The waves hit the beach.
After dinner, the coaching staff and the players gathered together on the court next to the beach. Under the lights, the coach and the substitute players sat down on the benches around them.
One of the younger coaches walked into the stadium with a whistle around his neck.
After he entered the stadium, Jinguji Takeshi and Shinomiya Tano also led their players into the stadium.
There are no uniform training uniforms here. In order to distinguish the players of the two teams, the players led by Takeshi Jinguji all wear the white jerseys of their own teams.
The players led by Shimotsuna were wearing colorful clothes.
The players of Ryonan, such as Shinomiya Tano, all wore blue jerseys, while players like Rukawa Kaede, who were originally from Shohoku, wore red jerseys.
Although in general, the jerseys worn by the players of the Shimonoseki team are of mixed colors, but if they are used to distinguish the players of the two teams, there is no problem with such seemingly confusing jersey colors.
"Let's divide them into the white team and the colored team."
"You all take your positions, we are about to start the practice match!"
Coach Tiangang's coaching team got a scoreboard from somewhere and put it on the sidelines. They wrote the "team names" of the two teams on A4 paper and then pasted them on both sides of the scoreboard. From a distance, the team "names" could not be seen at all, and it looked extremely simple.
However, neither the players on the court nor the players who were not on the court yet paid attention to whether the scoreboard on the sidelines was "luxurious" enough. Their attention was now focused on their opponents.
Both teams have brand-new configurations, and the players are the best selected from countless outstanding players. Everyone is extremely excited to be able to fight against such opponents.
"Mori Shigehiro, A-Hiro, I'll call you that."
"I'll leave the jump ball to you!"
On the court, Takeshi Jinguji was in the center circle. Seeing that no player was going up to jump the ball at the center line, he turned around and looked at the hesitant Mori Shigehiro and greeted him with a smile.
For some reason, Mori Shigehiro acted a little shy. He was obviously a mischievous kid who would hang on the basket and look down at his opponents, watching them make a fool of themselves. But today, he didn't seem that "arrogant". This surprised Wudao, who thought that he didn't understand his opponent's character well.
"Yes!" Facing Wudao's reminder, Mori Shigehiro nodded, and even trotted to the center line with some excitement. After landing, Mori Shigehiro suddenly turned his head and asked Jinguji Wudao:
"Jinguji-senpai... After the match, can you fight me one-on-one?!"
"I... I want to be number one in the country!"
Just as Wudao was looking at Mori Shigehiro in surprise, Mori Shigehiro suddenly turned around and said this to Wudao. Wudao was also startled when he heard this, and Yuzumi Jun, who was also standing in the middle circle at this time, also heard Mori Shigehiro's words and looked at Mori Shigehiro with a strange look on his face.
The players in the center circle also heard what Mori Shigehiro said, and their eyes were focused on this big guy.
"Hey, Hiro, focus on the game at hand."
"If you can't even defeat the opponent in front of you, don't even think about challenging Jinguji Budo."
In the backcourt of the White Team, Shinichi Maki obviously also heard what Mori Shigehiro said. He put his hands on his hips and spoke loudly with some headache.
Mori Shigehiro, a talented center forward, this muscular, tall young man looks like he should be a "dumb" player. But in fact, he is not.
Mori Shigehiro is a thoughtful player who also has his own clear goals.
To become the best high school student in Japan, this is the goal that Mori Shigehiro set for himself after entering Kainan High School, under the indoctrination of Coach Takato and his teammates!
So what does it take to be the top high school student in the country? To lead a team to win a national championship?!
No, or not entirely.
Making all his opponents lie on the ground and look up at his dunks, this is what makes him the number one high school student in the country!
Jinguji Budou was one of Mori Shigehiro's target prey. His shyness and timidity at this time were just because he was wondering whether Jinguji Budou would accept his challenge, and he seemed a little hesitant.
Mori Shigehiro didn't listen to what Maki Shinichi said at all. He stared at Jinguji Budou with his eyes fixed. He was like a fierce beast waiting for an opportunity to strike. He looked at Jinguji Budou and licked his lips.
Jun Uozumi and the players around him all felt the powerful and terrifying sense of oppression emanating from Mori Shigehiro.
Facing Mori Shigehiro's Jinguji Martial Arts, his feelings were certainly clearer than those of others.
