Five minutes later, Kainan Team had cut the deficit to just two points through Soichiro Jin's stamina-draining off-ball movement strategy.
After sinking his final three-pointer, Soichiro Jin was about to return to his room when his legs suddenly gave out, and he dropped to his knees.
Soichiro Jin struggled, trying to stand, but his legs could no longer move.
Looking at the scoreboard, where Kainan still trailed by two, Soichiro Jin clenched his fists in frustration.
"Damn it! If only I'd trained harder..."
Shinichi Maki hurried over and helped Soichiro Jin up, comforting him. "You've already done a great job, Jin. Leave the rest to us!"
At the same time, the referee's whistle sounded. "Kainan Team requests a substitution!"
A short player rose from Kainan's bench. He carefully put on his goggles and loosened up his body.
This little guy was no compact powerhouse. He was as skinny as a stick figure. He was Kainan Team's special weapon—Yoshinori Miyamasu.
Yoshinori Miyamasu stood 160 centimeters tall, weighed 42 kilograms, and wore number 15 for Kainan Team. His specialty was an accurate three-point shot.
Aside from that, the short player had virtually nothing going for him.
For instance, as he came onto the court to replace Soichiro Jin, Yoshinori Miyamasu ran incredibly slowly, and his strange running form gave an impression of awkwardness.
Even stranger, after entering the game, Yoshinori Miyamasu actually positioned himself in front of Hanamichi Sakuragi.
Hanamichi Sakuragi stared wide-eyed at Yoshinori Miyamasu before him, wondering whether Kainan Team was looking down on a basketball genius like him.
Only Ryota Kudo knew this part of the story. Coach Takato had specifically deployed Yoshinori Miyamasu to target basketball novice Hanamichi Sakuragi.
Somewhat unbelievably, in the original story, Hanamichi Sakuragi really had struggled badly against Yoshinori Miyamasu's defense.
It was genuinely hard to understand how a 188-centimeter player could fail to score inside against a frail little guy who stood 160 centimeters tall.
Still, to prevent Hanamichi Sakuragi from doing anything bizarre, Ryota Kudo stepped forward and called for the ball himself.
After tangling with Shinichi Maki for so long, Ryota Kudo had long since grown irritated.
Even though his opponent was a player he really liked, Ryota Kudo no longer intended to spare him any embarrassment.
Having played pickup basketball in Tokyo's parks for so long, he had faced plenty of players far more physical than Shinichi Maki.
Many pickup players were not only more physical than Shinichi Maki, but also played nowhere near as cleanly, constantly resorting to dirty little tricks.
So Ryota Kudo had plenty of ways to handle this kind of defense.
Outside the referee's line of sight, Ryota Kudo suddenly gave Shinichi Maki a hard shove with his hand.
In a physical battle like two bulls locking horns, little tricks like this were extremely useful.
With that, Ryota Kudo successfully created an opening to receive a pass and shouted a reminder. "Over here!"
Ryota Miyagi had been about to pass to Hanamichi Sakuragi so he could attack Yoshinori Miyamasu, but upon hearing the call, he immediately passed to Ryota Kudo.
After successfully catching the ball, Ryota Kudo immediately assumed a triple-threat stance.
He raised his hands, pretending to shoot. With a gap already opened between them, Shinichi Maki had no choice but to jump for the block.
The next second, Ryota Kudo blew past Shinichi Maki and charged into the paint.
Only Yoshinori Miyamasu stood in Ryota Kudo's path now. He showed no fear, instead waving both hands with all his might.
Ryota Kudo was no basketball beginner like Hanamichi Sakuragi. Without hesitation, he charged straight at Yoshinori Miyamasu's defense.
Leaping high, Ryota Kudo easily dunked over Yoshinori Miyamasu, knocking him to the floor.
At the same time, the referee blew his whistle. "Kainan Team number 15, foul on the arm! The basket counts, with one additional free throw!"
