RNP Chapter 9, Passing You, No Need for Step 2
Chapter 9, Passing You, No Need for Step 2
The timeout ended, and both teams returned to the court.
Sendoh controlled the ball, while Rukawa waited outside the three-point line. Rukawa's defensive positioning was different from the first quarter; he moved forward half a step, extending his hand further, almost poking Sendoh's dribbling hand.
"You move forward," Sendoh said.
"Um."
"Aren't you afraid I'll get past you in one step?"
"You can't pass."
Sendoh smiled and said no more. He dribbled the ball with his right hand and took a step to the right, with Rukawa following with a slide step. Sendoh stopped abruptly, switched the ball behind his back to his left, and leaned his body to the left, causing Rukawa's center of gravity to shift to the left as well.
But Sendoh didn't go left.
He pushed off with his left foot, pulled his body back, regained control of the ball with his right hand, and accelerated in a straight line from the right side.
One change of rhythm, two feints, three changes of direction.
Rukawa's balance was completely disrupted.
Sendoh cut past him from the right, cleanly and without even touching the hem of his clothes.
As Rukawa turned around, Sendoh had already jumped from the free-throw line. Akagi rushed out from under the basket to help defend, the two-meter-tall giant spreading his arms like a door. Sendoh didn't force his way in, but switched the ball from his right hand to his left, went around Akagi's waist, and made a low layup.
The ball grazed the paddle and went into the net.
As he landed, Sendoh turned to look at Rukawa.
Rukawa stood there, his mouth closed, but his eyes were different from before. He wasn't angry; it was an expression that said, "I need to recalculate this person."
He jogged over, his voice laced with schadenfreude, "Didn't you say Sendoh couldn't beat you?"
Rukawa ignored him, walked over to pick up the ball, and passed it to Miyagi.
Miyagi dribbled past half-court, glanced at Rukawa, and passed the ball to him. Rukawa received the ball, and Sendoh defended him. This time, Rukawa didn't linger on the perimeter; he immediately backed down to establish position, dribbled twice, and then suddenly turned—not a fadeaway, but a spin drive towards the basket.
Sendoh caught up.
Rukawa's first step was blocked, but Rukawa did not stop. Using his left foot as a pivot, he turned again, this time in the opposite direction.
Sendoh twisted his ankle, causing his body weight to shift to the left.
In that instant, Rukawa squeezed past him on the right, jumped, and dunked with one hand.
The basketball hoop is wobbling again.
After landing, Rukawa didn't look at Sendoh, but turned and ran back. After taking a couple of steps, he left a sentence behind.
"You can't get past me either."
Sendoh stood under the basket, watching Rukawa's number 11 run further and further away.
The off-road vehicle came running over again, this time with a serious expression. "Are you two at odds?"
"no."
"You just passed him, and he just passed you, and you call that not a clash?"
"That's called mutual respect."
Off-road rolled his eyes. "You call mutual respect 'living cleanly'? Does that mean I and Zyokawa are mortal enemies?"
Uezusa whispered from the side, "Don't drag me into this. I've never been properly cleaned by anyone."
Yueye glared at him, "How many times has Miyagi crossed you today?"
Uekusa thought for a moment, "Six times. But I intercepted two of his shots."
"Trading two for six, you're at a loss."
"That's not how I calculated it."
Sendoh didn't join their bickering. He clapped his hands and said, "Back to defense."
With three minutes remaining in the first quarter, the score was 20-18, with Ryonan trailing by two points.
Taoka called out a tactic from the sidelines: Sendoh set a high pick and roll.
Uozumi stepped up and blocked Rukawa's right side. Sendoh used the screen to break through to the left, and Akagi switched to defend him. Being bigger against smaller, Akagi's footwork was clearly no match for Sendoh, and he was easily beaten. Sendoh drove to the basket, jumped, and dunked with both hands.
20 square meters.
Akagi landed with a slightly dark expression. He turned to look at Coach Anzai, who was sitting in a chair, smiling but expressionless.
Miyagi dribbled the ball across half-court, this time passing it to Mitsui instead of Rukawa. Mitsui received the ball beyond the three-point line, facing Koshino's defense. Mitsui used a triple threat, faked a shot, Koshino jumped, Mitsui took a step, and made a mid-range jump shot.
