Sunday.
On Sunday morning, the stadium in Kanagawa Prefecture was filled with local spectators.
The Autumn National Sports Tournament has reached the third day, and the stage has come to the 16-to-8 match. From this day on, every game of the Autumn National Sports Tournament will become more intense than the previous two stages.
Of course, what can move the hearts of all Kanagawa fans is the game of the team in this prefecture. And this morning, the first game to be played in the stadium is the match between Kanagawa and Aichi.
Aichi Prefecture has always been a strong prefecture in basketball. Like Kanagawa Prefecture, Aichi Prefecture is also a large prefecture that can have two representative teams in IH. The games between these two prefectures naturally attract a lot of spectators. Moreover, Aichi Prefecture is not far from Kanagawa Prefecture. There are also fans from Aichi Prefecture who take advantage of the Sunday break to come to Kanagawa Prefecture to watch the game.
There was still more than an hour before the game started, and the spectators had already taken their seats in the stands, waiting for the game to begin.
"Ah~ Why hasn't the game started yet? Why haven't the players from our Kanagawa Prefecture team entered the stadium yet? The people from Aichi Prefecture have already started warming up."
In a corner of the stands, Sakuragi Hanamichi sat on his seat and complained. Today was a rest day, and the Xiangbei basketball team did not have any training today. Coach Anzai considered that the players' training intensity was a bit high during this period, so he specially organized the players to come to the stadium to watch the game of Kanagawa Prefecture.
This game-watching activity also brought along Sakuragi Hanamichi, Rukawa Kaede and other reserve players of this year's Shohoku team.
In addition to letting the players relax, Coach Anxi also wanted to let the junior high school students see a high-level game. Rukawa and others are the elites of junior high school, and they are all very proud. Letting them see the games of Xiangbei's seniors will also let them know the vastness of the world.
"There's still more than an hour before the game starts. There's no point in warming up so early."
"In my opinion, the people in Aichi Prefecture are too nervous. Look at their players, there is no smile on their faces!"
Kiyota Nobunaga was sitting next to Sakuragi Hanamichi, and when he heard Sakuragi's complaint, he immediately said, "It's not that he is more patient than Sakuragi Hanamichi, he just subconsciously refuted Sakuragi."
"Tsk..."
"Bad attitude! Not warming up actively means bad attitude."
"Dad, do you think I'm right?"
Sakuragi Hanamichi smiled when he heard this, and looked at Coach Anxi as he spoke, hoping to find some recognition from Coach Anxi. Sakuragi Hanamichi's basketball foundation is the weakest among all junior high school students. In the ladder point mechanism set up by Xiangbei, his score has always been lower than that of several other players.
Every time he quarreled with Kiyota and others, he was inferior to them because of his lower ladder score. In order to regain his face, Sakuragi Hanamichi began to work hard on training, and his attitude was his most impressive thing at this stage.
"Wow, Sakuragi-san is right."
“Attitude is very important.”
Coach Anxi smiled when he heard this. His encouragement made Sakuragi happy all of a sudden.
"Hahaha! Wild monkey, look, dad also said that attitude is important! So just shut up! Hahahaha!"
With the support of Coach Anzai, Sakuragi Hanamichi pointed at Kiyota Nobunaga's face and laughed. Kiyota saw this and just pouted his lips with a bitter face.
“Here it comes!”
"Our Kanagawa Prefecture team is here!"
At this moment, Mugure Konobu suddenly stood up and pointed at the field and shouted. At the same time, cheers broke out from the stands of the stadium. Sakuragi Hanamichi and Kiyota Nobunaga looked in the direction Mugure Konobu pointed, and happened to see Coach Tanaoka leading the members of the Kanagawa Prefecture team into the field.
"The stadium is really lively today, much more lively than the past two days!"
In the stadium, Coach Tiangang led the players into the field. Listening to the cheers around him, Coach Tiangang looked around and said with a smile. Then, Coach Tiangang turned his head to look at the players behind him and said loudly:
"You all saw it, many of these spectators are local fans from Kanagawa Prefecture, and the team they support is us!"
"In today's game, you must not let the fans down and play well!"
"Last year, we, Kanagawa Prefecture, led by Takato, also met Aichi Prefecture in the round of 16. We lost that game."
"Thanks to Aichi Prefecture, we only have to start from the first round this year."
"This year, I, Shigeichi Tanaoka, will lead the team to compete in the Autumn National Games. My goal is not just to reach the quarterfinals."
"What I want is the championship! The victory!"
