Just as the players from Akizuki Junior High School walked into the gymnasium, the basketball players from Takeishi Junior High School were observing their opponents in the practice match in their rest area.
"The students at Qiuyue High School are all very tall. There are three or four students who are over 180cm tall."
Mitsui Shou sat on the bench, adjusting the laces of his sneakers while looking up at the players of Akizuki Middle School. Without a formal match, the easiest way to judge the opponent's strength is to look at the average height of the opponent's players.
This method works every time at the junior high school stage. Generally speaking, a team with a higher average height will have a higher winning rate than a team with a shorter average height.
Seeing three or four tall people in Akizuki Middle School, Mitsui Shou couldn't help but become interested.
"So what if you're tall? You still can't play if you're still not able to play!" Beside Mitsui Hisashi, Jinguji Takeshi looked up at the ceiling with lifeless eyes and said.
At this time, Takeshi was wearing a white sports T-shirt, which was the uniform of the bench players of Takeishi Junior High School. Although Takeshi Jinguji thought he had improved a lot in the past few days, coach Anzai Masayoshi had no plans to arrange for him to play in this game, and he didn't even have a jersey.
"Don't say that. I was a substitute before. Train hard and you will be able to play one day."
Mitsui Shou adjusted his shoelaces and said with relief. After a few days of getting along, he and Wudao have become friends. Mitsui Shou was very surprised at Wudao's progress during this period, but as a defender, Mitsui Shou also felt that Wudao was still a little lacking.
"I don't want to wait a few more months. If I don't play, there will be no fun in playing basketball!"
Wu Dao looked up at the ceiling and sighed. From beginning to end, he never even looked at the players of Qiuyue Middle School. For those who couldn't play, it didn't matter what the opponent was like.
After saying that, Wudao glanced at Mitsui Shou beside him. At this time, Mitsui Shou had already changed into the jersey of Takeishi Junior High School. The number "5" on his chest made Wudao a little envious. He also wanted to play in the game!
"Hey, cheer for me from the sidelines, and then we can share the joy of victory together."
Mitsui Shou patted Wudao's shoulder and said confidently.
At this moment, Anzai Masayoshi and captain Fujii Masao returned to the team. Anzai Masayoshi clapped his hands and signaled the team members to assemble.
"The game starts in twenty minutes."
"Before that, let me say a few words."
While Anzai Zhengyi was talking, he accidentally glanced at Wudao who was sitting next to Mitsui Shou. At this time, Wudao was looking at him with a burning gaze, and Anzai Zhengyi saw the desire in Wudao's eyes, the desire for the game.
Anxi Zhengyi noticed this and smiled slightly, but did not respond to Wu Dao's eager gaze. He just kept talking to himself:
"You have all seen our opponents this time. The players from Qiuyue High School are all quite tall, most of them are over 170cm tall."
"Several forwards are over 180cm tall."
"Therefore, when playing against them, we need to speed up the offensive tempo and the inside players need to reduce the time they hold the ball."
"Mitsui, our team will be under great pressure on rebounds in this game. Reduce shots from beyond the three-point line and score points with stable mid-range shots and timely layups."
At the end of his speech, Anzai Masayoshi emphasized Mitsui's name and asked him to reduce his scoring from beyond the three-point line.
Mitsui Shou has just entered the second grade of junior high school. Although he has excellent three-point shooting skills, his three-point shooting percentage is still lower than that of mid-range shots. In the absence of rebounding guarantee, Anzai Masayoshi does not want Mitsui Shou to rely too much on three-pointers.
In this era of basketball, everyone has a consensus that the closer you are to the basket, the easier it is to score. Even former national player Anzai Zhengyi firmly believes in this view.
"On defense, we use zone defense to strengthen our defensive strength inside."
"If the opponent wants to shoot a three-pointer, you don't need to force the defense, just interfere enough."
"Next, I announce the starting lineup: Fujii Masao (C, No. 4), Mitsui Hisashi (SG, No. 5), Chiba Oishi (PF, No. 11), Toyokawa Taro (SF, No. 7), Maeda Iekawa (PG, No. 6)."
"You five are the starters. Okay, now, everyone, warm up."
Although there were only five people in the starting lineup, all basketball players had to do warm-up exercises. Takeshi Jinguji looked at the five players whose names were called, sighed silently, then got up from the bench and joined the warm-up team.
The players from Takeishi Junior High School are all a little shorter than those from Akizuki Junior High School.
