When Shigeru Akiyama saw Yo Aoki break in, he immediately went to help defend him, but Yo Aoki didn't force his way in. Instead, he passed the ball back to Imamura outside the three-point line. Imamura received the ball and, without even blinking, jumped and shot. Everyone on the court stared in disbelief.
Swish—the ball goes into the net cleanly.
"Good shot!" Yo Aoki shouted as he rushed over to high-five Imamura. "Huh?" "Really?" " Imamura shot a three-pointer?" Imamura's teammates, who knew him well, were in an uproar.
Coach Akai frowned, staring at the ball, and muttered, "Was that a fluke?"
The white team continued their attack, and Yo Aoki had the ball on the outside again. Imamura came up to set a screen.
"Not again?" Sanada muttered, unable to find a way to stop this tactic.
Shigeru Akiyama shared the same thought as Sanada: he wanted to mark Imamura but dared not leave Yo Aoki unchecked, so he could only keep a close eye on Aoki, hoping that Sanada could stop Imamura. Sure enough, just like last time, as soon as Yo Aoki saw Akiyama coming over, he immediately passed the ball out.
Imamura raised his hand to shoot, Sanada jumped up to block, but the height difference between the two was too great, and there was no interference at all. Sanada could only watch helplessly as the ball went in again.
Thanks to the teamwork between Yo Aoki and Imamura, the White Team quickly widened the gap. Imamura made 6 out of 10 three-point attempts, which was a pretty good shooting percentage.
Yo Aoki didn't focus on attacking on his own much; he mainly worked on practicing with Imamura, saving that for the official matches.
The match ended with the white team leading the yellow team by 21 points.
As soon as the game ended, everyone surrounded Imamura, bombarding him with questions about the new strategy. Imamura scratched his head and said that it was Aoki's idea, specifically designed to counter teams with strong inside players, such as Ryonan with Uozumi.
Mizuki nodded. "That's a good move, but Imamura, you need to improve your accuracy."
Imamura nodded. "Yes, that's why I've been practicing my long-range shooting every day lately, hoping to help the team in the qualifiers."
Mizuki smiled and said, " Aoki did a good job. Give the team more ideas in the future."
Yo Aoki waved his hand and laughed, "I was just figuring it out randomly. I was researching it with my senior, but it's mainly because he's so capable."
Mizuki laughed, "I didn't ask you to say it every day, why are you so nervous?"
Imamura scratched his head at this point. "Actually, my playing style should be called something like pick and... and..."
"Androll," Yo Aoki added.
"Yes! It's the pick and roll tactic!"
"I know this tactic!" Tatsu Shindo shouted. "I saw it in a magazine; it's used by a strong NBA team."
Hojo frowned. "Can we even figure out such advanced tactics?"
Imamura laughed, "Didn't Aoki and I just use that?"
"Ah?"
Back then, information wasn't as readily available as it is now. People relied on magazines and books to understand tactics, and even then, it was mostly just snippets of information, leaving most people clueless. If it were today, a simple search on Baidu would clarify everything.
Imamura pulled Aoki aside and explained the ins and outs of pick-and-roll to everyone.
Shirota slapped his thigh. "So it's that simple!"
At this moment, Mizuki spoke up, " Aoki, what are the weaknesses of this tactic? How should we defend against it if we actually encounter it?"
Aoki wanted to say, "This tactic has no weaknesses, unless the person using it is incompetent," but he couldn't say it out loud. He thought for a moment and said, "This tactic relies on scoring through mismatches after a pick-and-roll, so if the screen isn't set properly or the pass is slow, it will fail."
Everyone nodded.
"But we're not a top NBA team, so we still have ways to defend against it." Aoki began to recall how to defend against pick-and-rolls for beginners.
Mizuki said, " Aoki, can you demonstrate for us?"
"I'll do it!" Sanada and Akiyama shouted at the same time before Aoki could even speak.
Aoki didn't want to spoil their fun, so he had Sanada and Akiyama take their positions and said, "This time, Sanada- senpai, you'll team up with Imamura -senpai, and Akiyama -senpai will defend. Now, Imamura- senpai, come over and set a screen."
Imamura ran over as instructed, Yo Aoki said to Akiyama, "You need to follow Imamura." Akiyama did as instructed.
"Watch my movements!" As soon as Yo Aoki finished speaking, he suddenly stepped aside and shielded Imamura behind him as Imamura ran over to block him.
At this moment, Yo Aoki explained, "That's the strategy. I need to screen the opponent coming to set a screen in advance, so that the two people setting the screen are separated, and he can't completely block me. At the same time, Akiyama- senpai needs to provide delay defense for Sanada- senpai, and this tactic will be broken."
Although Sanada was preparing to drive into the paint with Imamura's screen, Yo Aoki slipped between the two and, following Akiyama's delayed defense, quickly returned to his defensive position, effectively blocking Sanada outside the three-point line.
Oh! Everyone present suddenly realized.
Secretly finding these guys ridiculously silly, Yo Aoki was suppressing a laugh when Hojo leaned over and asked, "What if other teams figure out this method too?"
Before Yo Aoki could speak, Coach Akai walked over and said, "Every tactic has its advantages and disadvantages; nothing is perfect."
He walked among the players and continued, "Everyone needs to remember this: tactics are static; it's the players who bring the power. Take the Kainan Team for example. We know their playing style inside and out, we've even figured out their defensive routines, so why can't we still win?"
