Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 370 The Eavesdropping Storm

Sakuragi, wearing a green hood and holding a megaphone to his ear, squatted on the ground eavesdropping.

Here's the problem: they didn't even try to cover it up. They should have at least found some cover to hide behind and eavesdrop.

The worst part is that you're wearing Shohoku's number 10 jersey...

"Sakura...Sakuragi!"

With just one glance, Coach Taoka, Uozumi, Ikegami, and Sendoh recognized Sakuragi.

"what are you doing?"

Coach Taoka looked speechless.

This is just a practice match, is it really necessary?
"Hahaha, you've been found out? Well, there's nothing we can do about it then!"

After being exposed, Sakuragi ripped off the green hood and covered up his embarrassment with laughter.

Sendoh, biting into a lemon slice, stared in disbelief.

Not far away, Kogure and the others looked at each other, speechless and choked with emotion.

"I'll go!"

Akagi slapped his forehead and volunteered to take on the pet—a red-haired monkey!
Coach Anzai held the teacup in both hands and said cheerfully, "Akagi, thank you for your hard work!"

"Don't push your luck! What do you mean by this?!"

Before Akagi arrived, Koshino grabbed Sakuragi by the collar and shouted, "Even though it's just a practice match, it's still our first important game of the year. You were acting suspiciously just now. If you don't want to play, get out of here!"

It has to be said that off-roading is truly courageous; no wonder it's called Mitsui's 'younger brother'.

Mitsui is also brave, daring to challenge stronger opponents.

Unfortunately, Mitsui's fighting skills are limited, and he always ends up being bullied, only able to bully the trash can.

Although his off-road skills are a bit lacking, just like Coach Taoka said.

Sakuragi glared at Koshino with a murderous look and said, "Kid, you're pretty brave. A mere substitute dares to provoke a starter!"

Neither side showed any weakness, and they continued to stare intently at each other.

Seeing that a conflict was inevitable, Kiyota Nobunaga, thinking the two were about to fight, hurriedly tried to stop them, saying, "Yoshige, you red-haired monkey, stop it!!"

"Monkey, get out of here!"

Sakuragi grabbed Kiyota Nobunaga and casually threw him away.

"Perfect, let me show you if you're really serious about the competition!"

Sakuragi looked down at Kouchi, his tone stern.

"What did you say?"

It's equally impressive in off-road conditions.

"You two, stop!"

Coach Taoka squeezed between the two and forcibly separated them.

It must be said that Coach Taoka is quite strong.

"Stop nagging, old man!"

Poor Coach Taoka was ultimately labeled an old man by Sakuragi.

"what?"

"Shohoku isn't just about Baldy and Rukawa, you old geezer, don't push your luck."

"Damn it, what kind of attitude is this!"

"Please be mindful of your manners in front of the coach!"

"It's funny to think that an athlete would have such a hairstyle!"

……

Seeing their coach suffer a loss, the Ryonan players launched a group attack.

"Hahahahaha!"

Sendoh seemed to have heard a joke and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Sakuragi stood menacingly in front of Sendoh and said, "An athlete with a hairstyle like that? That's you, Sendoh!"

Sendoh looked surprised and subconsciously took his hand out of his pants and touched his spiky hair.

Sakuragi is right; it's definitely not appropriate for an athlete to have such a hairstyle.

Although that's true... he wastes countless hours every day just getting his hair done and fishing.

The problem is, he doesn't want to be an athlete; playing basketball is just his second hobby.

It's worth mentioning that when Sakuragi and Sendoh were talking, both of their hands were inside their basketball shorts.

Not far away, Kiyota Nobunaga showed a panicked expression, and then quietly pulled Uozumi to his side.

That's right, he was the one who said the thing about the hairstyle; he was afraid that Sendoh would make things difficult for him.

In the Ryonan team, Sendoh's status is second only to Coach Taoka, and is comparable to Captain Uozumi.

Just as Sakuragi and Sendoh were facing off, heavy footsteps sounded.

Everyone turned around and saw Akagi standing behind Sakuragi with a gloomy face, raising a fist that came crashing down from the sky.

"You stupid!"

Sakuragi was knocked to the ground by a single punch.

"Go and stop him now!"

At Kogure's command, several Shohoku players hurriedly carried Sakuragi away.

"Let me go, let me go!"

Sakuragi struggled desperately, but Naito, Akagi, Rukawa, and Yohei stopped him.

"Coach Taoka, I apologize on Sakuragi's behalf!"

As the team captain, Kogure apologized to Coach Taoka.

This is also the captain's responsibility.

Coach Taoka nodded approvingly, but was still unhappy with how Sakuragi addressed him.

Unlike the original story, Coach Taoka never mentioned the foolish idea of ​​firing Sakuragi.