They're in.
22:20.
After landing from the off-road course, my face turned red. Not from exhaustion, but from anger. "He jerked me! I actually jerked him?"
Sendoh patted the back of his head. "It's okay. Even national champions have fallen for Mitsui's feints."
"Really?"
"It's fake. Just to comfort you."
"...You."
The first quarter ended with the score at 22-20. Ryonan made a substitution, with Sendoh being taken off to rest, while Fukuda and Uozumi remained on the court. Taoka walked over to Sendoh and handed him a towel.
"You took seven shots in the first quarter and made four."
"Um."
"Rukawa took six shots and scored five."
"Um."
When do you plan to start taking it seriously?
Sendoh wiped his face. "Second section."
Sendoh didn't play in the second quarter, watching from the bench. Ryonan's bench players were outscored 8-0 by Shohoku, making the score 30-20. Koshino was stomping his feet in frustration on the court. Fukuda made two strong drives, missing one and getting blocked by Akagi. Uozumi grabbed three offensive rebounds, but missed all his putbacks; Akagi's defense was too tough.
Taoka called a timeout and brought back the main players.
When Sendoh entered the game, the score was 32-22, with Ryonan trailing by ten points.
Uekusa dribbled past half-court, and Sendoh received the ball at the top of the arc. Rukawa maintained his defensive stance, his arms stretched out far.
Sendoh didn't dribble; he pulled up for a three-pointer.
Rukawa lunged forward, his fingers brushing against Sendoh's elbow.
The ball went in, the whistle blew, a three-point foul.
Sendoh stood at the free-throw line, rubbing his elbow where Rukawa had bumped into him. Rukawa stood beside him, expressionless.
"Your elbows are really hard," Sendoh said.
"You shoot really fast," Rukawa said.
"You actually said five words."
"……Shut up."
Sendoh made the first free throw, then the second, and then the third. 3+1, four points in a row.
32:26.
Miyagi dribbled past half-court, and this time Rukawa called for the ball. After receiving it, he didn't dribble, but instead pulled up for a jump shot, exactly the same move Sendoh had made earlier.
Sendoh lunged forward, but Rukawa's attack point was too high; he couldn't reach him.
Goal!
After landing, Rukawa looked at Sendoh and said, "Here's one back for you."
Yueye whispered to Zhicao, "Are these two dating? You're sending one and I'm sending another."
Uekusa shook her head. "No way. Rukawa doesn't even know Sendoh's birthday."
How do you know he doesn't know?
"Because he doesn't even know his own."
Sendoh ignored the murmurs from the sidelines and continued to call for the ball. This time, he didn't shoot a three-pointer but instead called for a screen from Uozumi. After the screen, Akagi switched out to defend, and Sendoh faced Akagi.
Using his speed to outmaneuver Akagi, Sendoh cut past him from the left with his first step. Akagi turned to chase, but was too slow. Sendoh reached the basket and jumped.
Sakuragi flew over from the weak side to cover.
The two collided in mid-air. Sendoh's B-rank strength clashed with Sakuragi's leaping ability, causing him to lose his balance, but he still managed to shove the ball under his arm.
The ball bounced once on the rim, twice, and then fell in.
*Whistle*, the whistle blows, Sakuragi commits a foul.
When Sendoh landed, he lost his balance and knelt on one knee on the floor. His knee hurt a little from hitting the floor, so he patted it twice and stood up.
Sakuragi stood to the side, his red hair soaked with sweat and plastered to his forehead. He stared at Sendoh, his mouth moving a few times, but in the end, he couldn't hold back.
"How did you manage to put that ball in there? What are your hands made of? I clearly blocked your angle, how could you still get the ball out from that position? Did you even look? Or did you just guess? You must have guessed!"
Sendoh looked at him and thought that this guy's dialogue output could match Rukawa's for a whole season.
"You talk too much."
Sakuragi paused for a moment, "You think I talk too much? You think Rukawa is boring because he doesn't say a word, but you think I'm noisy because I talk too much? Aren't you Ryonan fans asking for too much?"
