Akagi frowned. "I'm not sure either, but I remember Yo Aoki used to teach Sakuragi."
" Yo Aoki?" Everyone recalled how Yo Aoki had been instructing Sakuragi on the sidelines during the last game against the Takezato Team. Akagi murmured, "Maybe he can actually teach us something useful."
In the basketball gym of Shohoku High School, Coach Anzai changed into his sports uniform, walked to the center of the court, and, just like in the manga, challenged Sakuragi to a one-on-one shooting contest.
Don't let Anzai's current round figure fool you; his shooting touch hasn't diminished at all. He's making nine out of ten shots, a truly accurate shot.
At that moment, Yohei Mito led a few people in carrying a video camera, intending to film Sakuragi's shooting motion.
As soon as Sakuragi stepped onto the court, his movements were like breakdancing, which made Yo Aoki laugh heartily, "Hahaha!"
Sakuragi's face instantly turned a deep shade of liver, and he roared angrily, " Aoki! Shut up! Don't get in the way of this genius's shot!"
Later, Yo Aoki tried not to laugh, but Sakuragi, having not received systematic training, still shot terribly.
Coach Anzai squatted down to analyze the problem with Sakuragi and assigned him a training volume of 20,000 balls.
Then Anzai turned to Aoki: " Aoki -kun, it's your turn."
Aoki nodded and walked up to Sakuragi: "I've discussed it with Coach Anzai, and this training session I'll teach you how to improve your core strength."
Sakuragi, do you know what core strength is?
Sakuragi shook his head blankly.
Aoki explained, "Core strength refers to the muscles in the middle of the body, below the shoulders and above the hips. People with strong cores are incredibly stable during high-intensity competition and difficult moves, making it easier to score and less prone to injury."
Sakuragi's eyes lit up immediately when he heard the word "score".
Aoki became serious. " Sakuragi, you're naturally strong. I'm going to teach you how to use your strength effectively. It'll be tiring. Are you ready?"
Sakuragi patted his chest. "Hehe, this genius never gets tired! Bring it on!"
Aoki agreed that they would train strength every afternoon, and then teach Sakuragi all the core training methods such as barbell pulls, bench presses, and crunches. Looking at Sakuragi, who was covered in sweat, Aoki silently thought: I hope this training will help him get less injured in the national competition.
A week passed in the blink of an eye. On the last day, Sakuragi was putting all his effort into shooting those 20,000 balls, and he had already shot more than 15,000.
At this moment, Anzai suddenly asked Aoki, " Aoki -kun, do you know about the Autumn National Sports Festival?"
"I understand!" Aoki nodded.
"You have a very good chance of representing Kanagawa in this year's National Sports Festival," Anzai said with a smile.
"Teacher Anzai, so you're the head coach of the Kanagawa Representative Team?" Aoki's eyes lit up.
Although Coach Anzai smiled and said that they had approached him but he had turned it down, the position would still be given to the two young men, Takato Taoka.
Yo Aoki secretly thought to himself, " Takato Taoka even considered young?"
However, Coach Anzai ignored his inner grumbling and continued, saying that he had talked with Takato before and that he wanted to select two or three promising players from Kainan, Ryonan, Shohoku, and Shoyo to form a joint team for the National Sports Festival this year.
Yo Aoki nodded. He knew this very well. In Slam Dunk, ten days later, it was mentioned that Takato Taoka had discussed the National Sports Festival.
However, at that time, Takato only said he wanted to select people, but the author didn't give a definite answer as to who would be the coach.
So Yo Aoki couldn't help but ask, "Is the coach of this team Takato or Taoka?"
Coach Anzai smiled and waved his hand, saying he didn't know either, but no matter who was the coach, he would definitely be selected for the team.
Yo Aoki scratched the back of his head and smiled apologetically, saying that the coach was too kind.
Then Coach Anzai suddenly remembered something and asked, "Aoki, I'm curious why you didn't choose Kainan or Ryonan back then?"
Yo Aoki smiled and said that even if he didn't join, these two teams were already quite formidable.
Coach Anzai adjusted his glasses and chuckled.
As soon as Yo Aoki stepped into the gymnasium of Takezato High School, he heard a furious roar.
Startled, I looked up and saw Coach Akai glaring at me, his face dark with anger.
Yo Aoki quickly scratched the back of his head and smiled apologetically, saying, "Teacher, didn't I ask for leave before to go to training camp?"
Coach Akai was still fuming, and said, "Did you say how long you were going to be gone?"
If I hadn't come to check on things today, I wouldn't have known you hadn't been here for a week!
Yo Aoki was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Teacher, you haven't been here for the past few days either?"
Coach Akai cleared his throat and said that he had other important matters to attend to!
As the team captain, you have to shoulder the responsibility of training the whole team; there's no time for you to just wander around aimlessly!
Yo Aoki immediately agreed, saying, "Please rest assured, teacher, this won't happen again!"
Coach Akai's expression softened a bit, and he continued with his hands behind his back, "Because our county's preliminary matches were so impressive, many students have wanted to join the team these past few days. Mizuki and the others are also hoping that these people can fill the gaps in the team."
Aoki, these new recruits will arrive this afternoon. You'll be in charge of evaluating them.
Yo Aoki replied, "Yes, teacher!"
Although there's still some time before the Winter Selection Tournament, we can't let our guard down!
Yo Aoki responded again, "Yes!"
Coach Akai looked at him and said that he should make good use of this summer vacation and definitely raise the team's level to a new level.
Yo Aoki patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, teacher!"
Coach Akai nodded and said, "Alright, Aoki, let's begin today's training!"
