The two centers stood in the center circle. The referee tossed the ball up, and both jumped simultaneously. Kainan's center touched the ball first and flicked it, but Fujima instantly sped up and stole the ball before Kainan Team could reach it. Shoyo went on the attack first!
As Fujima dribbled the ball, he scanned the court. Just then, Maki came up to block him. The duel between the two best guards in the prefecture was about to begin!
Seeing Maki closing in, Fujima suddenly accelerated towards the baseline, trying to create distance between himself and Maki. Although Maki wasn't as agile as Fujima, his good physique allowed him to immediately adjust his footwork and stay close behind, maintaining his position. But just then, Fujima suddenly stopped abruptly, without even looking, and passed the ball directly to the top of the three-point arc. Such a bold pass actually went in!
Shoyo's number 4 shook off Kainan's defense and landed right where Fujima was passing the ball. He caught it steadily, took a jump shot, and made a three-pointer! Shoyo took a 3-0 lead!
Yo Aoki's eyes were glued to the court. Seeing Shoyo's first attack, Fujima showed off his skills and couldn't help but praise him:
"Nice shot!"
Shirota nodded and said:
" Shoyo's number 5 shot decisively and accurately."
Yo Aoki shook his head:
I'm talking about number 9, Fujima.
Shirota looked completely bewildered.
" Fujima's pass was good, but the scorer was number 5."
Yo Aoki said:
"For a point guard, the key to judging a good pass is when to pass the ball to whom. Fujima's pass was perfectly timed. He first assessed the positions of his teammates and defenders before initiating the attack, and while running, he could also anticipate his teammates' movements, making accurate passes that gave Kainan no chance to react. He's truly skilled and daring; Kenji Fujima is indeed one of the two giants."
Shirota slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing:
"Wow, there's so much more to this simple pass than I thought! Aoki, you're amazing!"
Shirota was quite puzzled. As far as he knew, Yo Aoki was a problem student who had nothing to do with basketball and was just a beginner. But what he just said was definitely not something a beginner could say.
"This guy is really baffling."
The game continued. Kainan inbounded the ball from the backcourt, Maki dribbled it across half-court, facing Fujima. Facing Fujima, Maki lowered his center of gravity and shrugged to the left. Fujima's body also shifted slightly to the left. Just then, Maki suddenly pushed off with his left foot and changed direction to the right.
As a long-time rival, Fujima knew Maki's style all too well. He tried his best to block Maki's route, but Maki's explosiveness gave him a huge advantage in the first step. He shook off Fujima and drove into the paint. Shoyo's center couldn't care less about anything else; he only had one thing on his mind: to stop him.
Maki slammed his left foot into the ground, instantly springing up and hurtling towards the basket. Shoyo's center gritted his teeth, jumping with all his might, wishing he could spread his upper body into a giant net to trap Maki inside.
The two collided in mid-air. Maki twisted his waist and abdomen, catching the ball with one hand to steady himself. But the center forward didn't have that skill. He was knocked almost to the side by the impact, and even stretched out his arm to reach the ball, only managing to touch Maki's arm.
Maki was completely unaffected; with a flick of his right hand, the ball swished into the net. Immediately afterward, the referee's whistle blew. "2+1! Shoyo fouls! Goal stands, one free throw!"
The audience erupted, chanting even louder than during Chinese New Year: " Maki! Maki! Kainan! Kainan!"
Shirota's eyes widened, and he let out a roar. Yo Aoki clenched his fists; this shot had given him a significant shock, and this was the kind of play he wanted.
Taking advantage of the break between Maki's free throws, Shirota nudged Yo Aoki and leaned in to ask, " Aoki, who do you think will win this game?"
Without hesitation, Yo Aoki patted his chest and said, " Kainan."
Shirota scratched his head, looking completely bewildered. "Why?"
Yo Aoki paused for a moment before explaining, "To put it simply, it's a matter of playing style. Shoyo relies on Fujima to orchestrate the offense, while the others run to open shots, and their defense is full-court press. But this style of play requires ample stamina and a consistent shooting percentage, since Shoyo's height advantage isn't that significant."
"The problem is, how can we subdue Shinichi Maki? Right now, it seems evenly matched, but if Shoyo misses their throws, or if Fujima gets strangled by Shinichi Maki, the outcome will be decided immediately."
The female fan sitting next to him overheard this and leaned over to chime in, "How could Fujima possibly be stopped by that old man?"
Yo Aoki turned his head and smiled, "Fuji is indeed strong, but his strength is far inferior to Shinichi Maki's. This inherent disadvantage means he can only rank second in Kanagawa."
The female fan's face turned as red as a ripe tomato, and she yelled in rebuttal, " Fujima's technique is good, his speed is fast, and... he's really good!"
Yo Aoki chuckled, "What does having good character have to do with being a good basketball player?"
The female fan got impatient, hands on her hips, and shouted, " Fujima is the strongest! You don't know anything!"
Just as Yo Aoki was about to speak, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as a bunch of eyes turned to him. He immediately swallowed his words and could only give an awkward laugh, thinking to himself, "These Fujima fans are really good at stalking people."
After listening to Aoki's analysis, Shirota gave him a thumbs up. " Aoki, you've already seen this so clearly at the very beginning of the match, amazing!"
Aoki was so frightened that he waved his hands frantically, raising his voice, "No, no, no, I was just guessing, don't take it seriously!"
Shirota was still muttering, "But I think you're absolutely right!"
Upon hearing this, Aoki knew that if they continued talking, they would be thrown off the stands, so he quickly changed the subject. "Hey, look! Shoyo is about to attack!"
