After the match between Hakata University of Commerce High School and Aiwa Gakuin ended, the finalists for this national competition have been determined.
After the match between Hakata University of Commerce High School and Aiwa Gakuin came to an end, the calls for Shohoku to win the championship became higher than ever.
The vast majority of the audience watching the game today watched both games. Almost everyone witnessed the victory of Xiangbei and the victory of Hakata. The audience had their own expectations of the strength of the two teams, and the vast majority believed that Xiangbei High School was much stronger than Hakata University of Commerce.
The reason is very simple. Compared with the game between Shohoku High School and Ryonan High School, the game between Hakata University of Commerce and Aiwa College did not actually transcend the scope of "high school" basketball.
Whether it was Aiwa Academy's ace Dai Moroboshi, or Hakata's Hamadi Johnson who later came on the field to lead the team to victory, neither of them showed an "unstoppable" offensive posture like Jinguji Budo and Shinomiya Tano.
Therefore, in the eyes of the audience, Shohoku High School is naturally much stronger than Hakata University of Commerce Affiliated High School.
However, there were not only ordinary fans watching the game on site, but also many high school or college players and coaches.
When watching the game, these people will not simply focus on the performance of the team's ace, they will more often look at the overall strength of the entire team.
Although the Affiliated School of Bota University of Commerce only won by a few points over Aiwa College, everyone could see that Bota did not use their best efforts in the match between Bota and Aiwa.
This can be seen from the fact that Hamdi Johnson only came on the field at the beginning of the second half.
Therefore, these people still think that the affiliated school of Hakata University of Commerce should not be underestimated. Even if there is a gap in hard power compared to Shohoku, through the team, they may be able to compete with Shohoku.
I don't know when it started, but Xiangbei High School has become a "mountain" in the eyes of fans. When other teams are compared with Xiangbei High School, fans will not discuss who is stronger or weaker, but only discuss whether the opponent has the capital to fight with Xiangbei.
Obviously, the affiliated school of Bodo University of Commerce has the capital to fight.
...
After all the semi-final matches were over, Coach Anxi took the players back to the hotel.
After a period of rest, Jinguji Budo returned to the hotel and became energetic. Coach Anzai saw that Budo seemed to be in high spirits, so he didn't waste any time. While there was still time in the afternoon, he immediately called all the players to the common room and prepared to review the match between Hakata and Aiwa for the Xiangbei players.
Focus on analyzing the technical characteristics of the player Hamadi Johnson.
Although the national competition has been going on for several rounds so far, Xiangbei High School does not know much about the player Ahmadi Johnson.
In the early stages of the national competition, the Xiangbei team focused more on Ryonan High School.
They regard Ryonan as the most difficult opponent to overcome, so apart from Ryonan, Xiangbei often only gets to know other opponents the day before the encounter.
My understanding of the mixed-race player from Boda University of Commerce is limited to the game that afternoon.
On the match days a few days before, Xiangbei also watched Hamadi Johnson's games, but the abilities displayed by Hamadi Johnson in those games were somewhat mediocre.
But in the afternoon match against Aiwa, Ahmadi Johnson directly crushed Dai Moroboshi and helped the team win.
It was precisely because of Ahmadi Johnson's outstanding performance in the afternoon that the Xiangbei team became interested in this mixed-race boy.
...
In the common room, Coach Anxi took out a videotape from his bag, put it in the video, and turned on the TV.
The Xiangbei people gathered behind Coach Anxi, waiting for Coach Anxi to play the video tape.
Before the video began, Mitsui Shou put his hands behind his head and said to Jinguji Budo beside him:
"Budo, if you take a look at the match between Hakata University of Commerce and Aiwa College, there was basically nothing special in the first half."
“But in the second half of the game, you have to pay attention to one person.”
"The backup point guard affiliated with Hakata University of Commerce is very strong."
"On both offense and defense, he suppressed the performance of Daisuke Moroboshi very well."
"You should also know that, Moroboshi-sama, this guy is no ordinary character to be able to do such a thing."
While Mitsui was talking, Coach Anzai had already turned on the TV, which was already playing footage of the afternoon's game.
