Chapter 18: 17.The Tipping Point of Determination
Off the court, Loan's coach, Kasahara, was surprised to see that they scored first in such a short time! "It seems that they still have some strength. No wonder Senior Tiangang dared to arrange a practice match with us,"
he said. "That's good. It's a great opportunity for the players to exercise!" Regarding the lag at the beginning, he was not too worried. The game had just started, with only one goal difference. "I believe that with the strength of his players, they can quickly catch up."
On the court, the Luoan team, caught off guard by Ryonan, finally recovered. Captain Takai Akihiro began to comfort the players, "Don't worry too much; I'll just score one goal!"
"Yes! It's time to let them see our offensive strength!"
"Yeah! Ryonan dares to show off in front of us! It's time to teach them a lesson!"
Soon, under Captain Takai Akihiro's comforting leadership, the morale of Luoan's players was high again. Only center forward Shiramizu Rinsheng remained vaguely worried. From the jump ball between him and Yuzumi just now, Yuzumi's strength was beyond his imagination. It seemed that he was not just a tall and big guy; this guy was really strong. He was unsure if he could handle him.
On the other side, Fukao Principle was still full of confidence. He did not think he lost to Kenichi Uesugi in the previous matchup;
rather, he believed that Kenichi Uesugi had used shameful means to sneak attack him, who was unprepared. So he was determined to fight back against Kenichi Uesugi in the next round of attack, letting him see what the strength of the national competition level is.
Luoan started their first attack of the game.
Point guard Aida Shusuke had just passed the half court with the ball when he received a hint from Fukaohara, who was eager to show off. He initially pretended to break through in front of Uekusa, then he passed the
basketball directly to Fukaohara in a very discreet way. Seeing his teammate pass the ball to him as he requested, Fukaohara was very happy. Finally, it was his turn to show his skills. But just as he stretched out his hands to catch the ball, Kenichi Uesugi, who was standing to defend him, waved his hand behind him and deflected the basketball passed by Aida Shusuke!
"What!"
"He intercepted the basketball behind him without turning around! It's so scary!"
"This can't be true!"
All the players of Luoan were shocked! They found it very difficult to understand Kenichi Uesugi's steal without any vision. Among the crowd, the most shocked person was Fukaohara, who was standing opposite Kenichi Uesugi. He was preparing to perform well after receiving the ball, but he saw Kenichi Uesugi easily knock the pass away from him. More importantly, Kenichi Uesugi never looked back from beginning to end. Can you see behind you without looking back?
Fukaohara subconsciously imitated but found that his neck nearly broke, and he couldn't see anything. This shocked him even more! Is the person standing opposite him really human?
Off the court, Coach Kasahara was also very surprised by Kenichi Uesugi's blind-sight steal. Although he had heard of similar players with special perception abilities, he had never seen one. Today was an eye-opener!
However, Luoan's players were surprised, but their reaction on the court did not slow down at all. This is the foundation of their long-term status as a strong team! After Kenichi Uesugi knocked the basketball away, Luoan team captain and ace player Takai Akihiro immediately grabbed the basketball in his hands. At the same time, he jumped up and shot at a very fast speed, intending to score directly while the Ryonan players were unprepared.
But what he didn't expect was that, as soon as he shot, Sendoh had already rushed over to defend. Although Sendoh didn't block his shot in the end, he still touched the basketball.
"Grab the rebound!" Takai Akihiro and Sendoh shouted loudly toward the inside at the same time. Bai Shui Lunsheng wanted to seize the advantageous position in advance but found that he couldn't push Yuzumi, who was blocking him at all.
"Bang!" The basketball hit the rim and bounced out. Yuzumi outmaneuvered Shiramizu Rin to grab the rebound. Ryonan got another chance to attack. Uekusa quickly controlled the ball across half court. Sendoh on the left seized the opportunity to run away from Takai Akihiro, who was defending him, and cut to the inside. Uekusa reacted very quickly and passed the ball directly.
Seeing that Sendoh was no longer being defended, Fukaohara hurried over to make up for the defense. At this time, Sendoh did not choose to force a shot. Instead, he passed the ball to Kenichi Uesugi. Kenichi Uesugi rushed into the paint with the ball. Facing the tall Shiramizu Rin, he chose to throw the ball high into the air. Shiramizu Rin wanted to intercept the basketball but found he could not reach it at all.
At this moment, Yuzumi was the only one left under the basket. He jumped in the air, roared, and dunked the basketball into the hoop with both hands! 5:0. Ryonan, playing away, secured another victory through the team's tacit cooperation! Watching Yuzumi, Sendoh, and Kenichi Uesugi celebrate and clap their hands, Luoan coach Kasahara, sitting on the bench, finally lost his composure.
These three gave him a bad feeling. Although he had confidence in the Luoan players who had entered national competitions, he felt they probably had not yet played to their full potential. Yet, Kasahara always sensed that things were not that simple. These three from Ryonan might also be very special. If they played to their full strength, could his teammates really cope? Before the game started, he would have definitely said they could, but now Kasahara himself was not sure. He felt a vague worry in his heart, hoping today's game wouldn't go wrong!