The third-year captain Masao Fujii plays center. He is 187cm tall with shoes on, which is pretty good.
Sophomore Mitsui Hisashi is 171cm tall with shoes on, which is good enough for a junior high school guard. Sophomore Chiba Daishi is 182cm tall with shoes on, which is good enough for a power forward. Junior Toyokawa Taro is only 174cm tall as a small forward, and as a point guard, junior Maeda Ikawa is only 165cm tall.
Among all the starting players, there are three third-year players, two second-year players, and no first-year players at all.
During the warm-up, Wudao looked at Toyokawa Taro and Maeda Iegawa for a long time, and then he sighed. In his opinion, he was good enough to replace these two players in the game. Unfortunately, the coach did not give him a chance, and he, a freshman, could not get the qualification to start.
However, twenty minutes of warm-up was a bit too much for Wudao, so he could only put all his enthusiasm into the warm-up.
Therefore, we can see that in the warm-up half of No. 50 Middle School, there was a tall young man in white clothes who spared no effort to vent his energy. His behavior seemed somewhat conspicuous among the other players.
"This kid! He has no patience." Anxi Zhengyi saw this scene, sighed and shook his head.
On the other hand, there were a few players from Qiuyue High School who were interested in martial arts.
"That player has an outstanding height and jumping ability!" During the warm-up half of Qiuyue High School, Sendoh noticed Wudao who was making a layup. Seeing that Wudao's palm was almost level with the basket when he made the layup, he sighed secretly, and then noticed the training uniform on Wudao, but didn't care and devoted himself to the warm-up.
The twenty-minute warm-up was very quick. After the warm-up, the players of both teams listened to the instructions of their coaches and walked onto the court. As the players of both teams entered the court, the audience watching the game on the sidelines burst into cheers.
“Happiness belongs to others…”
"Why!"
After warming up, Wu Dao sat on the bench, crossed his legs and stared at the ceiling. They were all first-year students, and they were all substitutes. The other first-year students were standing, and only the second-year and third-year substitutes sat in their seats.
However, no one said anything about Wudao's obviously out-of-character behavior. All the team members knew that Wudao, whose height with shoes reached 187cm, was different from them.
"Boy, stop sighing. You'll have your chance to show off later."
"Here, this is the jersey, put it on."
At this moment, Anxi Zhengyi sat down next to Wudao and threw a jersey on Wudao.
"Hmm?" Wu Dao immediately perked up upon hearing that, and grabbed the jersey to look at it carefully.
It really is the uniform of Takeishi Junior High School! Although it is number 15, it also means that Wu Dao has officially entered the rotation of Takeishi Junior High School. There is also a faint smell of plastic on the uniform. It is a new uniform.
"Coach, can I play?!"
Wu Dao asked in surprise, he wanted to confirm what he heard.
"Yeah, but not as a defender."
"Did you see No. 13 on the pink team?" Anzai Zhengyi said, pointing at Sendoh who was getting into position on the court to prepare for a jump ball.
"See, that's the guy with the bowl-cut hair?" Wudao looked in the direction Anzai Masayoshi pointed and saw Sendoh Akira standing in front of Toyokawa Taro.
"Yes, that's him. That guy is called Sendoh Akira, and he's Akizuki's trump card. He scored more than 30 points in the previous games in Kanagawa."
"When it's your turn to play later, you'll be guarding that kid."
"The opponent is someone who can score more than 30 points per game. Toyokawa Taro can't stop him."
"Toyokawa is the vanguard, scouting the way for you. Your defense is very good. I noticed it during the practice match before. You were able to completely suppress Chiba Daishi, which also shows your defensive strength."
"Beside the court, you need to carefully observe the movements of No. 13 and think about how to defend when it's your turn to play!"
"Hmm? Budo, are you listening?"
Anxi Zhengyi put his arm around Wudao's shoulders and spoke in his ear, but he suddenly found that Wudao looked dazed, as if he was not listening to him at all.
"ah?!"
"Oh, I'm listening."
"Coach, you just said, what is the name of the number 13 on the pink team?"
Wu Dao was surprised and asked after hesitating for a while.
"Sendoh Akira." Anxi Zhengyi felt strange when he saw Wudao's look and didn't know what happened to Wudao.
"Sendoh Akira... ..Sendoh Akira!"
"That pot-cut bastard is called Sendoh Akira?!"
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