Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 117 Advancement to the National Top Eight
As soon as Coach Kitano finished speaking, Nan Lie took the lead and shouted, "Coach, we can still fight, please don't replace us!"

No matter what, he didn't want to disappoint Coach Kitano.

At this time, Matsushita said in a humorous tone: "Coach, I think we can still save it!"

Hearing what Matsushita said, the teammates all smiled.

The originally heavy atmosphere seemed to be blown away by a breeze and disappeared.

At this time, Kishimoto raised his right fist and shouted, "Fight!"

“Fight!” “Fight!”

The Touou players were infected by Kishimoto's passion and started cheering loudly.

For a time, Toyotama's supporters also joined the ranks.

Their voices came together and instantly filled the entire venue.

The Toyotama players shook off their slump and replaced it with a rekindled fighting spirit.

They are ready, no matter how difficult the upcoming game is, they will definitely go all out and fight to the end.

On the Xiangbei bench, the players listened to the noise coming from the opposite side.

Coach Anxi showed a rare serious expression.

"The game really starts now!"

Coach Anzai's eyes swept across the faces of each player and finally stopped on Murasakibara.

Seeing Murasakibara's still calm expression, he couldn't help but smile with relief.

At this critical moment, he was very clear how important Murasakibara's stable performance was to the team.

This is the importance of the trump card!
"Let's fight for victory together!"

As soon as Coach Anxi finished speaking, the players responded in unison.

After returning to the court, looking at the fighting eyes of the Touou players, Murasakibara couldn't help but sigh.

"Nervous!"

Originally, he planned to defeat Toyotama in one fell swoop, clock out early, and be in better shape for tomorrow's game.

But judging from the current situation, it will probably take even more effort.

"I have to say, Coach Kitano is worthy of being Coach Anzai's classmate. The chicken soup he made is so abundant and thick!"

Murasakibara couldn't help but complain a bit, then concentrated on the game.

Soon, Toyotama launched another attack.

On the field, several Touou players began to run quickly, constantly changing positions, looking for gaps.

Not long after, Matsushita Kura successfully got rid of Mitsui's defense with the help of his teammates.

Itachi Yasuda passed the ball at the right time, and Matsushita Kura rode a horse and shot an arrow, throwing the basketball in his hand.

After landing, Matsushita Kura stared closely at the still flying orange basketball.

Previously, he missed scoring opportunities at several critical moments, causing the team to fall into crisis.

"You must come in!"

This time, Matsushita did not let the opportunity slip away.

shuh~
The basketball drew a graceful arc in the air and accurately penetrated the net, making a sound like a divine wind.

Call ~
At this moment, all the Toyotama players breathed a sigh of relief, they finally scored.

On the Toyotama bench, Coach Kitazawa showed a satisfied look. He was well aware of the importance of this score to the team.

Perhaps because they were too excited, teammates came forward and surrounded Matsushita Cang to celebrate.

Hua Hua Hua~
At the same time, Toyotama's supporters burst into loud cheers.

"Quick attack!"

Just at this moment, Mu Mu's voice suddenly rang out.

While the Toouou players were celebrating, Murasakibara saw an opportunity and rushed to the front court like an arrow.

Oh shit, my house was robbed!
The Touou players finally realized something and began to retreat frantically.

On the sidelines, Coach Kitano watched this scene speechlessly.

It was also at this time that Akagi swung his right hand and threw the ball with great force.

The basketball rushed towards the front court like an arrow.

When Murasakibara jumped up to catch the ball, the fastest player, Itachi Yasuda, took the opportunity to catch up.

Itachi Yasuda subconsciously thought that Murasaki wanted to break through and make a layup, so he stepped back two steps, ready to block his breakthrough route.

Seeing the position of Itachi Yasuda, Murasaki immediately found an opportunity.

He did not break through for a layup, but instead shot directly from outside the three-point line.

"not good!"

Itachi Yasuda was obviously startled, and when he wanted to stop it, it was too late.

The two were two steps apart, and Itachi Yasuda was only 171 cm tall, so even if he jumped, he would not be able to disturb Murasaki.

For Murasakibara, this is no different from practicing three-point shots!
Murasaki's body was stretched as far as possible in the air, in a textbook posture, and with a light flick of his fingers, the basketball flew towards the basket.

shuh~
As expected, the basketball went into the net.

After landing, Murasakibara stretched out his thumb and index finger, blew hard, and made a pistol-blowing celebration gesture.

At this time, the Toyotama players looked at each other, with depression written all over their faces.

They were so depressed. They had finally broken the scoring drought, but because they were overexcited, their opponents forced them into a fast break, causing the score difference to widen by another point.

However, they were not discouraged, but instead showed strong fighting spirit.

They quickly adjusted their mentality and began to compete fiercely with Xiangbei.

Compared with Shohoku, Touou players have better coordination.

They skillfully used the run-and-gun tactics, and their offense was extremely smooth, which put great pressure on Xiangbei's defense. Xiangbei was not to be outdone, relying on the inside-outside combination of Mugure and Akagi, as well as the one-star-four-shooting tactical system, which also gave the Touou team a headache.

Murasakibara's accurate jump shot and Akagi's dominance in the interior, coupled with the outside firepower support from other players, made it difficult for the Touou team to find a way to limit them.

For a while, the two sides chased each other and refused to give in. The scores began to rise alternately, and the difference between the two sides always remained between 15 and 18 points.

