“Wow!”
"So tall! That's Jinguji Budo!"
Mitsui Hisashi walked into the basketball hall carrying two lunch boxes, while Horita Tokuo and others stood at the door, looking at Jinguji Budo in the court and sighed.
Just from listening to Mitsui Shou talk about Wudao's situation, the three of them couldn't help but feel a little curious about Wudao, the first-year junior.
After they finished their meal, Mitsui thought that Takeshi and Miyagi might still be training in the gym and probably hadn't eaten yet, so Mitsui, being considerate of his junior, prepared to bring some food to Takeshi and the others. When Horita Tokuo and others heard that they had a chance to see the first-year student who was said to be as tall as Akagi, they followed Mitsui.
"Hey, Budo and Miyagi, you two probably haven't eaten yet?!"
"Take a break. I brought you dinner."
Mitsui took off his shoes at the entrance of the stadium and walked to the rest area on the sidelines. While talking to Wudao and Miyagi, he placed the lunch box on the small table.
"Ohhh!"
"As expected of you, Mitsui-senpai. You really care about your junior!"
"I'm really hungry. I don't have the energy to shoot the ball."
When Miyagi Ryouta heard Mitsui's call, he hurriedly threw the ball in his hand and trotted towards Mitsui.
The basketball he threw out was not accurate at all, and it landed in Wudao's hands without any touch. Wudao looked down at the basketball in his hand, and then looked at Miyagi's anxious face, and couldn't help feeling speechless. The training progress was not very good, but he was very active in eating.
Wudao walked towards the rest area and inadvertently saw Horita Tokuo and others who were leaning against the door of the stadium looking inside. He suddenly felt a strong sense of familiarity, but for a moment he forgot where he had seen them.
"Mitsui, are those people over there your friends? Why don't you come in?"
Wu Dao pointed at Horita and others outside the door and asked.
"Um?"
"Are you talking about Horita and the others?"
"Hey! What are you guys doing standing at the door? Come in, oh, take off your shoes!"
Mitsui Shou turned his head and looked in the direction that Budo was pointing. He saw Horita Tokuo and others who seemed a little sneaky, and greeted them.
After hearing Mitsui Shou's shout, Horita Tokuo and the others took off their shoes and walked into the basketball court. Although they were considered the top figures in Xiangbei High School, for some reason, they were quite restrained in the court, not at all like the fearless gangster leaders.
"Budo, Miyagi, let me introduce you to it."
"My friends, Tokuo Horita, Ikuo Tokuta, and Taisuke Fujitani."
Mitsui Hisashi introduced his companions to Miyagi and Takeshi. While he was introducing them, Takeshi looked at Horita Tokuo and the other two and finally remembered these three guys.
In Shohoku High School, there will be two super cheerleading teams in the future. One is Rukawa Kaede's "Ryukawa No Mikoto", and the other is formed by the "Great Commander" Horita, which can be called the "Flame Man" fan club. The glasses-wearing Tokuda Iku and the narrow-eyed Fujitani Taisuke are both core members of this "Flame Man" fan club.
"Horita, this is Jinguji Budo, and this is Miyagi Ryouta."
"Let's get to know each other."
Mitsui pointed at Wudao and Miyagi Ryouta and introduced them to his friend. Suddenly, Mitsui seemed to have thought of something, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said maliciously:
"Martial arts, Horita and the others know that you practice judo, and they want to spar with you!"
When Mitsui Hisashi said this, Horita Tokuo was just straightening his collar, walking up to Wudao and extending his hand, ready to get to know him properly, but when he heard these words, his skin suddenly tightened.
"No... No, he's just talking nonsense. I'm just curious about you."
Horita Tokuo raised his head, looked at Takeshi's face, forced a smile, and said.
Wudao glanced at Mitsui Shou, then shook hands with Horita and others with a smile, and said politely: "Senior Horita, I have heard of you. Please take care of me in the future."
"Tokuda-senpai, Fujitani-senpai, nice to meet you."
Seeing Wudao being so polite, Horita and the others all looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was the first time for several people to meet Wudao, they felt an inexplicable sense of oppression when standing in front of Wudao. Perhaps it was because Wudao was too tall. Although Wudao was obviously a junior, several people still seemed quite reserved.
"Tokuda, Jinguji-san is still easy to talk to, hehe, haha!"
Horita Tokuo looked at Tokuda and winked. Miyagi Ryouta looked at Horita and the others strangely, then looked at Mitsui Hisashi, with a puzzled look on his face.
Miyagi Ryouta was not a peaceful person when he was in junior high school, and it was the same when he entered high school. Miyagi Ryouta knew what kind of roles people like Horita played in Shohoku, and he wondered why Mitsui Hisashi would hang out with these people.
However, Miyagi Ryouta is not a fool. In front of Mitsui Hisashi, Miyagi still greeted Horita and others with a smile.