The other players of Xiangbei seemed to be in low spirits, and their attention was not focused on the video tape at all. On the one hand, they watched the opponent's game carefully in the afternoon, and on the other hand, Xiangbei had relaxed to varying degrees after defeating Ryonan.
People already have a low opinion of a team of the same strength as Bota University of Commerce Affiliated High School.
As for Jinguji Budo, since he was "resting" in the afternoon, he didn't know much about the player mentioned by Mitsui Shou, so he was more or less serious when watching the game.
Coach Anxi deliberately sped up the progress of the video playback. As the images on the TV were played, the first half of the game passed quickly. Wudao did not have much interest in the first half of the game on the video.
Although both Hakata and Aiwa are strong teams, they cannot threaten Shohoku at all based on the strength they have shown so far.
However, as the substitute defender from Hakata University of Commerce came on the court in the video, the game began to become interesting.
Under the coordination of Hamadi Johnson, Bodo University of Commerce Affiliated School was obviously much smoother in attack. Compared with the first half, the strength of the entire team was improved by a whole level.
On the defensive end, Hamadi Johnson also made outstanding contributions.
Aiwa Academy plays that standard star basketball game. Dai Moroboshi is not only the team's ace, but also the team's point guard, enjoying the most ball possession and offensive opportunities.
However, under the defense of Hamadi Johnson, Zhu Xingdai's offensive efficiency dropped sharply, and the situation on the field began to tilt significantly.
Less than 5 minutes into the second half, Aiwa Academy's decline was apparent. As the game progressed, Bodo's advantage grew, so much so that Aiwa completely lost the chance of a comeback.
After watching for a long time, Mitsui Shou asked Jinguji Budou: "Budou, how do you feel?"
"How does it feel? Not very much."
"His strength is not bad, a little stronger than Moroboshi, but that's all."
"I think I'm on par with you. I think the match against Bodo will be decided in the first half."
When Jinguji Budo heard Mitsui Shou's question, he answered casually, looking as if he didn't care.
Seeing Jinguji Takeshi's confident look, Mitsui Shou nodded solemnly at first, indicating that he agreed with Jinguji Takeshi's judgment, but then he came to his senses and rushed directly behind Jinguji Takeshi, put his arms around Jinguji Takeshi's neck, and said angrily:
"What do you mean by being on par with me?! What do you mean by that's all?!"
"ah!?"
"You are getting more and more complacent!"
Seeing that Xiangbei High School is getting closer and closer to the goal of "dominating the country", Mitsui Hisashi, who has always been nervous, is particularly relaxed today, and his personality is much more cheerful than before.
"Hahaha!" Budou put one hand on his throat and laughed without struggling. Seeing the relaxed look of Jinguji Budou and Mitsui Shou, the other players of Xiangbei were full of confidence in tomorrow's final.
These two people are the backbone of Xiangbei. As long as Mitsui Hisashi and Jinguji Takeshi are emotionally stable, the Xiangbei team will not be demoralized.
Coach Anxi watched the scene happening around him silently, with a gentle smile on his face.
The eyes behind the glasses were full of passion.
...
Nightfall.
The clear night sky is dotted with stars.
In the bedroom of the Xiangbei players, Mitsui Hisashi was lying on the tatami by the window, looking out the window with his head tilted.
The clock on the wall of the room had reached 12 o'clock at midnight. But Mitsui Shou was not sleepy at all. As the finals approached, Mitsui Shou felt excited and could not sleep at all.
In this room, Mitsui Shou was not the only one who couldn't sleep.
The distribution of bedrooms in Xiangbei is based on grade. The people who share the dormitory with Mitsui Shou are all third-year players, Akagi Takenori, Kogure Kiminobu, Chiba Oishi, and Miyagi who is one grade lower.
Miyagi Ryouta was in a good mood. He had fallen asleep a long time ago and was snoring loudly.
Akagi and Murasakibara were in the same situation as Mitsui Hisashi. They tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.
Hearing the frequent tossing and turning behind him, Mitsui Shou couldn't help but turn his head and saw Akagi Takenori tossing and turning in bed. He couldn't help but whispered:
"What's wrong, gorilla? Today isn't a full moon. I guess you don't need to transform, right?"
There was a smile in Mitsui's tone, and he called Akagi Takenori "nickname".
