That sentence is what kept Godai going.
They practiced day and night, practiced, and practiced some more.
After a year, he finally became an excellent shooter!
At the same time, Godai realized that he was not a natural-born marksman.
The only way for him to succeed was to never give up.
Coach Kawasaki taught him the most important lesson of his life!
At that moment, Kazumi Kawasaki said those words to him again.
Godai's heart finally calmed down.
No matter how big the point difference, giving up means everything is over!
This is the last year of high school basketball! It's the last chance!
Godai clenched his fists and revealed a confident smile.
"Coach, I, Tomokazu Godai, will never give up!"
The second half of the game is about to begin.
The players from both sides returned to the bench.
A 33-point lead was clearly not enough to satisfy Shohoku.
Everyone was determined to widen the gap in the second half.
On Tsukubu's side, the players' form has completely changed.
The fighting spirit was rekindled in everyone's eyes.
This surprised the audience, as if 33 points was a very small difference...
Tomokazu Godai gathered his teammates together.
"Listen, forget about the point difference, the game has only just begun!"
"We must not give up! Play the basketball of Tsukubu!"
During halftime, Godai's energy infected the whole team, and everyone was like they were on steroids, shouting one after another.
Even the usually carefree Koichiro Nango clenched his fists tightly and roared at the top of his lungs, "We've got this! We'll crush Shohoku!"
Across from him, Takenori Akagi watched the scene with a slight smile playing on his lips.
"That's more like it, Godai."
Both teams returned to the court for a jump ball.
When the second half whistle blew, it was clear that Shohoku was going to get serious.
Akagi roared and overpowered Nango to pass the ball into his own half.
Shirasawa grabbed the ball and charged forward, using a change of direction to shake off Natsume and drive straight to the basket.
Facing two defenders blocking his path under the basket, he twisted his body in mid-air and executed a difficult layup to send the ball in!
With two points in hand, Shohoku's offensive surge began.
When it was Tsukubu's turn to attack, they spared no effort, running like madmen.
Tomokazu Godai came around from the baseline, received the ball outside the three-point line, and pretended to shoot.
Hisashi Mitsui immediately pounced on her, his arms outstretched high.
This time, Godai didn't force the issue. He flicked his wrist and passed the ball out, then continued running backwards, finally managing to pull away from Mitsui by half a body length.
The ball was passed back to him in time, and Godai caught it and immediately took a three-point shot!
The moment the ball left his hand, he felt reassured.
After missing four consecutive three-pointers in the first half, Godai finally made one!
After landing, he raised his arms and shouted, forgetting all about the score difference and just burning brightly.
On the sidelines, Kazumi Kawasaki looked at his disciple with eyes full of satisfaction.
However, even Tsukubu regained his form, Shohoku didn't rest.
Godai's three-pointer didn't disrupt their rhythm at all.
Shirasawa switched to passing mode, feeding his teammates one cannonball after another, Shohoku went all out.
The offensive came wave after wave!
Shirasawa was double-teamed on the wing, but he didn't even look, and with a bounce pass through the opponent's legs, he delivered the ball accurately to the basket.
Akagi caught the ball and unleashed a powerful two-handed dunk!
In the next round, Shirasawa changed direction to get past the defender and rushed straight into the penalty area, but as if he had eyes in the back of his head, he flicked the ball backward.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, who was following behind, suddenly found a ball in his hand, took off, and slammed it into the basket with both hands!
Tsukubu was also driven to desperation, and just past the halfway point, the two of them pounced on Shirasawa.
But the defense was useless against Shirasawa. He protected the ball, turned around, squeezed through the gaps in the defense, grabbed the ball, and drove to the basket.
Facing Koichiro Nango, he jumped directly.
Nango and the other two who were covering him also jumped up at the same time, and the three of them surrounded him in the air!
Everyone thought they should have managed to stop the ball.
Shirasawa, however, spun the ball around with one hand and flicked it from Nango's waist towards the bottom corner.
That pass was absolutely unbelievable!
Photographer Eiichi Harada frantically pressed the shutter button, finally managing to capture the moment.
Hisashi Mitsui was already standing in the bottom corner.
He didn't even move, and the ball obediently flew into his hands.
Kazumi Kawasaki on the sidelines opened his mouth, but then swallowed the words back, his expression quite fascinating.
Mitsui catches the ball and shoots immediately, his form as graceful as a painting.
The basketball obeyed, swishing through the net.
Shohoku unleashed a 35-11 scoring run, further widening the gap.
During this period, Tsukubu really gave it his all, and every attack and defense felt like the last round.
But with skill as the standard, fighting spirit alone isn't enough to score.
But this unexpectedly led to Hanamichi Sakuragi's success.
Nango missed a mid-range shot, and Sakuragi leaped up and grabbed the rebound.
This was his 20th rebound of the game.
In the stands, the data-obsessed Hikoichi Aida his sharp eyes, immediately jumped up and shouted, " Sakuragi- senpai! Just two more goals and we'll break the prefectural tournament record!"
As soon as he shouted, the entire audience erupted in excitement.
The calls for him to be the " Rebound King " are about to become uncontrollable.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, however, looked completely bewildered.
He's played quite a few games, but he usually just stares at the scoreboard, and even if he only gets single digits, he's still happy.
In his mind, "rebounding" is a task or a skill.
He genuinely couldn't understand why everyone was urging him to grab two more.
