Shohoku Team has begun their attack!
Miyagi was dribbling the ball when Akagi suddenly pulled away to the outside and stood still. Mitsui immediately ran towards him, preparing to set an off-ball screen. Akagi successfully screened Shindo, Mitsui shook off his defender. Seeing Mitsui open, Miyagi immediately passed the ball to him.
Oh no! Yo Aoki immediately shook off Akagi and lunged at Mitsui. But Mitsui didn't shoot, and instead passed the ball to Kaede Rukawa next to him.
Kaede Rukawa suddenly accelerated after receiving the ball, passing Mizuki Imamura, he raised his hand and shot a jump shot, which went in, making the score 61-50!
The Takezato Team is on offense, and Shindo raises his hand to call for the ball from Hojo. Shindo has always been unconvinced by Mitsui, but at this moment, Mitsui's willpower and mental strength are at their peak. Facing Shindo's attack, Mitsui says in a deep voice, "Come on!"
Shindo was momentarily stunned by Mitsui's imposing presence. His chance had arrived! Miyagi suddenly rushed forward and snatched the ball from Shindo's hands.
Damn it! Shindo, realizing what had happened, was so angry he jumped up and down.
Miyagi intercepted the ball but didn't rush to attack; instead, he stabilized the pace. He passed the ball to Akagi, Akagi was standing near the free-throw line, with Yo Aoki guarding him from behind. But this time, Akagi didn't try to contest Yo Aoki's shot; instead, he used his height advantage to pass the ball to Mitsui.
Mitsui raised his hand to shoot as Shindo faced him. What? Shooting so hastily, it's definitely not going to go in! Shindo immediately turned around and shouted, "Rebound!" But the only response was a "swish," and the three-pointer went in, making the score 61-53!
Mitsui!!! Tetsuo and his group were so excited they were moved to tears.
The game transitions from offense to defense, Takezato Team launches an attack.
Yo Aoki clearly sensed that Sakuragi's defensive intensity had increased. Had he figured out my offensive rhythm? Sakuragi, you really are a genius!
Yo Aoki quickly glanced at the positions on the court, then suddenly surged forward to Sakuragi's left. Sakuragi reacted swiftly, immediately taking a step to the left to follow. Yo Aoki suddenly stopped with his right foot, pulled the ball back with his right hand, and looked up at the basket, assuming a shooting stance.
Aoki, I've seen through you! Sakuragi had anticipated Yo Aoki's sudden stop, and seeing him prepare to shoot, he immediately jumped up to block the shot! But Yo Aoki hadn't actually shot; it was a feint!
Yo Aoki quickly blew past Sakuragi and rushed into the paint. Yo Aoki jumped to shoot. Just then, Akagi suddenly appeared in front of Yo Aoki!
Akagi? He was a bit far away from me just now, how did he suddenly become so fast?
But Yo Aoki didn't have time to adjust. In order to avoid Akagi's block, he could only raise the height and arc of his shot. Clang! The basketball hit the rim and bounced out, missing!
Sakuragi, the Rebound King!!! With a roar, Sakuragi snatched the rebound, his powerful shot drawing cheers from the audience!
Wow! Shohoku is starting to pick up the pace!
Yo Aoki's attack was also contained!
Sakuragi passes the ball to Miyagi, Shohoku Team launches another attack.
Kaede Rukawa suddenly called for the ball on the outside. After Ryota Miyagi passed the ball to him, he immediately ran to the other side, making room for Rukawa.
Rukaede stopped and dribbled the ball, glancing at Takenori Akagi under the basket. Akagi immediately understood and stepped forward to block Mizuki, who was defending Rukaede, creating a personal wall.
Seeing Aoki shielding Akagi from the Rukaede, Yo Aoki realized something was wrong.
Rukaede cut close to Akagi's body as he headed towards the basket, completely blocking Mizuki and leaving him no room to turn around. Rukaede had already reached the basket, Yo Aoki, disregarding everything else, immediately rushed over to help defend.
