In the match between Urayasu Commercial and Takamizawa, in the end, the stronger Urayasu Commercial won.
Although Sakuragi Hanamichi cheered for the hard-working Takamizawa High School, they were still weak. Even if the Takamizawa players tried their best, Urayasu Commercial still won the game in the end.
Jinguji Takeshi looked at the lost Sakuragi Hanamichi, patted him on the shoulder and said a few words of comfort. Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was cheerful by nature, quickly came out of his lost mood.
After the match between Takamizawa and Urayasu Commercial, all the morning events were declared over. Coach Anzai did not take the players back to the hotel, but instead had lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then took the players back to the gymnasium to wait for the afternoon game.
The afternoon game would not start until 1 p.m., and the Xiangbei players, who had a lot of free time, did not run around after returning to the rest area of the stadium. Most of them lay on the bench with their eyes closed to rest.
Sakuragi, Kiyota and a few other restless people wandered around the gymnasium under the pretext of going to the bathroom. It was not until nearly 12:30 that the first game of the afternoon, when Luoan High School and Akizuki High School entered the stadium to warm up, that Sakuragi Hanamichi and the others returned to the stands.
With half an hour left before the start of the game, the players from both teams entered the gym early and began warming up.
Perhaps because it was the first game in the afternoon, most of the audience had not yet fully recovered from watching the morning game, so there were many empty seats in the stands, and it was not as full of spectators as in the morning.
Some of the spectators sitting in the stands were also coughing and looked sleepy.
"Sakuragi, Kiyota, you guys are finally back."
"You must not miss this game!"
Mitsui Hisashi was holding a magazine in his hand, looking at the two teams warming up on the court, and spoke to Sakuragi and others who had just sat back in their seats.
Jinguji Takeshi, who was sitting behind Mitsui Hisashi, was also looking at the players on the court, his expression obviously much more serious.
"Nani? Nani? Why can't I miss it? Are there any strong teams in the afternoon match?"
Sakuragi Hanamichi asked repeatedly after hearing what Mitsui Shou said. As soon as his butt touched the bench, he immediately threw himself behind Mitsui Shou and stretched his neck to look at the magazine in Mitsui Shou's hand.
"Yeah! There's a very strong team."
“See that team in red jerseys on the field?”
"That's Luoan High School in Kyoto. It's rated A, but Luoan High School is more than just an A-rated team."
"If Sanwang Industry was once the undisputed champion of the national competition, then Luoan High School was the only rival of that champion!"
"The opponent in this match is not an easy character to deal with either. It's Akizuki High School in Tokyo, and it's also rated A."
"This year, Tokyo still has three teams participating in the national competition. In addition to Akizuki High School, there are also Jimbo University Affiliated High School and Tosakura High School. Among these three teams, Akizuki High School is the strongest."
Mitsui Shou seemed to have some knowledge of Luoan High School and Akizuki High School, and he had a very high opinion of both teams.
It is worth mentioning that Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan are two places, and the difference between them is equivalent to the difference between BJ and Nanjing, the capital and the old capital in China.
However, Jinguji Budo did not have a very deep impression of the two schools, Luoan and Qiuyue.
He didn't remember seeing the match between Luoan and Qiuyue High School in last year's IH.
Who was Ryonan's opponent in the final last year? He had somewhat forgotten.
Although Wudao was not very familiar with the strength of the two teams, he was very interested in a certain Luoan player who was warming up on the court.
"Xiao San, who is No. 13 in Luoan?"
Wu Dao's eyes fell on Luoan No. 13 on the court and he asked Mitsui Shou.
That was a tall and thin young man. Although Jinguji Takeshi couldn't see the other person's height clearly because he was sitting in the stands, based on Takeshi's experience, the other person's height was probably as high as 210cm!
In high school basketball games, Wu Dao had only seen players of this height at Sanwang Industrial. And unlike Sanwang's Kawada Mikio, the No. 13 player at Luoan High School was not fat.
Wu Dao watched his opponent's layup during warm-up and realized that his opponent's movement speed was probably quite good and his skills were very agile.
"Number 13? Did you notice that?"
"Yes, anyone would notice a player this tall."
"That's Luoan's sophomore player, his name is Izumi Asao, he's 213cm tall, weighs 91kg, and is a center."
"This kid scored 43 points by himself in the Kyoto Prefecture Tournament. He is a very good player."
