After giving up two consecutive baskets, even the calm and composed Yoshinori Miyamasu began to doubt himself a little.
Yoshinori Miyamasu turned toward Coach Takato, wanting to ask for his next instructions, but Coach Takato merely nodded at him, signaling for him to continue with the plan.
Although he had very little talent, one major reason Yoshinori Miyamasu could survive on the highly demanding Kainan team was that he followed instructions extremely well.
No matter how difficult a task Coach Takato assigned him, Yoshinori Miyamasu would carry it out to the letter.
Once Ryota Kudo made his free throw, Yoshinori Miyamasu ran slowly but steadily toward Shohoku's half.
Shinichi Maki dribbled across half court, probing for a drive while keeping an eye on Yoshinori Miyamasu's position.
But Ryota Miyagi was guarding Yoshinori Miyamasu tightly, and with Miyamasu's athletic ability, he had no chance of shaking his defender.
Shinichi Maki could only rely on himself. He deliberately moved closer to Ryota Miyagi, once again using his body to bump Ryota Kudo aside.
Ryota Miyagi instinctively moved his feet, trying to come over and help Ryota Kudo on defense.
The next second, Shinichi Maki passed the ball into Yoshinori Miyamasu's hands.
Without even needing to adjust, Yoshinori Miyamasu took a brief look at the basket, then rose for a jump shot. His shooting motion was fluid and soft.
Swish! The ball went cleanly through the net. Yoshinori Miyamasu did not celebrate, immediately starting to run back.
Yoshinori Miyamasu knew he ran slower than the others. To avoid holding his teammates back, he needed to keep moving constantly on the court.
After letting Yoshinori Miyamasu sink a three, Ryota Miyagi apologized to Ryota Kudo, filled with guilt.
"Sorry, Kudo. It was all my fault. You already told me to watch out for his threes, and I still..."
"It's all right, Miyagi." Ryota Kudo stepped forward and put an arm around Ryota Miyagi's shoulders. Despite having just conceded a basket, his face was full of delight.
"Trust me, Miyagi. I can stop Shinichi Maki.
"Kainan has no more tricks up its sleeve. As long as you shut down number 15's threes, Miyagi, today's victory will definitely belong to Shohoku!"
"Leave it to me, Kudo. I won't let that number 15 score another point!" Swept up in Ryota Kudo's enthusiasm, Ryota Miyagi instantly caught fire too.
As his emotions built to a certain point, Ryota Kudo let out a loud roar.
"Let's go, Shohoku!"
The five players on the court and everyone on Shohoku's Bench all shouted.
"Let's go, Shohoku! Let's go, Shohoku!"
Coach Anzai watched Ryota Kudo with great satisfaction, increasingly convinced that Ryota Kudo was the basketball genius he had been searching for.
At Coach Anzai's home was a box containing a Growth Handbook. This handbook recorded all the basketball experience Coach Anzai had gained during his playing days.
Originally, Coach Anzai had prepared this handbook for Ryuji Yazawa, his beloved pupil from his time coaching college basketball. Because of Ryuji Yazawa's death, the handbook had sat gathering dust in that box for many years.
Now, Coach Anzai's appreciation for talent stirred once more, and he felt an urge to give the handbook to Ryota Kudo.
Setting aside matters off the court for now, Shohoku's five players were riding a wave of momentum.
Ryota Kudo took control of the ball before he even crossed half court. The moment he reached the area outside Kainan's three-point line, Shinichi Maki was already pressing up against him.
But Ryota Kudo used the same trick again, beckoning Hanamichi Sakuragi over for another pick-and-roll.
Ryota Kudo and Hanamichi Sakuragi executed the pick-and-roll with practiced coordination, easily beating Shinichi Maki's defense two-on-one again.
Charging toward the physically weak Yoshinori Miyamasu inside, Ryota Kudo was just about to exploit him again when he caught sight of Tadashi Muto racing over to help out of the corner of his eye.
Without hesitation, Ryota Kudo passed the basketball to Hisashi Mitsui, who was waiting along the baseline.
Given a rare open three-point opportunity, Hisashi Mitsui fired without hesitation, claiming another three points for Shohoku.
"Nice work, Mitsy!" Hanamichi Sakuragi shouted with a laugh as he ran back.
Normally, if Hanamichi Sakuragi dared to call him Mitsy, Hisashi Mitsui would definitely have turned on him.
But right now, Hisashi Mitsui did not care about such trivial things at all. He simply exchanged a celebratory high five with Ryota Kudo as he retreated on defense.
By now, Kainan's morale had hit rock bottom. Apart from Shinichi Maki, everyone had a feeling they would lose today.
"Don't give up. Let's score on this possession first!" Shinichi Maki's expression remained as calm as ever. This was not the first time he had faced such a difficult situation.
At last year's National Tournament, when Kainan faced Sannoh Industrial High School, the sense of despair had been even stronger than it was now.
But even then, Shinichi Maki had never given up, let alone against Shohoku today.
As he dribbled across half court, Ryota Kudo immediately appeared in front of Shinichi Maki.
This made Shinichi Maki extremely uncomfortable, and he could not help frowning.
With Shinichi Maki's physique, even Kazunari Fukatsu of Sannoh Industrial High School could not contain him one-on-one.
Only this monster in front of him could do it. Apart from being somewhat weaker in strength, Ryota Kudo surpassed Shinichi Maki in both height and speed.
So, as long as Ryota Kudo was willing to go all out, he was fully capable of containing Shinichi Maki on his own.
Against Ryota Kudo, Shinichi Maki had no other option. He could only move forward and engage him in a physical battle.
Even from the stands, the sound of colliding muscles could be heard, along with the sweat flying across the court.
Another fierce collision knocked Ryota Kudo half a meter back.
At that very moment, Ryota Miyagi seemed to repeat his earlier mistake, moving his feet to come over and help on defense.
In an instant, Shinichi Maki dished the ball to Yoshinori Miyamasu, who prepared to rise for a three-pointer.
But this time, Ryota Miyagi had only feinted. The very next second, he immediately ran back to defend Yoshinori Miyamasu.
The moment Yoshinori Miyamasu released his three-point shot, Ryota Miyagi leaped high and slapped the basketball, recording one of his rare blocks.
Although the blocked ball landed closer to Yoshinori Miyamasu, the faster Ryota Miyagi still got to it first.
"Fast break!" Ryota Miyagi shouted, flinging the basketball toward Kainan's half.
A graceful figure sprinted out, with a "Wild Monkey" running beside him.
With his keen instincts, Kaede Rukawa had immediately broken into a full sprint, while the athletically gifted Nobunaga Kiyota had followed right away.
The facts proved that without Ryota Kudo on Shohoku's team, Kaede Rukawa was the undisputed ace, with first-rate offensive skills.
Fighting through Nobunaga Kiyota's defense, Kaede Rukawa scored on a double-clutch layup.
As the ball went in, Kaede Rukawa's fans in the stands, collectively known as the Rukawa Fan Club, screamed at the top of their lungs, "L-O-V-E Rukawa!"
More than a dozen girls in short skirts also began performing the sultry "Kaede Rukawa's Special Cheer Dance" with high leg kicks.
Even Haruko Akagi, who had just been cheering for Hanamichi Sakuragi, immediately switched sides, continually murmuring to herself, "Kaede Rukawa is so handsome..."
"Damn it! That damned stinking fox!" Hanamichi Sakuragi was certainly the angriest. He wanted female fans like that too.
Of course, right now, Hanamichi Sakuragi only liked Haruko Akagi. Having her alone cheer for him would be enough.
Before you continue