Because Sakuragi, like Rukawa, is a talented player he desperately wants to recruit.

Unfortunately, it was reserved by Shohoku High School long ago.

"Keep a close eye on Sakuragi to prevent him from unleashing his 'thousand-year kill' on Coach Taoka!"

Thinking of Sakuragi's Thousand Years of Death, Kogure couldn't help but feel a pang of pity when he looked at Coach Taoka.

In the original work, Coach Taoka was traumatized after being subjected to Sakuragi's Thousand Years of Death.

The key point is that Kogure remembers Sakuragi even took a sniff...

Coach Taoka felt a chill run down his spine under Kogure's gaze and subconsciously asked, "What's wrong, Kogure?"

"nothing!"

Kogure waved his hand and walked towards the Shohoku bench.

After the 'eavesdropping' incident subsided, the long-awaited trio of goofballs finally arrived.

Watching Sakuragi being carried away, the three idiots all showed expressions of regret.

As close friends, they really wanted to see Sakuragi get his comeuppance.

"What a pity, we missed a great show!"

"Takamiya, you need to lose weight. I don't want this to happen again; it's too embarrassing!"

Yuji Oonan and Chuichiro Noma begin to jointly criticize Nozomi Takamiya.

They didn't want to be overtaken by the little girl's bicycle again; this was the second time.

"I was born this way; I gain weight even from drinking water, and I can't lose it no matter what I try."

Takamiya Nozomi touched her round belly and sighed.

After a brief interlude, the game resumed.

The players from both sides returned to the field, their eyes filled with determination and fighting spirit.

Sakuragi was not substituted off the court.

However, the balance of the game began to shift, and Coach Taoka's tactical adjustments started to take effect.

The Ryonan players were more proactive on the court, their offense and defense became more organized, and they strengthened their defense against Naito and Rukawa.

For a time, Shohoku's defense was riddled with holes, allowing their opponents to score at will, and their offensive efficiency began to decline.

The first and second-year players at Shohoku were almost completely disconnected, didn't know each other well, and had virtually no teamwork.

Furthermore, the Tsurumi brothers' physical limitations made it impossible for them to restrict the performance of Matsumoto Minoru and Ikegami.

During this period, Rukawa Kaede began to increase the proportion of singles matches. Even though Ikegami tried his best, the results were not very good, and Rukawa Kaede frequently succeeded.

In Rukawa Kaede, Ikegami seemed to see the shadow of Sawakita.

He believed that Rukawa's offense was slightly better than Sendoh's and not much inferior to Sawakita's.

Moreover, Rukawa Kaede has become increasingly well-rounded.

In terms of overall ability, Rukawa Kaede is in no way inferior to Sendoh.

Having been tempered by the National Tournament and the Winter Tournament, Sendoh's skill level has surpassed that of the original work.

Rukawa Kaede's rapid progress is mainly due to Kogure's teaching abilities!
However, Rukawa Kaede is ultimately just one person, and individual performance cannot last long.

As for Naito, he wasn't in good form in this game and missed several mid-range shots.

Uozumi immediately changed his defensive strategy, allowing Naito to shoot and focusing on dominating the paint.

This effectively contained the Shohoku team's attack.

Under Uozumi's intimidation, for a time, Shohoku players could only hover on the outside and shoot.

This is also the main reason for the decline in the efficiency of the Shohoku team.

Unable to attack or defend, this is the current state of the Shohoku team.

Beep~
Seeing this, Coach Anzai requested a timeout.

There is no limit to the number of timeouts in friendly matches.

During the timeout, at Coach Anzai's instruction, Ayako handed Sakuragi a detailed data sheet.

In the game just now, Sakuragi was doing almost all the back-and-forth running, so you can imagine how poor his performance was.

Although Sakuragi has almost limitless potential, his performance in the first half of the game can only be described as terrible.

Because he didn't do what he's best at!
Ayako slapped Sakuragi on the head with her fan and said sternly, "Sakuragi, where did your rebounding and defense go?"

Looking at the data sheet in his hand, Sakuragi lowered his head in shame.

Because his stats are a bit shocking!
He didn't score many points, and his rebound count was pitifully low; even Ryonan's Nango had more rebounds than him.

At this moment, Kogure wisely advised, "Sakuragi, I know you really want to perform, but basketball is a team sport. Everyone has their own role and task. You should do what you're good at, instead of focusing on your individual performance. Your value to the team isn't just reflected in your scoring!"

Kogure's words successfully enlightened Sakuragi.

The next moment, Sakuragi's fighting spirit was rekindled.

After the timeout ended, both teams' players returned to the court.

Ryonan made a slight change to their lineup, replacing Matsumoto Minoru with Ajin.

This further exacerbates Tsurumi Seiji's height disadvantage, especially since Shin is a renowned sharpshooter.

