"Mind your own business." Sendoh shook his head with a wry smile.
Sendoh controlled the ball and advanced, stopping at the top of the arc after crossing halfway.
Coach Taoka's plan was clear: target Mitsui.
He positioned himself sideways to shield the ball from Shirasawa, and after the previous round, he dared not underestimate this guy's starting speed again.
" Sendoh -senpai, score that goal!" Hikoichi Aida clutched his notebook tightly on the sidelines.
He has mixed feelings today.
Hanamichi Sakuragi is his idol, but he happens to be on the opposite side... He hopes Ryonan will win, but he also doesn't want to see Sakuragi lose.
Moichi Taoka at Hikoichi: "Basketball isn't about fighting; winning is the only thing that matters."
"Even if someone scores fifty points, the team still loses." He gestured with his chin towards the stands. "See Shinichi Maki? He's a prime example."
Just then, Kaede Rukawa suddenly started moving!
He circled around the baseline, making a sharp half-circle, shaking off Mitsui and rushing to the right flank at a 45-degree angle.
Sendoh feinted a sudden attack and then passed the ball to the basket.
Kaede Rukawa caught the ball and turned around smoothly, and Mitsui was overtaken before he could even get his footing!
But Mitsui reacted extremely quickly; the instant he lost his position, he reached back to retrieve it.
That arm, like a whip, smacked the ball away with a "snap!"
Kaede Rukawa was startled.
How can something that's already missed be made up for?
This guy... is troublesome.
Mitsui raised his hand to signal to his teammates that he had missed a player, but his eyes gleamed.
Ryonan takes the ball in the attacking third.
Kaede Rukawa receives the ball high up the court and faces Mitsui again.
Mitsui took a half-step back this time, constantly interfering with the opponent's movements with one hand.
Kaede Rukawa tried to pry open the door twice but failed, so he simply turned his back and tried to overpower the opponent, using his physique to grind inside.
Although he doesn't like to pass the ball, he has excellent vision.
He had already seen that Miyagi was trying to sneak over to help with the defense.
With a sway of his shoulders, he flips over, lifts the ball, and throws!
He was very confident in this move; not to mention Mitsui, even if Michael Okita were to switch onto him, he might not be able to stop him.
But Mitsui gave him a "surprise".
Just as Kaede Rukawa raised the ball, a hand suddenly covered his face!
So close they were practically touching each other's eyelashes.
Anyone caught off guard by such a sudden, unexpected cover would feel a jolt in their heart.
Just like knowing it's a feint, you'd still close your eyes when it's actually happening—let alone Kaede Rukawa, who wasn't prepared at all.
Akagi had also used the "eye-sealing" technique on Hanagata, but his execution was far inferior to Mitsui's.
Kaede Rukawa was able to maintain his posture and throw the ball, which shows he has excellent mental fortitude.
As for the result...
when!
The ball bounced off the rim.
Akagi and Uozumi exerted their strength to block each other, their four arms intertwined. Uozumi a slight advantage in strength, but Akagi was more experienced in blocking techniques.
The two were locked in a fierce struggle, their four arms intertwined as they jumped upwards.
"Ah!!"
Hanamichi Sakuragi suddenly appeared from the side and snatched the rebound over the heads of the two centers.
In the stands, Nobunaga Kiyota, arms crossed, commented, " Shohoku's rebounding advantage is too obvious. Sakuragi and Shirasawa's jumping ability and strength are outrageous. Ryonan is likely to lose air superiority."
Jin chuckled beside him, "I think what we should be paying attention to is how this rebound came about... The key was Hisashi Mitsui's defense against Kaede Rukawa."
"Without his defense, Sakuragi wouldn't have gotten the rebound at all."
"I've experienced Mitsui's defense firsthand," Jin shook his head. "Even an offensive maniac like Kaede Rukawa wouldn't have an easy time getting the better of him."
In the game between Shohoku and Kainan, Mitsui was indeed severely restricted.
But Jin himself was the same.
The timing of their outbursts almost overlapped. If Mitsui had focused entirely on defense, Jin felt he would have had little impact throughout the entire game.
Sakuragi grabbed the rebound, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
He really hadn't expected that the unassuming guy in the Ikegami was so strong; in the last round, he had him so tightly bound that he couldn't even jump.
This is an utter disgrace to a genius.
" Xiao Bai!"
Without a second thought, Sakuragi grabbed the backboard and threw it towards Shirasawa.
In his simple and direct tactics, if you grab a rebound but don't have a chance to put it back in, passing it to Shirasawa immediately is always the right thing to do.
He's always used this trick, and it's never caused any problems.
Shirasawa always manages to turn rebounds into points.
But this time...
But then something went wrong!
Just as Sakuragi released the ball, a figure suddenly cut in front of him.
Sendoh appeared out of nowhere and snatched the ball away!
"Ugh!!" Sakuragi stomped his feet in anger.
After stealing the ball, Sendoh took a step and drove straight to the basket, getting up to go for the shot.
Forget about scolding Sakuragi for being careless, Takenori Akagi leaped forward and pounced!
The two collided in mid-air.
Akagi swung his hand and slapped the ball.
But he missed!
Just as he was about to touch the ball, Sendoh suddenly pulled back his hand, and the ball was passed to the side.
Akagi's eyes widened suddenly.
Uozumi!
By the time he realized what was happening, Uozumi had already caught the ball.
"Ugh!!"
Uozumi a roar, Uozumi leaped into the air!
The Ryonan bench players were practically jumping for joy. This shot had been so dramatic, it was finally going to go in.
