With the match between Ryonan High School and Hainan coming to an end, the first round of the county tournament semi-final round-robin tournament officially came to an end. The second round of the round-robin tournament was separated from the first round by a week, so the players had plenty of time to adjust their status and formulate corresponding tactics.
"Hey, Brother Budo, why did a team like Hainan lose so easily?"
"That first grader is obviously very strong. I feel like he's stronger than the monkey boss and the gorilla."
"But even so, Hainan still lost so badly."
"You said basketball is a five-person sport, but... is it really a team sport?"
On the bus of Shohoku High School, Sakuragi Hanamichi sat next to Jinguji Takeshi, resting his chin on his hands, looking at the scenery receding outside the window, and asked.
Sakuragi Hanamichi watched the entire match between Kainan and Ryonan High School. Mori Shigehiro's terrifying talent surprised even an arrogant person like Sakuragi Hanamichi. At the same time, Sakuragi Hanamichi also recognized the strength of Mori Shigehiro who was able to suppress the monkey boss Uozumi Jun throughout the game.
Sakuragi Hanamichi originally thought that a genius like Mori Shigehiro would definitely be able to bring about a qualitative change to the Hainan team, just like he, Sakuragi, could bring about a qualitative change to Shohoku High School. At least, that's what Sakuragi thought.
But what Sakuragi didn't expect was that even someone like Mori Shigehiro couldn't help Hainan beat Ryonan. In fact, judging from the score, the presence or absence of Mori Shigehiro had basically no effect on the final score of the two teams.
This made Sakuragi Hanamichi think a little, and he suddenly felt that whether a team is united or not has become unimportant.
During the game, whether it was Ryonan or Hainan, star players occupied the majority of the ball possession.
Rather than saying that Kainan High School lost to Ryonan High School, it would be more accurate to say that Mori Shigehiro and Maki Shinichi lost to Shinomiya Tano.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had always been indoctrinated by martial arts that "basketball is a sport for five people", questioned this concept for the first time.
“Hainan.”
"We are not as strong as Ryonan in terms of hard power. This is in front of everyone."
"Basketball is, of course, a sport for five people. Only by combining the strength of five people can the team... "
Before Wu Dao could finish, Sakuragi Hanamichi interrupted him:
"Really? Is it a five-person sport?"
"A guy like Shinomiya Tano probably doesn't need too many teammates, right? As long as there's someone to pass the ball to him, he can probably beat Hainan all by himself!"
"I... don't want to just stand under the basket and grab rebounds and take open shots from teammates."
"I want to... become a player like Shinomiya Tano and you, who can influence the entire game by their own strength!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi's voice became a little higher. It can be seen that today's game has a great impact on Sakuragi Hanamichi. Sakuragi Hanamichi has personally experienced the powerlessness that Mori Shigehiro felt when facing Ryonan.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop his opponent from scoring. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seize victory. Sakuragi didn't want to experience that feeling a second time.
"With one's own strength, he can influence the entire battle situation..."
"Hanamichi, you are very ambitious!"
Upon hearing this, Wudao turned around and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi in surprise.
If this was said by Rukawa Kaede, Wu Dao would not feel any surprise. But when Sakuragi Hanamichi said this, he was a little surprised.
From the very beginning, Sakuragi Hanamichi's purpose of playing basketball was not pure. He just played to please Haruko. Even in today's game, Sakuragi Hanamichi did not show his pure competitive spirit.
I'm afraid what he's thinking about more is showing off.
But after the match between Hainan and Ryonan, there seemed to be something extra in Sakuragi Hanamichi's mind. However, Wudao didn't know why this kid suddenly thought so.
Although he didn't know why, Wudao knew that Sakuragi Hanamichi's attitude towards basketball seemed to be changing.
"Why do you suddenly have this idea?"
"You play ball, isn't it just to attract Haruko's attention?"
"Dunks, rebounds, shots, layups, these weapons can help you attract Haruko's attention."
"Isn't that enough?"
Wudao turned his head and looked out the window, answering casually. However, Wudao's eyes were focused on Sakuragi Hanamichi's expression through the reflection of the car window.
"Uh..." Sakuragi didn't expect that Wu Dao would reveal his deepest thoughts like this. After a brief hesitation, Sakuragi continued:
"Before... I might have been like that."
"But now... ..I'm different."
Wudao looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's face through the car window. There was an unprecedented seriousness and solemnity on that handsome face.
