Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 90 The Sleepwalking Ape

Shohoku launches an attack.

Ryota Miyagi dribbled past half-court, paused briefly at the top of the arc as usual, and glanced at the inside. Takenori Akagi had already positioned himself in the low post on the left, his left hand on Uozumi's chest and his right hand raised high to call for the ball.

Miyagi decisively lobbed the ball in.

Akagi catches the ball and leans his back against Jun Uozumi.

He leaned back to strike, and on the first strike, Uozumi didn't budge. On the second strike, Akagi's shoulder slammed into Uozumi's chest, feeling like he'd hit a concrete wall.

Uozumi's chassis was thicker than last year's, and its center of gravity was extremely low. Akagi, worried about his ankle injury, dared not use his full strength and failed to budge it twice.

He stopped attacking head-on, turned towards the baseline, jumped with the ball, extended his right arm to his side, flicked his wrist, and a huge shadow loomed over him from the front.

"Snapped!"

Uozumi's palm slapped the ball solidly, blocking the shot.

"That was beautiful!" The students from Ryonan University in the stands exclaimed in surprise.

The ball flew towards the free-throw line, and Rukawa rushed over and caught it.

He didn't stop the ball, but glanced at the field. Mitsui Hisashi was at a 45-degree angle on the right, trying to shake off Ikegami's entanglement and making off-the-ball runs. Rukawa passed the ball across to him.

Mitsui received the ball, and Ikegami stuck to him like glue. Mitsui feinted, but Ikegami didn't fall for it.

Mitsui lowered his center of gravity in an attempt to break through, but Ikegami's lateral movement perfectly matched the rhythm, leaving no space and no angle.

Just then, Sakuragi Hanamichi cut in from the baseline, arms outstretched, asking for the ball.

Mitsui passed the ball over.

Sakuragi received the ball just inside the free-throw line when Fukuda Kichijou came charging in from the front, and Uozumi Jun moved a step to the side to block his path to the basket.

Hiroaki Koshino pounced from behind, blocking his angle to pass the ball outwards.

Three people, sandwiched between three loaves of bread.

Six arms covered it at the same time, compressing the space around Sakuragi into an airtight cage.

Seeing this, Sakuragi didn't force a shot. Before the double team closed in, he forcefully threw the ball towards the top of the arc and passed it back to Miyagi.

Just as the ball flew out, a hand reached out from the side—it was Sendoh Akira.

After anticipating Sakuragi's passing route, he reached out with his long arm to intercept the ball and immediately launched a fast break.

The blue and white No. 7 jersey flashed across the court like lightning. Miyagi chased back desperately, the 168cm tall player chasing all the way from the backcourt to the frontcourt. But Sendoh jumped directly from inside the free throw line, and despite Miyagi's block, he deftly flicked the ball into the basket.

Taoka Shigeichi clenched his fist tightly on the sidelines.

That's it.

His chin was slightly raised, and the curve of his lips was impossible to suppress.

The 23-zone joint defense system was used by Ryonan to defeat Hainan yesterday, and it can be used to trap Shohoku today as well.

Unless Sakuragi and Rukawa both go out to shoot, but then Shohoku's inside game will only have Akagi left.

The shooting percentage of long-range shots from the outside can never be higher than the efficiency of inside attacks.

Shohoku goes on offense. Miyagi dribbles the ball across half-court again and sweeps it towards the basket. Akagi repositions himself on the left low post, and Miyagi passes the ball inside.

Akagi received the ball, and Uozumi pressed forward again, his thick arm around Akagi's waist, his entire center of gravity shifting forward. Akagi moved towards the baseline to shoot, but Uozumi didn't retreat.

Akagi gritted his teeth, turned, and jumped to shoot, but before the ball even left his hand, Uozumi delivered a powerful block, swatting the ball away. Akagi stumbled and fell to the ground upon landing.

The referee blew his whistle and pointed at Uozumi: "White number 4, defensive foul!"

Uozumi raised his hand and looked at Akagi lying on the ground, saying, "Akagi, you're not like you at all today. I haven't even put in much effort, and you've already fallen down."

Akagi didn't say anything, got up from the ground and walked towards the free throw line.

Standing at the free-throw line, Akagi took the ball from the referee, while the Ryonan cheerleaders deliberately created distractions in his ears.

He felt as if the basketball in his hands weighed a ton, but the pressure in his heart was even heavier.

After three years of hard work and perseverance, and the crushing defeats of the first two years, I have finally arrived at the stage of the Kanagawa Prefecture Tournament Championship in the third year. I am only one step away from winning the championship.

In addition, his foot injury had not fully healed, and Coach Anzai was not present.

Akagi took a deep breath to calm his mind and threw the first ball, which bounced off the rim.

Sweat began to bead on Akagi's forehead. He took another deep breath to regulate his breathing and attacked again.

"Bang!" The shot bounced off the rim again, and both free throws were missed.

In a sudden scramble for position under the basket, Fukuda and Sendoh instinctively blocked Sakuragi as he prepared to rush in for the rebound.

Uozumi let out a low growl and jumped up, grabbing the rebound and passing it to Koshino, who then passed it to Fukuda to launch a fast break.

But Sakuragi's defensive speed was extremely fast, and he jumped up and blocked Fukuda's layup. The ball was caught by Miyagi, who came chasing from behind.

"Beautiful! Sakuragi!" The Shohoku bench cheered excitedly.

Shohoku attacked again, and Miyagi passed the ball to Akagi once more.

