The coach Otani mentioned by Rukawa Kaede is actually the current head coach of the youth training team, Otani Sugito. This coach is now 63 years old and was once a member of the Neon national team.
After retiring, he is still working hard in the basketball career and has coached the national team. However, in recent years, as he has grown older, he has stepped down from the forefront of the national team and started coaching younger players.
"Coach Otani..." Coach Anzai murmured softly after hearing this. From the look of him, it seemed that he knew the Coach Otani that Rukawa mentioned.
"Dad, do you know the coach of the national youth team?!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi keenly noticed that Coach Anzai's tone just now seemed to indicate that he knew Coach Otani, and immediately asked with a smile.
"Ah! I know him. I used to be his teammate."
"It's just that I haven't seen him for many years. I just remembered a little bit when I heard Rukawa-san talking about him."
"I'm old and I can't remember things."
Coach Anzai answered with a smile, his tone hinting at reminiscence. Sakuragi was a little surprised when he heard that, and the surrounding Xiangbei players also looked at Coach Anzai in surprise.
The players of Xiangbei basically know that Coach Anxi was once a national player, but they did not expect that Coach Anxi had been teammates with the coach of the National Youth Team, and that there is such a relationship between them.
Moreover, the players of Xiangbei didn't even know about this relationship before. Otherwise, they would have asked Coach Anxi to take them to see the strength of the National Youth Team as soon as possible.
Nobunaga Kiyota even began to fantasize about asking Coach Anzai to use his connections to get him into the national youth team.
Although Qingtian always looks down on the National Youth Team, as a young basketball player, how could he not aspire to play for a higher-level team
“Wow—”
"I didn't expect you had such connections, Dad!"
"How about, Dad, let Xiangbei play with us!"
"Well, I will show some mercy and won't let Xiangbei lose too badly."
"Although we are the champions of the national competition, without this genius, Xiangbei's fighting power is far less than before."
"The National Youth Team is a gathering place for the best players in the country. Even if they lose to us, Xiangbei will not lose face."
As Sakuragi Hanamichi spoke, he already regarded himself as a member of the national youth team, and the arrogance on his face could not be concealed at all. His arrogant attitude also made people like Kiyota Nobunaga and Nango, who were not very convinced by him, extremely angry.
For a moment, all the players of Xiangbei were very excited.
"Coach Anxi, promise them to have a practice match with the National Youth Team!"
"I must prove my ability and beat the red-haired monkey to a pulp!"
Kiyota Nobunaga was the first to jump out. He came directly to Coach Anzai's side, grabbed Coach Anzai's arm, and shouted at Sakuragi Hanamichi in front of him.
Nango Kouichiro also came behind Kiyota Nobunaga at this moment and cursed at Sakuragi: "You are just lucky to be selected into the national youth team. You red-haired monkey can no longer recognize yourself."
"Coach, promise me that I will teach this idiot a lesson."
Led by Kiyota Nobunaga and Nango Koichirō, the people of Shohoku also started shouting and were eager to fight.
Coach Anxi laughed when he saw that the players were so eager to play against the youth team. Then he nodded and asked Rukawa Kaede:
"Rukawa-san, what time is it?"
"I agree to play against the youth team led by Coach Otani."
"I think this kind of competition will also play a significant role for us in Xiangbei!"
Rukawa heard Coach Anzai's question and was about to answer, but Sakuragi Hanamichi answered directly: "The old man means anytime. Our youth training camp is located at Midori Kaze High School in Kanagawa Prefecture."
“The youth training is using Green Wind’s venue.”
"If you want to compete, you can do it anytime!"
"It's confirmed, we just need to go back and inform the team!"
When Sakuragi Hanamichi heard that Coach Anzai agreed to play against their youth team, his face suddenly lit up with joy. After saying that, he looked at Kiyota Nobunaga and Nango Koichiro provocatively, while raising his chin slightly.
“Hohoho.”
"Then let's do it tomorrow. The weather is cooler in the morning, so we'll do it in the morning."
"Seven o'clock."
"As for the venue of the competition..."
Before Coach Anzai could finish, Sakuragi Hanamichi interrupted and said, "We can do it in the Xiangbei gym!"
"It's not that troublesome to run around."
