Near the end of the first half, Mitsui Hisashi suddenly erupted, sinking two consecutive three-pointers, allowing Shohoku to take the lead.
This made Ryonan's coach Taoka realize that they should strengthen their defense against Mitsui Hisashi.
Clearly, Hiroaki Koshino had no chance of holding onto Hisashi Mitsui.
Coach Taoka then opted to bring on Ryoji Ikegami, the Ryonan team's strongest defender, to replace Hiroaki Koshino.
Coach Taoka added, "Ikegami, your defensive ability is evident to everyone; you are the strongest player on our Ryonan team. However, you cannot underestimate Mitsui Hisashi. Shohoku lost because they underestimated Mitsui Hisashi's strength."
Ryoji Ikegami nodded emphatically and said, "Coach, don't worry, I will do my best!"
Sendoh Akira took a sip of water, then wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, his mind filled with images of his one-on-one match against Rukawa Kaede in the first half.
Rukawa had many opportunities to launch attacks head-on in the first half, but he chose to pass the ball to his teammates every time.
This is completely different from Rukawa Kaede's previous performances.
You know, Rukawa Kaede used to be a notorious lone wolf!
Once the ball is in Rukawa's hands, everyone else can just sit back and watch the Nine-Tailed Fox Rukawa's performance.
Of course, in the previous few games, Rukawa Kaede liked to pass the ball to Sakuragi Hanamichi.
There's no way around it, Sakuragi Hanamichi is just too good at making friends.
Sendoh Akira glanced at his teammates, his gaze hardening. He thought to himself, "Rukawa, I know you want to conserve your energy for the second half. But all our efforts are aimed at making it to the national tournament. We must win this match!"
Then, Sendoh Akira glanced at Coach Taoka.
Given Coach Taoka's temperament, he should have yelled and scolded the players at this point.
But at this moment, Coach Taoka seemed to have become a different person. He didn't scold the players at all, but spoke in an encouraging tone.
Perhaps the incident involving Kichijo Fukuda had a significant impact on Coach Taoka.
In fact, when it comes to a life-or-death battle, criticizing the players at this time doesn't really have much positive effect.
Everyone wants to win, and everyone is under a lot of pressure. The players don't need the coach to yell at them; they all want to give it their all.
Therefore, at crucial moments, coaches need to remain calm and offer more comfort and encouragement to the players, which may be more effective.
...
Halftime break is over.
The players from both Shohoku and Ryonan marched onto the court with great pride and confidence.
High spirits!
Amidst deafening cheers, both teams took their positions, ready to begin the battle.
The second half of the game officially began as the referee tossed the basketball up from the center circle.
Takenori Akagi and Jun Uozumi both jumped up to compete for the ball.
Once he recovered, Takenori Akagi proved to be even better, dribbling the basketball first.
The basketball was slapped by Takenori Akagi towards Kaede Rukawa.
Rukawa was well positioned, using his body to trap Sendoh behind him, and then stretched out his left hand to successfully receive Akagi Takenori's pass.
At that moment, many people in the audience were shaken!
Kiyota Nobunaga exclaimed in shock, "Rukawa Kaede! His form has changed! This form! It's completely different from the first half!"
Just moments ago, Kiyota Nobunaga was criticizing Rukawa Kaede for disgracing the title of "super rookie," but now, seeing the powerful fighting spirit erupting from Rukawa Kaede, Kiyota Nobunaga instantly became extremely excited.
This is what a super rookie should be like!
Maki Shinichi, on the other hand, appeared very calm and composed, saying, "Indeed, Rukawa's dribbling speed has also become noticeably faster. This is the prelude to launching an attack; he is finally planning to challenge Sendoh one-on-one."
At the same time, Kenji Fujima of the Shohoku team said, "Rukawa Kaede, Sendoh, the second half will be all about your performance. Who will come out on top?"
Standing directly opposite Rukawa, Sendoh Akira naturally felt it even more clearly.
He keenly noticed that Rukawa Kaede's speed in dribbling the basketball had obviously increased.
He sensed the murderous intent in Rukawa Kaede's eyes.
The super rookie Rukawa Kaede that everyone knows is back!
Sendoh Akira bent down, spread his arms, and assumed a defensive stance. At the same time, he slightly raised the corners of his mouth and asked, "So it seems that from the beginning, you were determined to conserve your energy and save it for the second half."
As Rukawa dribbled the basketball, he stared intently into Sendoh Akira's eyes and said seriously, "This time, I'm going to beat you!"
Sendoh Akira smiled faintly and said, "Come on!"
Rukawa Kaede didn't say anything more, but the speed at which he dribbled the basketball clearly increased!
Increased dribbling speed means it's time to launch an attack!
Sudden!
Rukawa Kaede bent over and charged suddenly toward Sendoh Akira's left!
"So fast!"
While being shocked by Rukawa's speed, Sendoh Akira quickly adjusted his position to keep up with Rukawa's offensive pace.
To be honest, with this level of dribbling skills alone, it would be difficult to easily shake off the defense of ace player Akira Sendoh.
So, the key is how Rukawa Kaede will shoot next.
Was he planning to dribble into the penalty area and then pass to a teammate to create a scoring opportunity?
Or was he planning to forcefully make a move while Sendoh Akira was clinging to him?
At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Rukawa Kaede.
Just when everyone thought Rukawa was about to continue dribbling into the penalty area, he suddenly stopped abruptly.
Immediately afterwards, Rukawa Kaede performed a nutmeg dribble on the spot.
What is he planning to do?
Make a feint, then change the direction of the attack to shake off Sendoh Akira's defense.
Rukawa Kaede performed these moves very quickly.
Before anyone could even gasp in surprise, Rukawa had already completed his standing nutmeg dribble.
Suddenly, Rukawa Kaede jumped up with the basketball in his hand.
It turns out that Rukawa's move was just to mislead Sendoh; his real purpose was to shoot a mid-range jump shot.
Rukawa Kaede then adopted a fadeaway jump shot stance.
Against a player of Sendoh Akira's caliber, a fadeaway jump shot is indeed the safest option.
The problem is that, in many people's eyes, Rukawa's move at this moment seems a bit forced.
It was clear that Sendoh Akira's defense was putting a lot of pressure on Rukawa Kaede.
"Ah! This time the rebound is mine!"
Jun Uozumi roared and immediately engaged in a fierce physical confrontation with Takenori Akagi under the basketball hoop, trying to secure the best position.
This also shows that Jun Uozumi believed that Kaede Rukawa would definitely miss the shot.
At the same time, Takenori Akagi, Hanamichi Sakuragi, and Kichijou Fukuda were all crowded under the basket.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, using all his strength to push Fukuda Kichou out of the way, yelled, "Uozumi! You wish! With me here! You can forget about the rebound!"
While Sakuragi Hanamichi was yelling at Uozumi Jun, he was secretly thinking, "Rukawa Kaede, I'm here under the basket! You can shoot with confidence! After I get the rebound, I'll pass it to you and let you keep shooting! So what if it's Sendoh? You're going to beat him to a pulp!"
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