As a result, Ken Hoshino a high layup, and the basketball landed smoothly in the basket, leaving Takenori Akagi with an open shot. This is Ken Hoshino's face-up offensive ability; he has many tricks up his sleeve, and it's not easy to limit him.
In two consecutive possessions, Hakata Shodai scored using the pick-and-roll combination of their Twin Stars, with each player contributing a basket. The power of the pick-and-roll was now fully on display.
The Shohoku Team players all knew that while the pick-and-roll looked simple and anyone could do it, the effect was completely different when Hajime Chiba and Ken Hoshino played it. Their teamwork didn't feel like two people playing, but more like one. This tacit understanding greatly increased the power of their pick-and-roll, just like what they saw on the videotapes.
When it was Shohoku Team's turn to attack, Hajime Chiba's defensive style was quite unique. Unlike Michael Okita, who relied on physical confrontation and steals to disrupt opponents, his pressure came entirely from his speed. Even if you managed to get past him, he could appear next to you at any time, and if you weren't careful, he could steal the ball.
Shirasawa had to be on high alert, keeping a close eye on Hajime Chiba's movements. He forced his way through the arc again, drawing Ryutaro's help defense after reaching the paint. Just as Shirasawa was about to pass the ball to Takenori Akagi, Hajime Chiba's " Ghost hand" reappeared out of nowhere!
This forced Shirasawa to gather the ball again. He had originally intended to pass, but now he switched back to a breakthrough. He took a sudden step, stood up, and braced himself against Ryutaro's defense in mid-air, scoring the goal.
Shirasawa has made all three of his shots so far, scoring 7 points on his own. However, this is not something to be happy about, because the Hakata Shodai caravan has successfully cut off Shirasawa's connection with his teammates!
The score became 7-4, with Shohoku Team temporarily in the lead, but only by one round.
Possession changed hands again, and the Hakata Shodai team didn't come up with anything new, sticking to the same old routine—local two-on-two plays, it was practically the same old thing no matter how many times it was played. What kind of storms hadn't Shirasawa weathered on the defensive end? He'd gone toe-to-toe with Shinichi Maki, compared skills with Akira Sendoh, and battled rhythm with Dai Moroboshi. Even with Tsuyoshi Minami, they'd at least gone toe-to-toe with "tactics"... But Hajime Chiba was completely different; he relied on pick-and-rolls.
The seamless pick-and-roll switching between him and Ken Hoshino could generate countless offensive options with a single screen, making it impossible to predict their true moves. This time, after setting the screen, Ken Hoshino ran straight to the baseline for a mid-range jump shot, which went in cleanly once again, leaving Hanamichi Sakuragi completely out of the water.
On the sidelines, Moichi Taoka frowned slightly and couldn't help but mutter, "Tsk tsk, Shohoku is in trouble now... This Twin Stars ' pick-and-roll is simply unstoppable, unless there are two Shirasawa on the court. Sakuragi... that kid is still a bit too green." Although he said this, he actually hoped that Sakuragi would prove him wrong.
" Sakuragi, don't get distracted, stay focused!" Takenori Akagi reminded Sakuragi on the court as usual.
He reminded Sakuragi almost every time, the only time he didn't was when Sakuragi was injured and had to leave the game against Kainan. During that time, Hanamichi Sakuragi was practically a god descending to earth. Of course, that was a special case. Sakuragi's emotions were prone to extreme highs and lows, so he really needed Akagi, the captain, to keep him in check. Like now, Sakuragi was clearly getting a little impatient.
Ken Hoshino actually scored 4 points against him, which is completely inconsistent with his "genius" persona...
"I know! That bald bastard, I'll definitely stop him next time!" Hanamichi Sakuragi gritted his teeth and swore fiercely.
Hakata Shodai Affiliated didn't treat Shohoku as an ordinary team. While Shohoku was studying them, they also thoroughly understood Shohoku, listing the characteristics of each player. For example, Hanamichi Sakuragi was described as "brainless and only good at jumping," with his offensive range limited to dunks... Ryota Miyagi, on the other hand, was described as having relatively weak outside shooting ability, and so on.
