Shirasawa dribbled past half-court and faced off against Shinichi Maki again.
"Come on, try me out," Shinichi Maki grinned as he defended.
He genuinely wanted to test his skills against Shirasawa, but at the same time, he was also planning to force Shirasawa into a one-on-one situation to limit the performance of the other team members.
After all, Shinichi Maki still remembers how Shirasawa scored 24 points at the start of the game against Shoyo, single-handedly carrying the Shohoku. In his opinion, such a thing would never happen again in front of him!
Shirasawa's lips curled slightly, but Shinichi Maki didn't understand what he meant. Then, Shirasawa's shoulder swayed, and the basketball made a sharp change of direction, whizzing past Shinichi Maki's eyes!
The speed was so fast that Shinichi Maki was indeed thrown off balance. But his explosive power was also astonishing; he turned around and chased after him.
But that half-step difference is enough to decide the outcome.
Shirasawa pressed his way into the paint section, then rose and flicked his left hand—
Goal!
After landing, Shirasawa turned back and smiled, "As you wish."
The two key figures officially faced off this round, with Shirasawa scoring two more points.
His approach was simple and direct: first, rely on his personal abilities to get the situation going!
Looking back, Kainan is still following the same old pattern.
They set up their V-formation as usual, but this time Tadashi Muto moved higher to screen for Shinichi Maki's cut to the basket. Hisashi Mitsui was forced to help defend, and Shinichi Maki immediately passed the ball to Jin on the outside.
Jin caught the ball and shot, a three-pointer that fell cleanly into the net.
Kainan has taken the lead, now 4-5.
" Kainan played too easily, didn't they?" Hikoichi Aida the stands. "This is more like Shohoku's usual style of play, relying on the point guard to orchestrate the offense... but Maki is clearly much more relaxed than Shirasawa."
" Shohoku is adaptable, waiting for Shirasawa to find an opportunity. Kainan's tactical execution is just too strong!"
"From our perspective, it looks exactly like watching a tactical demonstration."
No wonder Coach Taoka always said that Hikoichi coach—although his skills weren't great, the kid really had a knack for studying tactics, and his little notebook was filled with player information and all sorts of tactical diagrams.
Moichi Taoka nodded silently beside him.
This is one of the strengths of Kainan: its overall discipline. As an alumnus of the same school, he had to admit that Riki Takato was indeed a step ahead of him in this respect.
However, Taoka always believed that tactics are static, but people are dynamic.
Shohoku will not sit idly by and wait for their doom.
Especially Shirasawa.
Sure enough, Shirasawa broke through with the ball again. But this time he didn't go straight for the basket; instead, he deliberately led Shinichi Maki to Takasago's side.
He turned close to Maki Shin's ball, drawing Takasago's attention, and suddenly his left hand twitched—
The basketball skimmed the ground, passing under Takasago's legs and tracing a strange spinning trajectory. Instead of bouncing forward, it flew upward!
The ball landed squarely in Akagi's hands under the basket.
With a muffled groan, Chi rolled over and jumped—
A powerful two-handed dunk!
"It's here! Gorilla Dunk!" The Shohoku bench erupted in cheers.
Kiminobu Kogure clenched his fists tightly, worried about Akagi's injury while also hoping that his captain could shine on the stage of his dreams... His clenched fist was filled with his conflicting emotions.
Even after the rim had been blown up twice, Riki Takato on the sidelines remained unfazed.
Riki Takato even had the leisure to appreciate Shirasawa's pass.
"That was a beautiful pass," he commented, fanning himself. "It seems that even for us from Kainan, completely severing his connection with his teammates will take some effort."
"That kid Akagi seems even more troublesome than last year..."
Riki Takato showed absolutely no sign of tension.
At least for now, he doesn't feel there's anything to worry about.
After all, Kainan is just using the conventional approach right now.
In his view, even if the situation remains deadlocked for the time being, once the team really puts in the effort, the outcome will still be a foregone conclusion.
Possession changes.
Shinichi Maki remained unhurried, once again setting up the V-formation.
This formation looks simple, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.
Kainan, on the other hand, has long since mastered every kind of change.
No matter how Shohoku changes their tactics, they can always respond immediately.
After this cross screen, the ball was passed to Nobunaga Kiyota was cutting in.
As soon as he received the ball, Kiyota became excited.
Cut along the baseline, take two big strides, and take off straight for the basket!
"Watch this! Shohoku!"
He even shouted arrogantly.
But at this moment,
Shirasawa has arrived!
Things shouldn't happen more than three times.
This time, Kainan's pick-and-roll finally failed to stop him!
Kiyota charged towards the basket from the right wing, while Shirasawa charged straight at him from the front.
The two were almost at a 90-degree angle, rushing towards the same point at the same time!
BOOM!!
Kiyota swung his arm wide for a dunk, which landed squarely on Shirasawa's left hand!
The next second,
Shirasawa forcefully slammed the ball against the backboard!
With a muffled thud,
That dunk attempt was cleanly swatted away!
Nobunaga Kiyota's eyes widened when he landed.
This is fucking ridiculous!
You ignore Muto and Jin, but you're only targeting me, right...?
He staggered a few steps after being hit by the hat, steadied himself with one hand, and turned around to continue his attack.
This hat was so imposing that it drew cheers from the entire audience.
But it's clear to anyone with eyes that Kiyota's mindset wasn't affected at all.
Without wasting even a second, he immediately returned to his defensive position.
On the sidelines, Riki Takato gently tapped his palm with his folding fan, appearing quite satisfied.
