NCCnovel Chapter 208: Final Battle of Hainan: End of the First Half
Chapter 208: Final Battle of Hainan: End of the First Half
"Great, Sakuragi!" Hearing Haruko's cheers, Sakuragi was immediately overwhelmed with joy.
"Sakuragi, this is a good goal. Keep up the good work. You are now the pillar of Xiangbei's inside line."
"Brother Mugure, don't worry. Since the gorilla is not here, I will take care of the inside line." Sakuragi responded with a serious face
Hainan attacked, and Amu passed the ball to Kamiso Ichiro who was running without the ball.
"Hey" As soon as Jinzong Ichiro received the ball, Kiyota appeared in front of him. In the original book, Ajin and Kiyota seemed to be a pair of good friends, but in this world they became rivals. "Kiyota, don't let Jinzong Ichiro shoot the three-pointer." Knowing that Ajin's shooting was accurate, Mu Mu immediately reminded Kiyota loudly.
Although Kazuo Kamiso later became one of the five great stars in Kanagawa, it must be said that his independent offensive ability was the weakest among the five. He was helpless when faced with a persistent opponent, as was the case with Sakuragi and Ikegami. On the other hand, Kiyota, although a little bit inexperienced, made up for his lack of experience with his excellent explosive power and speed. Moreover, Kiyota knew that he only needed to defend his shot. He focused on one point. Defense was also much easier.
"Damn, even though this guy is not tall, his defense is really stubborn," Ah Shen said helplessly.
Upon seeing this, Amu immediately signaled to the inside, and Takasago understood and moved out to screen for Amu.
"Sakuragi! Get out of here!" Horita noticed Takasago's move. He knew that he was too slow to cover the position, and Sakuragi was the most suitable defender to assist.
A Shen used Takasago's screen to get an open space and made a three-point shot
"Don't even think about it." A hand appeared in front of A Shen at this moment, "Pa!" Sakuragi gave A Shen a big hot pot!
"Good block, Sakuragi, go ahead." Mito Yohei got the ball from one side and praised it. The next sentence was said to Kiyota, and then a pass was made. Kiyota got the ball and attacked directly, and scored a one-handed dunk 25:19
Hainan's attack this time, this time Maki Shinichi used the pick-and-roll to break through Mugure and cut into the inside, then passed the ball to Muto at the baseline, who made a mid-range shot. 25:21
"Muto..." This ball made Mugure pay a little attention. Muto had never been very good on the offensive end before, but recalling the quarter-final match between Hainan and Takenoko in the anime, he and A-shin led a group of substitutes to defeat the top eight teams in the prefecture, and his offensive strength was still quite impressive. It's just that his defense is more outstanding, so people ignore his offense. As for the time in history when he missed a shot because of Coach Anzai's prayer, that was normal. After all, shooting is not always a sure thing, so we can't relax our defense against him.
"Sakuragi" This time, Mu Mu handed the attack over to Sakuragi, still at a 45-degree angle
"Don't relax your defense against Sakuragi," Gaotou reminded loudly. Naito did not dare to be negligent at all. He chased out from the inside closely and stuck to Sakuragi, not giving him space to shoot. At the same time, he used his height and long arms to block the opponent's passing route and disrupt the opponent's rhythm.
Sakuragi's mouth curled up.
The next moment, Yohei ran past Sakuragi like the wind and took the basketball from Sakuragi's hand!
Muto, who was defending Yohei, was out of position because of being blocked by Sakuragi. Yohei ran out of space and easily threw the basketball in his hand. The ball went into the net.
Hainan's A-Shen used Takasago's screen to run out of space. A-Maki passed the ball to A-Shen. Sakuragi had already made up for the defense, but this time, A-Shen was already prepared and directly hit the ball to Naito, who scored under the basket 27:23
In this attack by Xiangbei, Kiyota's shot missed, Sakuragi grabbed the offensive rebound and made a second attack, but was blocked by Amu who returned to defense. However, Amu fouled this time and Sakuragi made one of two free throws. 28:23
Maki Shinichi was attacking with the ball, and Takasago immediately ran out from the inside and did a pick-and-roll. Maki Shinichi bypassed Murasaki's defense and rushed in immediately. Seeing Kiyota and Yohei catching up to block him, he passed the ball horizontally to Takasago who was running to the inside after the pick-and-roll. Takasago grabbed the ball, took another step inside, raised his hand and threw it towards the basket.
The ball bounced a few times on the basket and then fell into the basket.
"Ms. Aida, I have a question that I don't understand."
"Oh? Nakamura, what don't you understand?"
"Shinichi Maki is known as the top player in Kanagawa, right? Why did he keep calling for pick-and-rolls against the defense of Shohoku No. 5? I think with Shinichi Maki's ability and his strong physique, if he really breaks through, Shohoku No. 5 may not be able to defend him. Besides, Shohoku has put in several substitutes at this time, so it's a good time to catch up. Why doesn't Maki take the initiative to attack?"
"Nakamura, you asked a great question. That's right, if Maki Shinichi really wants to break through with all his strength, it will be difficult for Murasaki to block him. But don't underestimate Murasaki's strength. I have watched the games in Kanagawa for a few years, and Murasaki is the first one who can bring such pressure to Maki Shinichi. Even Fujima before, he couldn't limit Maki Shinichi on the defensive end. If Maki Shinichi keeps attacking Murasaki, even if he succeeds, it will be a waste of his physical strength. In the Hainan lineup, there is no one else who can replace Maki Shinichi. The starting point of Hainan's offense is Amu. If Amu cannot play because of physical strength, Hainan's offense will be difficult to launch. If Murasaki leaves the court in Xiangbei, Mitsui can also replace Murasaki to organize the offense, and the first-year Mito Yohei is also capable. This is the difference between Hainan and Xiangbei, and why Amu is called pick-and-roll."
"I understand. Amu is conserving his energy. At this moment, most of Xiangbei's players are substitutes. He chooses to use the most energy-saving method to drive the team's offense. When Xiangbei's main players are really in place, he will exert his full strength. The same is true for Xiangbei's No. 5." Nakamura suddenly realized.
"That's right," Yayoi Aida nodded.
In this attack, the main point guard of Xiangbei was replaced by Mito Yohei
"Mito Yohei? Interesting. Muto, keep an eye on him." Although Xiangbei's main point guard was replaced, Maki Shinichi did not dare to relax his defense against Murasaki
Yohei Mito took the ball to the three-point line, slowed down, dribbled in place, and observed the positions of his teammates on the court.
"Is it a breakthrough or a pass?" Muto bent down and watched Yohei's every move. Although the opponent was only a freshman, Muto was not careless at all.
Yohei carefully dribbled the ball between his legs, trying to create a breakthrough opportunity, but failed, so he passed the ball to Mugure. Then he ran towards Mugure, received the ball, faced Mutō who came to defend, and took a step to Mutō's left while the opponent was not stable.
"So fast!" If Muto stayed in place, he could defend Yohei. But if Yohei rushed and sped up, it would be difficult for Muto to keep up with Yohei. Yohei successfully broke through Muto's defense, cut into the inside, and made a fake pass to deceive Takasago, and scored a layup directly!
Although Hainan successfully made a three-pointer by A Shen this time, on the offensive end, Qingtian successfully broke through A Shen and scored
In the next game, Horita was replaced by Fukuda. Although the Shohoku team had a lot of substitutes, under the command of Mugure, they were not overtaken by Kainan. Before they knew it, the first half ended with the two teams tied at 48. The next step was the second half, the real decisive battle!