Coach Akai grinned at the surprised looks on the faces of the Kainan and Shohoku players. His first step was to disrupt Shohoku's defensive strategy. "Teacher, why are so many people surprised when Aoki dribbles?" Oriyuki Iwasaki asked, scratching her head.
"When we played Ryonan before, Shohoku was definitely wary of Aoki's inside scoring ability, so their defense was definitely focused on him inside, "Coach Akai explained. "So, by switching Aoki to point guard and pulling him to the perimeter, Shohoku's inside defense plan was rendered useless."
I still remember when Aoki first joined the team and introduced himself, saying he could play any position! Sanada chimed in with a smile. Oriyuki Iwasaki nodded, seemingly understanding, "Teacher, you're really amazing, you thwarted Shohoku's plan in one go!"
Coach Akai awkwardly sat back down, cleared his throat, and said, "Iwasaki, take notes carefully and keep your eyes on the game! Shohoku has always used man-to-man defense, a tactic that relies on the individual abilities of the players. All five players on Shohoku are strong enough to use it effectively."
But now things are awkward. Coach Anzai assigned Akagi to guard Aoki, but who would have thought Aoki would switch to point guard? Akagi can't go to the perimeter, Sakuragi guards Imamura, Rukawa guards Mizuki, Mitsui guards Shindo, and Miyagi guards Hojo. For a moment, Aoki is left unguarded!
Akagi was the first to react, yelling, "Zone defense! Zone defense!" Shohoku quickly switched from half-court man-to-man to zone defense. Aoki saw Shohoku switch to zone defense and immediately understood: Shohoku wanted Akagi to guard me. Interesting. This just goes right into my plan!
But as soon as Shohoku changed their defense, they discovered that the one guarding Aoki was actually Ryota Miyagi. Oh no, the height difference between Miyagi and Aoki is too great! Ayako shouted urgently. Aoki stared at Miyagi and smiled, dribbled the ball in front of him, bent his knees, raised the ball above his head, suddenly used his legs to jump up, his elbow and the basket were in a straight line, and he flicked his wrist to shoot the ball!
A textbook move, not a single feint. The ball had an exceptionally high arc; Miyagi jumped desperately, but couldn't touch it at all. Swish! The ball soared through the net, and Takezato scored first, 3-0!
Wow! That was an amazing shot! Some fans were even yelling, " Aoki, dunk it! We want to see a dunk!"
He gritted his teeth and spat out, "Damn it! That bastard!"
Yo Aoki's shot was swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. He completely ignored Miyagi's defense and didn't even bother with a feint, which infuriated Miyagi.
Seeing this, Akagi shouted, " Miyagi, don't get distracted, it's our turn to attack!"
When it was Shohoku's turn to attack, Miyagi dribbled the ball across the frontcourt and glanced at the situation on the court.
Takezato was man-to-man marking; Mitsui was pinned down by Shindo, Mizuki was watching Kaede Rukawa, and Sakuragi was blocked by Imamura.
But Miyagi had only taken two steps when he discovered that the one defending Akagi was actually Yo Aoki.
Uozumi his tongue and said, " Aoki defends against Akagi? What 'Takezato Takesato up to now? Does he think Akagi is easy to handle?"
Sendoh curled his lips into a smile, "You'll see when you look at him. That guy is never easy to figure out."
At that moment, Hikoichi Aida scrolling through his notebook, writing and shouting, "I need to take notes carefully... Ouch!"
Coach Taoka, annoyed by the noise, punched him on the head. " Hikoichi, be quiet!"
Akagi stood on the edge of the penalty area, using his body to block Yo Aoki, and reached out to Miyagi for the ball.
Miyagi made a long pass, Akagi caught the ball and tried to squeeze against Yo Aoki, but he was stunned and couldn't move him.
Sakuragi's eyes widened. "What? Gorilla can't push people over? You even managed to Uozumi aside before, is this guy that strong?"
Facing Akagi, Yo Aoki put all his strength into it, pressing his weight down with his legs and relying on his core strength to compete with Akagi.
Seeing that he couldn't gain the upper hand with force, Akagi changed tactics, leaning against Yo Aoki and suddenly turning to attack.
Akagi jumped and shot directly under the basket, but he didn't expect Yo Aoki's reaction to be so quick.
Yo Aoki figured out Akagi's moves the moment he turned around; no matter how fast Akagi turned, he was still a beat too slow.
Moreover, Yo Aoki's lateral movement and reaction were excellent; he and Akagi both left the ground, instantly overtaking Akagi.
Mitsui yelled at the top of his lungs, "Watch out!!" But it was too late.
Yo Aoki stretched out his arm, seized the opportunity when Akagi made his move, and covered him with his arm.
"Bang!" The basketball was swatted away, Imamura quickly positioned himself to grab the ball.
The spectators erupted in cheers, with some shouting, "That's incredible! Aoki shut down both of Shohoku's attacks!"
"Akagi is 197cm Akagi!"
"You didn't see it when you came on stage, did you? Even 202cm Uozumi got knocked over by Aoki!"
Haruko Akagi watched with bated breath as she focused on Akagi on the field.
Coach Akai remained calm and quietly muttered, "The second step is to dismantle Shohoku's core player during defense."
Akagi is still in shock; the oppressive feeling he just experienced was too overwhelming.
Mitsui leaned closer. " Akagi, what are you standing there for?"
Sakuragi leaned in and laughed, " Gorilla, are you scared?"
Akagi yelled, "Shut up!"
Akagi ran back to his half of the court and gave instructions for the defense. " Kaede Rukawa, you guard Yo Aoki, I'll guard Imamura, Sakuragi, you guard Mizuki!"
