The Cheetah Team are already in a comfortable position, and Changwon basically in a comfortable position too. The only question is whether Shohoku can beat the Chariot. Putting the Cheetah aside, in the hearts of the fans, the Chariot's match against Shohoku will definitely be a do-or-die battle. Taking down the Chariot would be the biggest achievement of the Four Nations Tournament.
As for the Cheetah, their victory is cause for national celebration, and their defeat is not shameful. After all, they are the elite of the high school league. This is the opinion of most fans, and many players from Shohoku also think so, except for a few key players led by Shirasawa.
The following day, at the Shohoku basketball gym, the team members gathered for training as usual. As with the previous rules, they only did simple training the day before the big game to maintain their condition, and were not allowed to increase the intensity without authorization; Takenori Akagi was a cautionary tale.
At the end of the day's training, the newly appointed captain, Ryota, dismissed the team. Just as Ryota Miyagi was about to head to the locker room, Kuwata approached him, trembling, his voice shaking. "Captain... Captain."
Ryota Miyagi glanced at him and said with a smile, " Kuwata, I'm not Akagi with his dark face. Don't be so nervous, just say what you want to say."
Kuwata nodded, but swallowed hard, his nervousness not subsiding at all. Miyagi was indeed not as dignified as Akagi at all times, Shohoku's discipline had loosened somewhat after he became captain. But he was still Ryota Miyagi. Even if he had turned over a new leaf, his past in the delinquent circle was still fresh in everyone's minds. Someone like Little Kuwata wouldn't dare to act recklessly.
Although they've been together for a year and gone through a lot, and know that super delinquents like Miyagi, Mitsui, Sakuragi, Kaede Rukawa, and Shirasawa are actually good people, at least good to their teammates, no one dares to casually test their patience.
Seeing that Kuwata couldn't say anything for a while, Ryota Miyagi raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to talk or not? If you don't, I'm leaving."
Although Ryota Miyagi put in a lot of effort to catch up on his studies when he first became the Shohoku Team.
He even went so far as to buy a book on team management, but he just couldn't sit still for long; he could only manage to flip through two pages in the thirty seconds before bed.
At least there was some action, but given the current situation, being the team leader is really giving him a headache.
He had to manage both the training intensity and the team's mentality. Vice-captain Yasuda clearly lacked the seniority of someone like Kiminobu Kogure and couldn't keep things under control.
The captain and vice-captain, even when paired together, haven't developed any real teamwork. Kuwata clenched his fist, pursed his lips for a long time, and finally managed to stammer out, "Captain... Captain."
Miyagi glanced at him and said with a smile, " Kuwata, I'm not like Akagi- sensei with his dark face. Don't be so nervous, just say what you want to say."
Although Kuwata had been agonizing over it for several days, when he actually stood in front of Miyagi, he still didn't dare to ask directly. He just tentatively asked in a low voice, "Um... I just wanted to ask the captain if we're changing our jersey numbers for the new season?"
Although the jersey numbers in the Cherry Blossom Country High School League are not fixed, they are basically changed when students advance to the next grade, with older students using larger sizes and younger students using smaller sizes.
It's generally accepted that the team captain and vice-captain use numbers 4 and 5; it's a convention, not an inviolable rule. Besides the captain and vice-captain, many players don't change their numbers for three years, since the number is like a player's nameplate.
Take the 9th for example. Nationwide, who wouldn't think of Shirasawa first when the number is mentioned?
The switching of team captain and vice-captain is rare in the entire league, and almost no university in the country is an exception. Kuwata's question served as a reminder to Miyagi.
Miyagi paused, then shook his head vigorously. "I won't change my number."
Kuwata instinctively exclaimed "Huh?" Although he was the one who asked the question, he was just casually confirming it and didn't really expect Miyagi to change it.
After all, it's extremely rare for a captain to change his number. Normally, Miyagi should have nodded in agreement and said goodbye to the number 7 jersey. But Miyagi's words were full of determination, and his eyes didn't waver at all.
