Seeing this, Yo Aoki thought to himself, "Looks like I have to go and guard against Kaede Rukawa. Akagi's stamina is about to give out." He then glanced at Mitsui, who was returning to defend.
Offense and defense transition. Yo Aoki dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and immediately passed it to Hojo. Hojo and Imamura executed a pick-and-roll.
At that moment, Mizuki and Shindo suddenly rushed towards the inside line together. When the two met, Shindo suddenly stopped, spread his legs, and crossed his hands in front of his abdomen, blocking Mitsui who was staring at Mizuki.
Seeing that Mitsui was blocked, Miyagi had no choice but to leave Shindo to defend Mizuki. Hojo seized the opportunity and passed the ball to Mizuki, who, taking advantage of his height, overpowered Miyagi and scored a layup, making the score 41-42.
Ryonan's Koshino gasped, " Takezato's team's cover and coordination are clearly much more refined than last time!"
Nagayoshi, standing next to him, nodded in agreement. During the last game against Takezato, the two of them were the ones who were screened the most, so they had the most to say on the matter.
Sakuragi passes the ball to Miyagi from the baseline. Miyagi dribbles the ball, thinking to himself: We're still leading, but why do I have this feeling we're going to lose?
" Mitsui!" Miyagi passed the ball, but Mitsui was too tired to react in time.
"A great opportunity!" Shindo darted out like an arrow. "What happened? Mitsui- senpai shouldn't have made this mistake!" Yasuda shouted, clenching his fist. "Get back on defense!" Kogure called out a reminder.
Mitsui made a mistake and gritted his teeth to catch up with Shindo.
"This is the Mitsui that Aoki was so optimistic about? He's so bad!" Shindo quickly reached the restricted area, took his first step, held the ball with both hands, took his second step, and was about to make a layup.
"Smack!" A hand slapped down from nowhere, knocking the ball away. The ball hit the ground and rolled out of bounds. " Shindo was too careless!" Yo Aoki saw it clearly from behind. Mitsui had been following Shindo closely, keeping pace with his three-step layup. Shindo took the first step, and Mitsui took the first step; Shindo took the second step, and Mitsui took the second step. Their steps were perfectly synchronized. When Shindo was about to go for a layup, Mitsui would steal the ball cleanly and decisively.
Yo Aoki walked up to the frustrated Shindo: " Shindo- senpai, your move was good. Making Mitsui run a long distance will effectively wear him down! But don't underestimate Mitsui; even after two years of rest, his basketball skills are still there."
Shindo grunted in response but didn't say anything. Yo Aoki wasn't sure if he had taken it to heart.
Mizuki went to serve the ball from the baseline. He stood outside the baseline with the ball in his hand, while Shindo and Hojo ran back and forth, trying to shake off Mitsui and Miyagi who were marking them.
Yo Aoki stood at a 45-degree angle inside the three-point line, with no intention of receiving the ball. Sakuragi, who was guarding him, thought so too. However, Mitsui was guarding Sakuragi, suddenly ran in front of Sakuragi, which immediately drew Sakuragi's attention away.
Just as Sakuragi lost focus, Yo Aoki suddenly sped up, shaking off Sakuragi and running to the corner. Mizuki Yo Aoki move, Mizuki immediately passed the ball to him.
Yo Aoki received the ball, took a step back, and raised his hand to shoot from beyond the three-point line. The ball flew in a high arc and fell into the basket, making the score 44-42.
Now Shohoku's offense can only rely on Kaede Rukawa. Kaede Rukawa dribbles the ball at the top of the three-point line, Mizuki sees an opportunity and reaches out to steal the ball.
Just as he was about to touch the ball, Kaede Rukawa suddenly pulled it behind his back, executed a behind-the-back dribble to his left hand, and accelerated past Mizuki! He jumped, ready to dunk!
Imamura faced off against Kaede Rukawa again! The two collided just as they reached mid-air!
Rukawa suddenly pulled the ball close to his chest, dodging Imamura's defense, and then slid the ball towards the basket with both hands—his layup technique looked beautiful!
"Holy crap!" Kiyota exclaimed, his eyes wide. Before he could finish his sentence, he stared wide-eyed at Kaede Rukawa's back.
A figure leaped up from behind Rukawa, tucked in his stomach and stretched out his arm in mid-air, and slammed the ball against the backboard with a loud thud just as it reached its highest point!
"Wow! Aoki's shot was amazing!" " Kaede Rukawa can't beat him at all!" After saying that, the guy deliberately glanced at the girl next to him, who immediately retorted, " Kaede Rukawa would never lose to that hothead! You're just jealous!"
"Tch, Akiko, I'm your real boyfriend!" the guy said angrily. "That's a stingy boyfriend too!" the girl said, turning her face away and ignoring him.
People who love playing basketball all have an indomitable spirit, and Kaede Rukawa is the best of the best in this regard. When he encountered Eiji Sawakita in the National Tournament, he was clearly a tough nut to crack, but he actually smiled. Yo Aoki still remembers that look very clearly.
Staring at the silent Rukawa, Yo Aoki muttered in a low voice, "I wonder if my current level is enough to make you laugh..."
After the first half break, all of Takezato's key players were in good physical condition. Apart from Imamura and Aoki, Hojo, Mizuki, Shindo were running all over the court, trying to wear down Shohoku's stamina.
Just ten minutes later, Hisashi Mitsui and Takenori Akagi of Shohoku were already exhausted, and Rukawa and Miyagi were panting like bellows. The score gap between them Takezato had widened to 11 points!
Aoki smiled and said, " Shohoku's stamina is almost completely depleted!"
With ten minutes remaining in the game, the score was 59-48. Reporter Nakamura, taking notes, turned to Hikoichi Aida and said, "You were right before, Takezato really dominated the second half."
