Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 393 My grandma and Kogure can win the championship when they play basketball together!
After the game, Shohoku and Ryonan returned to the locker room to pack up and leave the stadium.

The match between Shohoku and Takezato will be held at 2:30 pm. Although they have already secured their spots, they still don't want to miss this match.

Both teams will naturally give it their all to compete for a playoff spot.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this will undoubtedly be a fiercely contested match.

Also, don't forget the awards ceremony.

As contenders for the various awards, they must be present in person.

Wow~
In the sink, Rukawa Kaede twisted his jersey hard, squeezing out the sweat.

He forgot to bring his clothes, so he had to continue wearing his jersey.

Seeing Rukawa wringing out his clothes, Sakuragi, wanting to compete, immediately took off his jersey.

The players, led by Mitsui, did not stop him, but instead watched Sakuragi with expressions of anticipation.

"Sakuragi, do you remember the clothes you ruined last time? Are you planning to ruin the jersey again this time?"

As a close friend who had been through thick and thin with Sakuragi, Miyagi immediately stopped Sakuragi's thoughtless behavior.

Sakuragi finally realized what was happening and remembered the scene where he had struggled with Rukawa and tore his clothes.

So Sakuragi had no choice but to reluctantly put down his jersey.

"You big idiot!"

Rukawa Kaede put on the jersey and couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"Fox, what did you say!"

Soon, the two started playfully fighting.

For a moment, the locker room was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Not long after, the Shohoku team finished packing and left the locker room.

As soon as they left the locker room, they discovered that Yayoi Aida was interviewing Nobunaga Kiyota.

"Kiyota-kun, how would you rate Rukawa Kaede and Sakuragi, who are in the same grade as you?"

With his hands in his pockets, Kiyota answered solemnly, "Rukawa Kaede is different from ordinary high school students. He's Rukawa Kaede!"

Kiyota had to admit that Rukawa was stronger than him.

In this match, he was completely defeated by Rukawa Kaede.

"As for Sakuragi, haha, my grandma and Kogure could win the championship together!"

However, when it came to Sakuragi, Kiyota didn't hold back.

Unlike Rukawa, Kiyota was very dissatisfied with Sakuragi.

Then he uttered what would become Shaquille O'Neal's most powerful quote.

In a game between the Lakers and the Bulls in 2000, Rodman mocked O'Neal for not having a championship.

O'Neal immediately retaliated with this statement, which became one of the most famous trash-talking phrases in the NBA.

From then on, O'Neal's grandmother became famous.

Thank you so much for the interview!

Aida Yayoi paused for a moment, then, as if she had found the focus of the news, excitedly smiled.

Because she thought Kiyota was absolutely right!

She decided to write an article with this sentence as the title when she got back, in order to express Kogure's dominance.

"Wild monkey, looks like you're not happy about this. How about a game?"

Sakuragi's shouting voice rang out.

Kiyota would rather submit to Rukawa than to him, so Sakuragi naturally wanted to beat him into submission.

"Hmph, you red-haired monkey, who's afraid of who!"

Kiyota, unable to withstand the provocation, immediately clashed with Sakuragi.

At that moment, Kiyota noticed a trash can standing between him and Sakuragi.

Kiyota instinctively wanted to leap over the trash can to show Sakuragi his determination.

Here it is, that monkey is starting to step over the trash can.

Just like in the original story, the ending remains unchanged.

Wow~
The trash can was knocked over by Kiyota, and luckily there wasn't much trash in it, otherwise Kiyota might have been buried by the garbage.

Even so, Kiyota still accidentally twisted his left ankle and could only take a step with his right foot.

As is well known, both Mitsui and Kiyota have an inextricable connection with garbage cans.

Mitsui's ceiling is the trash can, while Kiyota was defeated by the trash can.

In some ways, is Mitsui stronger than Kiyota?
"Hahaha, you wild monkey, you're such a loser! Are you trying to be funny?"

Seeing Kiyota's disheveled appearance, Sakuragi put his hands on his hips and laughed heartily.

"hateful!"

Kiyota gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.

"It seems our showdown will have to be postponed for a while, but you really are suited to be a comedian!"

Sakuragi waved his hand, pretending to be generous.

"Kiyota, are you sure you can do it? If not, let me do it?"

At this moment, the golden-haired monkey joined the battle.

"This is my business, you red-haired monkey. Just you wait. Once I recover, I will definitely defeat you!"

Kiyota firmly rejected Nango's suggestion; he would never allow anyone else to take his place in a one-on-one fight with Sakuragi.

