Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 97 Taoka: Oh no, Sakuragi's playing point guard!

Sendoh Akira dribbled the ball across half-court, and Uekusa pulled over from the wing and stood next to Rukawa Kaede.

Pick and roll.

For a fleeting moment, Rukawa was caught by Uekusa's body, and Sendoh lowered his center of gravity, easily cutting past him from the screen side. Miyagi Ryota was once again forced to switch onto Sendoh, and Sendoh jumped to face Miyagi after cutting into the paint, with Miyagi following suit to block the shot.

Then Sendoh deliberately slowed his pitching motion by a beat, intentionally waiting for Miyagi's palm to strike his arm. The instant the ball left his hand, a crisp sound exploded as his palm and arm collided.

The referee's whistle pierced the noise of the stadium.

The referee pointed at Miyagi: "Red number 7, defensive foul. Fifth foul, out of the game—"

Ryota Miyagi stood frozen in place, the roar of the entire stadium filling his ears, but he couldn't hear anything. He finally turned around and walked towards the sidelines.

Kiminobu Kogure jumped up from the bench, made a timeout gesture to the referee with both hands, and used his last timeout.

The Shohoku team returned to the bench. Miyagi plopped down on a bench, lowered his head, and placed his hands on his knees, burying his face in the shadow of his hands.

He was used as a target throughout the game; Sendoh and Fukuda both shot over him, and every pick-and-roll perfectly exploited him. Now he's fouled out. In this crucial championship game, he actually dragged the whole team down.

Ayako stood beside him, tucked the data sheet under her arm, bent down, and whispered, "Miyagi—"

Despite Ayako's words of comfort, Miyagi kept his head down and didn't respond this time.

Akagi Takenori wiped the sweat from the back of his neck with a towel, his brow furrowed deeply. Miyagi fouled out, leaving the court without a point guard, and the team was down by 11 points.

Yasuda stood up from the side, his voice tentative: "Miyagi is off, so I have to go up. The team needs a point guard after all."

A hand was placed on Yasuda's shoulder, pressing him back into the chair.

Sakuragi calmly said, "No need for Yasuda, let Glasses Guy play. This genius can play point guard like a pro."

The people in front of the bench were stunned for a moment, and then their eyes lit up at the same time.

Even Miyagi suddenly raised his head.

Yeah! In the second half of the game against Shohoku, this red-haired guy was Shohoku's point guard. He backed down Fujima, facilitated passes, and switched to protecting the rim.

In the second half of that game, he, as the point guard, tore the Shohoku Giants to pieces.

Akagi took a deep breath, pulling his thoughts back from the chaos of Miyagi's departure. He turned to Mitsui Hisashi and asked, "Mitsui, can you still throw?"

Mitsui pulled the towel off his neck, his face displaying the unwavering confidence of a top shooter: "As long as the ball is given to me, I'm sure I can make it."

Akagi nodded: "Okay, I'll leave the catching up to you."

Then he stood up and looked at his teammates: "Mitsui will be the main scorer now. Everyone, screen for him, set picks and rolls for him, create space for him to shoot. Feed him the ball. On defense, collapse the defense and protect the rebounds."

"yes----!"

On the other side of the Ryonan bench, Taoka Shigeichi was grinning from ear to ear, his mouth almost reaching his ears.

He stood in front of his teammates with his hands on his hips, chin held high, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement: "See that? Miyagi fouled out! Shohoku is down to one key player! Hold on a little longer. Ikegami, keep putting pressure on Mitsui, stick to him like you did in the first half. Everyone else, focus on covering and try to wear down Mitsui's stamina."

Mitsui's stamina is his weakness. Once he can't run anymore, even if he doesn't leave the court, he becomes a weak point, and the game will be completely decided. Shohoku's bench depth is insufficient, and the starters' stamina becomes increasingly unsustainable as the game progresses.

"And in this respect, Ryonan has an absolute advantage. I believe each of you trains more than Shohoku, and your physical reserves are better. As long as we maintain our score advantage and drag the game into the later stages, you'll gain an increasing advantage over us."

Aida Hikoichi stood in the back row, holding the scoreboard, his lips moving several times. He finally spoke, his voice cautious: "Coach, if Miyagi goes out, will Shohoku let Sakuragi play point guard? After all, in the second half of Shohoku's game against Shoyo—"

Upon hearing Yan Yi's words, Taoka's smile instantly froze on his face, his heart skipped a beat, and his head started to ache again.

He remained silent for several seconds, his mind racing through the scenes from the game against Shohoku: Sakuragi Hanamichi backing down Fujima, dribbling from the top of the arc to the basket, orchestrating the offense and distributing the ball throughout the court, tearing apart Shohoku's tall lineup and zone defense.

When that red-haired point guard was putting on that show, the person standing opposite him was none other than Kenji Fujima, one of Kanagawa's top point guards.

Taoka took a deep breath, suppressing his headache: "Then Shohoku will most likely have Kogure take over. Whoever is guarding Kogure later, we can leave him open and prioritize double-teaming Sakuragi. We can't let him make comfortable moves at the top of the key."

We're currently leading by 11 points, so let's focus on maintaining that lead. Once Mitsui's stamina runs out and Shohoku is down to one less key player, the chain reaction of a physical collapse will begin, and the outcome of this game will be decided.

"Yes—!" The Ryonan substitutes roared in unison.

The referee blew the whistle, and the timeout was over. Both teams' players returned to the field.

Akira Sendoh stepped up to the free-throw line and calmly sank both shots, bringing the score difference back to 11 points.

Sakuragi Hanamichi received Kogure Kiminobu's serve at the baseline and steadily dribbled the ball across half-court.

A buzz of discussion arose among the spectators in the stands, with a few whispering amongst themselves: "Sakuragi's playing point guard?"

Kenji Fujima, Hanagata, and the others sat up straight: "They're here."

The same image flashed through their minds simultaneously: in the second half of the Shohoku game, Sakuragi played point guard, backing down Fujima, and driving from the top of the arc to the basket, using all sorts of unreasonable offensive methods to tear apart Shohoku's carefully prepared zone defense.

In the stands of Hainan, Maki Shinichi and the others also looked at Sakuragi.

Sakuragi dribbled past half-court and positioned himself at the top of the arc. Sendoh Akira came up to meet him, his toes on the inside of the three-point line, his weight on his knees, and the lazy smile on his lips had completely disappeared, replaced by a calm focus.

Sendoh spoke up: "Come on, Sakuragi, it's finally time to face you."

On the flank, Kogure had already left Kogure behind and was positioned to rush up and cover at any moment, his eyes fixed on the top of the arc.

Sakuragi begins dribbling. He performs a crossover dribble, switching the ball from his right hand to his left, and lowers his shoulder to the right, assuming a driving stance.

Sendoh's center of gravity shifted for a moment, and then Sakuragi didn't break through. He pulled the ball back, pushed off with his right foot, bounced back half a step, retreated to the three-point line, and took a pull-up jump.

Sendoh reacted instantly and pounced on Sakuragi, his hand reaching out to him, his fingers almost scraping his wrist.

But it was too late. Sakuragi's speed and height made it impossible for Sendoh's hand to reach the ball. The ball flew out from Sakuragi's fingertips with a high arc and even spin.

The ball arced through the air, and swish! A three-pointer went in.

The point difference was narrowed to 8 points.