As for martial arts, he didn't care so much. After a brief introduction with Horita and the others, he started to eat. He had called his judo master through the school's public phone before and told him that he would not be there tonight. He also called his family and told them that he would be back later. He planned to practice with Miyagi in the evening so that Miyagi could get familiar with the new shooting posture as soon as possible.
Once Miyagi has mastered it completely, all that's left is to train day after day, and at that stage, there will be no need for martial arts.
Mitsui Shou brought eel rice for Takeshi and Miyagi. The combination of meat and vegetables was pretty good, and the rice portion was quite filling. It was obvious that Mitsui Shou had specially increased the amount for Takeshi and Miyagi.
"Budou, what are you and Miyagi practicing?" Mitsui Shou asked, sitting on a stool. At this time, Horita and others also sat down beside Mitsui Shou and looked at Budou.
"Shooting, my three-point shooting ability still has room for improvement. Today's plan is to practice three-point shooting."
"The training plan will be different from now on. We will practice physical fitness, footwork, shooting, and dribbling."
"Xiao San, do you want to come together?"
Wudao asked while eating his rice. Miyagi Ryouta, who was eating beside him, was obviously hearing Wudao talk about his training plan for the first time. He turned his head and looked at Wudao with curiosity in his eyes.
"Do you practice extra every night? What about your judo training?"
"Not practicing anymore?"
Mitsui Shou didn't expect that Wudao's training plan for him would be scheduled so late, and he was a little surprised.
"For judo, you can go two or three times a week, and spend the rest of the time on basketball training."
"My focus is still on basketball. After all, I don't compete in judo. It's just a hobby."
Wudao answered casually that after entering high school and the suspension expired, Wudao's training had begun to have a clear focus. The training time for judo has been greatly reduced, and when he went to Fujima Shinichi's house for training, most of the training was physical and practical training, and technical practice was very rare.
If you want to play basketball well, you must spend time training. Compared with basketball, judo becomes less important. It is enough to maintain the current level. After all, he is not planning to participate in competitive competitions.
"Is that so? I'll join the evening training as well. It won't be boring if we practice with more people."
"You guys eat, I'll help with the food."
Mitsui stood up, picked up the basketball from his seat and walked towards the court.
"Horita, please help me pick up the ball!"
When Mitsui was practicing shooting, he didn't call Horita. The leader of the Xiangbei gang didn't put on any airs in front of Mitsui and happily helped Mitsui pick up the ball. Tokuda and the other man were also bored, so they followed Mitsui to the half court at one end of the court.
A few people were chatting and laughing while helping to pick up the ball for Mitsui Shou.
When Wudao and Miyagi were training, the gym seemed quiet and deserted, but after Mitsui and his group joined in, the gym became lively.
The night sky was dotted with stars, and a corner of the Shohoku campus was filled with the laughter of Horita and others.
...
Jinguji Budo's life in Shohoku began to become regular and peaceful. Coach Anzai was busy formulating and adjusting offensive tactics for the players during this period. Shohoku's training also focused on physical fitness and positioning.
After the arduous training, the players went back early. Wudao, Mitsui Shou and Miyagi Ryouta would rest for an hour after dinner and then return to the gym to continue training.
When the three of them were practicing extra, Mitsui's three friends, Horita and others would often come to the gym to help Wudao and the others pick up the balls and chat. Wudao quickly became familiar with these people and became a part of the "gang".
Sometimes Wudao would practice judo at night, and Mitsui and Miyagi would also take a rest for one or two nights, but their rest only meant not practicing. After school, Miyagi would go out to eat and go shopping with Mitsui and the others, and would not go home immediately.
Wudao and Mitsui Shou are people who have clear goals, and they will not complain or get bored with such training.
However, just because they can't do it doesn't mean others can't do it. After all, the source of students at Xiangbei is too poor. Some people join Xiangbei High School just to join a club. With the sudden increase in training volume, many first-year students can't stand the heavy training and drop out one after another.
On the other hand, this situation does not exist in the second and third grades, because the players who are still in the basketball team from the second and third grades have all gone through heavy training.
By mid-April, the number of first-year students on the Xiangbei basketball team had dropped from nearly 20 at the beginning of the school year to less than seven.
Coach Anxi didn't say anything about it. He didn't care about the departure of the first-year players and focused on the team's training.
Under the guidance of Coach Anxi, the entire Xiangbei basketball team has become completely united, and the players' abilities are also growing rapidly.
...
In the evening, after a day of training, Takenori Akagi returned home early. After completing his homework, Akagi came to his yard with a basketball.
Takenori Akagi's family conditions are quite good. His house is a three-story western-style building. Next to the building, there is a large yard of dozens of square meters. In order to cater to the hobbies of Takenori Akagi and Haruko Akagi, this large open space was transformed into a half court. The surroundings of the court are planted with green plants.
With the help of moonlight and lights, Takenori Akagi practiced mid-range shots in the yard.