However... Mori Shigehiro, who exudes this kind of aura, is like a young tiger with bared fangs and claws in the eyes of Wudao.
"Haha, okay."
"If you can score 30 points on Yuzumi's head, I will accept your challenge and give you a chance to become the top high school student in the country."
"If you can't do it, forget it, because if you can't even get 30 points, you are not worthy of being my opponent."
Wudao pointed at Yuzumi Jun who was standing in front of Mori Shigehiro and replied with a smile. His words also made Yuzumi's face darken.
"This guy Jinguji actually used me as a stepping stone for that kid?!"
"Asshole! Unforgivable!"
"This arrogant brat is unforgivable!"
When Mori Shigehiro heard Wudao's words and turned back to look at Yuzumi Jun with a smile, Yuzumi's face had already turned completely black. He couldn't help but curse, and his anger was rising.
Shinomiya Tano looked at Mori Shigehiro with interest, sneered and shook his head.
Are all young people nowadays like this? ! They have high expectations but low skills.
He had met Mori Shigehiro before in the county competition. Although his physical talent was explosive enough, in terms of skills, he could not even be compared with players of Jinguji Budou's level, let alone those mature centers in the county.
He didn't know where this kid got the confidence to challenge Jinguji Martial Arts.
In Shigong Tianye's opinion, the center Mori Shigehiro's challenge to Jinguji Budou was the same as the short guy from Xiangbei's challenge to Jinguji Budou. The only difference was that one lacked physical talent, while the other lacked skills.
Both of them are the same... Overestimating their own abilities!
This little episode of Mori Shigehiro's had no effect on Wudao's team except for making Yuzumi and his team more motivated to fight.
As the players took their positions in the center circle, the referee blew the whistle and then stood on the center line with the ball.
“Beep!”
After a whistle, the basketball was thrown into the air by the referee.
Jun Yuzumi, who had been holding back his anger for a long time, jumped up the moment the basketball was about to reach its highest point, and reached out to hit the basketball the moment it fell.
The control of the timing of the jump ball can be described as "perfect".
However, just when Yuzumi's palm was about to hit the basketball, Mori Shigehiro had already reached out and touched the bottom of the basketball, pushing the basketball to his own backcourt.
"What?!" The basketball was knocked away by the opponent. Yuzumi Jun obviously did not expect that the basketball in his hands would be taken away like this.
Obviously, he was better at grasping the timing, and was more outstanding! However, the basketball was taken away by the opponent first
"Huh?"
"Although he is a very arrogant boy, he is indeed a very good talent."
On the sidelines, Coach Tanaoka saw Yuzumi fail in the jump ball, touched his chin and said with a smile.
As the basketball fell into the hands of Shinichi Maki in the backcourt of the white team, the white team led by Wudao officially began to attack.
The starting players on Budou's side, apart from Jinguji Budou himself, are Shinichi Maki, Shigehiro Mori, Hanamichi Sakuragi, and Kenji Fujima.
The one responsible for controlling the ball is Shinichi Maki, and Fujima plays in the scoring position.
The style of play used by Wudao was also very simple, which was to let Maki Shen break through alone, attract enough double-teams, and then pass the ball to a teammate in an open position.
If it really doesn't work, just give the ball to Mori Shigehiro in the interior and let him fight hard in the interior.
When these two methods don't work, Jinguji Budo will take over the ball and start playing "star basketball". After all, their team has just been formed and they are not familiar with each other. This simple and crude method is the easiest way to bring out the players' abilities.
On the other hand, when facing the attack of the White Team, Shinomiya Tano adopted a man-to-man defensive formation.
Like Wudao and his team, Shinomiya Tano's team was also newly formed. Although there are three veteran players from Ryonan in the team, it is less likely to make mistakes if they use man-to-man defense.
Minimizing mistakes as much as possible is the offensive and defensive strategy that Jinguji Budo and Shinomiya Tano both chose.
There is no need for messy, fancy playing methods, which are not applicable.
As Shinichi Maki approached the three-point line with the basketball, Rukawa Kaede quickly ran up and blocked Shinichi Maki.
Rukawa is not much taller than Maki Shinichi, but is much lighter. Facing Rukawa's defense, Maki Shinichi simply guided the ball back and forth in front of him, and then caught the moment when Rukawa's left and right feet changed back and forth, and directly dropped the ball to break through.