"Really..."
"If you want to be a player who can influence the outcome of a match, the most important thing is to correctly understand yourself and your opponent."
"Sakuragi, how do you think Ryonan was able to crush Kainan? Was it just relying on Shinomiya Tano?"
Wu Dao turned around and asked.
"Isn't it? He alone broke through the entire defense of Hainan. Hainan's Mori Shigehiro has already dominated the inside. If it weren't for Shinomiya Tano, Ryonan would have lost long ago."
"Doesn't this just show how important it is to have an offensive player like Shigong Tianye in the team?"
"We are Xiangbei... We are Xiangbei, aren't we the same as Ryonan? If we didn't have a scorer like you, Brother Budou, our Xiangbei's strength would probably be far inferior to Ryonan, right?"
"If I...if I had that kind of scoring ability, wouldn't I be able to control the entire battle situation?!"
Sakuragi recalled the previous match between Kainan and Ryonan, and also recalled the match he had watched at Shohoku High School. The more he thought about it, the more Sakuragi Hanamichi felt the significance of a scorer of Jinguji Budou's level to the team. His desire to become a top scorer became stronger.
"The reason why Ryonan was able to crush Kainan was only partly due to Shinomiya Tano's personal ability."
"Hanagata, who defended Kamiso Ichiro alone, Sendoh, who defended Maki Shinichi alone, and Fujima, who defended Miyagi Yoshinori alone, are all indispensable figures for Ryonan."
"Even Jun Uozumi, who you say is not as good as Shigehiro Mori, is still an important force on the defensive end."
"Although they didn't score many points and their performances weren't as impressive as Shinomiya Tano's, they are also important weights that Ryonan puts on the scale of victory."
"Basketball is, without a doubt, a five-person sport."
"Hanamichi, you don't understand Ryonan, and you don't understand your opponent."
After Wu Dao finished speaking, he paused for a while before continuing to ask:
"What do you think are your characteristics on the court, Sakuragi?"
Upon hearing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately started counting on his fingers: "As for me, I am skilled at dribbling, passing, layups, slam dunks, and shooting. Except for my poor three-point shooting ability, I am an all-rounder!"
"Yeah! I really am a genius."
Every time Sakuragi mentioned one of his "advantages", he would raise a finger. At the end, he did not forget to nod heavily and praise himself.
Sakuragi's words also made Wudao's head turn black and he shook his head and laughed:
"You... neither understand your enemy nor yourself."
Wudao treated Sakuragi Hanamichi's answer as bullshit, denied it, and continued to speak: "Sakuragi, your scoring ability is not as strong as your defensive ability."
"If you don't have rebounding and defense, you're not going to get a chance to play."
"For Xiangbei, your offensive ability is actually dispensable, but your defense and rebounding are our indispensable and important strengths."
"Sakuragi, your ability to play is not based on your all-around scoring skills, but on solid defense and rebounding."
"Every player on the court has his or her own unique qualities, and a good team can integrate the qualities of all the players to form a new force."
"Ryonan is a team that has absorbed the characteristics of all the players on the team."
"It is impossible for any basketball team to defeat Ryonan by relying on the individual strength of a player on the team."
"Hainan lost because of its overall strength!"
"Shinomiya Tano's individual ability is indeed top-notch, but it is everyone on the team who supports Ryonan High School."
"We are in Shohoku High School! It's the same!"
Budou patted Sakuragi Hanamichi on the shoulder and explained to Sakuragi, trying to make him understand the essence of Ryonan's strength. After hearing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi also looked thoughtful, as if he was thinking about the composition of the Ryonan team in his mind, which indirectly confirmed Budou's words.
"Hmm!" After a long while, Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded slightly, made a sound of approval, and then said:
"Ryonan is indeed very good, but I also want to be a top scorer!"
Wudao looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's serious expression. He didn't look like he said this on a whim. He pondered for a while before saying, "Sakuragi, basketball is a sport that requires talent."
"You are talented on defense and rebounding, but offensively, to be honest, I can't really see it."
"Or rather, the offensive talent is not that impressive."
"At this level of high school basketball, the offensive skills you master are enough to support your game, but obviously, this offensive ability is not enough to make you a top scorer."
"It is crucial to strive in a field that suits you!"
“Geniuses also have areas they are good at and areas they are not good at.”