With his personality, even if Coach Anzai asked him to switch, he wouldn't switch even if the Emperor himself came. Miyagi saw Kuwata staring blankly and asked, "What's wrong?"
Kuwata quickly waved his hand. "No, it's nothing, Captain."
Miyagi stared at his flustered expression, then suddenly realized and chuckled, "Oh? Kuwata, you want number 7, don't you?"
Kuwata nodded awkwardly, and when the time came, he didn't hide it anymore, saying directly, "Captain, I really want number 7. The player I admire, 057, wears number 7, and of course, you're the captain too. I just want to be able to run freely on the court like you guys someday."
"Number 7 is my pillar of support."
After listening, Miyagi patted Kuwata on the shoulder with satisfaction. " Kuwata, you can't rely on a mentor alone. You have to train like crazy. One day you'll be able to wear number 7 and compete on the field."
"But as long as I'm on the team, number 7 has to be mine." With that, Miyagi looked up and sighed.
"After all, number 7 is also my pillar."
After saying that, Miyagi turned and left. Kuwata stared blankly at his retreating figure, blinking in disbelief, and murmured, "Captain? Does number 7 have special significance for the captain?"
When Miyagi entered the Shohoku locker room, it was already empty. He took off his jersey, hung it up, and removed the wristband he had been wearing for a long time.
The wristbands were so old they were unrecognizable, stained dark with sweat. They weren't expensive; you could buy one by skipping a couple of meals. But it wasn't like Miyagi couldn't afford them.
Hanamichi Sakuragi had previously mocked his crappy wristband, and the two almost got into a fight. At that time, Miyagi was really angry, because Sakuragi always had a sharp tongue.
Since then, no one has mentioned the wristband again. Kogure asked about it privately, but Miyagi didn't say anything, so he didn't press the matter further.
Miyagi placed the wristband next to his team uniform; the number 7 embroidered on it was worn away and almost illegible, exactly the same as his jersey number.
"Number 7." Miyagi stared at the jersey and wristband, sighing softly, "How could I possibly give it to someone else?"
"Right? Brother." Back then, when he was beaten up by Mitsui and his gang and hospitalized, he didn't shed a single tear, but now, just these words made Miyagi's eyes redden.
Brother? Yes, Akagi, Kogure, and even Anzai —no one knew Miyagi had a brother.
This uncompromising number 7 is all related to his older brother—his brother wore number 7 when he was a child, taught him to play basketball, and it was number 7 that made him fall in love with basketball and embark on the path he is on today.
What he didn't know was that the number 7 that Kuwata admired, besides himself, was the once-famous Sota Miyagi.
That's right.
It turns out that the number 7 that Kuwata was talking about, besides Ryota Miyagi, also included his older brother, Sota Miyagi.
Moreover, the person Alex had been searching for for a long time was also this Sota Miyagi.
However, the timeline is very tight. Even if Alex were to ask Ryota Miyagi to his face if he knew Sota Miyagi, Ryota Miyagi would only insist that he didn't know him.
After all, his brother was long gone, and hearing the name " Sota Miyagi " again was at most a coincidence.
Miyagi stared at the number 7 on his jersey, then suddenly chuckled bitterly, "Come to think of it, it's been exactly seven years, hasn't it? I've already defeated Sannoh Industrial High School, the team you used to talk about beating every day."
His mind raced again as he recalled Kuwata's words, and his heart skipped a beat—should the number 7 be passed down?
Miyagi is not a native of Kanagawa; her family lived in Okinawa when she was a child.
At that time, his older brother, Sota Miyagi, was already a celebrity in the elementary school circle, and was called a "genius" in the fourth grade.
At that time, Sota Miyagi's dream was very clear—to lead his team to defeat Sannoh Industrial High School, which had long held the top spot in the country.
For this, he practiced basketball every day, working himself to the bone to improve his skills, hoping that a few years later, as a high school student, he could smash through the mountain that is Sannoh.
