Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 383 Kogure's Future Plans

Hanagata and Kishimoto tried to grab the rebound, but were blocked by Uozumi and Nango.

In the end, Uozumi easily secured the rebound with a light, extended arm.

Hanagata tried to steal the ball, but Uozumi swung his iron elbow, scaring him into taking a step back.

Uozumi passed the ball to Sendoh, who then dribbled down the court.

Including Uozumi, the Ryonan players quickly rushed to the frontcourt.

Fujima had to pull himself together and, despite his exhaustion, avoid being caught off guard by Ryonan's fast break.

As a result, his already depleted physical strength continued to decline.

Ryonan gave Fujima no chance to catch his breath.

Seeing that there was no opportunity for a quick attack, Sendoh paused for a moment and began to organize an offensive.

Not far away, Kiyota was 'walking his dog' around.

When it comes to walking dogs, Kiyota is a professional.

Normal people walk their dogs on a leash, but Kiyota Nobunaga walked his dog on a leash.

He fell so hard!

Aida Yayoi and her assistant Nakamura are witnesses!

Fujima's chest heaved violently, he was out of breath, and his steps became increasingly slow.

He's reached his limit!
Don't ask Fujima why he's wary of Kiyota; the answer is simply that the two are of similar height.

You can't expect the 178cm tall Fujima to defend against the 190cm tall Sendoh.

Therefore, Fujima and Minami had no choice but to switch positions.

In reality, no matter who Fujima guards against, the final outcome will be the same.

Under Coach Taoka's arrangement, Ryonan was determined to wear down Fujima's stamina.

Soon, Kiyota had an opportunity, gaining a two-body advantage, and charged towards the unguarded basket.

Sendoh immediately passed the ball to Kiyota, who then made a layup.

sigh~
With Kiyota scoring this goal, Ryonan's lead finally reached double digits.

This goal also changed the morale of both sides.

Fujima bent over, his face flushed, and he was breathing heavily.

Seeing this, Coach Kitano had no choice but to replace Fujima with Ito Taku.

He could only hope that Nan Lie and others would prevent the score difference from widening further.

If Fujima returns, then Shohoku will still have hope.

Unfortunately, Taku Ito was no match for Fujima.

Without Fujima organizing the attack, Shohoku's offensive threat level dropped significantly.

Not only that, Coach Taoka sent Matsumoto Minoru back onto the court, leaving no suspense for Shohoku.

At Coach Taoka's instruction, the Ryonan players focused a lot of their energy on the defensive end.

As for the offensive end, it was handled by the recovered Minoru Matsumoto.

Faced with Ryonan's meat grinder-like defense, Shohoku's offense was thwarted and their efficiency plummeted.

As time ticked by, the Xiangyang players grew increasingly anxious.

In just two minutes, they only managed to score one basket, thanks to Hanagata's fadeaway jumper.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ryonan further widened the score gap.

The Shohoku players knew that if they didn't find a scoring opportunity soon, the game would be completely controlled by Ryonan.

In this situation, Coach Kitano had no choice but to bring Fujima on early.

In two minutes, Fujima had not recovered much strength at all; on the contrary, he was even more tired, and his legs felt like they were filled with lead.

When lead is mentioned, Kogure is reminded of the lead incident, which was when he traveled through time.

That year, there was another thing that worried him a lot: whether the Lakers had kicked GOat out.

In Kogure's view, it is more likely that gOat will exercise his player option, bring his talents back to the Cavaliers, and start a new version of hometown basketball 2.0.

However, given gOat's current form, unless he takes a significant pay cut, even with the support of the league, Nike, and diddy, he won't be able to win the championship with the help of his teammates.

The game continued, and Shohoku's offense did not improve after Fujima returned to the court.

He is not Mitsui after all; without the 'Flame Man' buff, his performance remains sluggish.

Seeing that there was no way to turn the tide, Coach Kitano waved his hand and substituted all of Shohoku's key players off the court.

Coach Taoka was very accommodating and substituted in a substitute as well.

In the end, Ryonan won this crucial game with a net score of 16 points.

After receiving the ball in the first round of the county joint finals, both Shohoku and Ryonan had accumulated one win.

Shohoku and Buri are at a disadvantage, as it is almost impossible for these two teams to qualify for the main tournament. They are more likely to compete for a spot in the playoffs.

However, the match between Shohoku and Takezato will take place in the final round of the joint finals.

As for the second round of the joint finals, they are Shohoku vs. Shoyo, and Ryonan vs. Takezato.

"Miyagi, Naito, Yohei, and Sakuragi, the cleaning of the basketball court is your responsibility this month!"