Yueye burst out laughing.
Sendoh's free throw goes in. 33 to 29.
With four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Ryonan narrowed the gap to four points.
Rukawa gets the ball again.
This time, he didn't go one-on-one, but instead called for a screen from Akagi. After the screen, Uozumi switched to guard Rukawa. With the bigger player guarding the smaller one, Rukawa's speed gave him a huge advantage over Uozumi. With a crossover, he easily got past Uozumi, drove to the basket, jumped, and dunked with one hand.
35:29.
After being passed by, Uozumi stood there, supporting his waist with his hands, panting.
Sendoh walked over and asked, "Are you alright?"
Uozumi shook his head, "He was too fast, I couldn't keep up."
"You don't need to keep up with him, just stand under the basket. He'll have to get past me after he gets past you."
The fish nodded.
Sendoh dribbled past half-court, this time facing Rukawa, he didn't call a screen. He dribbled with his right hand, took a step to the right, and Rukawa followed with a slide. Sendoh suddenly lowered his center of gravity, switched the ball from his right hand to his left, and leaned his body to the left. Rukawa's center of gravity shifted to the left as well.
Sendoh pushed off the ground with his left foot, pulled his body back, regained control of the ball with his right hand, and accelerated from the right side.
It was exactly the same ball as the one in the first quarter.
But this time, Rukawa wasn't fooled.
He seemed to have anticipated Xiandao's pullback, quickly shifting his weight and moving sideways to block Xiandao's breakthrough route.
The two people were facing each other, less than half a meter apart.
Sendoh stopped the ball.
Rukawa stared at him. "You won't use the same move on me twice."
Sendoh looked at him and smiled.
"I know."
Then he passed the ball over his head to Fukuda on the weak side. Fukuda caught the ball, Mitsui rushed over to help defend, but Fukuda didn't shoot and passed it to Koshino in the corner. Koshino caught the ball, but there was no one in front of him because Sakuragi went to help defend Uozumi.
He took a three-pointer.
The ball spun twice in the air.
"Whoosh."
35:32.
After throwing the ball into the water, he glanced back at Sendoh. Sendoh gave him a thumbs up.
Rukawa's expression finally changed; it wasn't frustration, but seriousness. That seriousness wasn't "I'm going to beat you," but "I need to reassess your threat."
He dribbled past half-court, didn't ask for a screen, faced Sendoh, dribbled twice, and suddenly pulled up for a jump shot.
Sendoh lunged forward.
This time he touched the ball.
A fingertip brushed against the bottom edge of the ball, changing its trajectory. The ball hit the backboard and bounced back.
Uozumi grabbed the rebound and passed it to Sendoh.
Sendoh dribbled the ball forward at high speed, with Rukawa chasing behind.
Upon reaching the three-point line, Sendoh suddenly stopped. Rukawa, chasing from behind, couldn't brake in time and sped past Sendoh.
The path to immortality is empty.
He took a three-pointer.
While the ball was still in the air, Sendoh had already turned and run back.
"Whoosh."
35:35.
It's even.
Shohoku called a timeout.
As Rukawa walked off the stage, he passed by Sendoh and paused for a moment.
"Weren't you afraid the ball would miss when you turned and ran back?"
"The ball won't miss."
How did you know?
"Because of the feel."
Rukawa looked at him, paused for two seconds, and said, "The feel of things can be deceiving."
"I won't."
Rukawa didn't say anything more and walked back to Shohoku's bench.
Sendoh walked back to Ryonan's bench. Koshino handed him a bottle of water. "That cool turn you made just now, I give it full marks."
"It's not showing off, it's confidence."
"You talked more in one game with Rukawa than we did in a whole year."
"You don't understand, this is a special way of communicating."
"In what way?"
"Let the ball do the talking."
Yueye slammed the towel on the chair. "Can't you two talk? I'm exhausted from watching you."
Sendoh unscrewed the water bottle and took a sip.
The system panel flashed briefly at the edge of my field of vision.
[A draw for the first time in their matchup against Rukawa Kaede]
【PP+5】
Current PP: 18
He didn't look at it and swiped the panel away.
There are two minutes left in the second quarter.
The score is tied at 35.