"Big guy, come on! I will never lose to you."
Sakuragi Hanamichi clenched his fists at Hei Huang, his red hair swaying with his movement, his eyes full of fighting spirit.
Just as Hei Huang was about to frown, a sound suddenly came from under the basket—Daimoto Tadunobu boxed out Gu Jin in the paint, caught Tsuchiya Jun's lob pass, backed him down half a step, and with a flick of his wrist, made a hook shot. The basketball grazed the backboard and dropped into the hoop, 53:74.
Ben Wallace glanced at Gu Jin as he landed.
His 196 cm height indeed gave him a significant advantage against the 190 cm Gu Jin under the basket. When he was positioning himself earlier, his auxiliary arm pressed against Gu Jin's arm, preventing him from jumping to block—this was a small trick for centers, not dirty, but effective enough.
"That hook shot is really stable." Gu Jin wiped his sweat, knowing in his heart that Ben Wallace was called "second only to Masashi Wada" precisely because of this kind of dominance under the basket.
He shouted to Sakuragi: "Sakuragi, help me box out and double-team him later, don't let him catch the ball easily!"
Sakuragi immediately said: "Don't worry, later this genius will make sure they can't even touch the rim!"
When Ryonan attacked, Sendo deliberately slowed down the pace.
He dribbled past half-court, saw Ben Wallace settled under the basket, and suddenly passed the ball to Gu Jin near the free-throw line.
When Gu Jin caught the ball, Hei Huang indeed rushed out from under the basket—he was afraid Gu Jin would shoot another three-pointer.
Just as Hei Huang jumped to block, Gu Jin flicked his wrist and threw the ball towards the basket.
Sendo caught a glimpse of the ball flying in his peripheral vision, suddenly turned and rushed over, caught the ball in mid-air, and slammed it into the hoop—with a "bang," the dunk was successful. 76:53.
Daiei attacked, Hei Huang dribbled the ball and drove in.
"I'll block you!" Sakuragi rushed over from behind, but was half a beat too slow.
The basketball grazed his fingertips and flew out, "swish" through the net. 55:76.
Morita Masanobu rarely cheered from the sidelines: "That's how you play! Find the open man!"
In the next two minutes, Daiei, relying on Ben Wallace's strong attacks under the basket and Hei Huang's outside shooting, caught up by 6 points.
Ben Wallace first posted up Gu Jin, a turnaround hook shot (57:76), then boxed out Sakuragi when he was grabbing a rebound, tipped the ball to Tsuchiya, who made a jump shot (59:76). Finally, it was Ben Wallace again, who drew a shooting foul from Sakuragi after receiving a pass from Hei Huang, making both free throws (61:76).
The score difference was narrowed to 15 points, and the Daiei bench finally had cheers.
Sakuragi stomped his feet in frustration: "Ref! He pushed me just now!"
Gu Jin walked over and patted his back: "Don't rush, Ben Wallace is taller than you, so he naturally has an advantage when boxing out. When he jumps later, you go around to his side to grab it." He looked at Ben Wallace under the basket, who was rubbing his knees—continuous strong attacks had taken a toll on him, but the drive in his eyes was still there.
When Ryonan attacked, Gu Jin actively called for the ball in the low post.
The moment Ben Wallace stuck to him, he suddenly made a crossover step and changed direction, driving past Ben Wallace's right side—this step was faster than expected, and Ben Wallace was half a beat too slow to turn around and defend.
Gu Jin rushed to the basket, saw Hei Huang coming over to double-team, and with a slight flick of his wrist, passed the ball to the trailing Sendo. Sendo made a layup, 78:61.
"Great pass!" Sendo smiled at Gu Jin as he landed.
Daiei attacked, Tsuchiya still wanted to feed the ball to Ben Wallace, but Sendo stole it cleanly.
Ryonan fast break, Sakuragi was in the lead, after receiving a long pass from Gu Jin, he was caught up by Ben Wallace in mid-air and blocked.