Therefore, they are very targeted on the defensive end, which makes their aggressive defense even more impenetrable. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Shirasawa. After investigation and analysis, they found that Shirasawa's only weakness is that he has no weaknesses... There's nothing you can do about that. If he wants to score, you can only let him score and then find other ways to compensate for it.
Shohoku Team launched an attack, and this time Shirasawa did not choose to break through directly, but instead began to roam the court. He wanted to use his attraction and movement to break down the opponent's defense.
He started his advance from the left flank, bypassing Hisashi Mitsui and moving inside. Then he ran to the high position near Ryota Miyagi, used a screen, and quickly ran to the right 45-degree angle next to Hanamichi Sakuragi. With just this one movement, the Hakata Shodai's defense began to fall into disarray.
Miyagi ran back and made a handoff pass to Shirasawa, then turned and cut inside to shoot a floater. Although the shot was a bit too big and bounced off the rim, Shohoku finally managed a decent play.
Takenori Akagi tightly marked Ryutaro, clearing space for Sakuragi to grab the rebound. Sakuragi and Ken Hoshino jumped almost simultaneously, their initial attempts to contest the ball evenly matched. However, no one could match Sakuragi's second leap; he bounced up again the moment he landed, firmly securing the rebound.
Immediately after, Sakuragi jumped for the third time, aiming directly for a dunk! Ken Hoshino frowned and jumped up to block him. With a "thud," Sakuragi's dunk was touched by Ken Hoshino; the ball didn't leave his hands, but he also missed the dunk.
Sakuragi's face contorted with rage as he jumped for the ball for the fourth time, but this time someone was faster and higher. Shirasawa appeared out of nowhere, snatching the basketball and slamming it home with one hand, sealing the victory in this tumultuous attack. Hajime Chiba could only shake his head helplessly at the sight of the ball, effectively conceding the goal.
In the transition between offense and defense, Hakata Shodai's Twin Stars resorted to their old tricks, creating a localized two-on-two situation on one side. This time it was Hajime Chiba who dodged Shirasawa and drove into the paint, scoring two points with a layup against Takenori Akagi. Although Akagi tried his best, his pace was a beat slower than Hajime Chiba's; by the time he jumped, Chiba had already released the ball.
The other three players from Hakata Shodai were like spectators on offense, their only action being to create space. But Shohoku dared not leave them open, after all, Hajime Chiba's passing was top-notch, and Ken Hoshino could handle the ball at any time. If the defense missed a player, the ball would most likely be passed to an open player. Their pick-and-rolls rarely included a third player, but that doesn't mean they couldn't.
In the next possession, Shirasawa continued to disrupt the opponent's defense. When he reached the free-throw line, he suddenly bounced the ball to Akagi under the basket. Akagi caught the ball and immediately took off, and the Shohoku bench shouted in unison, "Here it comes! The Gorilla Dunk!" This dunk showed that Akagi had finally come back to life and would soon be able to help Shirasawa relieve some of the offensive pressure.
It's obvious to everyone that Shohoku's pressure isn't on offense, but on defense. In the blink of an eye, the Hakata Shodai Twin Stars set another pick-and-roll, and Ken Hoshino drove into the paint and scored with a turnaround layup. On the next possession, it was another pick-and-roll, and Ken Hoshino cut to the baseline to receive the ball, then dunked it back to Hajime Chiba who cut in, Hajime Chiba left-handed layup.
Then, Ken Hoshino blocked Shirasawa, Hajime Chiba pass and drove past Sakuragi one-on-one. As he got up, he seemed to teleport past Sakuragi and made a layup. After more than ten rounds, neither side could stop the other.