To outsiders, the entire Kainan team seemed to be behaving as if that huge block had never happened!
Even Coach Anzai couldn't help but sigh, "That's really solid."
Shinichi Maki caught the rebound ball.
Without Shirasawa by his side, he advanced without any pressure, cutting in smoothly and sending the ball into the basket right in front of Hanamichi Sakuragi.
This shot even knocked Sakuragi out of bounds during the scramble.
Shinichi Maki's superhuman strength was on full display.
"That's the professionalism of Kainan," Moichi Taoka remarked. " Shirasawa's block was pretty intimidating, wasn't it? But it didn't affect them at all."
"That's something you should definitely learn from."
He was saying this to the Ryonan team members.
If that scene had happened to Ryonan, Taoka doesn't think his teammates could have handled it as calmly as they did to Kainan.
This is also an area he is eager to strengthen for the team.
After all, in his eyes, this year's Ryonan is by no means inferior to these two teams on the field!
Kainan maintains its one-point lead.
While returning to defense, Shinichi Maki Kiyota, "How are you feeling?"
Nobunaga Kiyota grinned, "He is strong, but I am stronger!"
Shinichi Maki nodded in satisfaction.
This is one of the reasons why they value Kiyota.
In Shinichi Maki's view, Kiyota was like the last assist he, as a point guard, intended to give to Kainan.
Shohoku's offensive turn.
The entire Shohoku team is very resilient now; gains or losses in one or two rounds won't affect them at all.
However, given Kainan's overall defense, it's indeed not easy to create open space.
But Shirasawa can create opportunities for them!
Especially Takenori Akagi, whose form has improved ever since that spike.
Kazuma Takasago is starting to lose control of his momentum.
Shirasawa versus Shinichi Maki
Suddenly pull the ball to change direction during a continuous confrontation.
The person's center of gravity has clearly shifted to the left.
Shinichi Maki's eyes were sharp, and he was not easily fooled by feints. His broad and thick frame provided a guarantee for his defensive judgment.
He doesn't need to move around a lot to effectively disrupt the attack route.
However, Shirasawa's next move completely exceeded his expectations.
It didn't move left, nor did it turn right; instead, the raised hand suddenly changed—
The ball was passed towards the inside!
Takenori Akagi turned around and blocked Kazuma Takasago, who was halfway around him, behind him.
He received the ball, took a hard step, and with Takasago low hand, sent the ball into the basket!
Coach Anzai on the sidelines nodded. " Akagi's technique... has improved quite a bit."
When Akagi first joined Shohoku, he was a typical muscle-bound guy.
His physical strength far surpasses that of ordinary people, but his technique is indeed a bit rough.
This is one of the reasons why he has consistently failed to achieve results when leading the team as the sole core player.
Although Akagi plays aggressively, his offensive style is too one-dimensional. Once he is double-teamed or forced to move away from the basket, his effectiveness is greatly reduced.
Fortunately, Akagi is aware of his weaknesses and has been working hard to improve them over the years.
He made great progress in his first year, and if he hadn't faced Ryonan in his first match in his second year, Shohoku might have gone even further.
Even so, Akagi still dominated Uozumi in the paint.
Uozumi then was almost exactly like his own from the previous year. This battle gave Akagi a deeper understanding of technique.
According to Coach Anzai, Akagi is currently at his peak.
Kogure also deeply understands this point.
Hearing the coach's evaluation, he was genuinely happy for Akagi.
However, the more fiercely Akagi fought, the more uneasy Kogure felt, always worrying about Akagi's ankle.
In the early stages, both sides were locked in a fierce battle, each scoring a goal only to be immediately countered by the other, with neither side able to pull away.
After several rounds of back-and-forth, the score remained close at 16-15, with Kainan holding a slight lead by one point.
Possession of the ball is currently in Kainan's hands.
The match has reached this point, and the spectacle is quite exciting. The audience's trip has certainly been worthwhile.
But when it comes to one-on-one battles between two aces, that's a bit lacking.
Up to this point, both Shirasawa and Shinichi Maki have been busy setting up their teammates, and the two of them have had very few opportunities to face each other directly.
Especially Shinichi Maki, who never once challenged Shirasawa to a one-on-one match.
"That's about it," Fujima said, arms crossed, his tone quite certain. "I think it's time for Maki to get serious this time."
Hanagata pushed up his glasses, unsure whether Fujima was analyzing based on his old rival's intuition or his coach's perspective, but he himself was quite looking forward to it.
If Shinichi Maki starts attacking Shirasawa, the competition will take a completely different turn.
On the field, Shinichi Maki glanced at his teammates' positioning.
Kazuma Takasago was moving towards him, and everyone thought Kainan was going to use a pick-and-roll again.
However, Shinichi Maki suddenly slammed the ball to the ground!
He charged straight at Shirasawa...
Fujima was right.
Shinichi Maki did indeed take action!
He couldn't allow Shohoku's fighting strength to rival Kainan's.
We need to regain control of the pace and put it in Kainan's own hands.
The solution is to shut down Shohoku's engine— Shirasawa!
Shinichi Maki planned to increase Shirasawa's strength on both offense and defense, so that he would be unable to attend to both sides.
Shohoku isn't just Shirasawa's team, but as long as Shirasawa is tied up, Shohoku is practically crippled.
The rest of them can't cause any trouble in front of Kainan!
Shinichi Maki collided squarely with Shirasawa.
The two raced forward a few steps, each trying to outdo the other, when Shinichi Maki suddenly changed direction and pulled back, then charged again from a different angle.