The basketball bounced off the backboard, Sakuragi didn't stop after landing, turned and jumped again, snatched the ball from under Ben Wallace's arm, and tipped it into the basket. 80:61.
"Rebound King! This genius is the Rebound King!" Sakuragi bounced high under the basket.
Ben Wallace looked at him, and suddenly felt the soreness in his knees intensify.
He picked up the ball and threw it to the referee, speaking to Sakuragi for the first time: "That one just now, you're good."
Sakuragi was stunned for a moment, then smiled even wider: "Good to know!"
In the last five minutes of the game, Daiei caught up by another 8 points. Ben Wallace made another hook shot, Hei Huang hit a three-pointer, and Tsuchiya also scored a layup, narrowing the score to 69:86.
Although they couldn't completely close the gap, at least they didn't let the difference widen further—for them, being 23 points behind, this was already a respectable resistance.
When the final whistle blew, it was 88:69. Ryonan won by 19 points, a slight reduction from the initial 23-point difference.
Hei Huang walked up to Gu Jin and extended his hand: "You are very strong. Next time we meet, I will definitely not lose."
"I'll be waiting." Gu Jin did not shake his hand. Regardless of whether Uozumi's action was his intention, what was done was done.
On the other side, Sakuragi was pulling Aida Hikoichi to count rebounds: "Hikoichi, I didn't even get 20 rebounds? You didn't miscount, did you?"
"Sakuragi, no mistake," Aida Hikoichi said seriously.
"You must have miscounted, how could this genius only have 9 rebounds..."
"Sakuragi... 9 rebounds is already very impressive..."
Uozumi watched the scene from the sidelines, smiling at Taoka: "Coach, it seems Ryonan's interior has a successor."
Taoka stroked his chin and nodded: "Sakuragi still has a lot of potential. I have a feeling he will become a player who will influence the landscape of Japanese basketball."
Thirty minutes later, the air conditioning in the Ryonan High School conference room was running high, but it couldn't suppress the tension in the air.
The representative of Ryonan High School, the organizer of the Public Welfare Cup, had just taken his seat when Fujima Ichiro, the investor in the public welfare, spoke first, tapping his knuckles lightly on the table: "Coach Morita, I hope you can give a reasonable explanation to everyone who is concerned about this Public Welfare Cup."
Inoue Matsushita, beside him, immediately frowned, his tone clearly displeased: "We poured resources into organizing the 'Public Welfare Cup' exhibition game, the core of which is to convey positive values through sports—but look at your behavior on the sidelines just now? Not only did you curse throughout the game, but you were also caught on camera shouting to your players 'foul them hard, don't let them pass.' Just now, many media outlets are already preparing to make a big deal out of you inciting dirty play. Do you know how many times the broadcast cameras showed your close-up?"
Coach Morita tightened his grip on the water cup, and the condensation on the cup slid down between his fingers.
He was silent for a moment, then his voice was a little heavy when he looked up: "Losing control of my emotions and swearing on the court is my fault, and I am willing to apologize publicly."
But he paused, his tone hardening a few points, "But I don't admit to 'inciting dirty play.'"
In the last defensive possession, I shouted 'Box out! Don't let anyone get through!'—perhaps I was too anxious at the time, and my voice sounded a bit harsh, but the players' defensive actions were legitimate, and the referee not calling a foul is proof."
The representative of Daiei High School quickly took over, trying to ease the atmosphere: "Coach Morita's team has always emphasized 'winning cleanly.' This time, the Public Welfare Cup simply garnered too much attention, and he couldn't maintain his composure. We also asked the players, and their defensive actions are all standard moves from regular training, not intentional fouls."
The Ryonan school representative pushed up his glasses and flipped through his notes: "Now the controversy has arisen. Just now, a sponsor called to question and threaten to withdraw their funding. They said the topic of 'Public Welfare Cup turning into a dirty game' is already trending. Mr. Fujima, the investors need a clear statement on whether this event can continue."