After returning to the court, Sakuragi was noticeably more proactive.

In this offensive play, Sakuragi set a screen for Tsurumi Seiji and then quickly cut to the basket.

Nango was caught off guard when Sakuragi unexpectedly set a screen for him.

In the blink of an eye, Sakuragi had taken the lead by a step.

After realizing that Sakuragi had an advantage in the attack, Tsurumi Seiji immediately passed the ball to Sakuragi.

"Innocent!"

Uozumi quickly provided help defense, but Sakuragi remained calm and passed the ball under Uozumi's arm.

Bang~

A loud bang rang out, and Uozumi turned around to see Naito hanging from the basket.

"Sakuragi, well done!"

Naito landed on the ground and gave Sakuragi a thumbs up.

Sakuragi nodded and turned back to defend.

After returning to his own half of the court, Sakuragi shouted, "Defense!"

Under Sakuragi's influence, the Shohoku players noticeably increased their defensive efforts.

As soon as Ah Shen stepped onto the stage, he wanted to give it his all.

However, Tsurumi Seiji was too tightly bound, and there was no opportunity for him to appear for the time being.

The other Ryonan players were in the same situation, all being entangled by their respective opposing players.

Rukawa Kaede also clung to Sendoh, making Sendoh feel the pressure.

With the mastery of the Death Binding technique, Rukawa's defensive skills have improved day by day.

Under pressure from Rukawa, Sendoh had no choice but to pass the ball to Jin.

Compared to Tsurumi Seiji, Ajin is a full half a head taller.

In basketball, this is a very obvious mismatch advantage, the most typical example being 'Migrant Worker Du'.

The "migrant worker Du" here does not refer to the "car bottom war god", but to Durant, who likes to drink foot bath water.

After receiving the ball, A-Shen immediately shot a three-pointer despite Tsurumi Seiji's defense.

Tsurumi Seiji stretched out his arms as hard as he could, but he couldn't reach the basketball at all.

The difference in height and wingspan between the two is too great.

The moment the basketball was released, Ah Shen knew he had it.

Just then, Sakuragi appeared from behind Tsurumi Seiji.

Sakuragi jumped up with all his might, leaping with all his might.

Under A-Shin's shocked gaze, Sakuragi swatted the ball away over Tsurumi Seiji.

The basketball bounced on the ground and quickly sprinted towards the frontcourt.

Rukawa Kaede immediately started his run and sprinted toward the basketball.

Ikegami and Sendoh immediately realized what was happening and quickly gave chase.

After successfully stealing the basketball, Rukawa Kaede grabbed it and quickly rushed towards the basket.

Sendoh appeared under the basket first, while Ikegami clung to Rukawa and took the initiative to engage in confrontation.

The next moment, the three of them jumped up at the same time.

Faced with Sendoh and Ikegami's defense, Rukawa did not force his way through, but instead passed the ball out through a behind-the-back pass.

Bang~

After making the block, Sakuragi immediately cut to the basket. He didn't expect Rukawa to pass the ball, but he still instinctively dunked it into the hoop.

In the time that followed, Sakuragi gave it his all and showed his best side.

Sakuragi seemed to transform into a 'wolf king,' and began a frenzied rampage.

With his amazing explosiveness, flexibility and stamina, Sakuragi's defensive range can even cover beyond the three-point line.

This scene made Coach Taoka extremely envious.

Because Nanxiang can't do it!
With Sakuragi starting to exert his defensive efforts, Shohoku finally stopped their losing streak.

However, Shohoku's offense did not improve much.

For a time, the two sides traded blows, and the score began to rise alternately.

The first half ended not long after.

Thanks to their previous advantage, Ryonan remains in the lead, holding a double-digit advantage.

During halftime, Sakuragi sat on the bench, and after catching his breath, he immediately asked Ayako for the data sheet.

Compared to before, Sakuragi's data is significantly better, with almost all five data points surpassing Nango's.

"The team lost, but I didn't. Don't believe me? Look at my stats!"

Thinking of this, Sakuragi couldn't help but smile.

For some unknown reason, Sakuragi picked up the bad habit of future gOat.

Not far away, Coach Anzai was discussing something with Kogure.

"In the second half, I decided to field my strongest lineup so that the first-year players could integrate into the team system as quickly as possible."

Kogure agreed with this.

"I've decided to send Akagi, Naito, Rukawa, Mitsui, and you onto the field together. What do you think?"

"Sakuragi played very well just now, let's keep him on the court!"

Kogure raised an objection.

"Then let Naito step down!"

Coach Anzai agreed with Kogure's point of view and, given Naito's less-than-stellar performance, decided to let Sakuragi continue to shine on the court.

Beside him, Sakuragi's ears twitched, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

Kogure-senpai, you're awesome!
(End of this chapter)