Sakuragi muttered to himself, " Gorilla, Kaede Rukawa definitely can't stop Yo Aoki, let me take over!"
Kaede Rukawa retorted irritably, "Idiot!"
Sakuragi jumped up and down in anger. "Damn it, Kaede Rukawa!!"
Kogure yelled from the bench, "Hurry up and focus on defense! It's okay, just relax!"
Coach Anzai watched all this and muttered, "This is truly unexpected."
Takezato was on offense, Yo Aoki controlled the court, dribbling the ball up the court. But Shohoku switched back to man-to-man defense, this time with Kaede Rukawa marking him.
Yo Aoki smirked. "Using Kaede Rukawa to defend against me?"
He suddenly darted to the left, Kaede Rukawa immediately moved to block him. Yo Aoki stopped abruptly to collect the ball and passed it across to Hojo.
The moment Hojo received the ball, Imamura moved to the high post to set a screen for Hojo.
Akagi and Miyagi reacted, but Imamura's "wall" was already in place, Hojo cut along Imamura's inner line.
Akagi couldn't keep up and instinctively went to cover Hojo.
Hojo grinned, then suddenly passed the ball back to Imamura.
This time, the attacker was Imamura. Facing Miyagi's defense, he didn't use any fancy tricks; his movements were very smooth, and he didn't take it seriously at all.
Imamura raises his hand and shoots, a three-pointer that swishes through the net! 6-0!
"Beep! White team requests a pause!"
Shohoku called a timeout 1 minute and 20 seconds into the game.
Kiyota asked in bewilderment, "They called a timeout right at the start?"
Coach Takato laughed and said, " Takezato thwarted Shohoku's plan. Coach Anzai's timeout was just in time. If it had been any later, the Shohoku players' mentality would probably have collapsed like it did against Ryonan in the last game."
The reason why Takezato can keep up with Ryonan is because they target their opponent's weaknesses, which is what makes Takezato so terrifying.
Kiyota scratched the back of his head and asked Shinichi Maki, "When Kainan plays against Takezato tomorrow, will our opponents also target our weaknesses?"
Shinichi Maki raised his chin, his tone defiant. " Kainan has always been the one challenged. No matter what tactics they use, we'll win."
Coach Taoka on the sidelines let out a long sigh of relief. He pondered that Takezato to have Yo Aoki play point guard was not to have him connect the whole team, but to use this move to break down Shohoku's defensive strategy.
However, he still shouted at the players, keeping a close eye on how Takezato exploited Shohoku's weaknesses, which would be very useful for tomorrow's game.
Hikoichi Aida immediately adjusted the camera angle, focusing it on Takezato's bench. But after watching for a short while, he was stunned— Takezato's tactical advisor was actually Yo Aoki?
Yo Aoki held up his tactical board and explained to his teammates, "Shohoku will probably have Sakuragi guard me, Akagi stick to Imamura, Rukawa defend Hojo during Shohoku timeout. This setup should shut down our offense."
Shirota scratched his head and exclaimed, " Aoki, that red-haired brat can't possibly defend against you!"
Coach Akai nodded and added, "If Sendoh can't stop Aoki, then the red-haired guy is even worse. Didn't your report say that Sakuragi has only been playing for three months? Shohoku's arrangement might not be about guarding Aoki at all, but rather about simply giving up on him."
Yo Aoki nodded. "Teacher, you were absolutely right, that's exactly what Shohoku meant."
Coach Akai gave a satisfied "hmm," signaling him to continue.
Yo Aoki continued, "Even if I score a lot more points against Sakuragi, Shohoku won't make any other adjustments; that's standard procedure. But Sakuragi's physical attributes are too superior. His strength, jumping ability, and speed are comparable to mine. If he can stop me from making a few shots, our team's morale will collapse."
Shirota clicked his tongue in amazement. "That's a brilliant move that kills two birds with one stone!"
Hojo asked anxiously, " Aoki, what should we do?"
Yo Aoki looked at Hojo and smiled, "It's time to test what we've been practicing these past few days."
On the other side, Coach Anzai looked at the Shohoku team and asked with a smile, "How did it feel playing against Takezato?"
Miyagi pouted. "It feels like I've been made a fool of."
Mitsui frowned. "Teacher, I feel like Takezato has figured out our entire tactical plan."
Coach Anzai said slowly, "You guys are feeling exactly the same way you did against Ryonan in the last game. If you can't see through this fog, the later games will be tough."
The members of Shohoku all hung their heads, lost in thought.
Coach Anzai suddenly patted Sakuragi on the shoulder. " Sakuragi, you're going to guard Yo Aoki next."
Sakuragi's eyes widened. "Huh?"
He immediately hugged Coach Anzai, his voice booming loud enough to overturn the bench. "Dad! Shohoku still needs me to save them!"
Akagi hurriedly waved his hand. "Teacher, with Sakuragi's experience, he can't possibly defend against Yo Aoki..."
Coach Anzai waved his hand. "It's alright, it's alright, just trust Sakuragi."
Sakuragi turned and glared at Akagi: " Gorilla, how dare you question the abilities of the genius Sakuragi?"
Akagi ignored him and kept his eyes fixed on Coach Anzai.
Coach Anzai looked at Akagi, his tone meaningful. " Akagi, judging from Takezato's performance just now, they're clearly after you today. You need to be careful."
Akagi paused, a bead of sweat unconsciously sliding down his forehead.
The referee blew his whistle. "Timeout over, players from both sides enter the field!"
Mitsui watched Akagi's retreating figure, frowning and muttering, " Akagi's acting today is a bit different from usual..."