Looking at the three monkeys making a ruckus, Sendoh, leaning against the wall, shook his head helplessly and couldn't help but spread his hands: "What a headache!"

Nearby, Uozumi and Akagi were provoked into being aggressive by the noise from the three monkeys.

Dong~dong~dong~
With three muffled thuds, the three monkeys clutched their heads as they were dragged away by their 'tribal leader'.

At this moment, the world fell silent!
……

At 2:30 p.m., the final joint final officially began.

Although the county tournament champion and runner-up had already been decided, the competition still attracted the attention of countless viewers.

At the referee's signal, the starting lineups of both teams began to take the field.

Shohoku: Hanagata, Kishimoto, Hasegawa, Minami Retsu, and Fujima
Wuli: Ming Gaoguang, Mike Okita, Godai Tomokazu, Katsumi Ichiro and Ebina Yoshika

Judging from their rosters, the two teams are not far apart in strength.

Both of today's games were typical battles between center forwards.

Among them, Hanagata ranks above Meigaoguang, but that does not mean that Hanagata is stronger than Meigaoguang.

In terms of strength, the two are evenly matched, and neither can do anything to the other.

Defeating the opponent depends mainly on the condition of both sides.

"In terms of outside shooting, Shohoku has the advantage with their golden duo. The two teams seem to be evenly matched in the paint, but I'm more optimistic about Takezato."

In the stands, Mitsui began analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams.

"Whoever controls the inside game controls the game. I'm more optimistic about Buri!"

Akagi was the first to raise his hand in support of Takezato.

The two centers are evenly matched, but Mike Okita has a certain advantage at the power forward position.

Although Kishimoto's skills are not weak, he is still somewhat inferior to Mike Okita.

In addition, Mike Okita also has advantages in height and weight.

Mike Okita: 192 cm tall, 85 kg
Kishimoto Minori: 188 cm tall, 80 kg
Actually, there was another factor behind Akagi's support for Takezato: Takezato and Akagi had a connection.

Two years ago, Akagi visited Wuli multiple times and received guidance from the Watanabe brothers.

This saved Akagi a lot of trouble and earned him the qualification to compete for the title of the best center in the country.

Akagi kept this kindness firmly in his heart.

Unlike Akagi, the other Shohoku players always seemed to glance at Kogure, whether intentionally or unintentionally. So far, Kogure had never lost a match in predicting the winner.

Kogure rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, and said, "The two sides are evenly matched in this match, and the outcome will mainly depend on the players' form and the coach's tactical decisions."

"Captain, which team do you support?"

"Xiangyang!"

Kogure made his choice without hesitation and continued, "As a top team in the country, Shohoku has been tested in national-level competitions many times. Takezato, on the other hand, hasn't competed since two years ago. Therefore, I think Shohoku has a higher chance of winning."

There's one more thing Kogure didn't mention: in terms of team cohesion, Shohoku also has an advantage.

The starting five for Xiangyang have been working together for two years.

In contrast, Buri's starting lineup is more complex.

Besides Mitsuaki Nagato and Yoshika Ebina, Tomokazu Godai transferred from Tsuhisa Takeshi this year.

Mike Okita and Katsumi Ichiro also joined Takezato this year.

In just over a month, Wuli's team cohesion is definitely not as good as Xiangyang's; that much is certain.

"I also support Xiangyang!"

As soon as Kogure finished speaking, Rukawa, Mitsui, and others raised their hands in support of Shohoku.

This time, Sakuragi, who was usually a fence-sitter, learned his lesson and joined forces with Kogure.

At this moment, Akagi couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Because he was the only one on the entire Shohoku team who supported Takezato!
If he fails, he will be responsible for cleaning the stadium for a period of time.

"Buri must live up to expectations!"

There's no turning back now that the arrow has been released; Akagi can only grit his teeth and hope that Takezato will win.

After the game started, the Shohoku players stopped talking and focused their attention on the game.

During the jump ball, Hanagata, with a slight advantage, grabbed the basketball first.

The Xiangyang team immediately launched a run-and-gun offense.

Soon, Nan Lie created an opportunity through his positioning.

Fujima immediately passed the ball, and Minami seized the opportunity, catching the ball and shooting, making his first three-pointer.

When it was Buri's turn to attack, Ebina passed the ball to Mike Okita, who easily broke through Kishimoto's defense and dunked for a score.

Kishimoto wasn't incapable of defense, but he focused most of his energy on offense.

As soon as Mike Okita landed on the ground, Shoyo opted for a quick serve.

Buri was prepared and immediately retreated quickly.

Before Mike Okita landed, Kishimoto had already started moving, rushing towards the frontcourt to try and gain a time advantage.

