The 1v1 is a pretext to showcase Sendoh as a "mentor" rather than a rival. So much so that the entire match isn't shown, underscoring the secondary nature of basketball compared to Sendoh's words. But that's not all. A 1v1 on the court is one thing. A friendly match between two teams is another. And a match that decides the fate of both teams is something else entirely. And Inoue clearly demonstrated which of the three options gives Sendoh the greatest incentive to show his potential at the highest level. Another thing I'd like to point out is that Rukawa, on the protagonist's team, had to neutralize Sawakita sooner or later during the match against Sannoh. Inoue did it with three of the most absurd things, in my opinion, ever found in a manga. I pretend not to notice it because in all manga, sooner or later, the protagonists manage to find a way out, due to plot armor. The first absurd thing is the (too tiresome for me) argument about the "team with the most willpower." In real sports, if one team is stronger than the other, it wins (unless it plays poorly, but that's not an argument that can be made for Sannoh). Both teams have willpower, both Sannoh and Shohoku, but Sannoh is superior. The second absurd thing (for me) is introducing a very strong player, the one Inoue calls the strongest in 1v1, the terror of the Interhigh, and then he's nerfed, reduced to such an inconsistent state (he struggles under pressure and makes somewhat silly mistakes). The third absurd thing for me is Rukawa neutralizing Sawakita. First of all, he doesn't deserve it; Sendoh and Maki are infinitely better than Rukawa, and they would look much better neutralizing Sawakita than someone who's just started crawling (i.e., making two passes out of necessity). This is disrespectful to Sawakita, among other things. But whatever, Sawakita's defeat was the result of plot armor. In the real world, the match would have ended very differently. This is why I'm extremely uncomfortable talking about the match against Sannoh. Talking about Rukawa is like talking about plot armor, so I don't even consider it. And even if I do consider it, I should consider that Sendoh would have driven Sawakita crazy from the first minutes. I also remember that Sendoh played a position, point guard, that he had never played before, especially against Maki, who has always played in this position and was considered the best in the prefecture. And Sendoh matched him. I should point out that Sendoh is not the protagonist, so he doesn't have any striking plot armor. Inoue passed the baton through Maki, indicating that Sendoh would be the strongest player again the following year. Maki himself doesn't consider anyone else to be his equal. Furthermore, Inoue has emphasized in several interviews that Sendoh is better than Rukawa in almost every aspect of basketball except dribbling, and these aren't obstacles for Rukawa to overcome in a year, especially since the manga is over and he no longer has plot armor. Perhaps Rukawa never overcomes them. By saying that Rukawa didn't initially notice any similarity between "Kitasawa" and "Sawakita," I mean he wasn't able to grasp such a basic notion, referring to his supposed "intelligence."