On the sidelines, Shinichi Maki frowned and pondered, " Moroboshi is starting to struggle." Nobunaga Kiyota looked puzzled, "Huh? Didn't he just draw a foul?" Shinichi Maki shook his head, "I mean he called for a pick-and-roll this possession. A pick-and-roll means a change in formation, which can easily disrupt the rhythm of the shooters. Obviously, Shirasawa is putting too much pressure on him defensively."
"Now it's getting harder and harder for him to attack or pass, which is why he needs to use pick-and-rolls to slow things down." Nobunaga Kiyota stroked his chin and nodded. "That's true. In the last few possessions, he's reduced his drives to Shirasawa and even forced a three-pointer." He paused and then asked, " Shirasawa has broken through Dai Moroboshi's rhythm offense so quickly?"
Shinichi Maki continued to ponder, "Completely cracking it is unlikely, even Moroboshi himself probably doesn't know his own rhythm... but he most likely won't let Moroboshi pass so easily."
As Shinichi Maki said, the pressure on Shirasawa on the defensive end is increasing. This makes Dai Moroboshi even more eager to get Akagi off the court so that Shirasawa can expend more energy on offense and have more freedom on defense. With Akagi committing this foul, Coach Anzai decisively called a timeout - the primary purpose was to calm Akagi down, otherwise the more worried he was, the more likely he was to make mistakes.
Coach Anzai looked at Akagi: " Akagi, you'll be Aiwa's primary target from now on. You need to be extra careful on both offense and defense. Your presence on the court is a threat to them; you don't necessarily have to do anything." Akagi pondered for a moment, "A feint?" Coach Anzai nodded. "Yes, your responsibility is to draw the defense. Avoiding fouls is your top priority. On defense too, if Dai Moroboshi tries to drive in again, Sakuragi, find the right moment to intercept."
Hanamichi Sakuragi had a frustrating day. Although he dunked twice, his rebounds were pitifully few, only managing two so far... This is hardly exciting for a rebounding fanatic. It's not that Sakuragi couldn't grab rebounds, but rather that there were simply no rebounds to be had—on offense, Akagi and Shirasawa were the main offensive force, and Takayuki Otomo and Dai Moroboshi couldn't contain their scoring at all; on defense, Aiwa's shooting was too accurate, almost always going straight in, giving him no chance to grab rebounds. At least Sakuragi had two, while Akagi still had zero rebounds...
The timeout ended, and both teams returned to the court. Dai Moroboshi took two free throws and made both, continuing to add points for his team. Shirasawa organized the offense, and just as Coach Anzai had predicted, Takayuki Otomo became particularly "soft" at this moment, as if he could be pushed far away with the slightest effort—his intention was obvious, he wanted to draw a foul! Seeing this, Akagi smiled slightly, already knowing what was going on.
Shirasawa faked a Buddhist bow move, then immediately broke through after striking Dai Moroboshi, sending the ball towards Akagi with his large hand. Takayuki Otomo quickly half-circled to defend, leaving the paint open, but Shirasawa suddenly pulled the ball back with increased force, rising to his feet. Aiwa's power forward Sakichi Nakata Sakukichi, came to help defend, but Shirasawa sidestepped and passed the ball behind his back, landing it securely in Sakuragi's arms. Sakuragi caught the ball, rose, and immediately slammed it home!
On the sidelines, Eiji Sawakita watched with rapt attention. "He's playing so smoothly, it's like he can see right through every defender... no, he can see right through everyone on the court. He knows his teammates' positions, can predict the opponents' movements, and can make decisions in that instant. He's an incredible player."
Sawakita kept saying he admired Shirasawa's playing style, and that Shirasawa's style was particularly elegant, even more so than Sawakita's, which annoyed Masashi Kawata to no end. "Alright, alright, why don't you challenge him to a one-on-one match? If we're talking about teams, Shohoku would probably have a hard time matching us."
Masashi Kawata's statement wasn't without merit—firstly, it was uncertain whether Shohoku could even get past Aiwa, and even if they did, their next opponent was Hakata Shodai Affiliated! In Big Kawata's view, only Hakata Shodai School could advance to the end in the left half of the bracket. Given the current situation on the court, Big Kawata felt that while Shirasawa was strong, he wasn't strong enough to single-handedly decide the game. Sawakita, however, smiled faintly, "You underestimate Shirasawa."
"Speaking of one-on-one duels... I've fought another guy from Kanagawa before, and I reckon it won't be long before we see him here."
Eiji Sawakita secured the title of the nation's number one high school player in his first year of high school, a title that had little to do with his time playing for Sannoh Industrial High School. Otherwise, a lot of people would definitely be unconvinced: Why? A rookie, just someone who scored a few more points on the championship team, dares to call himself the number one high school player? But in reality, there were almost no dissenting voices, because no one was truly convinced. Shinichi Maki, Dai Moroboshi, and even his own teammate Masashi Kawata, all of whom were top-ranked players nationwide, believed that Sawakita's title of "nation's number one" was genuine and without any exaggeration!
To put it simply, Dai Moroboshi Aiwa, only made it to the semifinals. But if Dai Moroboshi were replaced by Sawakita, Aiwa could very well challenge for the championship. That's why Goro Domoto dares to say that the current Sannoh is the strongest in history, all because of Eiji Sawakita on the team. His top-notch individual ability can turn many impossible things into possible.
But now, Sawakita saw in Shirasawa a special quality that only players of their caliber possessed. It was something that couldn't be described specifically; it was just a feeling. Sawakita already felt that Shirasawa was a player who could go toe-to-toe with him. This was the first time in Sawakita's two years of high school that he had had this thought.
