Slam Dunk:Starting with perfect copy

Off the Court,

Seeing that the game wasn't unfolding as he had anticipated, Buri's coach, Yoshimura Shosuke, began to frown.

He had originally thought that Tokugawa Nagashima would be able to handle Yuzumi, but based on Tokugawa's performance so far, it was clear he lacked the confidence to score against Yuzumi's defense. If this continued, things could quickly spiral out of control. The lack of an advantage in the paint would definitely affect the overall game.

As the anxiety began to settle in, Yoshimura felt helpless. The game had barely started, and he couldn't afford to call a timeout just yet—it would be too demoralizing for the players. Instead, he could only hope they'd be able to adjust on their own.

The game continued.

Buri attacked again. This time, Katakura Kagetsuna didn't immediately pass the ball to Tokugawa Nagashima, recognizing that the pressure was too much for him. It was clear that Tokugawa was struggling to be the team's primary scoring option. Instead, Kagetsuna passed the ball to Buri's ace player, Soma Kei.

Soma received the pass and, with Ikegami defending him, quickly dribbled to the right to break through. Ikegami moved to intercept, but to his surprise, Soma Kei didn't try to drive past him. Instead, Soma retreated two steps and jumped to shoot.

Ikegami reacted and jumped forward to block, but it was too late—Soma Kei had already released the ball.

"Shua!"

6-2.

Buri had finally scored their first point of the game.

Seeing this, Coach Yoshimura, who had been feeling nervous, began to regain his confidence. Soma Kei had stepped up, and he was sure this would help rally the team. Buri was still in the game, and with Soma Kei leading, things would soon turn around.

However, what he didn't expect was that Soma Kei's basket would be a fleeting moment of hope for Buri.

Next, Kenichi Uesugi and Sendoh Akira went on to score at will, dismantling Buri's defense with their outside shots, while Yuzumi dominated the paint. Even the combined efforts of Soma Kei and Tokugawa Nagashima couldn't slow down Yuzumi. In fact, the two of them ended up committing fouls trying to defend against him.

On the defensive end, Ikegami, a defensive specialist for Ryonan, tightened his coverage on Soma Kei, preventing him from getting a clean shot. Occasionally, Sendoh would jump in to help, making it nearly impossible for Soma to assert himself offensively.

Soon, the score reached 29-7, with Ryonan holding a commanding 20-point lead.

At this point, Tanoka Shigeichi made a surprising decision—he substituted Uesugi Kenichi out for Konosuba Hiroaki.

"What is Coach Tanoka doing? Why is he taking Uesugi Kenichi out?" one spectator questioned. "He's been playing great!"

"Yeah, he's the star of the game!" another fan echoed.

One fan, who seemed to understand, stood up and said, "I bet it's to preserve Uesugi's energy. They've got a big game against Hainan tomorrow!"

Others around him were less forgiving. "I came to see Kenichi Uesugi play! Bring him back in!"

The crowd erupted in chants, demanding Uesugi's return, but Coach Tanoka remained indifferent. In his view, there was no suspense left in the game—keeping Sendoh and Uozumi on the court for a bit longer was already a courtesy to Buri. His focus now was on the game against Hainan tomorrow.

Although Tanoka was confident in his team's strength, he couldn't afford to take any chances against Hainan, a team that had dominated Kanagawa for 16 consecutive years. Tanoka knew Hainan would be a challenge and didn't want to risk overworking his key players.

Unfortunately for Uesugi, he wasn't pleased with this decision either. He hadn't accumulated much data yet, and the system experience had only increased by 1%. He had been hoping for a perfect performance in this game, but now it seemed like that would have to wait until tomorrow's match against Hainan. Tanoka wouldn't pull him out that early in such an important game, would he?

Despite Uesugi's absence, Ryonan's offense remained unstoppable. Sendoh was still able to glide through Buri's defense at will, and Yuzumi was scoring effortlessly whenever the ball was passed to him. Buri's defense was powerless against them.

In an attempt to change the flow of the game, Coach Yoshimura called a timeout, hoping that a tactical adjustment might make a difference. But, as expected, his plans failed to materialize. The disparity in skill between the two teams was too great for his tactics to work.

"Damn it! How did Ryonan suddenly become so strong?" Yoshimura muttered, fists clenched in frustration. He knew Buri had no chance in this game now, and if they were to reach the national competition, they couldn't afford to lose their remaining matches.

Shohoku didn't seem that strong, so they might be okay there, but Hainan? Could they really beat Hainan? Yoshimura doubted it.

The first half of the game ended with a staggering score of 50-14 in favor of Ryonan. The massive lead relieved Coach Tanoka,

who had been worried after the practice match against Xiangbei. He had feared that without Kenichi Uesugi, Ryonan might collapse, but now, with his other key players stepping up, he was confident that they could handle Buri easily.

Meanwhile, in the Buri locker room, the atmosphere was grim and silent, a stark contrast to the confident energy they had brought into the game.