"Their opponents were not weak either. The final score between the two teams was 96:87, with a difference of only nine points."
Upon hearing this, Wu Dao couldn't help but nodded. For a center, being able to score 40+ points in a single game in such a slow-paced high school game was already quite outstanding.
If Luoan's opponent in the county tournament has an outstanding center, then the data obtained by Luoan No. 13 now will be even more impressive.
If he is bullying a weak opponent, it won't be surprising even if Wudao gets 50+. However, if a qualified opponent still performs at this level, Wudao will have to face up to the opponent's ability.
"213cm?!"
“So high?!”
Mitsui's words immediately attracted the attention of Sakuragi and others who had just returned to the stands. Kiyota Nobunaga even exclaimed, and also stretched his head to look at the magazine in Mitsui's hand. After confirming the information, he looked at the court and found the outstanding No. 13 in the Luoan High School team.
"hiss!
!
”
Kiyota Nobunaga took a deep breath, and Sakuragi beside him couldn't help but shiver.
Then Kiyota Nobunaga's mouth drooped, and he said in a sour tone: "It's just height. Basketball is not just about height."
"Just like the red-haired monkey, he only has height. If I were as tall as him, I could do any dunk moves I want!"
As soon as Kiyota Nobunaga finished speaking, Sakuragi narrowed his eyes, looked at Kiyota sideways, and said contemptuously: "Height is very important in basketball."
"If everyone was like wild monkeys, we, Xiangbei, wouldn't have come this far!"
Sakuragi's words immediately ignited Kiyota Nobunaga's anger, but before Kiyota could get angry, Miyagi Ryouta's roar rang out from Sakuragi's ear: "What did you say?! Sakuragi Hanamichi!"
"Don't get too carried away!"
The impact of Sakuragi's words was quite wide. Not only Kiyota Nobunaga, but also Miyagi Ryouta and Yasuda and others beside him were looking at Sakuragi with resentment.
"Ha ha... "
"I didn't say anything about you, Ryouta."
"I mean a wild monkey of that height is trash... er... I mean a wild monkey is trash."
Sakuragi's rebuttal was really weak. Ryouta and Kiyota seemed to hate being compared to them and kept nagging in Sakuragi's ears.
Wu Dao glanced at his noisy teammates, tapped San Jing's shoulder, and asked, "San Jing, how many years did that kid play? Was it mentioned in the magazine?"
Hearing this, Mitsui carefully read the relevant information about Luoan No. 13 in the magazine and replied, "I have been playing basketball since junior high school."
"The game is about to start, just go and watch his performance."
Upon hearing this, Wu Dao nodded, sat up straight, and focused his attention on the court.
While the students of Shohoku High School were studying the players in the stands, on the other side of the stands, the students of Ryonan were also discussing Izumi Asao from Luoan.
Xiangbei High School is a team in Group A, and its next opponent has been determined, which is Meipeng Industry. Luoan High School is a team in Group B. After Luoan and Qiuyue High School play, if they win, they will enter the semi-finals of Group B.
If Ryonan High School defeats their opponent Jinshan Commercial, then Ryonan High School will compete with Luoan High School for the qualifying spot in Group B.
In other words, compared to Shohoku High School, Ryonan is the team that really needs to study this group of opponents.
"Tian Ye, who do you think has a better chance of winning, Qiu Yue or Luo An?"
In the stands, Sendoh Akira was lying comfortably in his seat, looking down at the two teams warming up on the field, and asked Shinomiya Tano beside him.
"Who knows?"
"It doesn't matter who wins. It doesn't make much difference to me."
Shinomiya Tano replied with a nonchalant look on his face, seemingly having no interest in the potential opponent on the field.
"Really? That number 13 of Luo An looks pretty good."
"It seems that only Sanwang has players of this height. And unlike Sanwang's meatball guy, Luoan seems to be very agile."
"Is there no threat to us Lingnan?"
Sendoh continued to ask with a smile, seeming to be very interested in Izumi Asao from Luoan.
"Just pull it out and beat it."
"His body shape is similar to that of the meatball man of Sanwang, and he is actually not very coordinated."
"The speed you mentioned only applies to the center forward."
"A center like this poses no threat to us at Ryonan."
"Are you worried about running into Luo An? Don't worry, if you do, I'll teach you how to deal with such an opponent."
