Just when there was some commotion at Shohoku, the players at Ryonan High School who were preparing to take the field had already changed into their jerseys and were sitting on the bench adjusting their shoelaces, making final preparations.
"What happened over there?"
"Did they quarrel?"
Hikoichi Aida has been focusing on Shohoku since everyone from Shohoku entered the Ryonan High School stadium. He was the first person from Ryonan to notice the commotion in the Shohoku rest area. At this time, Hikoichi Aida was holding a notebook, standing behind Coach Tagoka, looking towards the rest area next door.
"riot?"
"Yanyi, don't worry about them, we just need to do our own thing."
"Focus on ourselves!"
"This year's opportunity is rare. Shohoku High School is the only team in the entire Kanagawa Prefecture that can compete with Ryonan!"
"This kind of game is totally different from the team warm-up games you've seen before!"
"In today's game, we were able to see how Shinomiya Tano played with all her might. Watch carefully and learn from her!"
When Coach Tanaoka heard what Aida Hikoichi said, he just turned his head slightly and glanced at the Xiangbei rest area, and then retracted his gaze, not caring about what happened on the other side. Hearing this, Aida Hikoichi was slightly stunned, and then looked at Shinomiya Tano who had already tied his shoelaces and stood up, and nodded heavily.
Ryonan High School is a team formed with Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh as the core. Even though these two are only sophomores, their prestige is unmatched by any other player in Ryonan High School.
Shimono Yamada is even hailed as the strongest high school student in the country. In terms of fame, he can even surpass Sendoh by more than a level.
Many of the new players who joined Ryonan this year came for the title of Ryonan's national champion, and a large part of them came for Shinomiya Tano. And he, Aida Hikoichi, came to Ryonan High School for Shinomiya Tano.
"Yanyi, don't be so nervous, relax."
"To be honest, there isn't a lot you can learn from me. After all, my fighting style is probably hard for others to replicate."
Shigong Tianye heard the conversation between Coach Tanaoka and Hikoichi Aida behind him, and after tying his shoelaces and standing up, he turned his head and said to Hikoichi Aida. Hikoichi Aida's eyes dimmed when he suddenly heard Shigong Tianye's words. He knew that his physical talent was weak, and learning from Shigong Tianye was just wishful thinking.
However, Shinomiya Tano's next words made Aida Hikoichi's eyes light up.
"Hikoichi, you definitely can't learn from me, but the sophomore guard from Shohoku, Miyagi Ryouta, is your role model!"
"I remember that boy was only about 165cm tall when he was in the first year of high school. He was about the same height as you, but he was a very difficult boy."
"He should also play in today's game. When the time comes, you should take a good look at how he plays."
“This is very helpful to you!”
After Shimonoya finished speaking, he glanced at the other teammates who were preparing to play, center Jun Uozumi, power forward Toru Hanagata, point guard Fujima, and Sendoh.
Although it was just a warm-up match, Ryonan put out their strongest lineup and did not underestimate the opponent at all.
After getting ready, the Ryonan players started walking towards the court, and happened to meet several players from Shohoku. Shinomiya Tano looked at Shohoku with a calm expression, and was about to find Jinguji Budou to compete, but suddenly found that the five players from Shohoku were all strangers.
"Huh?! Rukawa Kaede?"
"Who are those four guys? Are they first-year students from Xiangbei?"
"Coach Anxi sent a group of first-years to fight us?!"
Coach Takeo also saw the five players from Shohoku at this moment, and was stunned when he looked at them.
Shimoya Tano in the field also glanced at the five people from Xiangbei in surprise, and then turned his head to look at the Xiangbei rest area, and happened to find Wudao sitting in his seat, waving at him.
"..." Seeing this scene, Shigong Tianye suddenly felt bored. After taking a deep breath, he murmured:
“This is really… ..”
"If I had known that Xiangbei was planning to train its troops, I wouldn't have come here."
"Playing with a bunch of rookies, what's the big deal..."
"Forget it, just treat it as a warm-up. That guy from Wu Dao will get there sooner or later."
Shigong Tianye looked uninterested, but he had already walked into the court and had no intention of leaving. The other Ryonan players were also full of expectations, but when they saw that Xiangbei did not send out the familiar starting lineup, they all relaxed and their mentality changed.
"Is this kid a center? Compared to Akagi, he is so far behind!"
Standing in the center circle preparing to jump the ball, Jun Uozumi looked down at Nango Koichiro in front of him and said to himself.
At the same time, Kiyota Nobunaga had already stood in front of Fujima Kenji. He was the shortest player in the group, so he naturally looked for Fujima, who was of similar height. After Oda Ryumasa came on the field, he saw that Nango Koichiro and Kiyota Nobunaga had already found their opponents. He looked at the two tall players, Hanagata Toru and Shinomiya Tano, and chose to stand in front of Shinomiya Tano.
Although Oda Ryuzheng has played basketball for many years, his social circle and basketball circle have always been limited to Wako Junior High School and those schools that play against Wako Junior High School. Oda Ryuzheng is not very familiar with the high school basketball world, so he does not know Shinomiya Tano.
