Akagi's out on his ankle injury, so Anzai-sensei tells Sakuragi and Rukawa to guard under the basket together. And he takes their hands and puts them together. Dude, old fellows do that to people that they want to get together, yo! It's like they're getting married or something... O_o

(Useless sidenote: I was having dinner the first time I watched this episode. When Anzai-sensei put their hands together, I actually sputtered out my rice a la fountain. Cool or not?)

Sakuragi saves the ball as it goes out of bounds, and Rukawa catches it. Sakuragi shouts at him to make the shot, whether lucky or not, and Rukawa shouts back that he doesn't rely on luck, only skill. I can't get over this. Rukawa, who barely has two words to give anyone. That should be evidence enough of Sakuragi's influence on him.

Sakuragi makes a pivotal dunk near the end of the Kainan game, and for a brief moment Rukawa looks impressed. And then Anzai-sensei says something like, "Very good, Sakuragi" to which Rukawa remarks that it was no big deal... And then Anzai-sensei gets this little smile that suggests he knows something he's not letting on.