As for Masashi Kawata, his assessment wasn't entirely wrong. Shirasawa hadn't truly exerted himself yet, and seemed roughly on par with Dai Moroboshi. In fact, one could argue that his passing was significantly better than Dai Moroboshi's, but in terms of scoring, he was perhaps slightly inferior. After all, Dai Moroboshi was currently on fire, having already scored 16 points; at this rate, scoring over 40 points a game would be a piece of cake. Shirasawa, on the other hand, had only managed 10 points so far—this was the most direct comparison.
However, Big Kawata soon had to reassess his views.
The offense and defense on the court continued. Aiwa's small forward, Tōji Jun, used his teammate's off-ball screen to create a small half-step distance from Hisashi Mitsui. The moment he received the ball, he threw it out with lightning speed! The release speed was ridiculously fast, and the movement looked a bit distorted, but Mitsui's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself, "This shot is almost guaranteed to go in!"
Because Aiwa are shooting so smoothly right now, completely in their own rhythm. Once a shooter finds this touch, sometimes even random shots are much more accurate than usual. A shooter in this state is simply terrifying, especially for a team like Aiwa and his team that relies on three-pointers; the shooting touch is contagious among shooters.
Just as Mitsui predicted, the basketball swished through the net.
"Damn it! We have to find a way to disrupt their offensive rhythm, otherwise we can't stop them at all!" Mitsui frowned anxiously.
"These guys are as slippery as eels, darting all over the court, impossible to catch!" Hanamichi Sakuragi stomped his feet in frustration. Aiwa's off-ball screens were too effective, always creating half a step to a step of space for his teammates, and the person who got the opportunity could use that space to shoot the ball. It wasn't that Sakuragi and his teammates weren't trying hard, it was just that Aiwa was too accurate!
Although Shohoku is currently leading by a few points, if Aiwa keeps shooting like this, it's only a matter of time before they're overtaken. And once they're overtaken, it could very well be a scoring surge that puts Shohoku completely on the back foot. As a shooter, Mitsui understands this perfectly.
The problem is, how do you stop it? Mitsui thought about it from another angle: if he were on such a hot streak, no one could stop him, just like when they played against Shoyo, even when Hasegawa was right in the face, the pitches still went in. Now, Aiwa's pitching group has that unstoppable momentum.
"Coach, we need to think of a way to limit Aiwa's three-point shooting!"
"I thought they'd go quiet after a few shots, but they're making one after another!"
"Judging from their previous games, Aiwa has never lost when they pitch in this form!"
On the bench, Kiminobu Kogure was extremely anxious, staring longingly at Coach Anzai.
"Heh, once a pitcher gets into a rhythm, even the toughest defense is like paper," Coach Anzai said calmly. "Even if we strengthen the defense now, it will be difficult to see results in the short term."
This reply almost drove Kogure crazy... Strengthening the defense didn't work, so are we just supposed to watch them shoot? How can you be so calm? We're not even leading by that many points! If we miss our shot and they get the chance to launch a fast break, that would be a real problem!
Coach Anzai gestured for Kogure to calm down, saying, "Don't worry, there's a way."
Upon hearing this, Kogure's eyes lit up instantly. "What's the plan?! We have to tell the team right away!"
Coach Anzai smiled confidently, "The best way is to be even more dominant than them, to overwhelm them with our offensive momentum! Once their strikers start to get anxious and their mentality wavers, their offensive will naturally break down."
Kogure was slightly taken aback. "You mean... an attack against an attack?"
Coach Anzai nodded. "That's right, defense is the foundation of the game." He paused, then continued, "But in certain moments, offense is the best defense. Just watch, Kogure, Xiao Bai's about to explode, hohoho~~~"
On the court, Shirasawa dribbled the ball forward. With Shirasawa's sharp mind, he had a clear understanding of the situation. Coach Anzai's intentions didn't need to be explicitly stated. His previous focus on feeding the ball to Akagi and Sakuragi was flawless; wouldn't it be foolish not to utilize a strong inside player?
But Aiwa and the shooting group suddenly erupted, catching Shirasawa completely off guard. Although Shohoku's defense wasn't weak, it was rare to see such a hot hand that was unstoppable. But it just happened. From the first three-pointer that went in cleanly, Aiwa and the guys were shooting more and more smoothly. If they weren't stopped, they might widen the score gap directly.
Looking at Coach Anzai.
On the court, Shirasawa dribbled the ball forward. With Shirasawa's sharp mind, he had a clear understanding of the situation on the court. Coach Anzai's intentions didn't need to be explicitly stated. He had previously focused on feeding the ball to Akagi and Sakuragi, which was a sound approach. It would be foolish not to use a strong inside player. But now that Aiwa's shooters were going so well, relying solely on the inside player wouldn't be enough. He needed to step up and set the pace.
Shirasawa suddenly lowered his center of gravity, and the force with which he dribbled the ball increased. Dai Moroboshi Xingda's eyelids twitched, and he immediately tensed up—this kid was clearly going to attack himself! But he was still unsure, after all, Shirasawa was a very cunning guy; one second he might be making a breakthrough stance, and the next second he might pass the ball to a teammate. Defending against him was enough to drain his brain cells.
Just as Dai Moroboshi hesitated whether to close the gap even tighter, Shirasawa suddenly burst forward! He accelerated past Dai Moroboshi on his right side with lightning speed. Dai Moroboshi barely managed to turn to block, but Shirasawa left him far behind. However, after only two steps, Shirasawa suddenly pulled back his foot, pulled the ball back to his left hand from behind, and deliberately swayed his upper body to the left.
Dai Moroboshi instinctively followed the block to the left, but Shirasawa instantly regained his balance, pushed off with his right foot, and darted past him on the right side cleanly, without even touching the hem of his clothes!