In early spring, the warm sunshine falls on the sea, seagulls fly low over the sparkling sea, and the broken blue reflects the figure of Jinguji Budo.
Today is Sunday, and the basketball teams of Xiangbei High School and Ryonan High School have agreed to play a practice match at the basketball hall of Ryonan. Jinguji Budo has never seen the sea of Kamakura, so early in the morning, he took the train alone with his backpack to Ryonan High School and watched the scenery on the coast not far from Ryonan High School.
The sea breeze is cool and it makes people feel much more awake when it blows on their bodies.
"The scenery around Ryonan High School is also very nice! If Xiaosan wasn't in Shohoku, coming to Ryonan would be a good choice for further studies!"
Jinguji Budo was attracted by the scenery of Kamakura coast and thought to himself that it was a pity.
A long time passed.
In the distance, a tram was approaching. After arriving at the station, dozens of Xiangbei team members got off the tram one after another, looking around curiously.
"I don't know if Wu Dao has arrived yet. He doesn't act with the team. This guy has no team spirit."
"When I see him, I will definitely give him a good education!"
Mitsui Hisashi got off the tram, looked around, and did not see Jinguji Budou. He frowned slightly and muttered in dissatisfaction.
"Well, Mitsui, don't be angry."
"Budou also wants to see the scenery of Kamakura. After all, he has never seen it before, so it is normal for him to have such thoughts."
"If I hadn't been to Kamakura so many times, I would be like him."
"Besides, he is already a high school student, he knows his limits."
"Let's go to Ryonan High School first. He will come by himself when the time comes. We agreed to meet at the Ryonan gymnasium."
When Kogure saw that Mitsui Shou was a little angry, he immediately persuaded him. In the basketball team of Xiangbei, Kogure had a good relationship with everyone, and Jinguji Budo, who had just joined Xiangbei, was also taken care of by him.
"That's all we can do."
Mitsui Shou looked around but didn't see any sign of Budo, so he could only nod and respond.
Afterwards, the Xiangbei group, led by Coach Anxi, left the station, crossed the road and walked towards Ryonan High School.
Ryonan High School is located right opposite the station. After crossing a four-lane road and going up a huge slope, you will reach Ryonan High School.
It only took four or five minutes for the Xiangbei people to walk from the station to the gate of Ryonan High School, which was quite close.
Today is Sunday. The gate of Lingnan High School is closed. In a security booth next to the gate, an elderly guard is dozing off with his head drooped.
"The door is closed. Did we come too early?" Akagi Takenori glanced inside the door, scratched his head and said in confusion.
"How is this possible? I'll go ask."
Without Coach Anzai's instructions, Mitsui Shou immediately walked forward, knocked on the small window of the security booth, and woke up the sleepy guard.
"Are you... members of the Xiangbei basketball team?" The old man obviously knew that Xiangbei would come to Ryonan High School for a practice game today. When he saw Mitsui Shou and looked at the school uniform he was wearing, he recognized him.
"Yes, old sir, please open the door." Mitsui Shou nodded and replied.
Not long after, the gate of Ryonan High School opened, and under the guidance of the gate guard, the Xiangbei group walked towards the gymnasium of Ryonan High School.
...
"Pass the ball faster, don't dilly-dally!"
"Hey! Futian, don't dribble! Don't dribble! How many times do I have to tell you?"
"After receiving the ball, you either shoot or pass it, and then quickly cut inside."
"What are you doing dribbling the ball? Huh? If you keep playing like this, get off me!"
In the basketball hall of Ryonan, the players of Ryonan were playing a five-on-five training match. Coach Tiangang stood at the edge of the court, his hands folded in front of his chest, with a serious face. Whenever the players on the court moved or did something that he didn't like, Coach Tiangang would curse at them.
The entire stadium was filled with a depressing atmosphere.
"The coach is really harsh on Futian! He's only played for seven or eight minutes in the practice match, and Futian has been called out six or seven times, right?"
In the rest area on the sidelines, Sendoh Akira was sitting on the bench, looking at Fukuda who was speechless after being scolded by Coach Takeo, and couldn't help but say with sympathy.
"Is it harsh? Isn't it right to be scolded for not implementing the coach's tactical arrangements and tactics properly?"
Shinomiya Tano was sitting next to Sendoh Akira, his face covered with sweat. When he heard Sendoh sympathizing with Fukuda, he couldn't help but speak.