Seeing Yo Aoki rush over, Rukaede didn't force a drive. Instead, he passed the ball towards the basket with both hands. Yo Aoki thought to himself, "This is bad." He turned around and saw Akagi's tall figure already jumping up—he had screened Mizuki and was now cutting towards the basket. This was a standard pick-and-roll tactic!
Shohoku's two aces actually started a pick-and-roll. With a thud, Akagi caught the ball in mid-air, lowered his arms, poured all his strength into his hands, and slammed it hard against the rim. Clang! The loud thud of the ball hitting the rim made the arena vibrate. Akagi roared in the air—this was the true nature of the Shohoku Gorilla!
The scoreboard showed 61-55, with Shohoku trailing by only 6 points. The bench erupted, shouts echoing throughout the arena, " Alley-oop pass!" " The Gorilla Dunk!"
Seeing that Takezato's morale was dropping quickly, Yo Aoki immediately shouted, "Stabilize, score first!" He dribbled the ball up the court, Hojo ran up to ask for the ball, wanting to run a pick-and-roll with Imamura. Yo Aoki thought that switching players to score might open up the game, so he raised his hand and passed the ball to him.
Hojo received the ball and was about to raise his hand to signal Imamura to set a screen when Shindo suddenly rushed over and shouted, "Pass it to me!" In the previous few possessions, Shindo had been completely dominated by Hisashi Mitsui, and he was eager to prove that he was better than Mitsui. Hojo hesitated for a moment, but still passed the ball to him.
Shindo received the ball and suddenly raised his hand to shoot, facing Mitsui. Mitsui immediately raised his hand to interfere, but it turned out to be a fake! Shindo immediately stopped shooting, dribbled to the right, took a step, and created an open space before shooting again. But at the moment he released the ball, Mitsui reached out and touched it with his hand.
"I didn't shake him off?" Shindo was startled. Although the ball was touched, it still flew towards the basket, a rebound!
Seeing that Shindo touched Mitsui's shot, Yo Aoki immediately rushed towards the basket, trying to gain a better position. However, Akagi and Sakuragi had already arrived, sandwiching Yo Aoki between them, and all three of them were trying their best to block him. Yo Aoki used all his strength, and Akagi and Sakuragi immediately felt a huge force coming from him.
However, Akagi and Sakuragi were not cowards like Ikegami and Fukuda. Their strength was comparable to Yo Aoki's, especially Sakuragi, who was bursting with even more power than Yo Aoki. Akagi and Sakuragi immediately pushed back, pressing together towards Yo Aoki.
The three of them gave a low shout at the same time. As a result of the standoff, none of them jumped up, and Rukaede grabbed the rebound. Rukaede got the ball and immediately rushed forward. He pulled up beyond the three-point line and swish, the three-pointer went in!
The score jumped to 61-58, with only 3 points separating the two sides. With 4 minutes left in the game, Shohoku's smooth offensive was simply unstoppable by Takezato!
The whistle blew, and the White Team called a timeout. Coach Akai stopped the game.
Nobunaga Kiyota breathed a sigh of relief and said, " Shohoku's fighting spirit has completely returned!"
Looking at the Takezato team members, Soichiro Jin continued, "And as you can see, the stamina issue isn't just a problem for Shohoku; Takezato isn't struggling either."
Coach Akai, though a little flustered, remained calm and shouted, "Don't worry, everyone, we're still in the lead!" Forcing a smile, he added, "Actually, Shohoku is only holding on by willpower; their stamina has long since collapsed!"
"Our tactics paid off!" "The most important thing now is to score points!"
Coach Akai looked at Yo Aoki: " Aoki, you're the ace, now it's your turn to step up."
Yo Aoki nodded. "Yes, Coach."
" Hojo and Imamura, use pick-and-rolls whenever you have the chance."