On the Shohoku side, Shirasawa was the main scorer, occasionally passing the ball to his teammates. Mitsui, Sakuragi, and Miyagi were all trying hard to move off the ball, but they just couldn't shake off the defense. The court was filled with the muffled sounds of physical contact. In contrast, Hakata Shodai played much more easily. The Twin Stars ' pick-and-rolls were ever-changing and perfectly coordinated, and their offensive skills were also strong, repeatedly piercing through Shohoku's defense.
On the bench, Yasuharu Yasuda was so anxious that he kept slapping his thigh. "This Ken Hoshino is too good at offense! It feels like he knows every move, these few rounds are like he's showing off his skills!" Now no one in Shohoku can stop Ken Hoshino, even Akagi has been successfully one-on-one by him several times. As for Sakuragi, he has long been confused by the pick and roll, his defensive rhythm is half a beat slower, which perfectly illustrates how ruthless the Twin Stars ' pick and roll is.
Shiozaki leaned closer. "If we let Xiao Bai guard him, he'd definitely be able to stop him!" Yasuda sighed, " Xiao Bai guards him, Hajime Chiba will be left unattended again... Sigh, choosing either one is a trap." This is Shohoku's current predicament, like facing two cups of poison; choosing either one will result in being poisoned, just in different ways.
Kogure frowned and said, "Only Sakuragi can solve this problem now." At this point in the game, the focus has shifted back to yesterday's team meeting theme—defending against Hakata Shodai's pick-and-roll. Sakuragi is a key player, and he's also the only choice to defend against Ken Hoshino. Unfortunately, all Sakuragi has done so far, besides being anxious, is nothing.
Someone asked Coach Anzai, "Should we call a timeout? Let Sakuragi take a break and calm down?" Coach Anzai remained as steady as a rock. "No need. You know Sakuragi. Instead of letting him rest, we should push him. Trust him, he'll find a way soon." No matter how chaotic things were on the court, one word, "trust," was enough.
In the stands, Yoko clenched her fists. She knew Sakuragi's personality all too well; he must be feeling utterly defeated right now. She muttered to herself, " Sakuragi, you have to think of something..."
Compared to Yoko's anxious, almost jumping-up demeanor, Haruko remained as calm as a rock.
She gently comforted him, "Don't worry, Xiao Bai will definitely find a way to help Sakuragi!"
Shirasawa was also thinking of a solution, but the method he finally decided on actually coincided with Coach Anzai's.
Sakuragi is just asking for trouble; he won't get going until he's on the edge of a cliff.
Or rather, this "fighting fire with fire" approach seems to be the most effective and quickest at present.
The specific operation is simple: just follow the steps. Ken Hoshino's formidable strength is the best "catalyst."
This is different from how we dealt with Fukuda back then. With Fukuda's skill level, Sakuragi could have easily handled him if he had just been a little serious.
But Ken Hoshino is clearly not in the same league. Even if Shirasawa personally went to defend against him, he wouldn't dare say he could defend him very well.
So Sakuragi isn't not trying hard now, he's just genuinely feeling a bit overwhelmed.
This can't be rushed. We need to give him time to figure it out himself, to understand the pick-and-roll, to figure out Ken Hoshino's style, or rather, to let him catch up with the pace of the game first.
On the court, Shirasawa made a breakthrough, turned around, and made a layup, which went into the pocket smoothly.
The score became 28-26.
Nine minutes into the game, Shohoku was temporarily leading by two points.
The two teams are currently playing like Sticky Candy, sticking together tightly. So far, the biggest point difference is still the three-pointer that Shirasawa.
Then it became a tug-of-war, either you take turns attacking, or you both miss...
In the stands, Kiyota stroked his chin, analyzing earnestly, " Maki, look at this game, Hakata Shodai is much stronger than they were in the prefectural tournament."
Shinichi Maki glanced at him, his tone carrying the certainty of someone with experience. "Of course, a small-scale competition like the county tournament doesn't require them to show their true abilities. Last year was the same; they had a smooth run until they ran into Sannoh in the finals, where they finally met their match."
It's clear from Shinichi Maki's words that he highly regards the strength of Hakata Shodai.