The opening ceremony of the Autumn National Sports Games did not last very long. In the high school basketball world, the most watched event is of course the IH held in the summer, followed by the winter season held at the turn of winter and spring.
Among the three series of events, the Autumn National Games received relatively less attention, so even the opening ceremony was much simpler than that of the IH.
After more than an hour of the opening ceremony, the teams in the venue began to leave one after another. Most teams had games today, so after the opening ceremony, the teams with games would go to the waiting room to prepare for the games. Some strong teams that had byes would go through the passage back to the stadium and go to the stands to watch the next game.
The opening ceremony was on a Friday, and the high school students all had classes to attend, so most of the people who came to watch the game were local fans from Kanagawa Prefecture. There weren't many of them, but as there was no game that day, the lines going to the stands to watch the game created a packed scene.
The Kanagawa Prefecture team's game was in the morning, and the venue for the game was the same venue where the opening ceremony was held. Coach Tanaoka did not take the players to the waiting room to wait, but instead took the players to the stands to watch the game while waiting for their turn.
Compared with those teams that started preparing for the game early, the Kanagawa Prefecture team seemed calm and composed, and did not take today's game seriously at all.
"The level of the teams competing today is pretty average! So far, there aren't any noteworthy opponents."
In the stands, Coach Tiangang and his players watched today's game together. As time passed, the teams in the field changed one after another. Everyone sat there for nearly two hours, and the game in this field had already entered the early part of the third game.
Coach Tanaoka looked at the Ishikawa and Oita teams playing on the field and gave his own evaluation.
"This is normal. After all, the stronger teams in previous years have been given byes in the first round. The teams that have to play in the first round are relatively weak among all the participating teams."
"If there are no dark horses, the teams in the first round will basically be at the level of IH's top 16."
"Coach, how are we going to play our match against Shimane today?"
Shinomiya Tano was sitting next to Coach Tanoka. As Coach Tanoka's most proud disciple, just from his seat, one could tell how much Coach Tanoka valued him.
After the match between Ishikawa and Oita, it was the match between Kanagawa and Shimane. As the match was approaching, Shinomiya Tano asked Coach Takeoka about his arrangements for the next match.
"Shimane..."
"I've researched the strength of this team. It's just average. As you said, it's at most the top 16 in IH."
"First game, do you want to play?"
Coach Tanaoka did not attach much importance to today's game. He gave Shinomiya Tano enough freedom and even asked Shinomiya Tano's thoughts on the arrangement of the game.
"Me? Emmmm..."
"Hey, Budo, do you want to fight today?"
After hearing this, Shigong Tianye pondered for a long time, and suddenly turned his head to look at Jinguji Budou who was sitting behind him, and asked. After such a long period of training, Jinguji Budou and Shigong Tianye fought every day, and although they were competitors, they also established a wonderful friendship.
Moreover, during the last half month of the team's tryouts, Shinomiya Tano suddenly found that his playing style was surprisingly in sync with Jinguji Takeshi's. Shinomiya Tano enjoyed the ease of playing on a team with Jinguji Takeshi, so when Coach Takeka asked him if he wanted to play, Shinomiya Tano turned and asked Jinguji Takeshi behind him.
"Why are you asking me all of a sudden?"
"It depends on Coach Tiangang's arrangements."
Wu Dao slumped down in his seat and answered casually. He had been sitting in the stands for nearly two hours, and he was a little tired.
If the coach of the team was Coach Anzai, Wudao would have slipped down the stands and sneaked away long ago. Unfortunately, the coach of the team is the serious Coach Tanaoka, so Wudao can only be forced to fit in. Now he doesn't care whether he will play in the game or not. He just wants to leave the stands as soon as possible and doesn't want to watch such a "eye-catching" game on the field anymore.
"Coach, I don't mind."
"If the opponent is not strong, let the other players have some fun."
Seeing that Wu Dao was not interested in today's game, Shigong Tianye's enthusiasm for playing also diminished a little, and he put on an indifferent attitude.
Coach Tian Gang nodded when he saw this, but did not reply and turned his attention back to the court.
Since his favorite student had no intention of playing, today's game could be arranged casually. Coach Tanaoka's idea was also very simple. Now their Kanagawa Prefecture representative team has a very deep bench, so the offensive firepower should not be too strong. With Shinomiya Tano and Jinguji Budou as backup, there would be no problem as long as the game was not too bad.