Yo Aoki turned to Shirota and asked, "Has everyone been practicing according to plan these past few days?"
Shirota nodded and said that these past few days, the focus has been on off-ball movement, cuts, and reverse runs in the mornings, strength training in the afternoons as requested, and shooting practice in the evenings.
Yo Aoki smiled and said, "Hmm, not bad! What do you all think?"
Akiyama spoke first, saying, "Aoki, we have no problem!"
Everyone nodded in unison.
Yo Aoki said, "Okay, that's enough for the resumption training. Let's officially begin training now!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's heads instantly tightened.
"What?! We're not going to die, are we?" the Nakako voice cried out.
Yo Aoki chuckled mischievously and said, "That won't happen, but you guys will have an amazing time every day!"
Everyone, please! Let's start with five sets of shuttle runs and five sets of frog jumps to warm up our bodies!
After saying that, Yo Aoki took the lead and ran off.
After the morning training session ended, Imamura came over and asked, " Aoki, shouldn't we arrange some offensive link-up training?"
While flipping through Oriyuki Iwasaki's training report, Yo Aoki said he would, but it wasn't the right time yet. The most important thing now was to solidify his basic skills.
He looked up at Imamura and said, "Especially you, Imamura- senpai, you need to practice your passing and cutting more."
Imamura said with a wry smile, "Me? Aoki, I'm just a center forward."
Yo Aoki smiled and said that if you could pass, control, and organize the offense, you would definitely be a top center in the country.
Imamura laughed and said, "Alright, Aoki, I'll do as you say, okay?"
At this moment, Hojo leaned over curiously and asked, " Aoki, what have you been up to these past few days? You weren't out dating, were you?"
Oriyuki Iwasaki next to her, immediately perked up her ears.
Yo Aoki laughed and said, "How could that be? He really went to training camp."
Eight unfamiliar faces arrived at the Takezato High School gymnasium in the afternoon; they were the newcomers that Akai had mentioned.
Yo Aoki actually saw Terashima inside.
That's great! Terashima's addition will definitely strengthen the team!
Yo Aoki nodded to Terashima, Terashima scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.
Yo Aoki walked up to the eight new recruits and said, "Hello everyone, I'm Yo Aoki, the captain of the basketball team!"
Everyone clapped enthusiastically, making Yo Aoki blush slightly. He raised his hand to press it down and said, "Thank you everyone!"
Before you join the team, you will need to be tested in five areas: shooting, dribbling, physical fitness, speed, and strength.
The previous tests included shooting, dribbling, physical fitness, and speed, but Yo Aoki specifically added strength.
In Yo Aoki's view, basketball is all about tall players dominating shorter players, fast players chasing slow players, and strong players beating up the thin ones. Sakuragi is the best example of that.
Yo Aoki said with a smirk, "If you get an A in just one of these five tests, you'll be a regular member of the team. Good luck, everyone!"
Just then, a newcomer with a middle parting raised his arm. Yo Aoki raised an eyebrow. "What's your question?" The middle-parted newcomer shook his arm. "Captain, I want to ask how many A's you got?"
Yo Aoki stroked his chin. "I think I got about four A's." The new guy with the middle-part hair exclaimed, "Wow! As expected of the captain!"
Terashima scratched the back of his head, his eyes wide. "It's perfectly normal for Team Aoki to get four A's, but he didn't get an A in one section? This assessment is way too difficult!"
Shirota Oki Yo Aoki nodded. "Alright! Everyone get ready, let's test our dribbling skills first."
The assessment items for Takezato included a 1.5-minute continuous shooting test, a layup around obstacles, a 5,000-meter endurance run, a fast shuttle run, weighted squats, and bench presses. These were completed over two days and were scored by Yo Aoki and Shirota.
Yo Aoki had been keeping a close eye on Terashima's condition for the past two days, and it paid off— Terashima's performance in dribbling, shooting, and physical conditioning was outstanding.
But he also discovered a guy who was incredibly fast, the one with the middle-part hair who had asked the question earlier, named Akio Wakamoto, a first-year student in the class next to Yo Aoki's. Although this kid's shooting and dribbling were average, Yo Aoki felt that he could be very useful in crucial moments.
Coach Akai was flipping through the evaluation forms of eight new recruits in his office, becoming more and more satisfied with each one. He hadn't held out much hope for the second round of recruitment, thinking it would be difficult to find any good talent, but the results were a pleasant surprise.
Coach Akai slammed his notebook shut and exclaimed with a smile, " Aoki, some of these new recruits are really talented!" Yo Aoki pointed to the names on the list. " Terashima Ya technically well-rounded and can start. Akio Wakamoto's fundamentals are a bit lacking, but he's fast and might be surprisingly effective in the game."
Coach Akai put down the evaluation form and pulled out another document from the drawer. " Aoki, I've finished reading the playing strategy framework you wrote." Coach Akai nodded. "I completely agree with your ' Seven-Nine-Zero ' plan. Let's do it your way. I fully support you."
Yo Aoki bowed. "Thank you, teacher!" He had recently written a report on the playing style that suited the Takezato basketball team, and felt that the current team was better suited to playing as a team, and that the offense should rely on off-ball movement and cuts to create opportunities. He believed that Takezato would not be able to make it into the national tournament in Kanagawa Prefecture by relying on him alone.
Coach Akai then changed the subject. "But this style of play requires everyone to have shooting and passing abilities, and our team doesn't have that yet."
Yo Aoki breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, secretly pleased: Coach Akai has finally stopped being so overconfident. He nodded, "Teacher, you're right! But shooting and passing aren't innate skills like jumping and speed. If everyone is willing to practice, they can definitely develop those skills."