Rukawa, who was originally preparing to defend Shinomiya Tano, was a step slower. When he saw Oda Ryumasa standing in front of Shinomiya Tano, he did not say anything, but turned to find Hanagata and let Sendoh be given to Katsume Ichiro.
"That idiot Oda! He actually went after Shinomiya Tano?!"
"Hahaha! You really are overestimating your own abilities!"
When Sakuragi Hanamichi saw Oda Ryumasa standing in front of Shinomiya Tano, he was stunned at first, and then suddenly felt gloating.
He is different from Oda Ryumasa. Although he has not watched many games, he has watched several games of Ryonan. He has a very deep impression of Shinomiya Tano and Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Sakuragi knew very well how strong Shinomiya Tano was, who even Jinguji Budo couldn't defend against. And that was when Shinomiya Tano was just a first-year student.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's mocking voice was very loud, and the Ryonan players in the rest area on the other side also looked over. They were all very confused, why would this substitute from Xiangbei speak ill of his teammates
Oda Ryumasa in the field also glanced at Sakuragi Hanamichi and then looked away. Then he raised his head slightly and looked at Shinomiya Tano in front of him, his eyes firm and full of fighting spirit.
"Um?"
"I like the look in your eyes! Very nice."
Shigong Tianye saw that there was no hesitation or fear in Oda Ryumasa's eyes, and immediately expressed his appreciation. No player dared to look at him like this during the youth training.
This freshman from Xiangbei has already aroused a little interest from Shinomiya Tano.
"Ryonan!"
"I'm afraid these first-year students will face an unprecedented blow."
"Coach, isn't it too early to let them face off against these guys from Ryonan?"
Mitsui Hisashi sat next to Coach Anzai and said with some sympathy as he looked at the players of both teams who had already taken their positions on the field.
Although they haven't officially faced each other yet, just by looking at the momentum of the players on both sides, Mitsui Hisashi can already foresee the direction of the subsequent game.
Nango Koichiro is indeed a very talented player with excellent physical fitness. Looking at the entire Kanagawa Prefecture, his talent is also ranked first, but he is facing Ryonan High School's Uozumi Jun. The gap between the two is probably not small.
Similarly, for Kiyota Nobunaga who is facing Fujima, Katsume Ichiro who is facing Sendoh, Rukawa who is facing Hanagata, and Oda Ryumasa who is facing Shinomiya Tano, Shohoku has no advantage in every position.
Before Mitsui Shou could think about it, a third-year student from Ryonan High School who was serving as the referee on the court had already blew the whistle to start the game.
After a whistle, the basketball was thrown into the air.
Without any surprise, the basketball was first hit by Yuzumi Jun and flew directly to the backcourt of Ryonan. Just as Kiyota Nobunaga was about to make a move, he saw a blue figure surpass him and took the ball in his hands before him.
Fujima successfully received the ball without any hesitation and passed it directly to the frontcourt. The ball was caught by Sendoh who had already crossed the center line. Sendoh quickly advanced with the ball and in the blink of an eye, he had already approached the three-point line.
Just as the attention of the Xiangbei players on the court was focused on Sendoh who was holding the ball, Shinomiya Tano had already crossed the three-point line and quickly moved towards the inside.
Sendoh saw the opportunity and passed the ball directly to the ground under the defense of Ichiro Katsuragi.
It is obviously a very slow way of passing the ball, but in Sendoh's hands, it is extremely fast.
The basketball hit the floor behind Ichiro Kusanagi and bounced directly into the paint area.
It’s just that in order to increase speed, Sendo made the basketball rebound at a relatively low angle, making it not very easy to catch.
But just after stepping onto the free throw line, the tall and muscular Shinomiya Tano leaned over lightly and took the ball steadily in his hands. Then he took one step forward, jumped with all his strength, glided rapidly towards the basket, and scored a dunk with one hand.
It only took four or five seconds from the kickoff to Ryonan High School scoring. The smooth offense left the newcomers of Shohoku stunned.
In other words, Rukawa Kaede, Kiyota and other special recruits of Shohoku had also practiced with Mitsui Hisashi and others, so they were quite knowledgeable. After being stunned for a moment, they quickly recovered.
But Oda Ryumasa still had a look of surprise on his face, as if he didn't expect his team's defense to be so weak.
Are his teammates too weak? Obviously not. Although Oda Ryumasa is proud, he is not arrogant to the point of looking down on others.
Obviously, the opponent is too strong!
"Hey, Oda, cheer up!"
“This is just the beginning!”
Nango Koichirō patted the stunned Oda Ryumasa, quickly went to the baseline and passed the ball to Kiyota Nobunaga.
Kiyota Nobunaga was not impatient after getting the ball. He slowly dribbled forward while shouting to his teammates:
"Don't be affected by the opponent's attack!"
“We play at our own pace.”
"Be quick when returning to defense, these guys from Ryonan are very fast!"
Kiyota Nobunaga was trained by Coach Anzai for a year at Shohoku. Although he still has the same lively personality, he is obviously much more stable on the court.
