Coach Akai patted him on the shoulder. " Aoki, your arrival in Takezato has been a huge help!" Yo Aoki smiled and said, "I'm happy you could come to Takezato too!"
Inside the basketball court, Yo Aoki stood before everyone. "Now, I'll announce the results of the evaluation for the eight new recruits."
Ikue Hirota, your shooting is C, dribbling is B, physical fitness is D, speed is C, and strength is D. These are your options.
Yukio Otani: Shooting (D), Dribbling (C), Physical Fitness (C), Speed (D), Strength (D), Alternative.
Akio Wakamoto's starting lineup is: Shooting (D), Dribbling (B), Physical Fitness (B), Speed (A), Strength (C).
Akio Wakamoto jumped up and shouted, "Great!"
Yo Aoki smirked. "Last one is Terashima Ya, shooting A, dribbling A, stamina A, speed B, strength B, starting pick."
When everyone heard Terashima's score, they immediately erupted in excitement: "Wow! Terashima is that good?" "Yeah! He's only one A behind the captain!" All eyes turned to him, and Terashima immediately lowered his head in embarrassment.
Yo Aoki waved his hand. "Those who are on the backup team, go practice your basics on the other side of the field. Don't be discouraged; if you're willing to work hard, you'll become a regular player sooner or later."
He turned to Terashima and Wakamoto: "Don't think you're safe just because you've become a regular. Anyone who slacks off, I'll send them straight back to the backup."
Terashima and Wakamoto shouted in unison, "Yes!"
Yo Aoki shouted, "All regulars, assemble!"
The team quickly assembled, Yo Aoki announced, "Today's training is an intra-team scrimmage, first-year students versus second-year students. The losing team will run the 5,000 meters."
Akiyama immediately jumped up. " Aoki, this isn't fair!"
Yo Aoki waved his hand with a smile, "I haven't finished yet. This time, I'll be the referee, not participate!"
The second-graders all breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew--"
Akiyama laughed loudly, "Haha! Alright, let them come!"
Hojo chuckled and poked him, " Akiyama, you change your expression way too fast!"
First-year student Heisaburo Nakako shouted, "This isn't fair!"
Yo Aoki shook his head. "It's settled then. If the first-year students don't want to run, they'll have to practice more!"
Seeing that there was no room for negotiation, the first-graders had no choice but to accept it.
Nakako hung his head, muttering to himself, "I'm definitely going to run the 5,000 meters now." Although Yo Aoki had blown the whistle, everyone still had to do stretching exercises five minutes before the race.
Terashima sneaked up to Shirota and whispered, " Shirota, I want to ask, which item didn't Captain Aoki get an A in the previous assessment?" Shirota paused for a moment, then laughed. "Actually, there were only four assessment items at the time, and strength wasn't included, so Aoki got four A's. "Terashima slapped his forehead, finally understanding the reason.
Both teams wore red jerseys. The second-year starting lineup consisted of center Imamura, power forward Akiyama, small forward Takeuchi, point guard Hojo, and shooting guard Kawai. The first-year starting lineup consisted of center Yoshida, small forward Masato Matsumoto, point guard Nakaichi, and Shima, who played power forward.
Before the game, the first-year players huddled together to discuss tactics. Yuichi Nakamura spoke first, saying they would definitely use Imamura and Hojo's pick-and-roll to score. Yoshida whispered, "I can't defend that." Terashima curiously interjected, "What's a pick-and-roll tactic?"
Masato Matsumoto patiently explained, "It's just screen play, Aoki taught us that before. Since we can't defend it, we'll strengthen our offense." Terashima said confidently. Nakamura smiled wryly, "But the second-year students' defense is also very tough."
Yoshida suddenly slapped his forehead. "That's right! A few days ago, Aoki had us practice off-ball movement, cuts, and reverse runs. We can use these to create open shooting opportunities. "Nakako frowned. "I'm not confident I can pass the ball to my teammates the moment they're open. "Terashima immediately patted his chest. "Run with confidence! I'll definitely pass the ball the moment there's an open shot!"