He scratched his head. "But when Shohoku played Kainan, everyone was incredibly strong. Akagi dominated the paint, and the whole team played freely. Rukawa drove to the basket without hesitation, and Mitsui had no pressure when shooting. How come they're so far behind now?" Aida chimed in. "That's because Akagi was completely dominated by Aoki today, and he hasn't scored a single point. Both their offense and defense were in disarray. Shohoku lost their backbone, which is why they're like this now."
Akagi stood at the edge of the three-second zone, a position that Aoki had specifically arranged for him—a bit far from the basket.
He thought to himself, "Am I nothing outside the paint? Even inside the paint, they know my moves inside and out."
"So I have so many flaws..." "Dominate the whole country? Saying that now sounds like a joke." Standing behind Akagi, Aoki could sense his frustration and thought to himself, "Don't blame me, Akagi... Mizuki others are all third-year students; this is their last year."
Miyagi has been kept under surveillance by Hojo for so long that his speed has slowed down considerably; Hojo is now sticking to him like glue.
Mitsui is exhausted and unable to attack. Shohoku's only scorer right now is Rukawa, but he alone can't win. Shohoku is truly in dire straits.
"I'm so angry! How can I be so useless! I can't even defend against a first-year student!" Just as Akagi was feeling dejected, a voice suddenly came to his ear.
" Gorilla! Over here!!" Sakuragi shouted. Akagi turned around and froze.
Sakuragi stood facing him, arms crossed below his hips, legs spread wide in a horse stance. " Gorilla, come here! I'll block them for you!"
" Sakuragi!?" Akagi's mouth dropped open, not knowing when this kid had gotten so close.
"Hurry up!" Sakuragi urged him. Akagi instinctively ran towards Sakuragi, but Aoki wouldn't let them team up. He got to Sakuragi's side faster than Akagi, leaned to the side, and separated Sakuragi and Akagi.
Sakuragi, after being leaned on by Aoki, immediately shifted sideways, trying to adjust his position to block Aoki completely. But at that moment, the referee blew his whistle. "Beep! White Team #10, screen foul!"
Kiyota laughed from the side, "Haha! Sakuragi, you idiot! Don't you know you can't move when you're setting a screen?" Sakuragi scoffed, turned his head away, and thought to himself, "This genius will definitely lead the team to victory!"
Akagi stood still, his eyes fixed on Sakuragi.
" Sakuragi, who loves to show off, is actually going to shield me?" "Then why shouldn't I shield others?" "I may not be able to beat Aoki right now, but Shohoku isn't just my team!" " Shohoku can win, what does it matter if I don't score a single point?"
"I'm the captain, it's my responsibility! I have to create scoring opportunities for them!" "Thank you, Sakuragi..." Akagi's lips curled into a smile, then he suddenly raised his arm and shouted, "Aaaaaah!!"
Upon hearing Akagi's roar, Uozumi immediately knew that he had woken up—he knew all too well what it felt like to be suppressed by Aoki. Even at 2.02 meters tall, Aoki had taken advantage of him, and he could still recall the mocking laughter from back then.
The roar struck a chord with Uozumi, who, standing on the sidelines, also shouted, " Akagi!! Get him!!"
Coach Taoka and Coach Takato couldn't help but burst out laughing at the same time; the outcome of the match was still undecided.
Yo Aoki was stunned when he heard Akagi's loud shout. Was Akagi about to explode? But he quickly shook his head. Now was not the time to think about that.
The Takezato Team launched the first attack, with Sakuragi marking Yo Aoki. Yo Aoki took a half step with his left foot first, and Sakuragi immediately judged that Aoki was going to break to his right, so he raised his leg to move to the right. But Yo Aoki suddenly pulled the ball and turned around, rushing through the gap on Sakuragi's left.
He strode to the basket and leaped high, about to dunk, when Akagi roared as he saw Yo Aoki rushing over. Yo Aoki and Akagi collided solidly in mid-air. How did Akagi suddenly become so strong? The impact caused Yo Aoki to lose his balance instantly, making it impossible for him to dunk.
At this critical moment, Yo Aoki quickly tensed his core muscles, stabilized his body in mid-air, and simply abandoned the dunk, forcefully throwing the ball out. Thud! The basketball hit the center of the backboard and bounced into the hoop, the scoreboard showing 61 to 48!
Wow--!!
That was absolutely unbelievable!
That's amazing! Absolutely amazing!
Hearing the cheers from the crowd, Kogure looked at Akagi with concern. Coach Anzai smiled and said, " Kogure, don't worry, Akagi has recovered."
Although the ball went in, Coach Akai frowned. This kid can't dunk? This is the first time I've seen that.
"Teacher, Aoki's shot was beautiful!" Sanada asked, looking Akai.
Coach Akai said in a deep voice, "Dunking is the most reliable way to score. Aoki would never give up a dunk when he's so close to the basket. Besides, he's already in a dunking stance. He was probably forced to change his move by Shohoku's center."
"Surely not? Aoki has done those fancy layup moves before, maybe he designed this on purpose," Shirota said with a laugh.
Akai remained silent, hoping he had misjudged the situation.
On the court, the Shohoku players all hung their heads when they saw Yo Aoki score another difficult shot.
"Damn it! What kind of look is this with your heads drooping like that! Get yourselves together! "Akagi yelled.
Miyagi, reorganize the attack! We'll teach them a lesson they won't forget!
"Yes!" Miyagi snapped to attention and saluted.
When Miyagi heard Akagi's reprimand, he didn't feel wronged at all; on the contrary, he felt much more at ease.
Haha, the Gorilla is alive! Sakuragi slapped his thigh and laughed.