"Since you have this idea, I support you to practice more in this area in private."
"As for whether your efforts can yield corresponding results, it depends on whether you have talent in this area."
"Players have a limit, and I think you will reach your limit eventually!"
After Wudao finished speaking, Sakuragi Hanamichi fell silent. Sakuragi Hanamichi needed to digest what Wudao said carefully. He didn't know what level he would be able to grow to in the future. But what Sakuragi Hanamichi knew was that his future training would undergo tremendous changes.
…
There is a one-week gap between the first and second rounds of the semi-finals round-robin.
The players of Xiangbei High School were not assigned heavy training. Instead, they were conducting some technical and tactical drills under the command of Coach Anxi. This was a special training session that Coach Anxi conducted for some of Hainan's players.
In the second round of the match for Shohoku High School, they will face Kainan University Affiliated High School led by Shinichi Maki and Shigehiro Mori.
Sakuragi Hanamichi is different from other players of Xiangbei. In addition to basic technical and tactical exercises, he also has to do intensive mid-range shooting exercises, as well as low-post offensive footwork exercises under the guidance of Budo.
The low-post footwork combined with Sakuragi's shooting makes Sakuragi a more terrifying threat near the basket.
A week is enough time for Sakuragi Hanamichi to master some practical moves around the basket.
Soon, the one-week break passed, and Shohoku High School faced its second round opponent, Kainan High School, at the Kanagawa Prefectural Gymnasium!
"Dongdongdong! Shobei! Dongdongdong! Shobei!"
In the stands, Xiangbei's supporters banged empty bottles, making a loud noise to cheer for Xiangbei. In the stadium, Mitsui Hisashi, Akagi Takenori, Miyagi Ryouta, Jinguji Budou and Sakuragi Hanamichi walked towards the center of the stadium.
In today's game, Coach Anxi finally did not send out the five first-year freshmen lineup, but instead put all of Xiangbei's veteran starters on the court.
Except for Chiba Daiishi who was replaced by Sakuragi Hanamichi at the power forward position, the rest of the players are the core starting players of Xiangbei.
"Coach Anzai is really stupid! He actually let the red-haired monkey play with the seniors."
"Don't even think about it! This guy will definitely hold the seniors back."
"The coach should have sent me to play, so that I, Kiyota Nobunaga, could properly assist the seniors!"
"Ahh! Damn it."
In the rest area of Xiangbei, Kiyota Nobunaga gritted his teeth and looked at Sakuragi Hana who was traveling with the team and shouted indignantly, but at this moment, no one paid attention to him.
In the stadium, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who came to the center circle with Takeshi and others, did not show any complacent expression on his face because he could start. On the contrary, Sakuragi's face was serious without a trace of smile.
"Hanamichi, don't be nervous."
"Just like training, this game is a test for you!"
"The team will attack around you, and whenever you have a chance to face Kazuma Takasago alone under the basket, you should attack decisively."
"Even if Mori Shigehiro comes to the defense, you should not be afraid!"
"He's just a freshman like you. If you can't break through his defense, then this year, you should give up the idea of becoming the main attacker!"
Before the referee kicked off, Wudao walked to Sakuragi, put his arm around Sakuragi Hanamichi's shoulders and spoke in a deep voice. The two of them glanced at Mori Shigehiro and Takasago Kazuma from time to time.
"Oh hiss!"
Sakuragi nodded heavily, his brows full of solemnity. During this period of time, Sakuragi Hanamichi has become more calm.
Wudao patted Sakuragi's shoulder, left his side, went to his own position, and waited for the kick-off.
"Shobei... Jinguji Martial Arts..."
"This person's threat is only stronger than Shigong Tianye's."
"In today's match, as long as we can control the performance of Jinguji Budo, we can win!"
"We at Hainan have already lost a game. Today, we must defeat Xiangbei to have a chance!"
The referee walked into the center circle to prepare for the kickoff. Maki Shinichi stood in the backcourt and looked at Jinguji Budou in the center circle with a serious face. Jinguji Budou seemed to feel Maki Shinichi's gaze. When the kickoff was about to start, he actually had time to look at him and smiled at Maki Shinichi.
However, Wu Dao's smile did not bring any warmth to Mu Shen, but instead made his hair stand on end.
“Beep!
!”
With a whistle, the basketball was thrown into the air by the referee, and the second round of the round-robin tournament officially began!
… … … … … …