Before the match was even over, Yo Aoki claimed to have a stomachache and dragged Shirota away. Firstly, the situation on the field was becoming more and more like what he had predicted, and secondly, those eyes were on them again, so safety came first, and they decided to retreat.
In fact, he achieved his goal. After watching these two games, he finally got a real grasp of high school basketball. Although the overall teamwork of the high school team was still lacking, the individual players were all outstanding, which is quite common in high school leagues.
Back in high school, he led his team to championship status with his exceptional skills. On his way home, Yo Aoki rested his chin on his hand, his mind filled with images of the matches. "At this level, I need to quickly recover my former strength. Time is very tight. Training alone isn't enough; I also need to play in high-quality matches to test myself and then train specifically. But right now, I can't play any matches. Even if I did, the intensity of high school matches wouldn't be enough to improve my skills."
Unable to think of a solution, he could only ask Shirota, " Shirota, I want to play ball, do you have any ideas?"
Shirota scratched his head. " Aoki, Coach Hisaishi said we won't be able to play any games this year, and besides, didn't you just start playing basketball?"
After a pause, Shirota asked again, "You really just started playing basketball?"
Aoki could only mumble, "I practiced before, but I stopped because of other things."
Shirota initially wanted to press Yo Aoki about his past, but then felt it would be too abrupt, so he suppressed the thought and instead said, "I'm helpless in official matches, but I'm good at casual games!"
Yo Aoki raised an eyebrow. "What method? It's not a street basketball tournament, is it?"
Shirota's eyes widened. "You could have guessed that?"
Yo Aoki thought to himself: What's so hard to guess?
However, basketball is much more popular here than in real island nations, and many young people love to play it. Those former school team players who didn't get into university can't play in official leagues, so they form amateur teams and arrange games with each other.
Shirota patted his chest and said, "My sister is the manager of the ' Fire Phoenix ' team, and her boyfriend is the captain. They've been practicing every night at the cement field next to the school. If you want to come, I'll take you!"
Yo Aoki thought to himself: Although streetball is weak in terms of physical contact and the shooting is unpredictable, it is indeed a way for me to practice right now.
Yo Aoki thanked Shirota, saying, "Thank you so much, Shirota."
Shirota waved his hand. "Don't mention it."
Shirota secretly pondered: Aoki is too strange. He used to be such a bad person in school, but suddenly he changed completely and even knows a lot about basketball. Does basketball have some kind of magic that can change people?
At Eda Middle School, Yo Aoki doubled the training volume that Coach Hisaishi assigned him every day. The coach nodded in approval and would teach him dribbling and shooting techniques whenever he had free time. Although Aoki already knew all of these, he didn't refuse and still diligently memorized and practiced them, which made the coach even more gratified.
Coach Hisaishi remarked today, "If you had joined the team earlier, with that kind of tenacity, you would definitely be one of the top players in the prefecture!"
Yo Aoki laughed, "It's not too late now."
Coach Hisaishi shook his head. "You're already a third-year student. No matter how hard you try, you won't attract the attention of top high school teams. You can only take the national high school entrance exam. But I've seen your grades, and that path is also uncertain. So you can only go to a county high school, where the basketball teams are generally weak, and there's no chance of making it there."
Yo Aoki remained silent, a thought flashing through his mind: What if I went to Shohoku?
Coach Hisaishi stroked his shiny hair. "Oh, by the way, your family seems to be quite wealthy; you could probably get into a good private school just by paying money."
Yo Aoki immediately replied, "Even if I go to the prefectural high school, I won't do that."
Coach Hisaishi scoffed, "Afraid people will look down on you?"
Yo Aoki laughed, "I'll take the exam based on my own ability!"
Coach Hisaishi laughed, "Then I'll be waiting to see how you perform."
This conversation also reminded Yo Aoki of which high school to choose. He had five teams in front of him: Kainan, Shoyo, Ryonan, Takezato, and Shohoku.
First, Kainan. Although Kainan has the best chance of winning the national championship, Aoki already considers Shinichi Maki as an opponent he must defeat, so it's a pass.
What about Shoyo? In the storyline, they face Shohoku in the Shohoku. If he goes, Shohoku will most likely be eliminated. This is something we absolutely cannot do, so we can rule him out immediately.
The same applies to Ryonan; Akira Sendoh was also a target he wanted to take down, so he was also rejected.
Shohoku is a good team, and it would be great to play with Hanamichi Sakuragi. But if he goes there, he'll definitely be a starter. Among the Shohoku Five Tigers, who will give up their spot? Most likely, it's Sakuragi, and he absolutely cannot tolerate that.
"Looks like I have no choice but to go to Takezato," Yo Aoki muttered to himself. Going to Takezato is like going through hell, but it'll be tough enough. If anyone else knew about this plan, they would definitely think he was crazy. Apart from Shohoku, which of those teams can you just get into so easily? It just goes to show how confident a transmigrator can be.
In the evening, Yo Aoki found his way to Shirota, and the two agreed to go to the park to participate in a street basketball game. There were quite a few people gathered on the park court, all of them young people who were exercising. The environment was alright, and Aoki breathed a sigh of relief.
When they arrived at the sidelines, a game was in full swing, with shouts filling the air. Aoki looked around and said, "The atmosphere is really good." The court was a standard size, the concrete surface was perfectly flat and undamaged, and the basketball hoops were about three meters high and looked new. It was indeed quite nice.
Just then, a girl walked over. She had a mushroom haircut, big eyes, and a round face. She called out to Aoki in front of Shirota, " Naoto, you're here!"