a system.

But the powerlessness of this red-haired man is different. It's not a system, it's just an individual.

A freshman, on the offensive end, he pulled out one move after another like magic, and every one of them could score, and none of them could be blocked.

Maki Shinichi has defended against Fujima and has stopped national-level perimeter stars, but he can't stop Sakuragi Hanamichi.

Sakuragi's one-on-one performance also won over the audience.

"Sakuragi! Sakuragi! Sakuragi!"

When that name was shouted out by thousands of people at the same time, the entire ceiling of the stadium shook.

Gao Touli slumped into his chair. The huge 35-point deficit had enraged him so much that he had broken his folding fan in his hand.

The final whistle blew.

A sharp electronic sound pierced through all other sounds in the stadium. The timer reset to zero, and the numbers on the scoreboard froze.

Hainan Affiliated 58, Xiangbei 92.

A 34-point margin, a sixteen-year reigning champion, the winner of last year's, the year before last's, and the year before that's all defeated today by a red-haired newcomer in the final moments with a singles head-on match.

The Shohoku bench surged onto the court in cheers, and Sakuragi was once again surrounded by his teammates.

In the stands, Kenji Fujima stood up, looked at the red-haired man surrounded by his teammates on the field, and whispered a sentence almost drowned out by the cheers: "Hainan's dynasty has finally been overthrown."

The grandstand area of ​​Ryonan.

Taoka Shigeichi stood up, glanced at Takato Riki who was slumped in a chair on the opposite side of the court, and couldn't help but smirk, secretly pleased.

Then he turned around to face the Ryonan team members.

"Next Saturday. It's our turn. Shohoku has already defeated Hainan. If we finish them off on the 26th, our ticket to the national tournament will be ours."

No matter how hard Hainan tries, we must go all out to completely overthrow the current regime in Hainan.