"It just so happens that there are a few idiots in the team who are very curious about our Xiangbei training grounds. Let them come to our Xiangbei gym to take a look."
When saying this, Sakuragi Hanamichi once again claimed to be a player of Xiangbei. This flexible identity change caught everyone off guard.
"You want to play in our Xiangbei... That's fine too."
"Then let's compete in our Xiangbei."
After finalizing the training match with the youth team, Jinguji Budo, who had been standing by without interrupting, finally smiled and asked Sakuragi:
"Sakuragi, how does the training intensity of the youth training compare to our Xiangbei?"
"You've been playing there for half a month. How much progress do you think you've made?"
Compared to what kind of opponent they will face tomorrow, Jinguji Budou is actually more concerned about the growth of Sakuragi Hanamichi. After Mitsui and other third-year players retired, the future of Xiangbei High School will be shouldered by him and Sakuragi Hanamichi and other first-year players.
The upper limit of Sakuragi's personal ability will affect the upper limit of the entire team.
“Hahahahahaha!”
"I am different from some people. Although the intensity of my training is much higher than that of Xiangbei, it is very easy for me! Very easy! Hahahaha!"
When Sakuragi Hanamichi said this, he glanced at Rukawa Kaede from the corner of his eye, as if he was hinting at something. It seemed that something must have happened during the training camp of the youth team.
Rukawa Kaede noticed Sakuragi Hanamichi's gaze and murmured "idiot".
Sakuragi ignored Rukawa Kaede, pointed his thumb at his chest, and said shamelessly: "Brother Budo, wait and see tomorrow!"
"I'm not the same person anymore!"
Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's confident look, Jinguji Takeshi couldn't help but laugh.
"Very confident!"
"Then let's see how you perform tomorrow. Don't let me down, Sakuragi."
After a brief exchange of a few words, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede did not stay in the gym for long. They hurriedly left the gym together.
Under the stimulation of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede, the players of Xiangbei High School had an unprecedentedly high enthusiasm for training. However, in order to cope with tomorrow's training match with the youth training team, Wudao did not plan to let the players train too hard and announced the end of training at around five o'clock in the evening.
Coach Anxi had left the stadium long before the team's training ended. As the head coach, he usually only controls the general direction of the training and then helps individual players with the details.
During normal training, the team captain, Jinguji Takeshi, actually arranged the training content. Coach Anzai would only occasionally take a look at Takeshi's training plan and, based on it, make some simple suggestions for modifications.
When the training ended, it was still bright outside. The daytime was quite long in the summer. After the players left, Takeshi Jinguji saw that it was still early, so he did not leave. He took the ball and practiced by himself for a while. Only when the sun set did he leave the gym and end his training.
...
No words were spoken that night.
The next morning, it was just after 4 o'clock.
Jinguji Budo's jogging figure has already appeared on the coastline of Kamakura. It was just dawn, and the sky above Jinguji Budo's head was still the night sky, with stars surrounding Jinguji Budo.
Occasionally, Jinguji Budo can also be seen as far as Kamakura at four in the morning.
If there is a chance in the future, he also wants to see Los Angeles at four in the morning, in case someone asks him in a pretentious manner, "Have you seen Los Angeles at four in the morning?" Wu Dao will have something to say to them.
After half an hour of jogging to warm up, the sky became much brighter. Wudao sat on the beach to rest for a while, then got up and walked towards the gymnasium of Xiangbei High School.
He arrived too early and the gate of Xiangbei High School was not open. But it didn't matter. The two-meter-high wall of Xiangbei High School was useless for martial arts.
After walking the "empty" road into the campus, Budo went to the gym and started some basic warm-up exercises.
Jinguji Budou was very excited about the training match with the youth team, because he felt that the youth team might be the highest level team he could encounter in Shohoku now, and he cherished the opportunity to play against such an opponent.
After practicing for an hour, the time came to 6 o'clock.
Wudao looked up at the time on the wall, stopped training, and sat on a bench on the sidelines to recover his strength.
As time passed, more and more Xiangbei players arrived at the stadium, and at around 6:30, Coach Anxi came to the stadium.
Just as Coach Anzai entered the Xiangbei gymnasium, the players of the youth training team, led by Coach Otani, arrived at the Xiangbei gymnasium.