Fukuda Yoshitaka, like Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh Akira, is a freshman who joined Ryonan High School this year. Fukuda's physical condition is also quite good in high school. He is only in the first year of high school, but his height has reached 181cm. Fukuda's speed and jumping ability are also quite good. During the physical test for freshmen, he caught the eye of coach Tanaka.
However, Yoshitaka Fukuda is somewhat arrogant. After joining the team, he was unwilling to admit defeat and regarded Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh Akira as his competitors. He was very hardworking during training. At the same time, every time there was a practice match, Fukuda would always compare himself with these two people. When attacking, he would subconsciously ignore the established arrangements of Coach Takeo.
Coach Tanaoka was very dissatisfied with this, but he still had some expectations for Fukuda in his heart. Therefore, on the training ground, Coach Tanaoka treated Fukuda Yoshitaka much more strictly than others.
"That being said, it's still a bit too harsh. Coach Tanaka doesn't treat you like that." Sendoh Akira shook his head and said softly.
"Isn't the coach's attitude towards me and towards you the same?"
"Instead of worrying about Fukuda, you should just imagine how you're going to play against Shohoku High School next."
"I heard that this year's Xiangbei High School is very strong!"
After knowing that there would be a practice match with Shohoku, Shinomiya Tano did some research on the current team composition of Shohoku High School. When he learned from his classmates which players Shohoku had, Shinomiya Tano was full of anticipation for today's practice match.
Just look, after arriving at Ryonan High School early in the morning, Shinomiya Tano practiced basketball for a while to get his physical condition to its peak. The other players had just started warming up with practice games, but he was already sweating.
"Very strong? Is it stronger than our Ryonan High School?"
"I can't imagine what kind of team can defeat our Ryonan High School!"
When he was in the first year of high school, Sendoh also had the personality of "I am the most arrogant person in the world", and he was full of confidence in Ryonan's strength.
"Don't underestimate them. Go all out in today's game."
"I will completely destroy Xiangbei!"
Shinomiya Tano clenched his fist and said firmly.
Just as the two were talking, the door of the Ryonan High School gymnasium was opened. Under the leadership of Coach Anxi, the Xiangbei team successfully arrived at the Ryonan High School gymnasium.
"Stop!" Coach Tanaoka, who was supervising the training on the sidelines, saw the Xiangbei team just as they entered the gym. He immediately stopped the practice match and then walked towards Coach Anxi with a smile on his face.
"Coach Anzai! You and the students from Shohoku have finally arrived!" Coach Tiangang walked quickly to Coach Anzai and shook hands with him enthusiastically.
“Hohoho~”
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Coach Tanaka."
Coach Anzai and Coach Tianoka were talking to each other and seemed to have a good relationship.
As the two exchanged greetings, the eyes of the Xiangbei players began to survey the entire stadium. Mitsui and others swept their eyes over the Ryonan players one by one. When Mitsui looked towards the rest area, two slightly familiar faces appeared in front of Mitsui.
"That's....Although the hairstyle has changed, it's definitely the same as Sendoh Akira from Akizuki High School?!"
"And the guy sitting next to him is that monster from Yokota Junior High School, Shinomiya Tano."
"These two people actually joined Ryonan High School?! It's okay for Shinomiya Tano, but why would Sendoh appear in the Ryonan team?"
Although Sendoh Akira and Shinomiya Tano had changed a lot in appearance and height since junior high school, Mitsui Shou still recognized them quickly. The impression these two left on Mitsui Shou was so deep that he could not forget them at all.
Seeing these two people, the originally calm Mitsui Shou trembled slightly.
It's not fear, but excitement, a blood-boiling excitement!
When Mitsui knew that they were going to play against Ryonan High School, he still lacked interest. Although Ryonan High School performed better than Shohoku in the previous year's competition, Mitsui never considered Ryonan as a rival of Shohoku. Ryonan was too weak, which made Mitsui unmotivated.
However, when he saw Sendoh Akira and Shinomiya Tano, Mitsui Hisashi no longer had such thoughts. With the addition of these two people, Ryonan is now truly worthy of being defeated.
"This practice match is getting interesting!" Just when Mitsui Hisashi was looking at Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh Akira, the two also saw Mitsui Hisashi in the Shohoku team. Shinomiya Tano knew about Mitsui Hisashi's existence because he had done background checks on Shohoku, so he was not too surprised, but Sendoh didn't know about it before.