"Yes, Coach."
" Mizuki, Shindo, make sure you get a good spot, don't be lazy!"
"Yes, Coach."
Aoki Yang watched Coach Akai arrange the tactics, feeling a little emotional that this old man had actually improved. Coach Akai suddenly looked at him again. "Aoki, are you still guarding against Akagi?"
Yo Aoki paused, pondering. His original intention in guarding Akagi was to undermine his confidence and disrupt Shohoku's rhythm, but now that Akagi was awake, nothing he did worked. Should he switch to guarding Rukaede instead?
Yo Aoki didn't agree immediately, but asked, "Coach, what do you think?"
Coach Akai said, "I think you should guard Rukaede. Akagi's form is different Imamura cover him over there."
Yo Aoki nodded. "Yes, Coach."
Coach Anzai looked at his players and smiled, "You played brilliantly! This is the strongest you've ever been!" After encouraging them, Coach Anzai picked up the tactics board and began to lay out the tactics.
With the game entering its final stages, Takezato Team will definitely rely on Yo Aoki as their key player to launch a fierce attack.
Coach Anzai placed a chess piece on the outside of the whiteboard and said, "If Aoki dribbles the ball outside..."
He then placed another piece next to it. " Sakuragi, you have to stick close to Aoki and prevent him from shooting from the outside."
With that, Anzai moved the piece representing Aoki directly to the inside line. "If Aoki dares to break through, Akagi and Rukawa, you two have to double-team him!"
He held two chess pieces, blocking Aoki's path of advance.
"Old man, I absolutely won't let Aoki break in easily!" Sakuragi immediately jumped up to retort.
" Sakuragi, shut up and listen to the coach!" Akagi immediately shouted.
"Tch." Sakuragi curled his lip in disdain.
"With your skill level, it's normal for you to get surpassed," Kaede Rukawa suddenly said sarcastically.
" Kaede Rukawa!" Sakuragi was so angry that he was about to rush up and punch him.
"Smack, smack!" Ayako's paper fan tapped the back of their heads. "You two, stop being so silly!"
Seeing Ayako get angry, the two immediately wilted and obediently returned to their positions to listen to Anzai explain the tactics.
Anzai smiled gently, "If Aoki were to attack directly inside..."
He placed the piece representing Akagi next to Aoki: " Akagi, you keep an eye on him."
"Yes, teacher."
Anzai then placed Sakuragi's piece on the other side of the penalty area. " Sakuragi, if Aoki breaks through Akagi, you have to immediately cover him."
He then moved Rukawa's piece to the spot where Sakuragi had just been. " Rukawa, when Sakuragi covers, you have to guard this position."
Kaede Rukawa nodded.
Anzai looked at Mitsui and Miyagi: " Takezato Team is tired, their ball control will definitely be affected. You two should try to steal the ball whenever you have the chance, don't be afraid to foul."
"Yes, teacher!"
Finally Anzai said with a smile, "As for the offense, we have the best scorer in the whole county, so I'm not worried at all."
Rukawa, Mitsui, Miyagi, and Sakuragi all turned their heads simultaneously. "The best scorer? You're talking about me!"
"Alright, get ready to go on stage!" Akagi shouted.
" Shohoku..."
"Come on!!!"
The game restarted.
Looking at the Shohoku Team, their eyes red with excitement, Yo Aoki smirked. "It's quite interesting to play against Shohoku like this."
Imamura serves the ball from the baseline and passes it to Yo Aoki.
Yo Aoki quickly advanced to the frontcourt, Sakuragi stuck to him like Sticky Candy, marking him closely. Yo Aoki immediately turned his back to protect the ball.
At this moment, Akagi was blocking Imamura's position, Miyagi was watching Hojo, Mitsui was guarding Shindo, and Rukawa was staring at Mizuki, but Akagi and Rukawa's eyes were both subtly locked on Yo Aoki.