Coach Akai scanned the players and asked, "The key to winning is improving your own skills. Do you all understand?"
"Understood!" everyone responded in unison.
Coach Akai turned to Yo Aoki: " Aoki, this tactic is good. Tomorrow in training, you'll lead everyone in practicing pick-and-roll plays. We need to make sure everyone masters the technique so it can become our regular tactic."
Yo Aoki replied, "Okay, I'll try my best."
Coach Akai nodded in satisfaction. "Everyone, let's continue training."
Coach Akai has always valued players' basic training, which is standard practice for high school coaches these days.
During matches, coaches mostly rely on the players' individual abilities to let them play freely, and then make adjustments based on the situation on the field.
After all, most high schools don't make basketball their flagship sport; their players are just regular high school students, and their training isn't overly complicated.
Coach Akai found Yo Aoki and Imamura's pick-and-roll tactics today to be simple and effective, and that the other players could quickly get the hang of them, which is why he asked Yo Aoki to lead the practice tomorrow.
Yo Aoki couldn't guess Coach Akai's thoughts; otherwise, he would probably have a deeper understanding of Akai's blindly confident nature.
After dinner, Yo Aoki changed his clothes and prepared to go out. He had been behaving well lately, and his parents liked him, so his allowance had increased considerably.
Although Yo Aoki doesn't value money much, having some spare cash definitely gives him more options. Right now, he's planning to go to the gym to work out his strength.
Hearing that he was going to the gym, his younger brother Ryo Aoki, was incredibly curious and kept pestering him to go with him, so Yo Aoki had no choice but to agree.
The two brothers rode their bicycles to the Tōei Fitness Center. The place wasn't very big, but it had a good selection of equipment.
As soon as I entered, a female employee greeted me with a slight bow and a smile, saying, "Welcome to Tōei Fitness Center."
Yo Aoki cut to the chase. "I want to become a member."
The female shop assistant smiled and said, "Please come with me to the front desk to complete your transaction."
The female clerk quickly completed the formalities for Yo Aoki, paid the bill, and handed him a membership card.
"We have three coaches here to guide your training, but we have too many customers, and the coaches can't keep an eye on you all the time, which might affect the results of your workout. So if you're interested..."
"No need, thank you." Yo Aoki interrupted directly. He didn't need a fitness coach at all; strength training for basketball was different from regular fitness.
Yo Aoki asked with a smile, "My younger brother wants to try it out today. How much does it cost?"
The saleswoman was still smiling, "He doesn't need to pay; he can try it for free."
At this moment, Ryo Aoki nudged Yo Aoki and whispered, "Big brother, I want to become a member too."
Yo Aoki smiled and advised, " Ryo, you're a baseball player. Your training volume is already high enough. Adding more training will easily lead to injury."
Ryo Aoki sulked, "Big brother, you can't underestimate baseball players! Don't you practice extra times yourself? Aren't you afraid of getting injured?"
Yo Aoki chuckled, "I haven't underestimated baseball, but baseball is different from basketball. It doesn't involve as much physical contact, and it doesn't require as much strength."
Seeing Ryo Aoki's unconvinced expression, Yo Aoki had no choice but to soften his stance. "How about this, since it's free this time anyway, come back tomorrow if you really want it done."
Ryo Aoki pouted. "Okay."
Ryo Aoki was still seething with anger. "I'm a star player in middle school baseball too, you know. Humph, I'll definitely make my older brother look at me in a new light later."
Yo Aoki shook his head, first leading Ryo Aoki in warm-up exercises, then said, "Just play however you like, within your limits, and be careful."
After saying that, he walked to the bench press rack and started practicing bench presses. He chose a weight of 60 kilograms, tried it a few times and felt it was okay, so he said, "Let's start, let's get used to the weight of 60 kilograms first."
His goal is 90 to 100 kilograms, which is already at the level of a professional athlete.
He remembered that Liu Yudong's bench press was around 150 kilograms, which was already quite impressive, but James's 190 kilograms was simply inhuman.
Yo Aoki was full of anticipation, wanting to see what limit he could reach in the end, after all, nothing is impossible in anime. But just as he was engrossed in his training, his younger brother, Ryo Aoki, was itching to join in.
Ryo Aoki approached the flat bench press rack next to him and adjusted the weight to 50 kilograms. However, when he lay down and prepared to lift his arms, he found that he couldn't lift the barbell at all.
He strained until his face turned red, putting all his strength into it. He finally managed to move the barbell off the rack, but because of his incorrect posture, his arms suddenly gave way, and the barbell slammed straight down. He was so frightened that he quickly closed his eyes.
Although the expected excruciating pain did not come, he waited for a while before daring to open his eyes, and saw the barbell hanging above his head, held steadily by his older brother's hands.
It turned out that although Yo Aoki had been training on his own, he had been keeping an eye on him out of the corner of his eye, afraid that something might happen to him. Just now, when he saw Ryo Aoki choose a 50-kilogram weight, he knew something was wrong and immediately stopped his training and rushed over.
Yo Aoki put the barbell back in its place and stared at Ryo Aoki, whose face was pale and who was trembling all over, and asked, " Ryo, are you alright?"
Ryo Aoki's voice trembled. "No, it's nothing."