Seeing Mitsui Shou at this time, Sendoh suddenly became interested.
In Japan, the basketball community in a county is very small. In Kanagawa Prefecture, there are only a few top players and a few top schools. Sendoh Akira had played practice matches with Takeishi Junior High School and was impressed by Mitsui Hisashi, the captain of Takeishi.
I thought Mitsui Hisashi would go to the best school in Kanagawa, Kainan University Affiliated School, but unexpectedly, I met him in the Shohoku team at this time.
Mitsui Hisashi, Sendoh and Shinomiya Tano looked at each other. They could read the strong desire to fight in each other's eyes. The practice match hadn't even started yet, but the situation was already tense.
After a brief greeting with Coach Tianaoka, Coach Anzai led the Shohoku team to the rest area on one side of the stadium and had the players start changing their equipment.
Coach Tiangang also gathered all the players and began to arrange the players to play.
"You've all seen our opponent for today's practice match. It's Shohoku High School!"
"Shohoku's previous performance may be just average, but you must not underestimate them."
"Shohoku is a very strong team!"
"In this game, our starting lineup is the five of you, Nishibayashi Kenichi, Uozumi Jun, Ikegami Ryoji, Sendoh, and Tano."
"The task of controlling the ball is given to Xilin Jianyi, and the basket will be guarded by Yuzumi and Ikegami. Sendoh and Tianye, the two of you will attack with all your strength."
"In the first half, I want you to increase the score difference to more than 10 points and enter the second half with such an advantage."
Coach Tiangang quickly called out the names of several starting players, then turned his head to look at Mitsui Shou who was changing clothes on the opposite court, and turned back to Shinomiya Tianye and said:
"Tian Ye, you have to defend Mitsui Shou in this game. You must limit or even kill his scoring!"
"Xilin, if that short guy comes on the court later, you will be the one defending him. He's very fast at breaking through, but he doesn't have a basket. When you defend, you need to focus on preventing breakthroughs and passes."
"Yuzumi, I'll leave Akagi to you. He's about the same size as you, maybe even shorter than you. Don't lose to them!"
"The rest of the players can play freely, and the defense should be man-to-man."
Coach Takeo obviously knew something about Shohoku High School. He also took Miyagi Ryouta, who rejected him and joined Shohoku, into consideration when making defensive arrangements.
At Xiangbei High School, the players were changing their jerseys in an orderly manner. Coach Anxi stood in front of the team, looking at the players changing their clothes, and said leisurely:
"Akagi, Mitsui, Chiba, Miyagi, and... Mugure, the five of you will be the starting players."
"On the offensive end, Akagi-san will be in the inside, Mitsui-san will be in the outside, and the rest of the players, if there is a good opportunity, don't panic, just attack boldly."
"As for defense, let's use man-to-man defense for now. However, Chiba and Akagi, the two of you need to stay inside and don't let anyone lure you out of the paint."
Coach Anxi announced several starting players, and then said nothing more. He slowly walked to the rest area, sat on a stool, and started to make tea for himself.
"Miyagi, you are the starting player, you have to work hard!" Ayako was sitting next to Coach Anzai and said to Miyagi with a smile.
"Ohhhhh! Of course!"
Ayako's encouragement was like a shot of chicken blood to Miyagi, and Miyagi Ryouta became very excited.
"That guy Wu Dao is actually late! What a bastard!"
Mitsui changed his jersey and looked at the gate of the basketball hall. He didn't see Jinguji Budou. His blood pressure soared and he was furious. After waiting for a while, he still didn't see Budou. He could only lead the team to warm up.
The fifteen-minute warm-up time passed quickly. With the referee's whistle, the two teams ended their warm-up and began to take their positions in the center circle, preparing for the jump ball.
Although it was a practice match, Ryonan was well prepared. The scoreboard and other things were ready early, and they even hired professional referees to judge the game.
In the center of the court, Akagi Takenori and Uozumi Jun stood face to face, and their eyes stared at each other, as if lightning could burst out.
The referee came between the two and blew the whistle to start the game.
As the whistle sounded, the basketball was thrown into the air. As the basketball entered the air, Akagi Takenori and Uozumi Jun both shouted angrily, and then jumped into the air with all their might.
“Bang!”
Two big hands pressed on both sides of the basketball almost at the same time.
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