Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 94 First Half End

Four minutes into the first half, Ryoji Ikegami lowered his weight to below his knees, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor, his eyes fixed on the panting Shohoku number 14 in front of him.

He felt he had done his best on defense. His footwork was on point, his arms were outstretched, and every time Mitsui received the ball, he immediately closed in, giving him no comfortable space to shoot.

But Mitsui Hisashi could still sink the ball over his head. He caught the ball, faked it, and Ikegami didn't fall for it.

Mitsui pulled himself up, his body leaning slightly backward in the air, and flicked his wrist.

The ball flew high over the fingertips of the person covering the pool. Swish—goal.

In the next possession, Mitsui used Akagi's screen to cut out and receive the ball. Ikegami desperately squeezed through the screen to catch up, and Mitsui, without pausing, pushed the ball out the moment his toes left the ground. Goal.

In the next possession, Mitsui received the ball in the corner, and Ikegami was right in his face. Mitsui didn't even look at the basket; he flicked his wrist. Another basket.

Ikegami has defended against Jin before. Both are top three-point shooters in Kanagawa, but their styles are completely different.

Ah Shen is the kind of shooter who is calm to the core. He will look for gaps in the defender's footwork and find shooting space in the gaps of rotation, and then make a steady shot with a flawless posture.

When you're defending against Ah Shen, you'll know where you've missed something, and he'll make you see your mistakes clearly.

But Mitsui is different. Mitsui is the kind of player who, even if you think you've done your defense and your hand is blocking his path, can still unreasonably make the shot.

It's not about exploiting weaknesses, but about relying on some kind of irrational archer instinct.

Ryota Miyagi noticed Mitsui's hot hand and immediately passed the ball to him after dribbling across half-court.

Mitsui receives the ball, faces Ikegami's close defense, uses Akagi's screen to dribble sideways one step, pulls up and shoots.

He had already turned and run back while the ball was still in the air.

Swish—a three-pointer goes in.

On the sidelines, Taoka Shigeichi's heart skipped a beat. Mitsui's three-pointers were going in one after another, narrowing the gap and slowly eroding Ryonan's lead.

But he gritted his teeth and encouraged himself.

It's okay! The more you throw, the faster your energy is depleted. The faster your energy is depleted, the sooner you'll be out of the game.

When Mitsui's stamina wanes in the second half, he becomes a weak point, and the team can turn the tide against him. It would be even better if he were to leave the game early due to exhaustion, just like in the game against Hainan.

In the stands, Kenji Fujima and Toru Hanagata sat up almost simultaneously, a conditioned reflex ingrained in their bones.

Seeing Shohoku's number 14 receive the ball outside the three-point line and make the shot makes my body involuntarily tense up.

As Mitsui's three-pointer swished through the net, Hanagata pushed up his glasses and his Adam's apple bobbed: "Here we go again."

Fujima didn't speak, but his fingers tapped lightly on his knees to a rhythm.

During the semifinals, Mitsui made the most three-pointers for his team over them. That fear of being dominated by three-pointers hasn't completely dissipated to this day.

Sitting in the back row, Kazushi Hasegawa watched Mitsui running back to the court and muttered from behind, "That Mitsui guy—if he hadn't had those two years of downtime and had trained properly, how strong would he be?"

The whistle blew to end the first half.

The timer resets to zero, and the scoreboard stops.

Xiangbei 39 to Lingnan. Only 4 points away.

The audience in the stands almost simultaneously exhaled, then burst into a buzz of discussion.

"I'm so nervous—"

"Both teams are too strong, it wouldn't be surprising if either one won the championship."

"Did you see Mitsui Hisashi in the last four minutes? He made four three-pointers in a row! Four!"

"Akagi's form is back, it's really hard to say what will happen in the second half—" The voices poured down from all sides of the stands, forming a noisy sea.

The atmosphere in Shohoku's locker room was completely different from when they called a timeout in the first half.

Kiminobu Kogure wore that reassuring smile that put the whole team at ease: "Everyone played great in the first half. Even though Coach Anzai isn't here, we're only 4 points behind now. Let's keep going in the second half, we're determined to win the championship."