“... ..”
"I don't want to transform... and I won't transform."
"I just can't sleep."
As he spoke, Akagi Takenori lay on the tatami, looking at the ceiling, and said.
"Can't sleep..." Mitsui Shou hesitated for a few seconds and didn't continue speaking.
"It just feels a little unreal. I didn't expect that the national championship is really within reach!"
In the darkness, Akagi Takenori raised his hands and placed them in front of his eyes. Looking at his palms, Akagi spoke slowly.
He is different from Mitsui Hisashi. Although Mitsui Hisashi's physical condition is not that "explosively" strong, he is talented. Mitsui Hisashi's shooting and basketball IQ are things that others cannot learn.
The only thing that Akagi Takenori has is height, and even that is not the best. A simple and steady style of play is what Akagi is synonymous with nowadays.
The year that Akagi Takenori entered Shohoku High School, he and Mitsui Hisashi wanted to lead Shohoku to the national competition, but the result was... .
In Akagi's second year of high school, Jinguji Budo and Miyagi Ryouta joined Shohoku, but that year, Shohoku encountered the dominant Ryonan on the national competition stage and was defeated.
From that day on, although Akagi shouted the slogan of "dominate the country", he was actually a little disappointed with Shohoku in his heart.
But unexpectedly, when he became a third-year player, the team had an explosive growth.
Today, they, Xiangbei, have even successfully surpassed Ryonan High School, and the obstacles on the road to the national championship have been cleared!
There has never been a moment when Akagi can be as sure as he is now, that they, Shohoku, can dominate the country!
"It's not real..."
“But that’s the truth.”
"You'll be happy when you get the winning trophy tomorrow."
Mitsui Shou said this and closed his eyes.
I don’t know how long it took, but in the dormitory of Xiangbei, amid the deafening snoring, a few more even breathing sounds were heard.
...
The next day.
The faint light of morning light shines through the layers of mist and onto the earth.
Early in the morning, Jinguji Budo got up early and washed up. After simply cleaning himself up, he went to the gym to do some simple stretching exercises while the other team members were still asleep.
In yesterday's match against Ryonan, Jinguji Budo was extremely exhausted. Normally, it would be impossible to fully recover from such fatigue after a night's rest.
Appropriate stretching exercises can help martial arts recover to its best possible state.
But Jinguji Budo is different, his usual physical training is already very rigorous, and don’t forget, he also has potions specially provided by the “system”.
At this moment, Jinguji martial arts has recovered to its peak state.
“It feels good!”
"Today's match against Hakata University of Commerce Affiliated School, let's try to secure victory in the first half!"
...
Just after 7 o'clock in the morning, the Xiangbei players, who were ready to go, boarded the bus to return to the game.
Half an hour later, the bus stopped in front of the Hiroshima Gymnasium.
Under the gaze of a crowd of passers-by, the Xiangbei team climbed the stairs and walked into the venue.
Xiangbei arrived very early, but there were already many spectators watching the game in the stands.
After a period of adjustment in the locker room, at around eight o'clock, the Xiangbei players walked through the player tunnel and arrived at the court.
When the Xiangbei players walked out of the player tunnel, the audience in the stands suddenly burst into amazing cheers.
After nearly 30 minutes of adjustment and warm-up time, with the referee's whistle, the national competition final officially began!
"Let's go!"
Mitsui Hisashi, who had already changed his jersey, heard the whistle, clapped his hands, shouted loudly, and then walked into the court first.
Behind him followed Akagi Takenori, Chiba Daiishi, Kogure Konobu, and Jinguji Budou.
In today's game, these four players, together with Mitsui Hisashi, will be the starting players for Xiangbei.
In the Xiangbei rest area, the first-year players saw their seniors walking into the court and gave their warmest cheers.
"Come on! Brother Glasses~~"
"Brother Shitou, work hard! Don't let anyone beat you up!"
"Gorilla, pass the ball more often! Don't force yourself~"
The cheers from Sakuragi and the others were so "enthusiastic" that the third-year players who walked into the stadium were all frowning and turned around to glare at Sakuragi and the others.
Wu Dao smiled, looking relaxed.
And Mitsui Shou had a determined look on his face.
... ... ... ... ... ...