All four turned to look at Terashima, who was no longer shy but exuded confidence. Yo Aoki signaled for the players from both teams to enter the field, and the match was about to begin.
Yo Aoki stood in the center circle and announced that the match would last twenty minutes, with a one-minute break every ten minutes. He then tossed the ball out, Imamura jumped for the ball, but Yoshida, who was matched up against him, didn't jump at all.
Yoshida thought to himself, "I can't beat Imamura by jumping, so I'd better save my energy." Imamura successfully jumped to the ball and immediately passed the racket to Hojo, with the second-year students launching the first attack.
Hojo dribbled the ball up the court, Nakako went up to defend. Seeing Imamura immediately moved to the outside to prepare for a screen. Nakako heard footsteps behind him and cursed inwardly, "They're using a screen right away."
Imamura stood on the outside, crossed his arms in front of his abdomen, and spread his legs to form a wall. Hojo broke through close behind Imamura, Nakako could only follow from behind. Yoshida gritted his teeth and stepped forward to help defend, but Hojo didn't turn around. He suddenly grabbed the ball with both hands and passed it laterally, accurately to the advancing Imamura.
Imamura took a step, jumped, and completed the dunk. Yuichi Nakamura couldn't help but complain, "So aggressive right from the start!" Yoshida shook his head and shrugged, indicating that he had done his best. Terashima exclaimed in surprise, "What a beautiful play! Is this the pick-and-roll tactic?"
Yo Aoki watched the second-year students' offense with a satisfied expression; Imamura and Hojo's teamwork was becoming increasingly seamless. When it was the first-year students' turn to attack, Nakako dribbled across half-court, and Terashima immediately stepped forward to ask for the ball.
Yoshida, Nakamura, Matsumoto immediately began moving without the ball. Terashima received the ball, glanced around, and quickly made a judgment. Nakamura ran to the vicinity of the free throw line, but he hesitated, worried that he would miss the shot.
Imamura immediately came to help defend, and Nakamura's shooting opportunity vanished instantly. Just then, Terashima shouted, Nakamura turned around to see that Terashima had moved to the vicinity of the baseline. Nakamura immediately passed the ball to him, and Akiyama received it, only to be met by Terashima coming up to defend.
Terashima half-turned and leaned against Akiyama, preparing for a post-up move. But just when everyone thought he was going to attack, he suddenly raised his hand and tossed a no-look pass to Yoshida, who was cutting inside. Yoshida, unguarded, immediately jumped up and made a bank shot, tying the score at 2-2.
Terashima's pass left the second-year players speechless. Shirota shouted, "Great pass!" Yo Aoki also smiled; Terashima's greatest strength was his ability to share the ball and distribute it promptly.
Shirota looked at Yo Aoki with anticipation. What kind of effect would the combination of Aoki and Terashima have in the match? Takeuchi up, "These first-year students can't be underestimated." Akiyama also said admiringly, "Not bad, Terashima is really good at organizing attacks!"
The second-year students started their offensive attack. Imamura received a pass from Hojo at the baseline and slowly walked towards the frontcourt. When he reached the three-point line, Imamura immediately asked Hojo for the ball. Hojo passed the ball to him with both hands. Imamura used his height advantage and jumped up to shoot without any hesitation.
Yoshida could only sigh as he stared at the basket. The three-pointer sank in, making the score 5-2. Terashima was a little stunned. A center could shoot threes? He muttered to himself, "Is this Imamura's strength? If you add Captain Aoki, he's really strong."
Why couldn't this lineup make it to the national tournament? Are the other teams in Kanagawa just ridiculously strong?
In the transition between offense and defense, Nakako reached out and passed the ball to Masato Matsumoto.
After receiving the ball, Masato Matsumoto charged towards the middle, but Takeuchi and Kawai immediately sandwiched him between the left and right.
Forced into a corner, Matsumoto had no choice but to pass the ball to Terashima in the left corner. Terashima glanced around and made up his mind instantly.