Akagi started backing down Uozumi, but still couldn't get past him. He thought about turning and jumping to shoot, but the image of being blocked by Uozumi flashed through his mind again.

Akagi hesitated, wondering whether to force a shot or pass the ball, as the shot clock ticked away.

The ball in Akagi's hands seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. With Kogure shouting, "The shot clock is about to end—", he finally hurriedly threw the ball to Mitsui on the outside.

Mitsui had just received the ball and hadn't even made a shooting motion when the referee blew the whistle, ending the 30-second shot clock. Possession changed hands 0.

Kogure Kiminobu sat on the bench, watching Akagi as he sprinted back to defend. He could tell that Akagi wasn't in form today.

Coach Anzai's absence, his ankle injury that hasn't fully healed, the pressure of winning his first prefectural championship, and the chance for his last prefectural championship in three years.

The sheer volume of things piled up overwhelmed Takenori Akagi's mental state and rhythm.

Taoka, sitting opposite him, noticed it too; his eyes lit up. Akagi wasn't in good form today.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and roared across the court, his voice cutting through the noise: "Give the ball to Uozumi! Uozumi, you'll be the main attacker inside!"

Ryonan is on offense. Sendoh dribbles at the top of the key, glancing down at the paint. Jun Uozumi, backing down Akagi on the left side of the three-second zone, raises his right hand to call for the ball, and Sendoh lobs it in with one hand.

Uozumi caught the ball. He leaned back slightly, feeling Akagi's weight pressing down on his heels.

With the second blow, Uozumi's shoulder slammed into Akagi, causing him to take a half-step back.

The third time. Akagi took another half step back. Fish, positioned six feet to the left of the basket, turned and jumped, sending the ball towards the basket with his right hand.

However, a red shadow pounced from the weak side – it was Sakuragi Hanamichi.

He lunged laterally from Afu's defensive position, leaped off the ground, and fully extended his body in the air, his right arm reaching its limit.

As soon as Uozumi's ball left his fingers, Sakuragi's hand covered it, slapping the ball out of bounds.

Sakuragi landed, slightly bending his knees to cushion the impact, and then straightened up.

He turned his head, his eyes beneath his red buzz cut staring straight at Takenori Akagi: "Gorilla! What are you spacing out for? This isn't like you at all."

Akagi didn't say anything.

Taoka slapped his forehead on the sidelines, making a sharp cracking sound. He'd almost forgotten, Sakuragi's help defense was incredibly fast too.

He immediately turned and yelled at the field, "Fukuda! Spread out on offense! Stay away from Uozumi!"

Fukuda Kichijo nodded to indicate that he understood.

Ryonan serves from the sidelines, and the ball is again lobbed to Uozumi.

This time, all the other Ryonan team members spread out, with Sendoh at the top of the arc, Koshino at the right 45-degree angle, Ikegami at the left bottom corner, and Fukuda retreating to the weak side.

Shohoku's defensive formation was torn apart, and Sakuragi, stretched out, lost the distance to help defend, leaving Akagi alone under the basket against Uozumi.

Fish backs down, pushes to the basket, turns and shoots, the ball bounces off the backboard and goes in.

At the same time, when Akagi was sealing the shot, his hand was a beat too slow and hit Uozumi's arm.

The referee blew his whistle: "Red number, hand foul, goal stands, one penalty!"

"Yeah!" Uozumi clenched his fist and roared excitedly.

As Uozumi stepped onto the free-throw line to prepare for the shot, Sakuragi stood beside him, muttering to himself and making a Kamehameha gesture with his hands in front of Uozumi.

Sendoh, standing nearby, looked puzzled and asked, "What are you doing?"

Sakuragi, with a ferocious grin, declared, "I'm using my powers to prevent Boss Monkey from scoring!"

Sendoh looked completely bewildered: "Huh?"

As a result, Uozumi missed the free throw, and the ball rolled out of bounds.

"Uh—" Uozumi looked completely bewildered.

Sendoh looked at Sakuragi with a blank expression, realizing that the penalty hadn't been scored.

Shohoku goes on offense. Miyagi dribbles at the top of the key, instinctively glancing at Akagi in the paint, but he doesn't pass.

His gaze passed over Akagi and found Sakuragi Hanamichi on the right, and he passed the ball to him.

If Akagi isn't in form, then let's switch to someone else to attack.

As Sakuragi received the ball, Koshino Hiroaki pounced on him, abandoning his defense on Miyagi.

Fukuda flanked from the side, and Uozumi also stepped to the side to block Sakuragi from the basket. The three of them completely blocked Sakuragi's offensive route.

Sakuragi took a jump shot right in front of the two defenders, but Sendoh rushed over to block it. Sendoh's finger brushed the basketball, and it bounced off the rim but didn't go in.

Under the basket, Fukuda and Koshino tightly blocked Sakuragi's path to the basket, and Uozumi Jun overpowered Akagi Takenori to grab the rebound at the highest point.

When Akagi landed, he stumbled and fell half a step backward before regaining his balance.

Taoka Shigeichi clapped his hands together, making a crisp snapping sound.

"Thank goodness! Akagi's not in form today!"

The corners of his mouth were practically stretched to his ears. Ryonan's opportunity had arrived, and now even Akagi had become a breakthrough point.

With two openings for Shohoku, it wouldn't be too difficult to win against them.

"Pass the ball inside, keep passing it to Uozumi!" Taoka continued to yell!

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