"Focus on the fight! Ignore those noises!" Takenori Akagi reminded him with a dark expression.
Actually, seeing Sakuragi's achievements on the boards made Akagi more gratified than anyone else.
Two months ago, after training every day, he would give Sakuragi extra coaching, teaching him how to position himself and judge the landing point.
Back then, Sakuragi was as green as a bean sprout and didn't care about rebounding at all.
But now, he has become an indispensable piece of the puzzle for Shohoku, and is even about to write his name into the history of Kanagawa.
In Akagi's eyes, Sakuragi was like a seed he had planted himself, which had sprouted and grown little by little, and was now finally about to bear fruit.
However, Akagi knew Sakuragi's personality all too well. If he were to explain things to him now, the guy would be so arrogant that he'd be strutting around like crazy... He might not even break the record, and instead end up getting a foul and graduating first.
That's not worth it; some opportunities, once missed, are truly gone forever.
So Akagi used the same old method: he let Sakuragi focus on playing basketball, while he himself was determined to help him achieve this goal.
Sakuragi pouted, "I know, Gorilla, this genius is very focused right now!"
Sakuragi wasn't the only one focused; Tomokazu Godai was also completely absorbed in the moment.
In the second half, Godai was like a completely different person; he had no distractions and was completely absorbed in the game.
He kept running and grabbing, never resting for a moment.
This was tough on Hisashi Mitsui, who was positioned opposite him. His stamina, which had just recovered a little at halftime, plummeted again like a floodgate being opened.
Coach Anzai could have let him rest longer, but he didn't.
He deliberately wanted Mitsui to adapt to this extreme condition.
After all, Mitsui will have heavy responsibilities on both offense and defense in the upcoming matches, and he must overcome the physical hurdle as soon as possible.
He also needs to figure things out for himself and see where the limits really are.
Shirasawa started from the right flank, dribbling past two defenders and heading straight for the penalty area.
He suddenly leaned forward as he moved, and the defender immediately tensed up.
This time, I'm going for a layup!
However, Shirasawa flipped his hand holding the ball outwards, and the ball bounced out of his hand like a bullet.
The ball flew close to the gap between the players, heading straight for the right bottom corner.
Kazumi Kawasaki on the sidelines couldn't help but nod; that was a beautiful play.
The timing, the angle, and the reading of the defense were all perfect.
Kawasaki has always valued team basketball and firmly believes that one plus one is greater than two.
What Shirasawa showed was exactly to his liking.
If it weren't for his political stance, he would have loved to applaud along with the audience and fully enjoy the seamless teamwork and the exquisite beauty of playing team basketball to its fullest potential.
Hisashi Mitsui receives the ball in the bottom corner.
At that moment, he was actually in a completely empty space.
If you throw it out as usual, this attack will be a perfect finish.
But he was a beat too slow.
Mitsui was panting heavily, and even the ball in his hand seemed to have become heavier.
In that brief moment of slowness, Tomokazu Godai had already pounced on him!
When Mitsui got up to shoot, even though he was tired, his form was still so perfect that it seemed to be ingrained in his bones.
The ball had barely left his hand when a hand appeared in front of him.
Tomokazu Godai all his might, barely managing to touch the basketball with his fingertips.
The ball's trajectory deviated slightly.
"Rebound!" Mitsui shouted.
when--
The ball bounced off the rim.
Tomokazu Godai's desperate jump caused him to lose his balance, and he fell to the ground on one foot.
"The rebound is mine!" Hanamichi Sakuragi roared as he charged forward and jumped!
Takenori Akagi tightly marked Tsukubu and his two inside players under the basket.
Koichiro Nango gritted his teeth in desperation, but he couldn't break free from Akagi's iron-like grip.
Akagi stood there like a mountain, providing Sakuragi with a safe haven.
Sakuragi successfully grabbed the rebound.
The entire audience shouted almost simultaneously, "21!"
Just as Sakuragi landed, a pair of hands suddenly reached in and grabbed the ball from his hand like pincers!
" Godai!" Takenori Akagi's expression changed...
Godai was just in the bottom corner a moment ago, but now he's rushed over here.
When Sakuragi grabbed the rebound, Godai had already gotten up from the ground and lunged towards the basket without hesitation!
This was probably his last bit of strength, and his last obsession.
Sakuragi and Godai both had the ball at the same time.
Sakuragi should have the upper hand in terms of strength, but Godai's eyes were burning with fire as he unleashed all his power.
Even Akagi was taken aback by that imposing aura.
He had never seen Godai like this before.
"The rebound belongs to Tsukubu!!" Godai roared, his face contorted in a ferocious expression.
Seeing that Sakuragi was about to steal the ball, he instinctively swung his arm sharply!
An elbow struck Sakuragi squarely in the eye.
Hanamichi Sakuragi immediately knelt down, blood streaming from the corner of his eye.
At the same time, the referee blew his whistle, angrily pointing at Tomokazu Godai, and sent him off the field.
Takenori Akagi, who was closest, quickly crouched down to check on Sakuragi's condition.
Upon closer inspection, Sakuragi was still clutching the basketball tightly in his hand.
Sakuragi grinned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but he laughed, "The rebound is mine."
At that moment, an indescribable emotion suddenly welled up in Akagi's throat, and his eyes even started to burn.
However, he quickly suppressed his anger and snorted, "Looks like everything's alright."