Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 58 In Danger
"Is this a coincidence?"

Looking at Murasaki's back, coach Kazumi Kawasaki thought secretly in his heart.

However, in the next round, facing Tsukuba's double-three defense, Murasakibara shot again in almost the same position.

shuh~
The basketball hit the basket accurately again.

Coach Kazumi Kawasaki, who witnessed all this, had a bad feeling in his heart.

He could no longer comfort himself with coincidence. If he did not adjust his tactics and curb Murasakibara's scoring momentum in time, it would be very disadvantageous to Tsukushige.

So he decisively requested a timeout to make tactical adjustments.

When the timeout was over, Tsukuba's lineup changed and Natsume Hiroshi was replaced by a player named Itakura Kentaro.

Kentaro Itakura, height 173 cm, weight 66 kg, third grade!

Kentaro Itakura is known for his excellent defensive skills and cool head. He is the best defensive outside player of Tsukuba. Coach Kazumi Kawasaki hopes to use him to limit Murasaki's performance.

"Itakura Kentaro? I feel like he's related to Itakura Daijiro!"

Looking at Kentaro Itakura's ugly face, Mu Mu couldn't help but say in his heart.

You know what, the two of them really look a bit alike.

During Tsukuba Takeshi's offensive round, Matsushita Kogoro quickly crossed the half court.

With Kentaro Itakura coming on the court, Kogoro Matsushita had to take on the role of point guard.

There's no way, Kentaro Itakura doesn't have the ability to hold the ball.

Facing Nobuhiko Okamoto's defense, Yukigoro Matsushita easily completed the breakthrough.

After attracting the defense, Kogoro Matsushita quickly passed the ball to Tomokazu Goshiro who was in an open position.

Without hesitation, Wu Dai Youhe jumped decisively and hit another three-pointer.

Offense and defense transition!

On the court, Nobuhiko Okamoto dribbled the ball slowly across half court, continuing to kill time.

Murasakibara stood outside the three-point line, observing Kentaro Itakura's defensive position.

Kentaro Itakura's position was clearly leaning towards him, less than two steps away from him.

If Murasakibara receives the ball and shoots in this position again, Kentaro Itakura can step forward to interfere at any time.

Seeing this, Murasakibara quickly changed his strategy, appearing at the 35°-45° position and asking Okamoto Nobuhiko for the ball.

This position is another key point to break the double-triple zone defense.

Of course, he still has many other options.

Nobuhiko Okamoto immediately passed the ball, and Murasakibara cut in with the ball, successfully attracting the attention of Kimura Hiroshi.

At the same time, Akagi, who cooperated well with Murasakibara, stepped into the basket.

When Kimura Hiroshi stepped forward to defend, Murasakibara immediately threw the ball into the basket.

Bang~
Akagi made an alley-oop and scored a slam dunk.

This series of actions was smooth and flowing, showing the tacit cooperation between the two people, commonly known as the Akagi connection!

"Mumu, good job!"

Akagi and Kogure high-fived each other and then returned to defense as quickly as possible because Tsukuba chose to serve quickly again.

Tsukuhisa Tsukushi was on the bench, and coach Kazumi Kawasaki frowned, as he was facing a difficult problem.

If we continue to adopt the second and third zone defense, it will be difficult to curb Murasakibara's performance.

With Murasakibara's ball-handling and shooting abilities, he can easily score or help his teammates score.

But if they give up the double-three zone defense, they will still find it difficult to deal with the tall and strong Akagi.

Once Akagi's performance cannot be restricted, it will become very easy for him to score.

Coach Kazumi Kawasaki couldn't help but look at the bench, where sat a group of young and energetic players.

It doesn't matter, these players are only 180cm tall at most, and are generally thin. Sending them to defend Akagi is no different from sending a meat bun to fight a dog.

This is Tsukubuki’s current situation!
Coach Kazumi Kawasaki couldn't help but sigh. Even if the tactics were cleverly arranged, it would be difficult to achieve the desired results without the right players to execute them.