There are 21 people in the youth training team, all wearing black uniform sportswear with the English logo "Japan" and the national flag on their chests.
With the support of uniforms, the players of the youth training team give people a very strong sense of oppression.
With the arrival of the youth training players, the Xiangbei players who had arrived at the gym early to warm up stopped what they were doing and looked at the youth training players.
Jinguji Budou was sitting on the sidelines, and at first glance he saw quite a few familiar faces.
In addition to Sakuragi Hanamichi, Rukawa Kaede and Miyagi Ryouta from Shohoku High School, Wudao also saw Sawakita Eiji, Kawata Masashi and Fukatsu Kazunari from Sanno Industrial.
Even Mike Okita from Green Wind High School was in the youth training team. In addition to the blond and blue-eyed Mike Okita, Wudao also saw two black players standing behind Mike Okita. Although their faces looked old, Wudao still saw traces of young people from the behavior of these two black players.
Obviously, this is also a player from the youth team.
"It's a bit unexpected! It looks like the team is of high standard..."
Takeshi Jinguji was looking at the players of the youth team. At the same time, the eyes of these youth players were also focused on Takeshi Jinguji.
"Hoho, Anxi!"
"Long time no see!" Coach Otani was a skinny old man, estimated to be 183cm tall, tall and thin, and looked very energetic. A man in his sixties was very strong and had a straight back. When he saw Coach Anxi, he quickly stepped forward to greet him.
Compared to him, Coach Anxi looked very old. Not only had he gained a lot of weight, but his back also became a little hunched.
When shaking hands with Coach Ohtani, you need to raise your head slightly.
"Long time no see! Otani."
Coach Anzai came over and greeted Coach Otani.
While the two coaches were chatting and greeting each other, the two black players who were close to Mike Okita were whispering to him.
The three of them glanced at martial arts from time to time, as if they were discussing martial arts.
"That person is Jinguji Budo?! Oak Hill Academy's top ace."
"A guy like this actually exists in a place like Neon!"
"Why didn't he stay in Oak Hill to play? Are the conditions here better?"
"Who knows? No matter what the reason is, he is our opponent today."
"Experience Jinguji Budo's abilities for yourself. The biggest obstacle to our Green Wind's future is the Shohoku High School led by him."
The two black players were both from Green Wind High School and were communicating with Mike Okita in English.
Jinguji Budo only took a quick look at the players of the youth training team and then looked away. These players were all very powerful and it was obvious that they were all very confident and their strength should not be weak.
Unexpectedly, Sakuragi Hanamichi could actually become a starter in such a team, which was something Budou had not expected at the beginning.
Since the opponent is here, let's prepare a little and experience firsthand this youth training team that gathers the strongest players in the country.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, Rukawa Kaede and others did not communicate with the Shohoku players. After greeting Coach Anzai, Coach Otani ordered the team to start warming up.
The captain of the youth training team seems to be Masashi Kawata. Under the leadership of Masashi Kawata, the youth training team began warm-up activities.
The players on the Xiangbei side knew some of the players in the youth training team to some extent, and they suddenly felt a lot of pressure. During the warm-up phase, everyone in Xiangbei was oppressed by the opponent's strong momentum and was speechless.
Wu Dao could clearly feel the nervousness of his players, but he did nothing and just led them in warming up.
After nearly half an hour of warm-up activities.
The warm-up match was about to begin, and the referee was a member of the youth team. After a whistle, the players of both teams began to walk onto the field.
On the Shohoku side, the team is led by Jinguji Budou, the center is Minamigo Koichiro, the power forward is Oda Ryumasa, and the two guards are Kiyota Nobunaga and Katsume Ichiro.
The players on the youth training team's side are very interesting. The center is Masashi Kawata, the power forward is Hanamichi Sakuragi, and the three outside players are Rukawa Kaede, Mike Okita, and Sawakita Eiji.
There isn't really any point guard.
Seeing the lineup sent out by the other side, the players on the Xiangbei side were also a little surprised. They didn't expect that the other side would send out so many players who were good at holding the ball at one time.
In the eyes of the Xiangbei players, the three outside players are simply not compatible with each other.
... ... ... ... ...