You see, the idea of "defeating the Sannoh " is like Akagi constantly shouting "dominate the whole country." Miyagi has heard it since he was a child, and he sincerely believes that his brother can definitely do it!
It's just a matter of time.
Sota Miyagi was also busy, constantly proving himself through his actions.
Akagi's "conquering the nation" sounded like bragging when he was a child, but Sota Miyagi different—no one doubted what he said because he was really too fierce, too fierce for his age.
When he entered junior high school, Sota Miyagi completely blew things up.
As a freshman, he became the team's core player, leading the team to victory in the junior high school league, and becoming the first freshman in history to win the junior high school league MVP!
Some might argue that the MVP award in the national junior high school league isn't particularly prestigious.
After all, many players haven't decided on their future direction in junior high school. Some just play basketball casually or to exercise. Junior high school basketball teams aren't that strict in their selection process. Once you sign up, you can basically get on the team. Whether you get playing time depends on your ability. As long as you can experience the basketball atmosphere, that's enough.
Even among the regular players, their skill levels vary greatly, and many can't even make it onto the high school basketball team. The junior high school league is essentially a reserve team for the high school league, used to scout for promising high school players.
Of course, the quarterfinals in each county are still significant. Players who make it to the quarterfinals are basically guaranteed a spot on the high school team. Most of the rising stars in the high school league each year come from the junior high school quarterfinals.
Therefore, the value of a junior high school MVP is relatively low compared to a high school MVP, but the skill level is definitely not an issue.
For example, Shinichi Maki from Kainan Masashi Kawata from Sannoh both won MVP awards during their junior high school years.
The most famous is Hisashi Mitsui, who led his team to victory and won MVP in his third year of junior high school. At that time, Sannoh even extended an offer to him. If it weren't for that career-ruining injury, his achievements would definitely be even greater now.
Every year, each prefecture has its own junior high school MVP, but Sannoh doesn't recruit many of them, and in some years, Sannoh doesn't recruit any at all.
They're both MVPs, but their ranks are vastly different.
Take Kanagawa last year as an example. Yokota Junior High School Kaede Rukawa played, didn't win the MVP award; it was given to an unknown player who made the game-winning shot.
Now, a year has passed. Kaede Rukawa has become a five-star high school player, Ryonan has made it into the national top four, and Yokota's MVP has long since faded from the basketball scene. There's also Shirasawa, who is now the top player in the high school league, the national MVP last season, and has won awards left and right. He wasn't even an MVP in middle school.
Therefore, the MVP award for junior high school does vary in quality. In the last ten or twenty years, the most prestigious award is undoubtedly that of the Okinawa prodigy, Sota Miyagi, from seven years ago!
Because he was the first person in junior high school history to win MVP as a freshman.
It's important to know that junior high school is a crucial period for physical development. The difference in physical condition between first and third graders is significant. Take Masashi Kawata, for example; he went from point guard to center in his three years of junior high school, a truly remarkable transformation.
Shinichi Maki won MVP in his second year of middle school, Hisashi Mitsui mostly won it in his third year, and so did Kaede Rukawa. He was just a talented player in his first year, but his body evolved in his third year, turning him into a formidable weapon.
The difference in physical ability alone is enormous between first graders and third graders, not to mention their control of the game.
It was under these circumstances that Sota Miyagi led his team to the championship, dominating the junior high school league as a first-year student!
At that time, among all junior high school players in the country, no one was better than Sota Miyagi, and no one could even come close to him!
He was in the same class as Shinichi Maki, Masashi Kawata, Dai Moroboshi, Kazunari Fukatsu, and other stars who later dominated the high school league. No matter how good these people are now, none of them could compare to Sota Miyagi during their junior high school years.
Although they lived in different counties and had never directly fought each other, no one questioned this at the time.
Although Shinichi Maki was already a formidable figure in the junior high school scene at that time, he would never dare to guarantee that he would lead a team to Okinawa and win the championship with Sota Miyagi's team. After all, those guys were only first-year students back then, and their physical abilities and experience were all rudimentary.