Takenori Akagi has thoroughly understood Coach Anzai's tactical intentions. In order to enable himself to have mid-range shooting ability, Takenori Akagi began to put a lot of effort into training in shooting.
In the past, Akagi's basketball training focused on physical fitness, strength, and layups.
He has had a great advantage in height since he was young, and he developed the habit of dribbling under the basket very early. Therefore, although Akagi Takenori has been playing basketball since he was a child, until he entered Shohoku, his dribbling was still a mess and he was likely to hit his feet with the ball.
However, Akagi's strength and layup are very stable. After entering Xiangbei, Akagi's offensive habits have not changed. However, due to the stimulation of Mitsui Shou, Akagi worked hard to practice dribbling and low-post breakthrough techniques in the first year of high school. Relying on his huge body, Akagi has the ability to play singles in the interior.
Although Akagi's ability is very crude, there is no decent center in Kanagawa Prefecture. His offensive power is very strong in front of weak players.
However, Akagi's foundation is not good. When he encounters a double team or someone with similar physical conditions and not too clumsy footwork, Akagi can't play to the level he should have. This is why Akagi was suppressed by Xiangyang in his first year of high school.
Before the start of school this year, Akagi's playing style and usual training remained unchanged. It was not until he and Jinguji Budou defeated Ryonan in a practice match that Akagi's thoughts changed.
He realized that relying on physical strength to play would not last long. It was not until Coach Anzai began to plan the offensive system of Xiangbei and Akagi was lowered in the offensive order that he began to truly seek ways to become stronger.
Mid-range shooting is the fastest way Akagi can think of to integrate himself into the new system.
"stop!"
In the courtyard of the Akagi family, the basketball flew out of Akagi's hand and flew towards the basket. The arc of the ball was very low, hitting the edge of the basket and bouncing outward.
Akagi's mid-range shooting is terrible and his free throw shooting percentage is unstable. He has long been accustomed to close-range shooting or layups.
"hateful!"
"The arc of the shot was too straight."
Akagi Takenori whispered in his heart, silently picked up the basketball, adjusted his posture, and continued shooting.
While Akagi Takenori was practicing shooting in the yard, Akagi Haruko came out of the house in a pair of slippers, sat down on a bench beside the court, and said excitedly:
"Brother, let me tell you, our No. 4 Middle School is having a practice match with Takeishi Middle School today."
"We are no match for Takeishi Middle School. We were beaten to a pulp!"
Akagi Takenori shot the ball, and the basketball once again crashed out of the rim. Seeing the basketball deviate further this time, Akagi's eyes twitched, and then he turned his head and looked at Haruko who looked excited, and asked in confusion:
"Your school lost all the games. Why are you so excited? Are you happy about losing?"
Akagi was a little confused about his sister's train of thought and asked curiously.
"Eh? Don't you know? Takeishi Junior High School! It's the junior high school where your school captain, Mitsui-senpai, used to go to."
"Let me tell you, Takeishi Junior High School's basketball team captain Rukawa Kaede is a monster! He scored 42 points in today's game!"
"Brother, do you think he will join Xiangbei High School after graduation? If he joins Xiangbei, Xiangbei will definitely be able to dominate the country!"
Haruko's face was full of excitement. When she talked about Rukawa Kaede and dominating the country, Haruko became even more excited.
"Scoring 42 points in a junior high school game... He's a pretty good talent."
"If it was in the past, we in Xiangbei really needed such talents, but now..."
Akagi murmured in his heart, then picked up the basketball nonchalantly and continued his training.
"Brother, you don't seem to care much. A junior high school student who can score 42 points in a game is really amazing!"
"I can guarantee that even if he enters high school, he will be a very good player!"
"If he can join Shohoku next year, Shohoku will definitely dominate the country!"
Haruko was a little confused about Akagi's attitude. It seemed that her brother didn't care about such a talented player. She thought that Akagi didn't hear clearly what she had just said, so she emphasized the 42 points again.
"Haruko, getting 42 points in a game is indeed outstanding, but they are playing against your No. 4 Middle School."
"No. 4 Middle School is not a strong team in the country. In a game like this, scoring 42 points is not something to brag about."
"I heard that Takeishi Junior High School was crushed by Yokota Junior High School in the prefectural trials last year, right?"
"The captain of Yokota Junior High School at that time joined Ryonan High School!"
"And we, Xiangbei, won the previous practice match against Ryonan."
"One of our freshmen this year scored 55 points in a single game against the former captain of Yokota Junior High School!"
"Shohoku has no shortage of excellent scorers!"
"Dominate the country... No need to wait until next year!"
Akagi Takenori did not continue shooting while saying this. He was a little absent-minded while speaking, with his head slightly raised looking at the night sky, and did not speak to Haruko.
Akagi's words seemed to be a response to Haruko, but they were more like words spoken to himself. He was examining his current position in the Shohoku team.
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