Shinomiya Tianye yawned nonchalantly and answered casually. Seeing his confident look, Sendoh also smiled and looked at the court without saying anything.
...
After half an hour of warm-up, the referee finally blew the whistle to start the game.
As the players from Luoan High School and Players High School took their positions on the court, the referee blew another long whistle and tossed the basketball high into the air.
The referee kicked off the game, officially announcing the start of the match.
Izumi Asao, who was standing on the side of the center line, looked up at the basketball, jumped lightly, touched the falling basketball directly with his hand, and pushed the ball towards the backcourt of his team.
His opponent was Akizuki's third-year center, who was 194cm tall. However, a center of this height was no match for Izumi Asao.
During the jump ball phase, he had just jumped and the basketball had already flown towards the opponent's half.
“Damn, this guy is so tall!
"Qiuyue's center cursed when he saw the jump ball failed, and quickly ran towards his own half of the court. He had never encountered a jump ball scene like this before!
After getting the jump ball, Luoan High School did not advance very quickly. The guard in control of the ball dribbled the ball across half court slowly and leisurely, and then waited for his teammates to get into position, then he held the ball with both hands and looked towards the inside without any concealment.
At this time, on the sideline of the paint area under the basket, Izumi Asao was leaning against the defensive player with his hands raised above his head, trying to get into position.
The basketball flew out of the hands of the Luoan point guard and landed steadily in the hands of Izumi Asao. Izumi Asao caught the ball without dropping it or doing any fancy moves, but just leaned back, jumped lightly, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and shot a small hook shot.
“?!”
Qiu Yue's center was holding Izumi Asao's back with both arms, concentrating on blocking the opponent. The next second, he heard the sound of the basketball hitting the backboard. He turned his head hurriedly and saw that the basketball had bounced back into the net.
"Goal...Goal?!" Qiuyue's center was completely unaware at this moment. It was not until the basketball entered the net that he realized that the opponent had already shot.
Looking back at Izumi Asao, he found that Izumi Asao had already started to run back slowly, and it seemed as if the goal just now was not scored by Izumi Asao.
As Luoan High School scored the first goal, the score on the scoreboard reached 2:0.
"So high! That shot just now looked so casual!"
"Yes, Luo An's center, although tall, has a surprisingly soft touch."
"It feels great. I didn't expect Luoan to have such a strong center. This will make Qiuyue High School difficult!"
The spectators in the stands saw Izumi Aho scored the goal easily, and there was a lot of discussion. In high school basketball games, middle-aged players of this height are too rare.
Although Izumi Asao has only scored one goal, the audience can see that this guy is not a big guy with only height. Everyone realizes that Luoan's center may be a very scary player.
"It feels good." In the stands, Wudao was slightly stunned when he saw Izumi Asao's attack. He actually felt a strong sense of familiarity from the opponent's offensive techniques.
It's like... watching Yao Ming play basketball!
Between offense and defense, Qiuyue High School has launched an attack.
They seemed to be aware of the threat of Izumi Asao and deliberately avoided passing the ball to the inside when attacking. After the pick-and-roll cooperation of the outside players, the ball was finally passed to the open small forward, who received the ball from mid-range and shot directly in the open position.
The basketball went in steadily.
The successful counterattack made Akizuki's players feel relieved. There was nothing they could do as the pressure brought to them by Izumi Asao was too great.
As the offensive ball possession changed, Luoan launched another attack.
Just like the previous time, Luoan's advancement speed was very slow. After all the players entered the frontcourt, Luoan's point guard slightly sped up and quickly approached the three-point line.
"An offense centered around the center."
Wudao in the stands saw Luo An's speed of advancement, touched his chin, and murmured in his heart.
On the court, the basketball was already in the hands of Izumi Asao. Izumi Asao, who received the ball with his back to the basket, quickly turned around and raised the ball to shoot. His action immediately alerted his opponent, and Akizuki's center jumped up to block him.
At the moment the opponent jumped, Izumi Asao, who was holding the ball, quickly received the ball, and then when the opponent fell, he took the initiative to jump up to meet the opponent's outstretched arms. Only after his arms holding the ball actively touched the opponent's hands did he shoot.
The next second, the basketball hit the backboard and bounced into the net.
And just the next second after Izumi Asao scored, the referee's whistle sounded at the right time.
2+1!
The referee actually gave Izumi Asao an extra free throw!
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