But just then...
Hikoichi Aida, standing anxiously on the sidelines, cried out, " Shirasawa!! Watch out, Captain!!"
Before he could finish speaking, Uozumi's raised hands were already empty.
The moment Sendoh passed the ball, Shirasawa had already circled around to his side, and with a swift stroke, precisely sliced the ball away!
Uozumi froze in mid-air, completely helpless.
He landed in a daze, watching helplessly as Shirasawa dribbled the ball away.
For centers, getting the ball stolen under the basket is not uncommon.
Therefore, tall players usually prefer to raise their arms high and hit the ball, without lowering their hands, in order to defend against this hand.
But Uozumi is different; he has always been confident in his own abilities.
Especially when he's putting all his effort into dunking, the basketball can be deformed in his hands.
That's exactly what happened.
But Shirasawa actually managed to steal the ball away...
Uozumi even began to question the meaning of life.
"Good shot! Go Xiao Bai!"
The entire Shohoku bench jumped up.
They successfully defended against two attacks from Ryonan in one round. If they were to launch a counterattack, their morale would be shattered.
Shirasawa grabbed the ball and charged forward...
Sendoh and Kaede Rukawa chased after them closely, one on the left and one on the right.
The three players, like an arrowhead, charged straight into the attacking third!
This was the first time the Ryonan Twin Stars had faced off against Shirasawa head-on, and the entire audience cheered.
The Twin Stars both possess top-tier physical abilities. Even if Shirasawa is fast, he can't be much faster, especially with the ball in his hand. The distance between the three is gradually decreasing.
Shirasawa crosses the free-throw line and starts shooting!
Upon seeing this, the Twin Stars simultaneously pushed off the ground, preparing to lock him completely in mid-air!
step,
The three moved in unison, with Kaede Rukawa's arm already swung wide, ready to jump and block the shot.
Two steps!
Kaede Rukawa took to the air first, forming the first line of defense.
Sendoh jumped a beat too late, trying to defend against Shirasawa's attempt to stay airborne.
But Shirasawa... actually stopped!
Yes, he took two steps and then abruptly stopped, pretending to aim for the basket with his hands, but his feet were still firmly planted on the ground!
The Twin Stars were completely stunned.
What's going on here??
Traveling? Have they given up on the attack?
Not only those two, but everyone in the stadium, even the Shohoku team members, were stunned.
But no one noticed that the two referees were staring at Shirasawa's feet the whole time, and the whistle never blew.
Then Shirasawa turned around, and without even jumping, casually tossed it aside—
The ball went into the basket.
Shirasawa's relaxed demeanor was infuriating compared to Sendoh and Kaede Rukawa, who were still in a defensive stance in mid-air.
The sound of the ball hitting the net was exceptionally crisp.
The ball went in, and the two players had just found their footing outside the baseline. All eyes in the stadium immediately turned to the referee, waiting for an explanation.
On the Shohoku bench, Coach Anzai, holding a teacup, cheerfully remarked, "No traveling, good play."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the referee made a gesture – a clean downward chop with two fingers!
No problem, the goal stands!
The referee's whistle never lies, and Shohoku immediately erupted in chaos. No one had expected that the first encounter between Shirasawa and Ryonan's two aces would end so... casually.
Just now, it seemed like Sendoh and Kaede Rukawa were completely outmaneuvered by him. He made it look like he didn't exert any effort at all, easily fooling them into oblivion before casually tossing the ball away.
It's only two points; the difference isn't that big.
But this loss of face was truly humiliating!
In that instant, countless possible ways Shirasawa could attack flashed through Kaede Rukawa and Sendoh's minds. They were giving it their all, their defensive coordination was flawless, and their timing for jumping was impeccable.
In their view, whoever dared to jump and shoot just now, the ball was definitely in the bag!
This was practically the most perfect combined defense the two of them could think of.
However, the result was completely different.
In the stands, Shinichi Maki watched the game with admiration in his eyes, and couldn't help but sigh, " Shirasawa is that kind of player. You think he has a hundred ways to beat you, but he'll pull out the hundred and first one."
Never try to anticipate his attack, because he anticipates even yours.
That's incredibly high praise; even towards Eiji Sawakita, Maki hadn't said that. Of course, this is undoubtedly related to the fact that Shirasawa once scored a whopping 59 points against him.
"That's true, Maki," Jin chimed in, still a little shaken by the match. "But I always felt like he only used one method when he fought you..."
Where did these 101 variations come from? From beginning to end, it's all about one word—recklessness!
Upon hearing this, Shinichi Maki simply smiled enigmatically, "That's what you've seen. You'll never truly understand how strong Shirasawa is unless you face him head-on."
"Honestly... I really want to fight him again. Let's cast aside all the rules and baggage, and just have a pure, brutal battle."
On the court, Shirasawa has already scored 4 points in a row.
Almost single-handedly, he stirred up the storm in this suffocating offensive and defensive rhythm. In the first few rounds, apart from Shirasawa's miraculous shot, neither Shohoku nor Ryonan had an easy moment.
A true clash of titans.
As for Ryonan, they haven't opened a single point yet.
This situation was quite different from what Coach Moichi Taoka had analyzed before the game. He never expected that Kaede Rukawa would fail to break through Mitsui's defense in the first instance!
However, he remains confident in his pre-match assessment. A win or loss in one or two rounds doesn't mean anything.
"Attack! Play this round well!" Coach Taoka stood up and shouted at the field.
Sendoh dribbled the ball forward past half-court, his eyes scanning his teammates' runs.