Showing no mercy, Ryota Kudo looked down at Yoshinori Miyamasu.
On the sideline, Coach Takato's expression changed, visibly growing flustered.
He wondered how Ryota Kudo had seen through his plan. If this continued, there would be little point in keeping Yoshinori Miyamasu on the court.
Standing at the free-throw line, Ryota Kudo waited for the referee to signal the start of the free throw.
Just then, Hanamichi Sakuragi sidled over to Ryota Kudo with a secretive air and whispered.
"Kudo, that was way too harsh. You sent that little guy flying.
"But weren't you scared at all? I thought that little guy was Kainan Team's secret weapon and had some special ability, but he turned out to be a paper tiger."
Ryota Kudo looked at Hanamichi Sakuragi in amusement. "What's there to be scared of? Isn't this how basketball should be played? Just go for it!"
The free throw went in, stretching the lead back to five points.
On the next possession, Kainan Team went on offense, and Shinichi Maki dribbled across half court.
This time, the defender facing him was Ryota Kudo, while Ryota Miyagi stayed tight to Yoshinori Miyamasu.
Ryota Kudo had arranged this as they retreated on defense. He had also told Ryota Miyagi to watch out for the other player's three-pointer and never give him a chance to shoot.
With the incredibly quick Ryota Miyagi, an excellent perimeter defender, guarding him, Ryota Kudo felt completely at ease.
Now that Soichiro Jin had also left the court exhausted, Kainan Team had very few scoring options.
Guarding Shinichi Maki in front of him, Ryota Kudo grew fired up. He even started talking trash to Shinichi Maki.
"Old man, looks like we're winning this one. Kainan doesn't have a chance anymore."
"Is that so?!" Shinichi Maki suddenly accelerated and slammed into Ryota Kudo's chest, forcing Ryota Kudo an involuntary step backward.
Shinichi Maki pulled straight up for a midrange jumper, and the ball struck the rim before dropping in.
Although shooting was not Shinichi Maki's greatest strength, his shot was by no means poor.
In particular, his midrange jumper after contact was one of Shinichi Maki's main scoring weapons.
On the next possession, Shohoku Team attacked, and Ryota Kudo received the ball beyond the three-point line.
"Sakuragi!" Ryota Kudo raised a hand, calling Hanamichi Sakuragi over for a pick-and-roll.
High school games in Slam Dunk World rarely employed tactics, relying primarily on isolation play, but they still used simple tactics like the pick-and-roll.
Having often practiced this pick-and-roll play before, Hanamichi Sakuragi ran over smoothly to set a screen for Ryota Kudo.
With a between-the-legs dribble, Ryota Kudo changed direction and slipped past Hanamichi Sakuragi.
Shinichi Maki, pursuing him, was blocked by Hanamichi Sakuragi and could only watch Ryota Kudo drive into the paint.
Kazuma Takasago had now switched to guarding Kaede Rukawa. Under heavy defensive pressure, he had no attention to spare for Ryota Kudo's drive.
In other words, Yoshinori Miyamasu was now the only one left defending the paint.
Ryota Kudo continued picking on Yoshinori Miyamasu this time, going up strong for a layup.
Yoshinori Miyamasu tried hard to rotate over and defend Ryota Kudo, even wrapping his arms around Ryota Kudo as he rushed past.
With someone weighing over 40 kilograms hanging on him, it was about the same intensity as Ryota Kudo's usual weighted layup training. He easily jumped and laid the ball into the basket.
Inevitably, the referee's whistle sounded again. This was another chance for a three-point play.
Ryota Kudo landed steadily. He even had enough strength to slowly lower Yoshinori Miyamasu, who was hanging on him, preventing him from falling and getting hurt.
On the sideline, Coach Takato was so angry that he slammed the fan in his hand onto the floor. He stood up, wanting to substitute Yoshinori Miyamasu immediately.
But then, remembering that Yoshinori Miyamasu's role was not on defense, Coach Takato sat back down in a huff.
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