Monday, Sunday.
The schedule of the Autumn National Sports Games has reached the fourth round. At this stage of the competition, the weak teams have been eliminated. Every opponent that Kanagawa Prefecture will face next will be a strong team.
Kyoto is a long-established basketball powerhouse. In IH competitions, Kyoto teams can basically advance to the quarterfinals. When it comes to Kyoto, some people often think it is the same place as Tokyo, but the fact is that Kyoto and Tokyo are two different places, and the difference between them is equivalent to the difference between Xi'an and BJ.
One is the old capital of the previous dynasty, and the other is the contemporary capital.
In the IH stage, the Kyoto teams were placed in a different group from Shohoku and Ryonan. Before meeting the Kanagawa teams, the Kyoto teams were eliminated by Sanno Industrial early on. Therefore, the players of the Kanagawa team were not familiar with the Kyoto teams and players.
County Stadium.
Early in the morning, Coach Tanaoka led the team to the stadium. There were four matches in total, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Their match between Kanagawa Prefecture and Kyoto was the second match in the morning, and the one before them was the match between Akita Prefecture.
The Akita Prefecture team, composed of all the main players of Sanno Industrial, is naturally one of the strongest contenders for the championship of this autumn national sports. For the Kanagawa Prefecture team, Akita Prefecture is their most threatening challenger in this tournament. Coach Tanaoka still attaches great importance to the competition in Akita Prefecture.
Akita Prefecture's opponent is Okinawa. Okinawa Prefecture's strength is quite good, but it is still far behind Akita Prefecture.
In the middle of the first half, Akita Prefecture was leading the opponent by 26:16, and Zebei Rongzhi was also very active in this game. After almost ten minutes of the game, Zebei Rongzhi's personal score had reached 11 points, and his offensive efficiency was quite outstanding.
On the court, Akita Prefecture served the ball from the backcourt, and Kazunari Fukatsu received the ball and quickly advanced with it. Facing an opponent of Okinawa's level, Akita Prefecture was obviously planning to win quickly, and the offensive rhythm of the entire team was quite tight.
In just a few seconds, all the players from Akita Prefecture were pressed into Okinawa Prefecture's half, but Okinawa's defense was pretty good, and their double team defense was very methodical. The players from Akita Prefecture were unable to successfully create space simply by running without the ball.
After being worn down for a few seconds, Fukatsu Kazunari no longer had the patience to wait for his teammates to run, and he broke through with the ball. Fukatsu Kazunari, a sophomore, is 178cm tall and weighs 71kg. He has a good physique, solid basic skills, a wide field of vision, and is also very fast.
As Fukatsu Kazunari tried to break through and attack the inside line, Okinawa Prefecture's zone defense quickly started to work. The two players closest to Fukatsu quickly moved up and blocked Fukatsu Kazunari's attack route on the left and right. At the same time that Fukatsu Kazunari mobilized the two defenders, Fukatsu turned his wrist and passed the ball directly to the side of the three-point line.
"Snap!" With a slight sound, the basketball fell into the hands of Zebei Rongzhi. As soon as Zebei Rongzhi received the ball, a defensive player from Okinawa Prefecture followed up, but the opponent had not yet got into position. Zebei Rongzhi jumped over the opponent in one step, giving the opponent no chance to lower his center of gravity to defend.
After successfully breaking into the mid-range, Zebei Rongji did not choose to go deeper, but chose to make a quick stop jump shot near the basket.
The basketball flew out of Zebei Rongji's hands and hit the side of the net.
As Zebei Rongji scored a goal, cheers broke out from the stands.
"This Zebei Rongzhi, in today's game, he basically used mid-range shots as a means of finishing."
"So far in the game, I've made 6 of 7 shots, and the one I missed was due to a foul."
"Although he only made one of two free throws, overall, Zebei Rongji is in excellent form! Such an efficient mid-range shot is more stable than when he was in IH."
In a corner of the stands, Coach Tanaoka watched Zebei Rongji score again. He picked up a pen and recorded Zebei Rongji's data in the notebook in his hand, and then spoke to the players around him.
Sawakita Eiji left a deep impression on Coach Takeoka at the time. Sawakita Eiji, who was regarded by Goro Domoto as the future of Sannoh, set his goal of being the "No. 1 in the country" since his first high school game.