With a flick of his wrist and a slight touch of his fingers, he delivered a pass so subtle it was almost imperceptible, directly to Nakako Gu, who had made a run and shaken off his defender.
After receiving the ball Nakako immediately jumped and shot, and the ball landed steadily in the basket.
Shirota sidled up to Yo Aoki, his eyes gleaming. "Hey, the second-year students are going to have a headache now."
Yo Aoki glanced at him and slowly said, "Don't underestimate these second-year students. They've practiced for so long in the preliminaries, and everyone has improved, especially in defense."
"Think about it, what kind of people have we been dealing with before? Maki, Fujima, Sendoh, Uozumi, Akagi, Kaede Rukawa... They've fought against these tough guys, so their attitudes are completely different now."
Yo Aoki scoffed, "Even with Terashima joining now, the first-year students still can't win."
Shirota leaned closer, his tone tinged with surprise. "So you deliberately let the first-years lose?"
"Yes, most first-year contestants don't feel a sense of urgency, and I just want to make them feel nervous."
Shirota, hands behind his back, nodded like an old scholar. " Aoki, you've really gone to great lengths."
Yo Aoki pursed his lips and kicked the ground. "We're all first-years, so if we lose, we'll have to run laps together."
As soon as Shirota finished speaking, the players on the field paused for a moment.
Yo Aoki suddenly frowned and roared, "What are you looking at! Keep fighting!"
Hojo dribbled the ball, his eyes constantly scanning the paint for an opportunity. Akiyama leaned against Terashima, calling for the ball. Hojo tossed the ball in, and Akiyama caught it and passed it back to Imamura in the paint.
Imamura took a step past Yoshida, raised his hand and hooked the ball in, making the score 7-4.
During the transition from offense to defense, Nakako passed the ball to Terashima after crossing halfway, allowing him to organize the attack.
Terashima was about to pass the ball when he realized that his defender had changed to Imamura, Imamura tall stature completely blocked Terashima's passing lanes.
Terashima tried several times but couldn't make a threatening pass, so he could only pass the ball back to Nakako. But Hojo, who was already lying in wait, intercepted the ball and then scored a layup on a Hojo break.
Hojo and Imamura bumped fists, Hojo laughed, saying, "As expected, Terashima knows how to pass the ball."
Imamura scratched his head. "But this move was indeed risky, thankfully it worked!"
Hojo patted Imamura: "You have to trust my judgment, I've learned a lot from Aoki!"
After ten minutes, the score became 22 to 14, with the second grade leading by eight points.
Yo Aoki blew his whistle, and the two teams took a one-minute break.
Looking at the first-year students, who were covered in sweat, Yo Aoki couldn't help but shake his head. "They couldn't keep up with their stamina so quickly?"
Meanwhile, on the second-year students' side, Akiyama and Takeuchi were joking around, Imamura, Kawai, and Hojo were huddled together discussing tactics, showing no signs of fatigue.
The second half began, and the first-year players continued to make runs and look for opportunities, but Terashima was tightly marked by Imamura. Although some players made runs into open spaces, they couldn't pass the ball to them, and the score gradually widened.
To make matters worse, the first-year students' physical fitness finally gave out. With five minutes left in the competition, they were all almost too tired to run, Nakamura was even having trouble walking.
At that moment, Akio Wakamoto approached Yo Aoki and shouted, "Captain! Do you think I can play?" He clasped his hands together in a prayer-like gesture, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Yo Aoki.
Yo Aoki nodded with a smile, "Alright, Wakamoto you go up, replace Nakamura."
Wakamoto jumped up. "Yay!"
Wakamoto showed no stage fright after Wakamoto on, running alongside the team. Terashima finally found an opportunity under Imamura's defense and passed the ball to the newly substituted Wakamoto.
Kawai immediately went to defend, but Wakamoto suddenly sprang into action, darting past Kawai as if glued to the ground, and in the blink of an eye, he had gotten past Kawai.