The fans' cheers and sighs rose one after another, and the entire stadium was immersed in a tense and exciting atmosphere.

However, the run-and-gun tactic does have its flaws after all, let alone the run-and-gun in college.

Just ten minutes into the second half, Murasakibara keenly noticed that the pace of Touou players had slowed down significantly.

Their steps began to become heavy and their speed was no longer as fast as at the beginning.

In order to break through Shohoku's defense, Touou players had to increase their running distance.

By this time, they could hardly run anymore.

At this time, Touou players again interspersed to provide screens.

Soon, Kishimoto saw an opportunity and used cover to get rid of Ikeda Yuho.

bang~
Unfortunately, Kishimoto's shot was not powerful enough and ended up hitting the rim.

Akagi firmly trapped Asakura Tenyu behind him and easily grabbed the rebound.

At this time, Akagi discovered that Murasakibara had started to charge, and he was almost across the half court, leaving the others far behind.

It turned out that when Murasakibara saw that the ball did not go in, he started early because he trusted Akagi's rebounding.

"not good!"

At this time, the Toyotama players realized that something was wrong. When they wanted to catch up, they found in despair that the distance between the two sides did not narrow.

Murasakibara did not get faster, but slower. Their legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and every step they took seemed like a struggle with their own bodies.

At the first moment, Akagi threw the ball hard towards the front court.

Accompanied by a loud whistling sound, the basketball crossed half the court and was successfully caught by Murasakibara.

Seeing that the Touou players had not caught up yet, Murasakibara, who was standing outside the three-point line, even had time to aim before throwing the basketball.

shuh~
The basketball went into the net, creating a splash of snow-white flowers on the net.

80:60
Shohoku is in front and Touou is behind.

After Murasakibara made this three-pointer, Xiangbei's lead finally reached 20 points.

In the national competition, this is undoubtedly a huge score difference.

The morale of the Touou players was obviously hit, and there was a hint of despair in their eyes.

If it were any other team, they might still have a chance of turning defeat into victory.

Unfortunately, Shohoku was too cautious, and the key point was that Murasakibara's attack was unstoppable.

Touou's defense was already poor, and as their physical strength was severely depleted, they were even less able to curb Murasakibara's performance.

The subsequent progress of the game also confirmed this point. As physical strength was greatly consumed, Toyotama's shooting accuracy dropped significantly.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Akagi mustered his remaining strength and started fighting for offensive rebounds.

This caught Touou off guard, and Akagi grabbed three consecutive offensive rebounds, causing Xiangbei to widen the gap to 26 points.

At this time, there were 5 minutes left until the end of the game.

Seeing that there was no way to turn the situation around, Coach Kitano had to make a drastic decision and replace Touou's main players in advance.

The Touou players were in a state of dismay, feeling resentful and helpless.

Seeing this, Coach Anxi also replaced the lineup with substitutes and began to prepare for tomorrow's game.

Although Shohoku's substitutes were obviously inferior to Toouou's, they still had a 26-point advantage. In addition, Toouou's substitutes were in poor condition, so they did not fall into a big disadvantage on the field.

Du~du~
Soon, a harsh electronic sound rang out, signaling the end of the game.

103:82
In this game, Shohoku's score rarely broke three digits, and they defeated Touou with a 21-point advantage, which shows how strong Shohoku is.

The victory in this game not only represents Xiangbei's successful advancement to the top eight in the country, but also is an affirmation of Xiangbei's strength.

After defeating Toouma, the Xiangbei players raised their hands high to celebrate this hard-earned victory.

在这场比赛中，木暮拿到了41分8助攻6篮板5抢断2盖帽的全面数据。

However, Murasakibara's data this time does not look like GOAT, but rather like boiled eggs!

His versatility makes it difficult for opponents to defend against him. Whether in offense or defense, he has demonstrated extremely high standards.

Akagi scored 25+15+5, also a very good performance.

As for Mitsui, he only got 15 points due to his slacking off.

The three giants of Xiangbei scored a total of 81 points, so terrifying!
On the other side, the Toyotama players were in heavy moods, and some players were unable to suppress their inner sadness and burst into tears.

Coach Kitano clapped his hands vigorously and said loudly: "It's not your fault that we lost this game. The responsibility lies with me. You all performed very well. If I hadn't stubbornly insisted on the run-and-gun tactics, perhaps we wouldn't have lost this game."

Although Coach Kitano is stubborn, his character and love for basketball are impeccable.

Coach Kitano has infinite tolerance and love for his players. He has only one idea from beginning to end, which is to let the players experience more happiness.

Even though he was kicked out of Touou, Coach Kitano did not slack off like Coach Anzai did. Instead, he went to elementary schools to continue spreading his concept of happy basketball.

The players of Toyotama still miss him very much. They even publicly expressed their support for Coach Kitano and insisted on continuing to implement the run-and-gun tactics he advocated.

This shows the prestige of Coach Kitano in Touou.

Hearing the coach say this, Nan Lie hurriedly shook his head vigorously: "Coach, this is not your problem. The main reason is that we haven't done well enough. We still have a lot of room for improvement."

The other players echoed this, saying that it was not Coach Kitano's responsibility.

Seeing this scene, Coach Kitano couldn't help but smile with relief.

"I'm afraid I don't have much time left. I hope I can still teach you for a while!"

Coach Kitano had a hidden worry in his heart, as he was well aware of the nature of Touou’s management.

(End of this chapter)