Although Zebei Rongji later failed in IH, this kid's ability and talent should not be underestimated. Coach Tanaoka is also very concerned about Zebei Rongji's growth.
In today's match between Akita and Okinawa, Zebei played very well. Although Okinawa's overall strength is not as good as Akita's, the team's zone defense is still very good, but such a zone defense did not curb Zebei's scoring. Such offensive efficiency inevitably reminded Coach Tiangang of Jinguji Budo who was sitting not far away.
"Hey, this mid-range attack efficiency is already catching up with you."
When Shinomiya Tano heard Coach Takeoka say this, he glanced at Jinguji Takeo beside him, poked Takeo in the waist with his elbow, and expressed Coach Takeo's thoughts.
"Yeah, it's really amazing, better than me."
Wu Dao nodded perfunctorily, lowered his head and dozed off. The match between Akita Prefecture and Okinawa was a bit boring. Okinawa was a team that excelled in defense, and watching such a team's match was quite tiring.
"What an arrogant attitude!"
"You don't think highly of that guy?"
Shigong Tianye saw Wudao's perfunctory attitude and knew that Jinguji Wudao didn't take him seriously, but in his opinion, Zebei's ability was still quite good and could pose some threat to their Kanagawa Prefecture. Therefore, he was a little surprised by Wudao's indifferent attitude.
"This guy has his own opponents to face, so I won't worry about him."
"So far in the game, Zebei Rongzhi's offensive means are very simple, but this is definitely not his full strength."
"That is to say, facing an opponent like Okinawa Prefecture, Zebei played with ease. In this situation, it is normal to score some points."
"If this guy can still score with this level of efficiency under pressure, I would really give him a higher regard."
"But we can't see his ability in this area at the moment. Instead of just seeing the whole thing, it's better not to see it from the beginning and not leave a preconceived impression in our minds. When we really meet, we will naturally know each other's abilities."
"If you ask me, instead of paying attention to Zebei Rongzhi, it is better to pay attention to the center and the guard in Akita Prefecture. Those two people need more attention than Zebei Rongzhi."
Jinguji Budo explained, adjusted a comfortable posture, and sat on the seat to rest. The players from Kanagawa Prefecture were also startled when they heard this, and then they all turned their eyes to the field, looking at Kazunari Fukatsu and Masashi Kawata.
At this time, it happened to be Okinawa Prefecture's offensive round. Okinawa missed a three-point shot and a rebound occurred.
Under the basket, two Okinawa players rushed to the basket, ready to grab the rebound, while on the Akita side, only Kawata Masashi was guarding the basket. But he alone accurately judged the landing point of the basketball when the rebound appeared, easily blocked a player from Okinawa, and then took the rebound into his arms.
After getting the basketball, Masashi Kawata threw the ball directly to the frontcourt and rushed to the frontcourt quickly. His movement speed was so fast that in the blink of an eye, he surpassed two Okinawa inside players and even surpassed an Okinawa defender who was returning to defense while moving.
The speed is astonishing.
This was not the first time that Masashi Kawata showed his running speed in this game. It was just that before that, everyone in Kanagawa Prefecture's attention was attracted by Sawakita Eiji and Fukatsu Kazunari who had more possession of the ball. Only then did they notice Masashi Kawata after being reminded by Wudao, and realized that Masashi Kawata's displacement speed was so fast.
The players of Ryonan High School have experienced the abilities of Masashi Kawata, but the players from Hainan and Shohoku do not have a deep understanding of Masashi Kawata's abilities. When they saw this scene, they were all a little surprised.
Unlike the skinny center from Aichi Prefecture, Masashi Kawata is quite outstanding in terms of physique. It is absolutely impossible to associate Masashi Kawata with being weak in confrontation.
This also means that this center of Sannoh is not only fast but also has a very good physique. From these two aspects, he is already better than Yuzumi and Akagi.
If we look at other aspects, everyone will find that Masashi Kawata's ability crushes both Uozumi and Akagi in all aspects.
"Masashi Kawata, he only switched to center in his second year of high school. Before that, he played as a guard."
"But the most surprising thing is that this kid has not only grown in height, but also in physique, which makes him a perfect fit for the center position."
