Slam Dunk: My physical abilities can be increased indefinitely.

Chapter 16 Battle of Buri, Sendoh Takes a Stroll

In the jump ball game, Uozumi passed the ball to Uekusa. Uekusa dribbled two steps and then passed it to Sendoh.

When Sendoh received the ball, the defender from Buri was already standing in front of him. He was about 1.75 meters tall, more than ten centimeters shorter than Sendoh, with his center of gravity low and his arms outstretched, looking quite serious.

Sendoh dribbled the ball with his right hand, took a step to the right, and the defender immediately slid in to follow. He then switched to his left hand, took a step to the left, and the defender followed again.

That's pretty fast.

Sendoh smiled and suddenly accelerated.

It wasn't a change of direction, it wasn't a feint, it was just a right foot push off the ground, a forward lean, and he charged straight past him on the right. The defender reached out to grab him, but only touched air.

Sendoh drove to the free-throw line, and Buri's center rushed out to help defend. Sendoh didn't stop, switched the ball from his right hand to his left hand, went around the center's waist, and made a low layup.

The ball grazed the paddle and went into the net.

The referee raised his hand to indicate that the two points were valid.

Seven seconds into the game, Ryonan led 2-0.

He ran over and said, "You started way too fast! You've already scored before I even got to the frontcourt."

"Then run faster."

"I ran fast enough, you were too fast. Did you feel that step you just took? It was completely different from when we were training."

Sendoh glanced at him but didn't reply. Of course it's different. During training, his speed was A-, now it's A. The explosiveness of that step is a whole level lower; the defenders from Buri didn't even have time to react.

Buri launched an attack.

The point guard dribbled past half-court, and Uehara pressed close, waving his hand in front of his face. The point guard was clearly uncomfortable with this close defense; after dribbling twice, he started to retreat, afraid of being stripped.

He passed the ball to the shooting guard on the wing. Sendoh stood in that position, and the person defending him immediately took a half step back, not daring to get too close, probably because he was afraid of being overtaken by that step just now.

The shooting guard hesitated for a moment before pulling up for a jump shot. Sendoh lunged forward, reaching out to his opponent, but the ball missed, bouncing off the right side of the rim. Uozumi secured the rebound and passed it to Sendoh.

Sendoh dribbled up the court, and Buri's defense quickly retreated, with four players already back in their half. He slowed the pace, waiting for his teammates to get into position, and then called for a screen from Uozumi. Uozumi moved up and screened the right side of the defender, while Sendoh drove to the left, and Buri's center switched out to defend.

Facing the center, Sendoh didn't use speed, but rather rhythm. He dribbled the ball twice and suddenly stopped. The center leaned forward, and Sendoh cut in from his left side, jumped, and dunked with one hand.

4:0.

Taoka clapped twice on the sidelines but didn't shout. He could tell that Takezato's defense was like a thin sheet of paper to Sendoh, easily broken through.

Five minutes into the first quarter, the score was already 15-4. For Ryonan, Sendoh had six points and two assists, Fukuda had four points, and Uozumi grabbed five rebounds. Takezato couldn't find their offensive rhythm at all; every shot they took was under pressure from Ryonan's defense, resulting in a shooting percentage of less than 30%.

Taoka called a timeout and substituted Sendoh for a rest.

"Take a break and don't play too aggressively. Let the substitutes come on."

Sendoh nodded and sat down on the bench, taking a towel to wipe his face. The intensity of the first quarter wasn't much for him, but Taoka was right; there was no need to expend too much energy in this kind of game. Saving his strength for the upcoming match against Hainan was more important.

The substitute was a second-year guard, not very tall, with decent speed, but his ball control wasn't very stable. Taking advantage of Ryonan's starters being off the court, Wuli narrowed the gap to 18-10, scoring a few points.

At the start of the second quarter, Taoka brought Sendoh back in. The score was 18-10, with Ryonan leading by eight points.

Sendoh returned to the court, and the defender from Buri had changed; he was a bit taller than the previous one, probably around 1.8 meters, and looked stronger. Sendoh received the ball outside the three-point line, and this time the defender didn't step back but instead pressed against him, body to body, giving him no space to dribble.

