Kamakura Coast.
The sky is clear and blue, with sparse white clouds.
The waves washing the beach have caused the temperature on the coast to drop significantly.
Kamakura in September already has a taste of autumn.
"Everyone!"
"First of all, congratulations on passing the first round of our autumn national team selection."
"Being able to pass the first round of tests shows that everyone here has the potential to become an excellent basketball player to a certain extent."
"But... the first phase of the test is just to test your physical fitness."
"If you want to become an excellent basketball player, you have to go a very long way!"
"Starting from today, in the next half month, we will test how far you have come on the road of basketball!"
"It can be said that the selection of players for the Autumn National Games team has only just begun!"
On an open-air basketball court on the coast, the players who successfully passed the first round of selection were gathered. The one who was giving the players a lecture was Coach Tanaoka of Ryonan High School.
In front of Coach Tiangang, two hundred players were divided into ten rows and lined up neatly in front of him.
Looking at these talented young people in front of him, Coach Tiangang felt extremely happy!
When it came to the proposal stage for the second stage selection method, Coach Tanaoka's proposal was approved by Coach Anzai, and he officially became the main person in charge of the second stage selection.
Although it is true that Coach Anzai should have been the one leading the national team selection task in the autumn, the impact of Coach Anzai's age should also be taken into consideration.
For example, Coach Tanaoka is in his prime, while Coach Anzai is already old.
"This court is where you will participate in the selection!"
"The method is also very simple, competition!"
"Only on the court can you test your strength!"
"Of course, it's not just a five-on-five training match. This kind of selection method is too time-consuming and may not necessarily select the players we want!"
"The competition I'm talking about is a special competition!"
As Coach Tiangang was speaking, the coaches standing on the sidelines began to place equipment on the field.
"The first item is layup."
"Do you see the obstacle in front of you? Go through it as fast as you can and then make a layup. If the basketball goes into the net, it's considered a success. If the layup doesn't go in, you are allowed to make a tip-in until it does."
"What you need to compare is the time used."
"Those who take less time will rank higher, and those who take more time will rank lower."
"Fifteen minutes of warm-up time, then we'll be ready to start."
Coach Tiangang clapped his hands, announced the content of the assessment, and then quietly retreated outside the court.
In the queue, all the players were stunned when they saw this "simple" assessment item.
"A layup over an obstacle? What kind of idiot would come up with such an assessment? Isn't it too easy?"
"How can this kind of assessment content select excellent players? It can't even tell the level of the players!"
"Instead of using this method, it would be better to just compete directly."
When the players saw that Coach Tiangang had already walked to the sidelines, they immediately started talking about the content of the first round of the second phase assessment. It was not because the assessment was difficult, but because the content was so simple that the players found it funny.
This is not an ordinary physical education test for high school students in China. It's fine as long as you can pass it.
This is the selection of players for the Autumn National Sports Team. Is it necessary to test the basics of the basics?!
"Hey, Budo-kun, was this assessment made by Dad? Isn't it stupid?"
The team is disbanded and the players can warm up in the way they like. There are many basketball baskets filled with basketballs on the side of the court. Players who want to use the ball to warm up can take it.
After Coach Tanaoka announced the selection method, Jinguji Budo walked to the sidelines, took a basketball from the basket, dribbled the ball on the spot, and did simple warm-ups.
The players of Xiangbei who passed the first round of auditions also gathered around Wudao, imitating Wudao and doing simple warm-up exercises.
During warm-up, Sakuragi Hanamichi glanced at Coach Tagora outside the court and spoke to Takeshi.
Even someone like Sakuragi, whose basketball foundation is not considered "deep", feels that this kind of assessment method is too simple.
"Don't think about anything else, just focus."
"This assessment method is indeed very simple, but because it is simple, I am even more worried about you."
"Sakuragi, you must be serious and take this seriously."
"And... this kind of assessment is probably just the beginning."
"Those who rank low in this assessment will probably be eliminated."
While dribbling the ball, Budou spoke to Sakuragi beside him.