Under the deliberate suppression of Kiyota Nobunaga, the offensive rhythm of Xiangbei was slowed down.
After entering the frontcourt, Kiyota Nobunaga quickly passed the ball to Katsume Ichiro on the side. The latter took the ball and quickly passed it to Rukawa Kaede who was also standing on the outside.
As the basketball entered Rukawa's hands, Sendoh also came up to defend.
Ryonan High School uses a standard zone defense system. Fujima, Shinomiya Tano, and Sendoh are mainly responsible for the outside line, while Uozumi Jun and Hanagata Toru are responsible for guarding the basket.
Rukawa got the ball and was about to attack facing Sendoh, but suddenly he found that Oda Ryumasa, who was originally supposed to go inside, had already moved along the baseline to the mid-range, while Hanagata, who was defending him, did not even chase him.
Realizing the opportunity, Rukawa Kaede broke through with a drop step and instantly came to the side of Sendoh. The extremely fast breakthrough speed made Sendoh's hole shrink slightly, and he caught up in an instant, but the basketball hit his crotch at the same time as Sendoh followed up and hit the ground and passed out.
"!" Rukawa's pass was so sudden that Sendoh didn't have time to react. When he looked back, the basketball had already fallen into Oda Ryumasa's hands.
Ryumasa Oda received the ball in the open space and shot directly into the net.
"Goal?!"
“Goal!
!”
When Mitsui Shou saw this scene, he was also slightly stunned. He couldn't believe that these first-year students could score a goal so easily, and immediately cheered.
In the rest area on the other side of the court, the Ryonan players had no idea what Mitsui was so excited about. It was just a ball, wasn't it? What was there to be surprised about
They probably couldn't imagine how pessimistic Mitsui was about his team's starters before the game.
When Sakuragi Hanamichi saw Oda Ryumasa score, he curled his lips in dissatisfaction.
On the field, the Xiangbei players who scored the goal quickly retreated.
And taking advantage of the gap between serves, Shinomiya Tano said to Hanagata and the other man, "Hanagata, that kid looks like he has a shot, so keep up with him on defense next time."
After saying that, he turned his head and said to Xiandao: "Xiandao, the guy facing you has some stuff, although not much, but you have to pay attention to it."
"Don't capsize in the ditch."
Sendoh waved his hands impatiently and quickly ran towards the front court, while Hanagata's attitude was much better. He nodded and then ran towards the front court.
Fujima also received a pass from Yuzumi in the backcourt with a smile on his face and started to advance with the ball. Reminding teammates is usually the job of a point guard, a "coach on the court." But Fujima is also happy to be free, and Shinomiya Tano's reliability saves him a lot of worry.
Ryonan's advancement speed is not fast, and it seems that they are preparing to attack the position.
But after the Xiangbei players got into position, those from Ryonan who entered the frontcourt ran together towards the same side of the court.
After entering the frontcourt one after another, Sendoh, Uozumi, Hanagata, and Fujima all gathered in the left half of the court. The right half was empty, with only Shinomiya Tano standing outside the three-point line.
"What is this?!" The first-year players of Xiangbei had never seen this kind of offensive formation, so they chose man-to-man defense and looked for their opponents.
Just as the Shohoku players changed their defense, Fujima had already passed the ball to Shimonoseki in the distance.
As soon as the basketball was in his hands, Oda Ryumasa had already moved to the three-point line, closely following Shimonoseki who was catching the ball with his back to the basket, and defending him extremely seriously.
"Are you the only one here to defend me?"
"Are you guys underestimating me? Do you think a player like you can defend me alone?"
Shimono Shimotsuna fought with his back to the basket, grabbed the ball with his right hand and raised it horizontally. He slightly tilted his head and spoke to Ryumasa Oda behind him.
As soon as he finished speaking, Shimoya Noboru hit the ball from behind and sat down.
He had just exerted his strength when Oda Ryumasa behind him was directly knocked away by Shigong Tianye. He retreated three big steps before he could barely stand firm.
By the time he stood firm, the figure of Shigong Tianye had long disappeared from his sight.
"Bang!
!”
Before Oda Ryumasa could react, a loud noise was heard behind him. Shinomiya Tano rushed straight to the basket and easily dunked over Nango Koichiro who was guarding the basket.
"What kind of strange power is this?!"
Until Shimomiya Tano scored a slam dunk, Oda Ryumasa was still confused.
Ryumasa Oda, who is 185cm tall and 76kg in his first year of high school, encountered such a player for the first time. It was also the first time for him to suffer such a big loss in physical confrontation. The opponent just fell down, and he couldn't block it at all!
With Oda Ryumasa's vision, he had no way of imagining how powerful Shinomiya Tano was.
There is a 50-pound weight difference between him and Shinomiya Tano. They are not even in the same weight class!
"Hey, kid, you're pretty good at defense!"
"Don't give up, keep trying, and defend well! I'm counting on you."
"At least... hold on until I finish my warm-up!"
Shinomiya Tano, who was returning to defense, passed by Oda Ryumasa, patted Oda on the shoulder and encouraged him with a smile.
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