Sendoh shielded the ball with his back to the goal, sensing the defender's center of gravity, which was slightly to the right. He suddenly turned to the right, and the defender, thinking he was going to drive, shifted his weight to the right as well.

Sendoh didn't rush in; instead, he pulled back, turned to the left, and cut in from the left. This turn, boosted by his speed A, was so fast that the defender had no time to react.

Sendoh drove to the basket, and this time the center from Buri didn't rush out, but stood still and waited. Sendoh jumped, and the center also jumped, but Sendoh switched the ball from his right hand to his left hand in mid-air, dodged the block, and scored with a layup.

20:10.

Buri's coach shouted something from the sidelines, but it was hard to hear clearly. After Buri's point guard dribbled the ball across half-court, he called out a play, and the whole team started moving, setting off off-ball screens, with the corner shooters coming out to receive the ball and shoot.

Goal! 20-13.

He ran across the cross-country track to the baseline to serve, muttering to himself, "They finally scored a goal from open play."

"It'll go in sooner or later." Sendoh received the ball and dribbled it towards the frontcourt.

"You're quite generous, saying 'it'll happen sooner or later.' We were leading by seven points, and they've closed the gap to seven points, aren't you worried at all?"

"What's the rush? We haven't been overtaken yet."

"It'll be too late to panic once you've been overtaken!"

Sendoh didn't respond, instead calling for a screen from Uozumi at the top of the key. After the screen, Takezato's center switched out to defend, and this time Sendoh didn't drive, instead pulling up for a three-pointer. The center was a step too slow, his hand only reaching Sendoh's shoulder. The ball arced high and swished through the net.

23:13.

He ran over and gave Sendoh a high-five, their hands clapping together with a loud thud. "When did you start practicing your three-pointers? You didn't used to shoot them much."

"recent."

"How long ago was 'recently'?"

"It's been several days now."

"...Can you really achieve this level of accuracy in just a few days?"

"Maybe I have a talent?"

Yueye opened his mouth, but swallowed back the words "You're shameless," because it seemed impossible to refute. In Ryonan or even Kanagawa, who would dare say that Sendoh had no talent?

Buri called another timeout. Buri's coach called his players to the sidelines, his voice loud, and several words could be heard: "Double-team," "Don't let him receive the ball easily." Sendoh was drinking water near the center circle. As he screwed on the bottle cap, he saw Buri's defensive players exchanging glances and pointing at Sendoh's position, probably setting up a double-team tactic.

With four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the score was 25-15.

Buri inbounded the ball, and the point guard dribbled across half-court before passing it to the shooting guard. Facing Koh Jae, the shooting guard didn't force a shot but called for a screen from the center, using the screen to drive to the free-throw line and pull up for a jump shot.

Goal! 25-17.

Yueye glanced back at the basket, looking somewhat annoyed, but his lips moved without uttering a sound.

Sendoh patted him on the back, "It's okay, you defended well." Koshino took a deep breath and ran to serve without saying a word.

In the final two minutes of the first half, Sendoh faced a double-team from Takezato and delivered two consecutive assists: one to Uozumi for an alley-oop dunk, and the other to Fukuda for a baseline drive and layup. The lead widened to 15 points.

The whistle blows, the first half ends. The score is 32-17, with Ryonan leading by 15 points.

Sendoh walked off the court and took a towel to wipe his sweat. The system panel popped up but he didn't look at it. Koshino slumped in his chair and drank water, Uekusa took off his glasses and wiped the lenses, and Uozumi discussed rebounding and positioning with Taoka in the second half. Fukuda stood against the wall chewing gum, his mouth moving slowly, his expression somewhat absent-minded.

Taoka squatted down and drew on the tactics board with a pen: "Sendoh, you play less in the second half, let the substitutes play more. Conserve your energy."

Sendoh nodded, his gaze passing across the stadium and landing on the opposite stands.

Maki Shinichi sat in the second row with his arms crossed. He said something to the person next to him, but his expression was not clear. However, his posture was very stable, like a statue.