After entering the venue, Coach Tiangang was infected by the enthusiasm of the audience and immediately began to lecture the players. It is not known whether Coach Tiangang intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the performance of Coach Gaotou last year.
The other players didn't have any problem with this, but the Hainan players felt that Coach Tiangang was nodding to Coach Gaotou.
"Don't worry, coach. Regardless of whether we win the championship or not, we will definitely make sure that Aichi Prefecture is well disciplined for you."
"I will never embarrass you."
Others may not be aware of the dispute between Coach Takeo and Coach Takato, but Jinguji Takeo knows it very clearly. When he heard what Coach Takeo said, Takeo couldn't help but interrupt and joked.
"This bastard!" Coach Tiangang raised his eyebrows and cursed in his heart. However, his expression did not change. After a light cough, he said seriously:
"Don't embarrass me, don't embarrass yourselves, don't embarrass the fans in Kanagawa Prefecture!"
After Coach Tiangang finished speaking, he paused for a moment, then seemed to have thought of something, pointed at Jinguji Budo, and said:
"Jinguji Budo, since you said so, you will be the starting small forward for today's game."
"In order to cooperate with you and enable you to perform well, Akagi, Mitsui Hisashi, and Miyagi Ryouta, you will all start."
"As for the last starting spot..."
Coach Tanaka paused when he spoke, and glanced at the other players. Just as he was about to speak, Shinomiya Tanaka stepped forward and suggested to Coach Tanaka with a smile, "Coach, let me play the last starter."
"I haven't played any games in the past few days, so I'm a little itchy."
Shinomiya Tano volunteered to play, but Coach Tanoka glanced at him and rejected him directly, saying, "How can a team of Aichi Prefecture's level allow our Kanagawa duo to join forces to attack?"
"There's only one basketball. Are you going to fight Jinguji Budou for the ball? Go away, don't mess with me."
Hearing this, Shimoya Tano was not happy. He had finally gotten motivated, but Coach Takeo didn't let him play. How could this be possible
"Don't! Coach, I play power forward. I will assist him and help Akagi grab rebounds. I will never steal the ball."
"Give me a chance, coach! Give me a chance... .."
At the end of his speech, Shinomiya Tano's expression became pleading. Seeing his disciple like this, Coach Tanoka hesitated. He didn't want to dampen the player's enthusiasm, especially when this player was Shinomiya Tano.
Just as Coach Takeo was about to agree, Shinichi Maki, Daiki Maekawa, and Kazuma Takasago suddenly walked up to Coach Takeo.
"Hmm? You two, is there something going on?"
When Coach Tanaoka saw Daiki Maekawa, Shinichi Maki and Takasago suddenly walk out of the team, he narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice.
"Coach Tiangang, can we three play in this game?"
Maki Shinichi hesitated for a moment, raised his head and looked at Coach Tiangang and asked.
"oh?"
"You three?"
Coach Tiangang showed a look of surprise on his face, but the next second, he came to his senses and smiled.
"In last year's Autumn National Games, you three were players on the representative team?"
Coach Tiangang stroked his chin and asked back.
"I, Maekawa-senpai, and Omasa-senpai are, but Takasago is not."
"In last year's game, I, Maekawa-senpai, and Omasa-senpai all played."
“Although we lost the game, I don’t think we are worse than the players from Aichi Prefecture. I want to defeat Aichi Prefecture myself.”
Maki Shinichi pounded his chest with one hand, looked at Coach Tiangang with a determined look, and said in a deep voice. When Shigong Tianye heard what Maki Shinichi said, he had originally wanted to ask Coach Tiangang to arrange for him to play, but now he didn't say anything, spread his hands, and silently returned to the team.
Coach Takeo also looked up at Jinguji Budo for a moment, then turned his gaze back to Shinichi Maki.
"I'll let Mitsui and Fujima assist you."
"Amu, you have to win!"
Coach Tanaoka pondered for a long time, and suddenly reached out and patted Maki Shinichi on the shoulder. After that, he turned his head to look at Mitsui Hisashi and Fujima Kenji and waved to them.
When Mitsui and Fujima came closer, Coach Tanaoka arranged: "Mitsui, you play as a small forward in this game, Fujima, you play as a shooting guard."
"The starting lineup for this game is center Kazuma Takasago, power forward Daiki Maekawa, point guard Shinichi Maki, small forward Hisashi Mitsui, and shooting guard Fujima."
"Amu, don't let me down."
After Coach Takeoka finished speaking, he walked towards the rest area. The members of the Kanagawa Prefecture team followed Coach Takeoka one after another, while Shinichi Maki, Kazuma Takasago and Daiki Maekawa bowed respectfully towards Coach Takeoka's back. After a long time, they hurriedly followed Coach Takeoka.