In this situation, he can only try to find a balance under limited conditions.

After careful consideration, Coach Kazumi Kawasaki made a quick decision.

Soon, Xiangbei made a comeback.

At the moment Akagi received the ball, except for Kimura Hiroshi who was marking him, the other players of Tsukuba Tsushima obviously increased their running and adopted a rotation defense strategy, focusing more attention on Akagi and being ready to provide backup and assist defense at any time.

As for Murasakibara, he is always guarded by Kentaro Itakura.

Unfortunately, Akagi performed very well in the one-star-four-shooting tactical system.

Taking advantage of his vision, as long as he attracts the defense, Akagi can always make a quick judgment and pass the ball to teammates in open positions.

Except for Akagi, the other four players all have the ability to shoot from mid-range or long range in open positions.

For a while, the Xiangbei team blossomed in many places and everyone scored points.

Although Tsukushige made timely adjustments in defense, facing the one-star and four-shooting tactics of the Xiangbei team, Tsukushige still found it difficult to limit the offense of the Xiangbei team.

However, Tsukubu's team did not fall into a disadvantage.

With their unremitting running and the tacit cooperation between the players, they are often able to get rid of their opponents and get open shooting opportunities.

In addition, the players of Tsukuba were in hot form, which allowed them to keep the game suspenseful and keep the score close.

Among them, Matsushita Kogoro and Goshiro Tomokazu performed the best.

If his teammates are unable to run out of open space, Yukigoro Matsushita will use his personal ability to tear through the defense, either shooting or passing, causing a lot of headaches for the Shohoku team's defensive players.

Through unremitting running, Tomokazu Goshiro made four consecutive three-pointers.

However, the good times did not last long!

Coach Anxi decisively called a timeout, and the players quickly returned to the bench to listen to Coach Anxi's tactical arrangements.

"I wonder what kind of adjustments Mr. Anxi will make?"

Tsukutake was on the bench, and coach Kazumi Kawasaki was looking at coach Anzai on the opposite side, looking worried.

Soon, the timeout ended and the game continued.

The Xiangbei team replaced Nobuhiko Okamoto with Masaru Ito. Masaru Ito is a player known for his speed. Although he still finds it difficult to compete with Kogoro Matsushita, at least he will not be overtaken by his opponent in one step.

The reason why Coach Anzai sent out Ito Masaru was mainly to further deplete Matsushita Kogoro's physical strength.

In addition, Coach Anzai also asked Murasakibara and Yamamoto to switch defense, with Murasakibara defending Tomokazu Goshiro.

After the game resumed, Akagi attracted a double-team and assisted Ito Masaru, who had just come on the court, to score a layup.

Tsukuhisa Tsukushi attacked, Tomokazu Goshiro quickly moved, and Murasakibara followed closely.

"Kumure, I will never lose to you!"

Wu Dai Youhe clenched his teeth, his eyes full of determination.

Tomokazu Goshiro moved flexibly on the court, with his teammates providing cover from time to time, and quickly changed positions, trying to get open shooting opportunities.

However, no matter how Tomokazu Goshiro accelerated, changed direction, or even with the cover of his teammates, he could not completely get rid of Murasakibara.

On the one hand, Murasakibara's running position is not inferior to that of Tomokazu Goshiro. He can quickly adjust his pace and keep close pressure on Tomokazu Goshiro.

On the other hand, Murasakibara's extreme reaction ability allows him to make the appropriate choice in a very short time.

Finally, Murasakibara's speed and explosive power are still above that of Tomokazu Goshiro.

This is also the reason why Tomokazu Goshiro can never get rid of Murasakibara.

"Tsukutake, it's dangerous!"

With Tomokazu Goshiro restricted, coach Kazumi Kawasaki knew that Takeshi Tsukushi's situation was precarious.

(End of this chapter)