Moreover, their Kanagawa Prefecture team is now full of talented people. How could it be possible that the situation would go badly in the first stage of the competition
"In that case, I will announce today's starting lineup in advance."
"Uozumi, Akagi, Hanagata, Takasago, and... Miyagi Ryouta."
"You five are the starting lineup today."
"Miyagi, I don't need to teach you how to play today's game, right?"
The idea of trying out the lineup suddenly came to Coach Tiangang's mind. After a brief thought, he announced it to the players around him and behind him. After hearing Coach Tiangang's words, all the players looked at each other, some of them couldn't believe what they heard.
"Coach... starting so many inside players?"
After hearing Coach Tiangang's arrangement, Yuzumi Jun scratched his hair and asked in confusion. This lineup has only C and PF, no core player, and the whole lineup is quite cumbersome. How can such a lineup win
From Yuzumi's perspective, it was obvious that he could not understand Coach Tiangang's arrangement. After all, he had only been playing for a year and a half, and his practice time was not even as long as Kunkun's.
"Just do your part, Uozumi."
Coach Tanaka folded his hands over his chest and chuckled. Unlike Yuzumi, he was quite satisfied with his arrangement. In his mind, Coach Tanaka already had an image of four burly men occupying the inside line. He wanted to see if Shimane could crack his tall man tactics!
On the court, the match between Ishikawa and Oita was very intense. Players from both sides committed fouls from time to time and the clock was stopped quite frequently. The intense match certainly aroused the enthusiasm of the audience.
But Wudao was not interested in the fight between the noobs, and he dozed off unconsciously while sitting in his seat. And dozing off is contagious, so knowing that he might not have to play today, Sendoh adjusted himself to a comfortable position and took a "nap".
After an unknown amount of time, Mitsui Shou woke up the dozing Wudao.
At this time, the game was nearing its end. On the sidelines, the Shimane players were already doing warm-up activities, while the people from Kanagawa Prefecture were still in the stands and had not yet gone to the field.
A few minutes later, with the final whistle, the game between Oita and Ishikawa came to an end. Ishikawa defeated its opponent with a score of 90:85, a 5-point advantage, and advanced to the second round.
The game came to an end amid the cheers of the Ishikawa players.
"Let's go, it's our turn to perform!"
Coach Tanaoka called all the players and walked towards the corridor first. The people from Kanagawa Prefecture followed suit, walked through the corridor and entered the venue.
“ohhhhh!!!!!”
"Lingnan! Lingnan! Lingnan!"
"Sendo!!! Come on, Sendo!!!"
"Fujima~~~Look here~~"
When the Kanagawa team walked through the corridor and entered the backcourt, the stands suddenly started to cheer. The Kanagawa team, especially the Ryonan High School team, were very popular in the local area. As the team members came out, the whole stadium became lively.
"Oh~ What an amazing cheer! This team from Kanagawa Prefecture is very popular in the local area!"
In Akita Prefecture, the people of Sanno Industrial turned their heads and looked at the suddenly enthusiastic audience around them, a little surprised. They had played against Ryonan in the national competition, but at that time, Ryonan didn't have so many cheers.
On the contrary, it was the autumn national sports event, and the county team was formed, and Ryonan High School gained more supporters.
"Home advantage. Shimane's team is not as strong as Kanagawa Prefecture's. Now they are playing away from home. This game may not show the strength of the Kanagawa Prefecture team!"
Goro Domoto quietly felt the cheers from the audience around him and expressed his concern about the future of the Shimane team.
"It doesn't matter, coach. No matter how strong Kanagawa is, we will be the winning team in this year's Autumn National Games!"
Zebei Rongji said this confidently. Upon hearing this, Coach Domoto, who had a worried look on his face, immediately laughed.
"Of course! We, Sanwang Industries, are definitely the strongest!"
Although the Sanno Industrial led by Goro Domoto suffered a defeat in the national competition, Goro Domoto is still quite confident in the strength of his team. The current Sanno is more mature than the one during the national competition. He believes that the current team can definitely crush the Kanagawa Prefecture team!
In the stadium, the players from Ishikawa and Oita had already left the field, and the players from Shimane entered the field early to warm up. On the other hand, after entering the field, several players from the Kanagawa team lazily sat in the rest area on the sidelines.
Only a few tall and strong "middle-aged players" walked into the court and started warming up.
Miyagi Ryouta took a ball and dribbled it on the sidelines to warm up. Maki Shinichi enthusiastically entered the court with Uozumi, Akagi and others to help pass the ball and let them warm up with layups.
