"Sakuragi, over here! Pass it!" Ryota Kudo shouted for Hanamichi Sakuragi to pass, because Toru Hanagata, who had missed the rebound, had already stealthily reached out to steal the ball.
But in his excitement, Hanamichi Sakuragi could not quite make out what Ryota Kudo was saying. He turned and stared blankly at him.
Just then, Toru Hanagata slapped the basketball hard. He had the steal.
But to Toru Hanagata's surprise, Hanamichi Sakuragi's hands were as strong as clamps, and the basketball did not fly loose. Now both Hanagata's hands and Sakuragi's hands were on the ball.
When Hanamichi Sakuragi realized what was happening, his eyes instantly filled with murderous intent. Watching from nearby, Ryota Kudo immediately predicted what he was about to do and hurriedly shouted.
"Don't, Sakuragi!"
The next second, the 83-kilogram Toru Hanagata was violently flung away. He flew two meters before crashing heavily to the floor.
At the same time, the referee's whistle sounded. "Shohoku number 10, foul on the loose ball! Shoyo possession!"
"I didn't mean to!" Hanamichi Sakuragi still wanted to argue with the referee, but Ryota Kudo ran over, clamped a hand over Sakuragi's mouth, and raised Sakuragi's hand to acknowledge the foul.
There was nothing wrong with calling that foul on Hanamichi Sakuragi. In fact, if basketball in the nineties had not encouraged physical contact and allowed more lenient officiating, even calling it a flagrant foul would not have been excessive.
The Shoyo Cheer Squad in the stands promptly booed as well, putting pressure on the referee.
"Throw that foul machine out! Someone like him shouldn't even be on a basketball court!"
"That was a flagrant foul! A basketball court is no place for a redheaded monkey like you!"
It had to be said that, if you were a Shoyo player, you might like such an enthusiastic cheer squad.
But if you were Shoyo's opponent, it really was a pretty sickening feeling.
Hanamichi Sakuragi was about to explode with anger. He wished he could leap into the stands and headbutt every last one of them.
If they had only been booing him, Ryota Kudo would have ignored them. But now that they kept attacking his teammate, he was furious instead.
Walking to the sideline, Ryota Kudo shouted provocatively at the stands with incredible arrogance.
"Shout louder! This is your last chance this year!
Because Shoyo is getting knocked out today. That's a promise from yours truly, Ryota Kudo!"
In an instant, the boos from the stands grew even louder, but their target shifted from Hanamichi Sakuragi to Ryota Kudo.
Pretty boy and egomaniac were already among the nicer insults. There were plenty more vicious remarks that would have been censored if spoken aloud.
But Ryota Kudo did not care. His mental resilience was not something high schoolers could match.
Rather than leave the pressure on Hanamichi Sakuragi, Ryota Kudo would shoulder it himself.
Having accomplished his goal, Ryota Kudo walked back onto the court without looking back. He needed to focus on basketball.
Only then did Toru Hanagata get awkwardly back to his feet, his expression ugly.
It was not just because of the physical pain. As a big center, being flung away by the much shorter Hanamichi Sakuragi was simply humiliating.
Toru Hanagata had not been acting at all on that play. Hanamichi Sakuragi's strength and explosiveness were simply too great.
Play resumed, and Taku Ito received his teammate's inbound pass, only to find Ryota Kudo facing him as terrifying as a wild beast.
Not even daring to try driving past Ryota Kudo, Taku Ito passed inside the moment he received the ball.
Shoyo's offense depended heavily on Toru Hanagata's performance. This time, Hanagata did not dare linger after catching the ball, afraid that Hanamichi Sakuragi would come over to help on defense again.
The instant he caught the ball, Toru Hanagata turned into a hook shot. With his soft touch, he scored another two points.
The instant the shot went in, Shoyo retreated on defense in unison, giving Shohoku no chance to run a fast break.
Over the next few minutes, Shohoku and Shoyo entered a stalemate.
Shoyo could not stop Shohoku's offense. Whether it was Ryota Kudo, Kaede Rukawa with his sharp drives, or the stronger Takenori Akagi, all of them were putting points on the board.
Likewise, Shohoku had no particularly good answer for Shoyo's half-court offense. Toru Hanagata went eight for ten, scoring 16 points by himself. His finesse-based play at center made defending him very uncomfortable for Takenori Akagi.
It could be said that Toru Hanagata's shooting percentage depended entirely on his own touch. Takenori Akagi's defense was having little effect.
After ten minutes, Shohoku led 22-20 by two points. This was the most uncomfortable game Shohoku had played. They had been dragged completely into their opponent's half-court tempo.
This slow-paced style of basketball did not suit Shohoku at all, and naturally, their scoring dropped considerably.
Half of the first half had already passed, but Shoyo's Kenji Fujima was still sitting calmly on the sidelines. Clearly, the current tempo was entirely under his control.
The players on Shohoku's bench were extremely anxious, and Ayako Inoue asked Coach Anzai worriedly.
"Coach Anzai, should we call a timeout? Shoyo's Kenji Fujima hasn't even come on yet. We can't keep going like this, can we?"
Coach Anzai remained very calm. Smiling, he rejected Ayako Inoue's suggestion. "Ho ho ho ho. Don't worry. Have faith in Kudo and the others. They can overcome these difficulties."
Favoring a hands-off approach to teaching, Coach Anzai rarely intervened with his players. He hoped they could identify problems themselves and then overcome them.
Just as Coach Anzai expected, this situation was about to change, because Ryota Kudo had already discovered Shohoku High School's weakness.
Receiving the baseline inbound pass, Ryota Kudo suddenly shouted, "Everyone, get moving! Pick up the pace! Don't follow Shoyo's tempo!"
Shohoku's starters, already somewhat tired, all trusted Ryota Kudo. They immediately picked up speed and started running.
The speedy Kaede Rukawa quickly shook off his defender, and Ryota Kudo immediately hurled the basketball from his hands.
Catching the ball, Kaede Rukawa charged coldly toward the basketball. Facing a defender, he threw down a one-handed dunk over him.
On Shohoku's defensive end, Ryota Kudo also had Kaede Rukawa double-team Toru Hanagata to prevent him from receiving the ball.
The best choice for the double-team was, of course, Hanamichi Sakuragi. His stamina and speed were both the best.
But to prevent Hanamichi Sakuragi from quickly getting into foul trouble, Ryota Kudo still gave the task to Kaede Rukawa.
Double-teaming Toru Hanagata naturally meant that one of the other players would frequently get open shots from outside.
But Shoyo's big men were mediocre outside shooters with low shooting percentages, only occasionally making a three-pointer.
Gradually, Shohoku regained control of the situation, and the gap in the score began to widen.
"Shoyo requests a substitution!"
A man who was not particularly tall but had a commanding presence rose from the bench. Kenji Fujima was ready to enter the game.
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