Coach Anzai walked over to Hisashi Mitsui and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Trust your teammates, Mitsui. Get some proper rest on the bench first. We'll still need you on the court later."
Looking at Coach Anzai's kindly face, Hisashi Mitsui simply could not bring himself to refuse.
He also knew that both his legs were trembling. If he forced himself to keep playing, not only would it be hard to perform well, but his old injury might even flare up again.
The thought of the leg injury from his first year of high school sent waves of fear through Hisashi Mitsui.
His leg had actually healed long ago, but every time Hisashi Mitsui exercised, he never dared to give it his all, terrified that the injury would return.
Unless he overcame that psychological fear, Hisashi Mitsui would never return to his peak.
Hisashi Mitsui lowered his head and nodded silently, accepting Coach Anzai's arrangement.
Ryota Miyagi, who would get to play in the second half, was extremely fired up and loudly reassured Mitsui.
"Don't worry, Mitsui! I'll teach those Shoyo guys a lesson for you!"
The second half began. Apart from bringing on Kenji Fujima, Shoyo made no changes to their lineup.
For Shohoku, Ryota Miyagi replaced Hisashi Mitsui. Miyagi kept stretching, wanting to warm his body up quickly.
Hisashi Mitsui sat on the bench with a towel draped over his head. His eyes were not even on the court, and there was no telling what he was thinking.
Kazushi Hasegawa looked at Hisashi Mitsui on the bench and shook his head disdainfully. He believed Mitsui had already given up.
That once-insufferably arrogant man had ultimately fallen to Kazushi Hasegawa's invincible defense, and Hasegawa's expression grew even more cocky.
This time, Ryota Kudo stood opposite Kazushi Hasegawa. Although Kudo had put on a dominant performance in the first half, Hasegawa still taunted him arrogantly.
"Ryota Kudo, you won't score a single point from here on out. I'll show you what despair means!"
Ryota Kudo, who was waiting for the jump ball, was stunned. He had always thought Kazushi Hasegawa was an earnest, low-key person.
He had never expected the guy to start talking trash the moment they matched up. Of course, Ryota Kudo was not going to let that slide.
Giving Kazushi Hasegawa a cold glare, Ryota Kudo shot back disdainfully, "Is that so? Just watch how I destroy you!"
Kazushi Hasegawa's strengths were his long arms and legs, along with good defensive awareness and lateral quickness. He was an excellent wing defender.
But his weakness was just as obvious: his movement speed was too slow. Someone like Ryota Kudo, who had both physical prowess and skill, was the perfect counter to him.
In Slam Dunk World, possession at the start of the second half was still decided by a jump ball. Takenori Akagi and Toru Hanagata once again stood on opposite sides of the center circle.
Having committed a jump-ball violation in the first half, Takenori Akagi felt even more pressure this time. Ryota Kudo could see the sweat on his forehead from beside him.
Tweet! The game began, and the basketball was tossed into the air.
Takenori Akagi was much steadier this time. He waited until the ball started descending before leaping with all his strength.
This time, Takenori Akagi won the jump ball and tipped it toward Ryota Miyagi.
The instant Takenori Akagi touched the ball first, Ryota Kudo was already sprinting at full speed.
Kazushi Hasegawa reacted a second later. By the time he started chasing, he was already a body length behind, and the gap kept growing.
The moment Ryota Miyagi received the ball, he hurled it upcourt. His passing ability was unquestionably top-class, and the ball landed directly in Ryota Kudo's path.
This was not some spur-of-the-moment idea from Ryota Kudo, but a jump-ball play Shohoku had practiced many times.
Ryota Kudo caught the ball with no one ahead of him. He even deliberately glanced back at Kazushi Hasegawa, who was still chasing hard.
Then Ryota Kudo leaped and hammered home a one-handed dunk for two points.
Ryota Kudo did not celebrate the basket at all. He immediately headed back on defense.
As he passed Ryota Miyagi, however, Ryota Kudo exchanged a high five with him.
"Great pass, Miyagi!"
On Shoyo's possession, Kenji Fujima boldly stepped forward with the ball, entering Ryota Miyagi's stealing range. It looked as though he was ready to go all out on offense.
Against the taller and faster Ryota Kudo, Kenji Fujima had not rashly tried to attack on his own. He had spent a long time observing from the bench, and Kudo's defense was top-class as well.
This quarterfinal was a single-elimination game. Shoyo had no room for trial and error.
Now that his defender had changed to the 168-centimeter Ryota Miyagi, Kenji Fujima naturally became bolder on offense.
Ryota Miyagi's defense was not bad at all. He kept reaching out to try to steal the basketball from Kenji Fujima, but fell just short each time.
Suddenly, Kenji Fujima bent low and drove with the ball, instantly finding a tiny opening to shoot.
He pulled up for a midrange jumper and sank it cleanly.
On Shoyo's next possession, Kenji Fujima completed a handoff with Mitsuru Nagano. Using his 191-centimeter teammate's screen, he launched a three-pointer and sank that too.
This was what made Kenji Fujima so formidable. He did not look all that strong, and neither his speed nor his defense matched Ryota Miyagi's, yet his excellent all-around skills and sense of rhythm allowed him to deliver an MVP-level performance.
For several minutes, the teams traded baskets in a back-and-forth battle, but Shohoku still held the overall advantage thanks to their rebounding king, Hanamichi Sakuragi.
They were all high school players, so their shooting percentages were not actually that high. Rebounds were extremely important. Controlling the rebounds was as good as controlling the game.
By now, Hanamichi Sakuragi had already grabbed twelve rebounds. Toru Hanagata could put up no resistance against him.
The only potential threat was that Hanamichi Sakuragi already had three fouls.
Ryota Kudo considered reminding Sakuragi, but quickly held back.
The title of Foul King infuriated Hanamichi Sakuragi. If he told him to watch his fouls, Ryota Kudo worried that he would become overly cautious instead and fail to play to his true ability.
On the next possession, Shoyo's power forward Shoichi Takano received the basketball and quickly made a pump fake.
The fake was very obvious, and most players would not have fallen for it, but it was unusually effective against a basketball novice like Hanamichi Sakuragi.
Without the slightest hesitation, Hanamichi Sakuragi stepped forward and slapped Shoichi Takano's arm.
Tweet! The whistle sounded immediately.
"Shohoku number ten, foul on the arm! Fourth personal foul!"
"Ah! I'm done for!" Hanamichi Sakuragi dropped to his knees, clutching his head in anguish. He could already foresee what would happen next.
So far, Hanamichi Sakuragi had fouled out with five fouls before the end of every game. He truly did not want it to happen again.
And in the stands, Shoyo's cheer squad began chanting in unison.
"Foul King, foul out with five!"
"Foul King, foul out with five!"
Somewhat worried, Ryota Kudo pulled Hanamichi Sakuragi to his feet and patiently advised him, "Stay calm, Sakuragi. Even if you really do foul out with five, it's no big deal.
Just play normally from here. Don't think too much."
Whether Hanamichi Sakuragi actually took Ryota Kudo's advice to heart, however, was anyone's guess.
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