Basketball is not a one-on-one competitive sport like table tennis. If it were a table tennis selection, it would be very simple. All the players would play one-on-one and the strong and weak players would be directly distinguished.
But basketball is a team sport, and each position has its own different functions.
Without much thought, Wudao knew that this assessment was just the beginning. Coach Tiangang just said that it would take half a month to select and assess. This time, there would probably be a lot of items to be assessed!
While Takeshi and Sakuragi were chatting, some team members privately approached Coach Takeo.
I don’t know why those players went to see Coach Tianoka, but Wudao noticed that after communicating with Coach Tianoka, those people were obviously relieved and their mentality was much better.
Soon, the fifteen-minute warm-up time was over.
The assessment officially begins.
The order of the assessment is based on the ranking in the first round, which means that Jinguji Budo is the first to take the assessment.
The starting point of a layup is the baseline on one side of the court. You carry the ball from one end of the court to the other end, and it is considered a success if you successfully score the ball.
After the assessment coach blew the whistle, Jinguji Budou immediately rushed out with the ball.
Wudao's dribbling speed is very fast. When there is an obstacle blocking his way, Wudao has no intention of slowing down. He either changes direction in front of his body or turns around to pass.
In just a few seconds, Jinguji Budou quickly reached the basket, then jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket.
The coach started to count down the time when Wu Dao's dunk went into the net. He looked at the time on the stopwatch, raised his eyebrows, and then shouted to the recorder on the side;
“5.88″”
"How can such a tall player be so fast?!"
"And the movement of dribbling over obstacles is too smooth... the speed of movement does not decrease at all."
After scoring the goal, Wudao casually threw the ball towards the basket on the side of the court and slowly walked to the sidelines. After taking a deep look at Jinguji Wudao, Coach Tiangang shouted to the coach, "Next!"
"Shinomiya Tano!"
"Signal me when you're ready, and when the whistle blows, the count will start."
At the urging of the coach, Shimoya Noboru walked to the baseline with a basketball and nodded to the coach.
After a whistle sounded, Sigong Tianye rushed out quickly with the ball. When he encountered the first obstacle, Sigong Tianye paused slightly, changed direction with the ball, and then encountered other obstacles while moving, and he either changed direction or turned around, and soon came to the basket.
Like Jinguji Budo, Shinomiya Tano did not use the layup method. In order to pursue the highest performance, the efficiency of dunking is obviously higher than layup!
"Bang!
”
With a loud bang, Shigong Tianye's test was completed. The coach also stopped the stopwatch, looked up at Shigong Tianye, and shouted to the recorder:
“6.72″”
When Shigong Tianye heard his result, he frowned slightly and walked to the sidelines in silence. Wudao saw Shigong Tianye's depressed look and smiled and said:
"Not bad, Tian Ye, very efficient."
"It was just a little slow when changing direction, very good!"
Wu Dao said this with a smile, seemingly comforting him, but actually he was provoking Shigong Tianye.
However, Shigong Tianye didn't care about such a test at all. He glanced at Wudao and sat down on the sidelines.
Coach Tian Gang, who was not far away, smacked his lips when he heard that Shigong Tianye's test results were not as good as his martial arts. He turned his head and shouted to the other players:
"If you are not satisfied with your results in the first round of tests, that's okay."
"After everyone has finished the test, there will be a second round of testing. The best of the two scores will be taken!"
"The third one is Hainan, Mori Shigehiro!"
Coach Tiangang looked down at the list in his hand and then shouted.
As soon as he finished speaking, a burly man stood at the baseline holding the ball in one hand. Seeing Mori Shigehiro's appearance, Wudao's eyes also fell on the other party, with a little curiosity in his eyes.
Apart from him and Shinomiya Tano, Mori Shigehiro is the player with the most impressive physical test data in this selection. His 100-meter sprint speed is very good, but I don't know how his dribbling basics are.
"Come on, Hiro."
"It doesn't matter if it's a little slower, the most important thing is not to make mistakes."
"You can learn from the two predecessors and score by dunking. This way, it will take less time."
