Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 93 Taoka: Oh no, something terrible has happened!

Ryota Miyagi stood at the top of the arc, his hands supporting his knees, his chest heaving violently.

He looked up at the scoreboard, then looked down again, his lips moving as if he were uttering a curse only he could hear.

He realized with a sad expression that every round, Ryonan's pick-and-rolls were deliberately targeting him.

Every time, whether Sendoh or Fukuda had the ball, Hiroaki Koshino would pull himself over to set a screen.

Then he had to switch to guard Sendoh or Fukuda, and those two would score over his head, one after another.

Sendoh has the ball. Koshino runs over from the wing, sets a screen, and sends Sendoh past Rukawa, forcing Miyagi to switch onto him. Sendoh, near the free-throw line, faces Miyagi's close-range block and pulls up for a jump shot.

The ball passed Miyagi's outstretched fingertips and landed steadily in the basket.

In the next possession, Sendoh passed the ball to Fukuda as soon as he crossed half-court. Fukuda had the ball, and Koshino pulled over for a screen, forcing Miyagi to switch onto Fukuda. Fukuda was nearly 20 centimeters taller than him, and without even a fake move, he used his strength to drive to the basket and shoot a floater.

The ball hits the backboard and goes into the basket.

On the defensive end of Shohoku, Ryota Miyagi became the target of repeated attacks, with Sendoh and Fukuda constantly scoring over him.

Even with his height disadvantage, he couldn't defend against these two.

On Shohoku's offense, Miyagi dribbled the ball across half-court, Mitsui cut towards the corner, and Akagi pulled out from the inside and positioned himself next to Mitsui. Uozumi stayed close to the basket and didn't follow up.

Ikegami chased Mitsui across the free-throw line and then crashed headfirst into Akagi.

Mitsui dribbled past Ikegami, received the ball in the corner, bent his knees, jumped, and released the ball. It arced high, spinning perfectly. A three-pointer swished through the net.

In the next possession, Sakuragi received the ball on the wing, facing Fukuda's tight defense. He lowered his center of gravity, took a strong step forward, cut inside the free-throw line, and pulled up for a jump shot. Two points in the net.

The score difference between the two teams increased alternately.

However, Ryonan's offense was more efficient, with Sendoh and Fukuda taking turns scoring over Miyagi, making sure to score every time they attacked.

With Ryonan's 23-man zone defense pressing down on their inside defense, the burden of Shohoku's offense fell entirely on Mitsui and Sakuragi.

Mitsui used Akagi's screen to get past Ikegami and then shot. However, he couldn't make the shot every time. Ryonan's zone defense was extremely fast, and each shot required a great deal of energy and stamina.

Seeing Sakuragi receive the ball again, Fukuda lowered his center of gravity, focused all his attention, and put all his effort into defending against Sakuragi's attack, but he just couldn't stop him.

Sakuragi has a wide range of offensive options: strong drives, post-ups, speed-based cuts, and step-back three-pointers. You can never predict what he'll do on his next offensive possession.

Since being recalled to the team by Taoka, he has focused his training on improving his defense. He feels that his defensive skills have improved a lot, but he still can't stop Sakuragi's offense.

Taoka, watching from the sidelines, saw it clearly: after Sakuragi went out to participate in the offensive shooting, the control of the rebounds became a battle between Uozumi and Akagi, with the two of them evenly matched on the boards, unable to reliably provide Shohoku with second-chance opportunities.

The numbers on the timer kept ticking away.

The gap between the two teams widened again, point by point. With four minutes left in the first half, Aida Yayoi made a note of some data in the press box, then looked up at the scoreboard.

Shohoku 34:44 Ryonan. The score difference has widened from 6 points to 10 points.

Taoka Shigeichi stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, his chin slightly raised, his thumb and forefinger pinching his chin, and a leisurely smug look on his face.

That's it. Use the palace as a breakthrough point to steadily gain points.

Sendoh and Fukuda's mismatch attack was unstoppable by Shohoku's man-to-man defense, because Miyagi's height disadvantage was too obvious after switching on defense.

On the offensive end of Shohoku, although Mitsui and Sakuragi carried the team, and Akagi could occasionally score by attacking Uozumi in the paint, under the rotation pressure of Ryonan's 23-man zone defense, Mitsui had to pay a very high physical cost for every shot.

When Mitsui's stamina wanes in the second half, Ryonan's advantage will widen further.

Taoka squinted at Mitsui, who was struggling to break free of Ikegami's defense, and was already planning his strategy for the second half.

In the stands, Toru Hanagata pushed up his glasses, his gaze lingering on the scoreboard for a long time.

With a 10-point difference, Ryonan was firmly dominating Shohoku.

He frowned and said, "Ryonan used the palace as a breakthrough point and steadily widened the score gap all the way."

With only Sakuragi and Mitsui carrying the offense for Shohoku, the championship outcome is truly uncertain at this point.

Kenji Fujima sat next to him, not looking at the scoreboard, but at someone on the court. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke: "No, look closely at Rukawa Kaede."

Hanagata paused for a moment. He turned to look at the court, searching for the black number 11 in Shohoku's half of the court.

Rukawa Kaede was running from the backcourt to the frontcourt, his pace as unhurried as ever, his face still expressionless.

The first half was almost over, and he barely took any shots. It wasn't that he was completely shut down; although Sendoh's defense against him was strong, it wasn't enough to completely silence a top scorer.

A thought flashed through Hanagata's mind, and she was immediately startled: "Could it be—"

Fujima chimed in, "That's right, he's deliberately conserving his energy for the second half. Throughout the first half, Rukawa was running on the defensive end and passing the ball as soon as he touched it on the offensive end, and he almost never took the initiative to go one-on-one."

It's not that he can't play, but rather that he chooses not to. In the last game against Hainan, although he unleashed a scoring surge that stunned Hainan, his stamina couldn't sustain him for the entire game. So, he's waiting, waiting for the second half to unleash his decisive blow.

He paused, turning his gaze from Rukawa to Sakuragi on the other side: "In the second half, with Rukawa and Sakuragi launching attacks simultaneously, plus Akagi's strong inside play, all three offensive options are very strong. Even though Ryonan's defense is also very strong, the outcome is really uncertain."

Beside the Ryonan bench, Aida Hikoichi held a scoreboard in his hand, his pencil rapidly marking names on the paper, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

He turned the page forward, then back, his lips moving several times. Then he looked up at Taoka Shigeichi's retreating figure, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke: "Coach—Rukawa Kaede is acting strangely today."

Taoka was watching the game with his arms crossed when he heard this, so he frowned and turned around.

"Rukawa Kaede has only scored 2 points in the first half so far."

Taoka Shigeichi's smile froze on his face. He abruptly turned to look at the field, where Rukawa Kaede moved calmly, his breathing steady, and there was no sign of fatigue on his face.

A top scorer who barely took any shots in the first half, only running on the defensive end, deliberately conserving his energy.

Add to that Sakuragi Hanamichi, whose physical abilities are explosive and who almost never gets tired.

If those two guys unleashed their offensive firepower together in the second half of Shohoku's game—he almost dropped his tactical board.

Oh no, I forgot about this, this is terrible.