"I saw the first signs of his potential when he was in IH. Now, this guy is undoubtedly the best center in the country in terms of both physical fitness and skills under the basket."
"In this regard, none of our centers in Kanagawa Prefecture can catch up with him."
"This is also another kind of giftedness!"
Coach Tanaoka had investigated all the players of Sanno Industrial, and the main center was the focus of the investigation, so he was quite familiar with Kawata Masashi's resume. When the players' attention was on Kawata Masashi, Coach Tanaoka briefly told the players about Kawata Masashi's characteristics and resume.
Masashi Kawata's experience is quite legendary. The players from Kanagawa Prefecture were all stunned when they heard what Coach Tanaoka said.
At this moment, a loud noise was heard in the stadium.
Masashi Kawata received a pass from his teammate and scored a dunk. The dunk was so powerful that the entire basketball stand dropped a little. The visual impact of the dunk attracted the audience in the stadium. Even many of them were from Kanagawa Prefecture and came to support the Kanagawa Prefecture team. They cheered for him.
With Masashi Kawata's score, the gap between Akita Prefecture and Okinawa Prefecture widened to 14 points. The outcome of the game was already determined at this moment.
As the game progressed, the gap in hard power between the teams became increasingly prominent.
Under the basket, Masashi Kawata was in great form, and on the outside, Eiji Sawakita fired frequently. For a moment, the Okinawa team, which was known for its defense, was actually blown away, and both the inside and the outside were lost.
The balance of victory completely tilted towards Akita Prefecture.
As the game whistle sounded, Akita Prefecture won the game 98:70. In the second half of the game, Goro Domoto intended to conserve the players' physical strength and sent out a rotation lineup, but even with the rotation, they still had a considerable advantage.
Just after the match between Akita Prefecture and Okinawa Prefecture came to an end, the Kanagawa Prefecture team and the Kyoto players also walked into the stadium to the cheers of the audience.
"Today is the top 8 to top 4 match. If we win today's match, we will be in the top 4."
“Whether it’s the semi-finals or the finals, the intensity of the game will definitely be much greater than the previous games.”
"So for today's game, I plan to send out two lineups, one for the first half and one for the second half."
"Tano, Sendo, Uozumi, Hanagata, Fujima!"
"You five will be the first to start against Kyoto."
"Akagi, Mitsui, Jinguji, Miyagi, and Amu, the five of you get ready. No matter how the first half goes, you will take over the second half."
"Now, let's go in and warm up!"
After everyone arrived at the venue in Kanagawa Prefecture, while the players were changing clothes, Coach Tanaka arranged the lineup for today's game. As for the playing style, Coach Tanaka didn't say much, but the players whose names he called looked at each other and immediately understood Coach Tanaka's intention.
"Huh~ My body has been stiff for so many days, and I can finally play in the game."
"I'm sorry, friends. I'm afraid your game experience today won't be very good."
"We will crush our opponents in the first half!"
"Martial Arts, I'm afraid you won't be able to enjoy fighting to your heart's content today."
"Hahaha!"
Shinomiya Tano changed his clothes, picked up a basketball and walked towards the court. As he walked, he spoke to Jinguji Takeshi and others behind him.
"Then you better work harder. I really want to relax a little. Don't let us clean up your mess."
Wu Dao tightened his shoelaces and replied casually.
At this time, Shimoya Tano had already stepped onto the court.
There were not many people in the stadium. The players from Kanagawa Prefecture were still changing their clothes. Shinomiya Tano was the fastest and was the first to enter the stadium.
"Autumn National Body, here I come!"
Shigong Tianye murmured, casually threw the ball towards the basket, and quickly started to rush towards the basket. His action instantly attracted everyone's attention, and all eyes fell on Shigong Tianye in an instant.
"Snap!" The thrown basketball fell down and began to bounce back.
Shimono Shimono quickly came to the basket, jumped lightly, and his head was level with the basket. The next second, Shimono Shimono's body rotated 180 degrees in the air, bent his arms, caught the basketball with his back to the basket, and then pressed the ball into the basket.
“Bang!”
With a loud bang, the noisy stands instantly quieted down. The people from Akita Prefecture who were about to leave the venue also stopped and stared blankly at Shinomiya Tano who was standing with his back to the frame.
"Kyoto!"
"Try your best to please me!"
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