When Mori Shigehiro walked to the baseline, Maki Shinichi reminded him. Mori Shigehiro was a freshman and had not played basketball for a long time. He was different from players like Wudao and Shigong Tianye who played as guards and small forwards.
Mori Shigehiro is a center. When he is on the court, he rarely has the opportunity to fast break alone. Mori Shigehiro's training usually focuses on under the basket techniques and shooting techniques.
Dribbling? How can a center practice this
"Yeah!" Mori Shigehiro nodded towards Maki Shin, then looked at the coach next to him and said in a deep voice, "I'm ready."
Shortly after Mori Shigehiro finished speaking, the coach next to him blew the whistle.
The moment the whistle sounded, a black shadow flashed directly in front of the coach's eyes, and Mori Shigehiro's huge body quickly rushed into the court. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of the first obstacle.
However, when Mori Shigehiro encountered the first obstacle, his speed dropped suddenly. After changing his hands with a high center of gravity, he crossed the obstacle and then ran towards the second obstacle.
Different from the smoothness of Jinguji Budo and Shinomiya Tano when they crossed obstacles before, it can be seen that Mori Shigehiro's dribbling technique is very rough. With continuous obstacles blocking his way, he cannot increase his speed at all.
By the time Mori Shigehiro entered the basket, more than nine seconds had passed. By the time Mori Shigehiro scored the ball, jumped, and dunked, the stopwatch in the referee's hand had just passed ten seconds.
“10.33″”
The referee outside the baseline started the stopwatch when Mori Shigehiro successfully dunked, and then reported some of Mori Shigehiro's results to the recorder next to him.
There is a big gap...
Just looking at the data, it is obvious to see the gap between Mori Shigehiro and the two people tested previously.
"Well, although there is a big gap between him and Jinguji Budo and Tano."
"But for this kid's system and position on the court, this is a pretty good result."
"The explosive power at the start is very strong and the acceleration is very fast, but the speed is slower when passing obstacles. For a center forward, it is not a big problem."
Coach Tanaoka watched Mori Shigehiro walk off the court, evaluating him silently in his mind, and then writing something down on the documents in his hand.
Afterwards, the players took part in the test one after another.
When these players started the test, people realized how terrifying Jinguji Budo was who was able to get the time within 6 seconds at the beginning. And the result of Shinomiya Tano, who was almost one second behind Jinguji Budo, was far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
After testing more than a dozen players in succession, the results were basically around ten seconds, and very few players successfully ran under eight seconds.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's performance was pretty good, 8.24, which was above average among all the players. Wudao didn't expect that this guy Sakuragi had actually practiced well in disguise. Most people were not as fast as him!
However, as the test progressed, players whose physical test data were slightly behind began to take the assessment.
It is obvious that after the 100th place, the players' overall performance has improved significantly.
This is largely because the average height of the players has begun to decrease, and most of the players who took the assessment later are guards.
The fastest defender ran into a speed of less than eight seconds.
For example, Miyagi Ryouta got a good score of 7.46. If he hadn't been unable to dunk and had some delay in the layup, it would not have been impossible for him to enter seven seconds.
Of course, it is not possible for all players to perform stably.
Many of the players who passed the first round did not have much basketball basics. Their scores were all over ten seconds. There were even several brothers who made dribbling errors, and the basketball hit an obstacle and rolled to the sidelines. By the time they picked the ball back and made layups, the coach's stopwatch had already jumped to over 30 seconds.
After everyone completed this assessment, Coach Tiangang clapped his hands, attracted the players' attention, and announced with a smile:
"For this assessment, we will rank you based on your position, taking into account the results of the previous physical tests and this round of layup assessment. For the bottom 50% of players in the same position, your subsequent assessment location will not be here!"
"After I have compiled the results, you will follow this coach up the mountain!"
Coach Tian Gang said, pointing to a mountain not far away and said with a smile.
The stratification of players has begun now.
Players with weak fundamentals have things they need to practice!
Those who stay will be subject to a cruel elimination plan!
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