As for Takeshi Jinguji and Sendoh, they found a place in the rest area and closed their eyes to rest. They didn't even take off their coats and had no intention of warming up at all.
Mitsui Hisashi and his friends were dribbling the ball casually on the sidelines, bored, and occasionally looking across the field to observe their opponents.
"The heights of the Shimane players are pretty average."
"If you're with Akagi and the others, you'll have a clear height advantage!"
While dribbling the ball, Mitsui Hisashi was talking to Miyagi Ryouta beside him.
"Yeah, I also realized that this should be what Coach Tanaka meant, winning by height."
Miyagi Ryouta nodded and also discovered the advantages of his team. He now understood Coach Tagora's intentions and knew how he should play after he came on the court.
"In fact, you don't have to focus on passing the ball to Akagi and the others. If you have the opportunity, you can also try shooting. There are many inside players, so the advantage is obvious."
"You can take this opportunity to see your own shooting ability."
Mitsui Shou dribbled the ball while giving some advice. Miyagi Ryouta nodded, saying that he knew the opportunity today was indeed good. He planned to listen to Mitsui Shou's advice and test the opponent's inside strength after entering the court. If the advantage was obvious, he would try to shoot wildly.
For this match, let alone Shinomiya Tano and his team, even Miyagi and Mitsui Hisashi did not pay enough attention to it. After all, with the foundation of the Kanagawa Prefecture team, there was really no opponent that they could really pay attention to in the first round!
Soon, the warm-up time for both teams was over.
Following the referee's whistle, the players from the Kanagawa Prefecture team and the Shimane team walked onto the court amid the eager gazes of the spectators.
As soon as the players of both teams took their positions in the center circle, the difference in height became immediately apparent.
It was Jun Uozumi who was in charge of the jump ball on the Kanagawa Prefecture side. The center who was facing him was about 190cm tall, about the same height as Kazuma Takasago. Standing in front of Jun Uozumi, he was half a head shorter than him.
This situation also happens in other positions. The player who plays against Akagi is less than 190cm tall, a little shorter. The player who plays against Kazuma Takasago is around 180cm tall, and the opponent who plays against Hanagata is also around 180cm tall.
After looking at all the players, it was only Miyagi's group that was at a disadvantage for Kanagawa, but the opponents were not much taller than Miyagi, and were far from being able to equalize the height gap between the two teams.
"Both Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh Akira from Ryonan didn't play! Jinguji Budou from Shohoku was also sitting on the sidelines."
"It looks like Kanagawa Prefecture won't use its full strength in today's match!"
In the stands, Goro Domoto looked at the players on the field and said softly. He was a little unfamiliar with the lineup that Kanagawa put out today. There were two players who were new faces and had never seen them on the national stage.
"Tanaka is so arrogant that he didn't even use his strongest players. How can he underestimate his opponent like that?"
On the other side of the stands, Coach Gaotou, who was watching the game, frowned and felt dissatisfied when he saw Kanagawa Prefecture's lineup.
“Beep!”
In the middle of the court, a whistle sounded and the referee threw the ball high into the air. Immediately after Yuzumi shouted, the basketball flew rapidly to the sidelines and fell accurately into Miyagi's hands.
"Haha! The gap in the center is really huge!" Coach Tiangang laughed softly when he saw the jump ball win easily, and crossed his arms across his chest with a smile on his face.
On the field, Shimane's players had already begun to retreat quickly, while Kanagawa's offensive progress was a little slower. After Shimane's players had completed their retreat, Kanagawa's players had not all landed in position. Miyagi controlled the speed of the advance and walked slowly towards the front field.
After waiting for the players to get into position, Miyagi Ryouta dribbled the ball and broke through the opponent's defense with a crossover. He then learned the offensive methods of the martial arts players he memorized, made an emergency stop when he was open, and shot a direct jump shot.
"You, the quick stop jump shot after the breakthrough is very realistic."
When Shinomiya Tano saw this scene, he whispered in surprise, but when Coach Tiangang saw this scene, he frowned.
The next second, the basketball thrown by Miyagi fell into the net accurately, making a crisp sound. Miyagi Ryouta, who scored the goal, raised his arms and shouted. Yuzumi, Akagi and others who were blocking the inside line also looked at the basketball falling from the net in surprise, and gave Miyagi an encouraging look.
Miyagi Ryouta's outstanding opening performance gave him great confidence, but he didn't notice that coach Takaoka's face on the sidelines had become a little ugly.
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