"Alright! Shall we try our best to win the championship?" Miyagi led the way, and everyone responded in unison, their eyes filled with longing for the prefectural championship trophy.

Akagi Takenori did not cheer. He sat on the bench, holding the data sheet that Yanai had handed him, while Ayako stood beside him, pointing to a certain line of numbers.

Akagi's gaze swept across the stat sheet, then turned to Miyagi: "Ryota. You have three fouls now. Be careful in the second half; we can't afford for you to foul out."

Miyagi suddenly recalled the scene of Sendoh and Fukuda taking turns shooting at him from above, and the muscles on his face twitched.

He took a deep breath and nodded: "Understood!"

He didn't talk back, didn't defend himself, and had three offenses in his hands.

Akagi's gaze continued downwards. His brows furrowed sharply. He tapped the team's scoring stats with his finger, then looked up at Rukawa, who was drinking water in the corner.

Rukawa Kaede sat quietly, a water glass pressed against his lips, his black hair covering half his face, his breathing as steady as if he had just woken up.

Four points. This black-haired guy only scored four points in the first half.

Something clicked in Akagi's mind. It wasn't an accident, it wasn't that he was in bad shape, and it wasn't that Sendoh's defense was limiting him.

It was intentional. Akagi suddenly realized. Rukawa had been passing the ball as soon as he touched it in the first half, and he hardly ever took the initiative to go one-on-one on offense.

He kept running on defense, conserving his energy. While the whole team was expending energy, this guy, who usually wanted to take every shot himself, quietly held back a trump card.

Akagi's eyes lit up.

"There's a real chance in the second half."

On the other side, in the Ryonan locker room, Shigeichi Taoka stood with his arms crossed in front of the tactical board, his brows furrowed into a deep furrow.

He had already realized it, Rukawa Kaede, 4 points.

This number is even more troubling to him than the four three-pointers Mitsui made combined.

In the second half, Rukawa Kaede and Sakuragi Hanamichi, these two offensive threats, will definitely explode together.

How to defend against them? Zone defense is not very effective against these two. They can both drive hard from the outside, finish at the rim, and also make mid-range and three-point shots.

One can dunk on Maki Shinichi, and the other can score more than 30 points in a single game against Hainan when Akagi is not on the court.

These two really let loose in the second half. How badly will Ryonan's defense be torn apart?

A thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. Headache. A real headache. How was he supposed to defend against these two?

Taoka Shigeru flipped the tactical board over, took a deep breath, and forcefully suppressed the headache he felt for Sakuragi and Rukawa.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the faces of Sendoh Akira, Uozumi Jun, and Fukuda Kichijou one by one.

"Second half. It's time to bring out that secret weapon. Stabilize the attack and keep the score close."

Upon hearing the words "secret weapon," Sendoh's lazy smile twitched slightly, Uozumi's thick eyebrows furrowed, and Fukuda remained expressionless.

Taoka turned to Ikegami Ryoji: "Ikegami, keep sticking to Mitsui in the second half. The faster his stamina wears off, the better for us. The tighter you defend him, the sooner he'll be taken off the court."

Ikegami nodded.

Taoka glanced down at the data sheet in his hand one last time.

His gaze lingered on the name Miyagi Ryota.

3 fouls.

He slowly raised his head, looked at Sendoh and Koshino Hiroaki, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"Miyagi already has 3 fouls. Continue with pick-and-rolls in the second half, force him to switch, and isolate him. It's not just about scoring, it's about drawing fouls."

Let him off the court. With Miyagi off, Mitsui's stamina will be depleted, and Shohoku will simultaneously lose their two key players: point guard and shooting guard.

He slammed the data sheet onto the tactics board, "As long as we can keep the score close, wait for Mitsui and Miyagi to go off the court, and hold on until the end, victory will be ours, Ryonan."

There was a moment of silence in the locker room. Then Jun Uozumi was the first to stand up, his massive 202-centimeter frame blocking half of the fluorescent light overhead.

"Win the championship!" His voice echoed like thunder across the four walls of the locker room.

"Take the championship—!" The entire Ryonan team roared in unison!

Ryonan's dream of reaching the national tournament has come true, but they are determined to win the county tournament as well.

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