However, Mike Okita's athletic ability is still superior to Kishimoto's.

Kishimoto had just crossed the halfway line when Mike Okita caught up.

Seeing this, Kishimoto had no choice but to slow down and reduce his efforts.

In just two or three seconds, all of Xiangyang's players had crossed the half-court line.

During the team's offensive play, Fujima noticed that Ebina was positioned further back, about a step and a half apart from him.

Upon discovering the opportunity, Fujima acted decisively, choosing to launch a surprise attack.

Ebina was taken aback, but before he could even jump, Fujima had already thrown the basketball before he reached his highest point.

shuh~
The basketball traced a low, flat arc before finally sinking into the basket.

Ebinayoshi was helpless in the face of this.

This is what is known as a single-stage shot, where the shot is released during the jump and ascent, without needing to reach the highest point. It emphasizes the continuity of power generation, relying on the thrust from the lower limbs to quickly release the shot through the wrist.

Stephen Curry is a prime example of a player who uses a single-shot technique; his release is extremely quick, making him well-suited for fast-paced shots.
A similar shooting technique is the flip shot.

The characteristics of a jump shot are a slight bend in the knees and a jump followed by a push from the arm and a flick of the wrist. It is commonly seen among inside players, with Al Horford being a prime example.

At the start of the match, neither side engaged in any probing; instead, they immediately went into a high-intensity confrontation.

In an effort to prevent the opponent from scoring, both teams' players became more aggressive in their actions than before.

This is also related to the relatively lenient refereeing in this match.

The intense competition on the field quickly heated up the atmosphere, with cheers and shouts of encouragement from the audience rising and falling.

As time went by, the audience's emotions fluctuated.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

In those ten minutes, thanks to excellent teamwork and precise tactical execution, the Xiangyang team gained a slight advantage.

However, their lead was not significant, only 5 points.

Although it's only 5 points, every point is important in this evenly matched contest, and 5 points could be the key to deciding the outcome of the game.

Buri was not discouraged by the temporary deficit. Instead, they adjusted their tactics more actively and tried to narrow the score gap by fighting for offensive rebounds.

However, Coach Kitano clearly anticipated this situation.

Besides Hanagata and Kishimoto, Hasegawa actively helped his teammates block positioning.

Hasegawa is 191 cm tall and weighs 81 kg. His height is second only to Hanagata and taller than Kishimoto.

Because of his spiky hairstyle, Hasegawa is often jokingly referred to by anime fans as the "bankrupt version of Sendoh".

He was similar in height and build to Sendoh, but lacked a handsome face.

With Hasegawa focusing some of his energy on protecting the boards, Shohoku's rebounding didn't fall too far behind.

Ten minutes later, at Coach Kitano's signal, Hasegawa and Kishimoto switched on defense.

With Hasegawa switching onto Mike Okita, Kishimoto can focus more on the offensive end.

In his matchup against Mike Okita, Hasegawa tended to employ a defensive strategy, focusing primarily on the paint area.

In the previous games, although Mike Okita showed his mid-range shot, his accuracy was only so-so.

As expected, Mike Okita's scoring efficiency began to decline under Hasegawa's targeted defense.

As time went on, the gap between the two sides continued to widen.

Beep~
Under these circumstances, Coach Kazumi Kawasaki had no choice but to request a timeout.

Once the timeout ended, Wu Li increased the frequency of his cover for Mike Okita.

Unfortunately, the results were not as good as expected.

This is mainly due to Mike Okita's limited offensive range.

Compared to Sendoh and Rukawa, Mike Okita's technical skills have always had shortcomings.

By the end of the first half, Shohoku had built a double-digit lead.

In the second half, Buri's tactics changed again.

They no longer focus on inside play, but instead increase their screens on the outside.

Whether it's Katsumi Ichiro, Godai Tomokazu, or Ebina, they all possess accurate shooting ability.

After changing tactics, Buri successfully narrowed the gap to single digits.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. Coach Kitano quickly made a targeted adjustment, replacing Kishimoto with Ito Taku to strengthen the perimeter defense.

As a result, Buri's outside shooting gradually went cold.

Buri's weakness on the outside is obvious: he has no clear strengths and is easily targeted.

If Buri had a player of the caliber of a core player from a strong team on the perimeter, the situation would definitely be very different.

Unfortunately, no if.

As time slowly passed, Xiangyang firmly maintained its advantage.

The gap between the two sides gradually widened.

shuh~
With three minutes remaining in the second half, Fujima hit another three-pointer, extending the lead to 20 points.

At this point, there was no way to reverse the situation in Buri.

(End of this chapter)