With Ryonan defeating Shoyo, the bet has come to fruition.

As the losing side, each of them is responsible for cleaning the basketball court for a week.

If there are four people, it will take about a month.

"Xiao Gong, you're so unreliable!"

The thought of having to clean for a week made Sakuragi feel a little resentful.

"Damn it, who told you to raise your hand? Anyway, if you lose, you have to accept the punishment."

Miyagi and Sakuragi started arguing, but the two had a good relationship, so it was more like playful fighting than arguing.

Not long after, Kogure and the others left the stadium and went home to their respective mothers.

"Gongyan, someone called you this morning. The caller was an American."

As soon as he got home, Kogure's mother told him the news.

Did he say who it was?

Kogure had exchanged contact information with several American players, and he didn't know who had called this time.

"His name seems to be Ronnie!"

"I see!"

Kogure nodded. If nothing unexpected happened, the other party was most likely Ronnie Fields.

Kogure quickly called back.

After waiting for a while, the call was finally answered, accompanied by the other party's lazy voice.

"Ronnie, what can I do for you?"

"Hey buddy, do you know what time it is?"

Ronnie Fields's complaining voice came through the microphone.

It was only then that Kogure suddenly realized what was going on.

He had completely forgotten about the time difference; the time difference between the United States and the island nation is usually 14 hours.

It's only 4:30 PM now, which means it's still 6:30 AM in the United States.

If nothing unexpected happens, Ronnie Fields was still fast asleep when he was woken up by a phone call.

"Sorry, Ronnie, I forgot about the time difference."

"Okay, then I forgive you!"

Ronnie Fields paused for a moment before remembering the important matter at hand.

"The coach asked me to ask you when you're coming to our academy to complete your enrollment procedures?"

During his time at Farragut Academy, Coach Smith was very impressed with Kogure and hoped he would transfer to another school.

At the time, Kogure did not give a clear answer, citing that he needed to consider it.

After careful consideration, Kogure finally made up his mind.

He decided to enroll at Farragut College after the national competition.

Although Drexler and Mullin wanted Kogure to join their alma mater, Kogure didn't want to. He planned to showcase his skills in the American High School League to gain more attention.

At the same time, this also gives Kogure more options.

"I've decided to go to Chicago in late August."

Kogure hesitated for a moment, then gave a specific time.

American high schools typically begin in September and the academic year lasts until early June of the following year, divided into two semesters.

In this way, Kogure can achieve a seamless connection.

He gained fame through the Chicago high school league and aimed to showcase his abilities to the NCAA or NBA.

If he is projected to be a high draft pick, he could potentially skip the NCAA and enter the NBA draft as a high school player, alongside Garnett.

After speaking with Ronnie Fields for a while, Kogure hung up the phone.

……

Time flies by unnoticed, and soon it's next Saturday.

On this day, the second round of the county joint finals officially began.

The match between Ryonan and Takezato will be held in the morning, and the match between Shohoku and Shoyo will be held in the afternoon.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the stadium was packed to capacity, with even the aisles filled with enthusiastic spectators.

They sat or stood, their faces filled with anticipation.

As the two teams left the player tunnel, the atmosphere in the stadium instantly reached its peak.

Immediately, fans began cheering for their respective teams.

In terms of scale, Ryonan and Buri are almost on par.

This makes perfect sense!
Although Ryonan was the runner-up in last year's winter tournament, Buri was the champion of the national tournament the year before, so their strength is undeniable.

Kogure and the others sat in the stands, ready to watch the match.

Despite Shohoku's strength, they should not be underestimated.

Not far away, the Xiangyang team was also present, their target of observation naturally being Wuli.

To secure a playoff spot, you need to win at least one game.

Compared to Shohoku, Takeshi was naturally an easy target.

At this moment, Mitsui asked routinely, "Same as always, if you guess wrong, you have to be responsible for cleaning the basketball court for a week. Now, raise your hand if you support Wuzai!"

Unfortunately, everyone looked at each other, and not a single person supported Wu Li.

It's clear they prefer Ryonan.

The reason is simple: Shohoku has played against Ryonan and Takezato before and is very clear about the strength of both teams.

Compared to Wuli, Ryonan is stronger.

This can be seen from the player composition of the two teams.

In the center position, who is stronger, Uozumi or Meiko Mitsuaki?

Among the four great centers in Kanagawa, Uozumi ranked second, while Meiko ranked last.

Without a doubt, Uozumi's strength is greater than Meiko's.

Keep in mind, this is an enhanced version of the 'Awakened Fish'. Its fame and glory are already inferior to the 'Awakened Fish', let alone the enhanced version.