After arriving at the rest area, Maki Shinichi and others quickly took off their coats and put on jerseys. Then they quickly entered the court with the ball and began warming up.
Kenji Fujima also participated in the Autumn National Sports Games last year, but he was only a freshman at the time. Although he played, it was only in the first stage of the competition. He did not get a chance to play in the match against Aichi Prefecture.
Shinichi Maki was better than him, as he played for a few minutes during the garbage time of that game.
Although he was a substitute, Fujima could empathize with Maki Shinichi. Mitsui Shou, who did not participate in the Autumn National Games last year due to a foot injury and a trip to the United States, became serious after feeling Maki Shinichi's determination. After doing some stretching exercises, he walked into the court to warm up.
Jinguji Budo, who had always dozed off, was also out of character today. He actually started to warm up with the players before the game. After entering the venue, all the Kanagawa players started to warm up. No one spoke, and the atmosphere seemed dull.
It was still early for the game, and most of the players from Kanagawa Prefecture did not warm up very intensively. However, it was different for Maki Shinichi, Takasago Kazuma, and Maekawa Daiki. Even though it was still early for the game, the three of them had already sweated a lot during their warm-up.
Coach Tiangang saw the actions of these three people and realized that they had consumed a lot of physical energy during the warm-up phase, but Coach Tiangang did not remind them. Instead, he sat on the sidelines and let them sweat.
Soon, the warm-up time was over.
With the referee's whistle, the two teams began to make final preparations before the game. At this time, Coach Tian Gang did not arrange any tactics or playing methods, but just patted Maki Shinichi on the shoulder, encouraged him a few words, and let Maki Shinichi play freely on the court.
"Beep!" After another quick whistle, players from both teams began to enter the field and take their positions, ready to start the game.
In the stands, Sakuragi Hanamichi and others were a little dissatisfied when they saw that Jinguji Takeshi and Akagi were not on the court. The other players of Xiangbei did not have such emotions. When they saw Mitsui Shou came on the court, they all cheered for Mitsui Shou.
On the court, the players of the Aichi Prefecture and Kanagawa Prefecture teams took their positions in the center circle. Kazuma Takasago took the jump ball position. Opposing him was a tall boy with a crew cut wearing a No. 6 jersey. He was estimated to be over 195cm tall, and his build was similar to Takasago's. Although he was not as big as Yuzumi and Akagi, he had a clear advantage when standing in front of Takasago.
"Amu, long time no see."
"I didn't expect that I would be facing you in today's match. I thought I would be facing those two people."
The captain and point guard of Aichi Prefecture is Dai Moroboshi from Aiwa Academy, known as the Star of Aichi by local fans. Dai Moroboshi stood beside Shinichi Maki and greeted him in a familiar manner.
"How could I miss the chance to play against you in a match against Aichi Prefecture?"
"I begged the coach to let me play."
Maki Shinichi listened to Zhu Xingda's sarcastic words, smiled and replied casually, his emotions were not affected at all.
"Can we win with just a few of you?"
Moroboshi looked at the people in Kanagawa Prefecture and asked with a smile. All the players who played today were familiar faces. He had played against Shinichi Maki before and had a deep impression of him. As for Takasago and Daiki Maekawa, he had some impression of them. He also knew Kenji Fujima and Hisashi Mitsui and had a general understanding of their abilities.
The role players who followed Shinomiya Tano and Jinguji Budou to shoot shots were just so-so. This was how Dai Moroboshi felt about the abilities of Fujima and Mitsui Hisashi.
"Let's give it a try. I think with just a few of us, we should be able to do it."
Although Shinichi Maki has a good temper, he couldn't help but reply softly but firmly when he heard Dai Moroboshi belittling his teammates.
At the same time, the referee's sharp whistle interrupted the communication between the two.
“Beep!!”
Immediately after a long whistle, the referee threw the ball into the air. The next second, the centers of the two teams on both sides of the midline jumped up for the jump ball almost at the same time.
“Bang!”
After a muffled sound, the crew-haired young man from Aichi Prefecture actually got ahead of Kazuma Takasago and slapped the basketball first. As the basketball flew out, Dai Moroboshi rushed forward a few steps and quickly hugged the ball in his arms.
After losing the jump ball, Maki Shinichi did not return to defense immediately, but instead pressed towards Moroboshi Dai, intending to steal the ball from Moroboshi Dai in the frontcourt.
"snort!"
"Come on, Shinichi Maki."
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .