It was predictable that the Akagi Team naturally didn't have such a passer either.
When Akagi firmly occupied his position in the paint, he waited and waited but the basketball never came.
Having no choice, after Mitsui saw Akagi's approach, he immediately said to Horita, "Front him, just prevent him from receiving the pass."
At the same time, Mitsui also intentionally or unintentionally prepared to steal any lob passes intended for Akagi, and under various pressures, it became very difficult for the opponent to pass the ball directly to Akagi.
After a few rounds, although he could occasionally jump and dunk when he received a pass, the problem was that the frequency was too low; it simply wasn't enough to quench his thirst.
The game continued with Akagi's occasional scores and Mitsui either mercilessly isolating Akagi or driving and dishing. The gap between the two teams not only didn't narrow but grew larger and larger.
Under these circumstances, the Akagi Team's players, with the exception of Akagi Takenori, suddenly lost all will to fight.
In fact, even Akagi himself couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness, and a thought surfaced in his mind: Is this really an opponent I can defeat?
But as soon as this thought appeared, it was suppressed by the extremely proud Akagi.
At this moment, Coach Anzai, who had been quietly watching the game, also spoke, "Horita-san, you should also go to Akagi-san's team."
Coach Anzai's words immediately shocked Horita Tokuo. No, if he went to Akagi's team, who would guard Akagi for Mitsui? Mitsui himself?
Thinking of this scene, Horita Tokuo suddenly chuckled a bit unkindly, and quickly exchanged jerseys with the opposing extra A.
Mitsui Hisashi shook his head helplessly when he saw that his team had suddenly become himself and four nameless extras, the tallest of whom was only 172 centimeters.
In this situation, no matter how thick-skinned Mitsui Hisashi was, he couldn't tell his teammates to go into the paint and wrestle with Akagi. He had no choice but to guard him himself.
On the Akagi Team's offense, Akagi saw that Mitsui was guarding him, and immediately wanted to test Mitsui's mettle, so he actively demanded the ball from a position close to the basket.
Since Akagi's position wasn't that deep, and there was only Mitsui alone, it was difficult to directly front him, fearing that the opponent would just throw the ball towards the basket, giving Akagi enough space to jump, in which case he could easily grab the rebound and score on a putback.
Akagi received the ball smoothly. Since he had turned the ball over a few times when facing up and driving, this time he chose to post up directly.
However, Akagi clearly hadn't learned post-up techniques and only knew how to use brute force. After Mitsui gritted his teeth and took two bumps, he suddenly pulled out a chair.
Akagi didn't react in time and directly sat on the ground, losing the ball.
Mitsui also seized the opportunity to pick up the ball and rush towards the opponent's basket. It must be said that the strength of this year's freshmen was truly weak. Even though Mitsui started from under the basket and was dribbling, with Mitsui's speed, he still ran far ahead, followed by a simple layup for a score.
In the next possession, Akagi once again received the ball while backing down against Mitsui Hisashi. This time he was smarter and only used seventy percent of his strength.
Given the difference in weight between Mitsui and Akagi, even if Akagi only used seventy percent of his strength, he still pushed Mitsui back continuously.
Unfortunately, Akagi's fundamentals were too poor. As Akagi bumped into the paint and prepared to gather the ball for a dunk, Mitsui timed Akagi's moment of gathering the ball and swiped it away.
He then got to the ball before Akagi and completed another defensive counterattack.
"This... even a tall guy like Akagi can't score against Mitsui?"
"This Mitsui is too strong, isn't he? Is this the Middle School MVP? It feels like he's not on the same level as us at all! Are we really playing the same kind of basketball?"
...Seeing that even after swapping Mitsui's strongest helper to Akagi's team, it still couldn't stop the widening gap between the two teams.
Especially when Mitsui, on the defensive end, repeatedly stopped Akagi's offense and completed defensive counterattacks despite the visible height and weight difference, the surrounding onlookers once again began to discuss spontaneously.
"No, not yet, it's not over yet. If I'm just a little more careful, I can complete the offense," Akagi murmured to himself, hearing the discussions from the sidelines.
This time, Akagi wasn't just forcefully cheering himself up to boost his confidence; he genuinely felt that although his last two offensive attempts hadn't succeeded, he was getting closer and closer to success.
If he was just a little more careful next time, he would definitely be able to score against Mitsui's defense.
In the next possession, Akagi once again got the ball and posted up, but Mitsui once again used a new tactic. While Akagi was posting up, he had his teammates opportunistically double-team him and swipe at the ball when he dribbled.
These tactics made Akagi, who already had poor fundamentals, feel even more annoyed. When he put the ball down, someone would double-team and swipe it, and if he wasn't careful, the ball would be gone. Even if he occasionally managed to dodge them, when he attacked the basket, Mitsui would step up again.
Especially since Mitsui's experience from his previous life was too rich; he could always time his steals perfectly during Akagi's moments of rigidity in rhythm.
Finally, Coach Anzai, seeing the score difference widening to almost 40 points, became concerned about affecting the players' mentality and directly substituted Mitsui Hisashi.
Otherwise, it's estimated that the final score difference in this game would have been around 58 points, as there were still about 10 minutes left in the actual game when the substitution was made.
Mitsui scored 36 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 steals, and 3 blocks in this game, virtually filling up the stat sheet.
Moreover, the key is that these were not stats obtained after playing the entire game; there were still about 10 minutes left in the game.
After this game, Mitsui not only gained a lot of attention at Shōhoku High School but also significantly elevated his status within the basketball team.
After all, in this game, with Mitsui Hisashi's various performances on both offense and defense, even if they were trying to act aloof, they knew in their hearts that with Mitsui Hisashi's current strength, he was definitely a star-level player, even at the high school level.
Although the Akagi Team's players were very weak yesterday, even if they were weak, it shouldn't have allowed Mitsui Hisashi to put up such numbers. Anyway, if they were to play, they were self-aware enough to know they couldn't achieve such stats.
And it is well known that Japan has always been a country that respects the strong. When Mitsui Hisashi displayed his extraordinary strength, Mitsui Hisashi's starting lineup was secured, and the senpai's resistance and jealousy dissipated.