Shinichi Maki can be said to be a smaller version of Shinomiya Tano. He has terrifying explosive power and is also good at physical attacks.
At the moment of breakthrough, Maki Shinichi's body had already leaned against Rukawa, and the powerful force pushed Rukawa back a step. Although it was not much, it was enough for Maki Shinichi to break through Rukawa's defense line.
"Breakthrough! Reinforce the defense!"
The inside line of the Cai team was guarded by Takenori Akagi and Jun Uozumi. The moment Shinichi Maki broke through Rukawa, Jun Uozumi growled, and the next second after he finished speaking, Takenori Akagi decisively gave up Hanamichi Sakuragi and rushed towards Shinichi Maki.
Attract double-teaming.
Shinichi Maki did it easily.
“Here it comes!”
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was standing under the basket, realized his chance the moment he saw Akagi leave. In order to make it easier for Maki Shinichi to pass the ball to him, he immediately walked two steps in the opposite direction along the baseline, leaving the basket, so that Yuzumi's defense could not easily radiate to him.
Nowadays, Sakuragi has become very experienced on the court and can often seize fleeting opportunities on the court.
This is the result of training and also the result of Sakuragi Hanamichi's talent.
"Good positioning." The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi quickly left the basket and distanced himself from Akagi and Uozumi, Maki Shinichi noticed it. He paused in his heart and looked at Mori Shigehiro, but his hand pushed the ball in the direction of Sakuragi and sent the ball out directly.
Even when passing the ball, Maki Shinichi made a fake move to mislead the vision, so that Akagi, who was defending, would focus his attention on Mori Shigehiro.
“Bang!”
After getting the basketball, Sakuragi Hanamichi quickly stopped in front of the basket and then shot directly.
Now Sakuragi is already able to cause effective damage near the basket.
However, at the moment Sakuragi shot the basketball, Rukawa Kaede suddenly jumped out from behind Sakuragi, jumped high and blocked the ball with a slap.
Rukawa Kaede, who was thrown away by Maki Shinichi, did not choose to continue following Maki Shinichi when chasing and defending. Instead, he found Sakuragi Hanamichi who took the initiative to create space.
Rukawa actually predicted Shinichi Maki's passing choice, and Rukawa also predicted that Sakuragi Hanamichi would choose to leave the basket!
The basketball was knocked down by Rukawa Kaede and fell into the arms of Jun Yuzumi.
"Pass the ball!" Yuzumi, who had just got the ball, saw Rukawa Kaede landing and starting to run towards the frontcourt, and shouted at him loudly.
Without any hesitation, Yuzumi passed the ball directly to Rukawa. After getting the basketball, Rukawa accelerated again and caught up with Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh who had already entered the white team's half.
The counterattack came with extraordinary swiftness.
Before Rukawa crossed half court, he threw the ball directly to Sendoh who was already approaching the three-point line.
The one defending Sendoh at this time was Kenji Fujima of the White Team.
Facing the defense of his old teammates, Sendoh Akira got the ball and made a fake shot, then quickly dropped the ball and broke through to his right side. When Fujima's defense came up, Sendoh changed direction in front of his body and at the same time gave Fujima a little resistance with his body, directly pushing Fujima away and quickly getting to the basket.
As Sendoh dunked the ball into the basket, the white team, which got the ball, lost points first.
2:0.
"Damn it! That stinky fox actually dared to sneak attack this genius."
"This bastard was able to block my shot only by luck and sneak attack! Despicable villain! Damn it!"
Sakuragi, who was blocked by Rukawa, ran to the venue cursing. Seeing Sendoh scored first, he became even more angry. He immediately changed direction and ran towards the opponent's basket, talking all the time.
"Good pass, Rukawa Kaede!"
Rukawa rolled his eyes at Sakuragi Hanamichi, and when he was returning to his own half of the court, he heard Sendoh's voice coming from behind him. Then Sendoh patted Rukawa on the shoulder and encouraged him with a smile.
Although it was the first time they cooperated, Sendoh felt that the ball passed by Rukawa was very comfortable. The boy took Sendoh's height into consideration when passing the ball and knew approximately where Sendoh would be most comfortable to get the ball.
Sendoh didn't expect that the freshman who fought with the ace of his team for the ball in the game could actually play the role of a point guard so well.
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