At the power forward position, Mike Okita is better than Nango, that goes without saying.

However, Nango's rim protection is still better than Mike Okita's, and his role in the team is not necessarily inferior to Mike Okita's.

It's hard to say between Ikegami and Godai at the small forward position. Ikegami is a standard 3D player, but Godai is better because he is more well-rounded.

Needless to say, Sendoh and Matsumoto Minoru are far superior to Ebina and Katsumi Ichiro in terms of defense.

Moreover, Ryonan's bench also featured Ajin, Fukuda, and Kiyota.

This is also the main reason why the people of Shohoku are not very optimistic about Takezato.

"Since no one supports Wu Li, this betting contest is void!"

Seeing that no one supported Takezato, Mitsui had no choice but to regretfully give up.

Before long, the match finally began.

During the jump ball phase, Uozumi overpowered Meiko to win the jump ball.

Minoru Matsumoto remained active, easily breaking past Ichiro Katsumi after receiving a pass from Sendoh, and scoring two points with a pull-up jump shot.

Ryonan took the lead, scoring the first two points.

When it was Wu Li's turn to attack, Ebina had to exert a lot of effort to protect the basketball in his matchup against Sendoh.

Some time ago, Coach Taoka entrusted Sendoh and Kogure to train together.

Among them, Sendoh not only improved his attitude towards training, but his defense also improved a lot.

This is also the reason why Ebinagi's pressure has increased significantly.

Ebina had no choice but to pass the ball to Mike Okita, who successfully broke through Nango and drove into the basket.

Facing Uozumi's help defense, Mike Okita showed no fear, but was instead filled with excitement, wanting to dunk on Uozumi.

Unfortunately, Mike Okita seemed to have underestimated Uozumi's defense.

At the center position, Uozumi's defense is arguably one of the best.

Uozumi remained as steady as a mountain and was not easily swayed.

Seeing this, Mike Okita had no choice but to bite the bullet and jump up.

pop~
Uozumi leaped up and delivered a powerful volleyball-style block.

The basketball became a blur, hurtling towards the frontcourt at high speed.

Minoru Matsumoto took the lead, grabbed the basketball, and launched a fast break.

His instinct for fast breaks is comparable to gOat's; whenever a fast break opportunity arises, he will act at top speed.

The difference is that his defense isn't as poor as gOat's.

As Matsumoto Minoru launched his quick attack, Katsumi Ichiro pursued relentlessly.

Just as Matsumoto Minoru appeared beyond the three-point line, Katsumi Ichiro finally caught up.

Katsumi Ichiro instinctively tried to entangle Matsumoto Minoru to buy time for his teammates to get back on defense.

However, he seemed to overestimate his defensive abilities.

In the ensuing struggle, the two entered the paint area almost simultaneously.

In an instant, Matsumoto Minoru jumped up despite the defense.

Not to be outdone, Katsumi Ichiro also jumped up and slapped the basketball with his right hand.

Just as he was about to touch the basketball, Matsumoto Minoru pulled off a layup in mid-air, successfully avoiding a block.

pop~
Unable to stop him, Katsumi Ichiro slapped Matsumoto Minoru's wrist with his right hand.

Beep~
The referee's whistle sounded.

Minoru Matsumoto struggled to maintain his balance and, relying on his instincts, flicked the ball toward the basket.

After landing, Minoru Matsumoto took a step back, finally managing to regain his footing.
sigh~
The basketball swished through the net, creating a splash of white.

As Matsumoto Minoru scored this difficult goal, thunderous applause and cheers erupted in the stadium.

sigh~
At the free-throw line, Minoru Matsumoto easily made the free throw, completing a classic 2+1 play.

"So strong!"

Katsumi Ichiro muttered to himself, although they had only clashed briefly, he believed that Matsumoto Minoru was not much inferior to Mitsui.

The match continued, but it was clear to everyone that Ryonan was gaining a slight advantage.

Every change of possession and every point scored caused a stir.

The audience's emotions fluctuated with the ups and downs of the game, sometimes tense, sometimes excited, and sometimes regretful.

During this period, Mike Okita's inconsistent shooting was clearly magnified.

Nango immediately adopted a defensive strategy of preventing drives but not shots, allowing Mike to shoot at the field.

If Mike Okita chooses to break through, even if he succeeds in breaking through Nango, he may still have to face Uozumi's help defense.

Like Maki, Mike Okita also dislikes teams with strong centers, which affects his scoring efficiency.

If Wuli does not take action, Ryonan will surely achieve final victory.

(End of this chapter)