The game continued, and the Shohoku Team inbounded the ball again.
Ryota Kudo had barely received the ball when Kaede Rukawa charged forward like a wild horse breaking free of its reins. He was determined to prove himself today.
Even though this was only a practice game, no matter how well Kaede Rukawa performed, the outside world might never know, much less acknowledge it.
Ryota Kudo hurled the basketball in his hands, sending it slicing through the air and dropping into Kaede Rukawa's path.
With the ball in hand, Kaede Rukawa made a simple change-of-direction drive, leaving Kiccho Fukuda rooted to the spot.
Charging into the paint, Kaede Rukawa finished the fast break with a stylish one-handed slam.
On the bench, Kazushi Hasegawa folded his arms and scoffed disdainfully, "That defense was terrible. If it were me, I would never have let him score that."
Beside him was another defensive stalwart, Ryonan's vice-captain, Ryoji Ikegami, who spoke up for his teammate.
"Fukuda just isn't good at defense. I could have stopped that shot too. What's so impressive about that?"
"Really? Since you're so good, let's find some time to go one-on-one!"
"Sure, anytime!"
These two were actually old rivals who had faced each other last year, but both were defensive players, neither the type to shine on the court.
Now neither could even get into the game, so the two bored players could only argue with each other to pass the time.
As play resumed, Kiccho Fukuda stood out of bounds to inbound from the baseline. This time, Akira Sendoh did not run back to receive the ball. He pointed at Kenji Fujima, signaling for Fujima to run the offense.
This time, both Shoyo and Ryonan were ready to get serious. They had to put some pressure on Shohoku.
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