Takato cleared his throat and spoke first.
" The Kanagawa Prefecture Sports Commission made the decision; I will be the coach of the National Sports Festival basketball team this time."
"As for Senior Taoka, he'll be the leader of this team!"
"Considering that several schools are far from Kainan, this time we're holding a fully enclosed training camp, with all meals, accommodation, and studies at the Kainan base until the National Sports Festival competition begins!"
You have fifteen minutes to pack your belongings and put them in your dorms. Training will officially begin in fifteen minutes!
"Yes!"
Taoka felt a tightness in his chest. In terms of seniority and friendship, he considered his relationship with Takato to be like that of Sendoh and Rukawa —old acquaintances, but he had never won a head-on confrontation.
" Takato, what are your thoughts on the team's initial training approach?"
Takato raised an eyebrow.
"What brilliant idea does Senior Taoka have?"
"The biggest problem with this mixed team is that they don't get along. I think the first step should be to address that."
Taoka's words made sense, Takato nodded in agreement.
But then he changed the subject, his tone becoming serious.
But I think there's a more important issue now!
"Oh?" Taoka was taken aback.
I would like to hear more details.
Takato didn't keep them in suspense and asked directly.
"Who is the backbone of this team? Shinichi Maki, Kenji Fujima, Akira Sendoh, Kaede Rukawa, and Yo Aoki —these five are all top players in their respective schools. When it really comes down to it, whose advice will they take? If there's a conflict, who will be willing to compromise for the team?"
Taoka suddenly laughed and patted Takato on the shoulder.
" Takato, you don't need to worry about that at all. These kids aren't petty!"
"This team will be centered around Maki!"
Takato frowned.
"Won't Sendoh, Aoki, and their group have some ulterior motives?"
"You underestimate them. Don't even mention Sendoh, even Aoki is someone who would sacrifice himself for his teammates!"
Are you so sure?
"That's right! I trust these kids!"
Takato had already decided to make Shinichi Maki the core leader, but he was afraid that others would disagree and cause trouble, which would make him a laughing stock.
Taoka's words, however, left him somewhat puzzled.
" Sendoh is one thing, but do you know what Aoki is thinking?"
Takato didn't argue with Taoka about this; time will tell.
"Alright, let's stick to the original plan and have the scrimmage. I want to see just how good these guys really are!"
"Hmm, how do we group them?"
"Let's take turns choosing!" Takato interrupted before Taoka could even speak.
"I'll pick Shinichi Maki first!"
Taoka cursed under his breath, "Damn it," and quickly replied.
"Then I choose the Sendoh!"
Just as Takato was about to continue selecting people, Taoka suddenly raised his hand.
"Sigh, it's my turn to choose first this time, right?"
"What a stubborn guy." Takato nodded helplessly.
"Hey! I choose Yo Aoki!" Taoka smiled faintly.
Takato immediately frowned. He had originally intended to choose Aoki as his second pick, but Taoka had snatched him away.
So he retaliated.
"I choose Kaede Rukawa and Soichiro Jin!"
Takato didn't even say hello before dragging the two away.
Taoka snorted and gritted his teeth.
"I choose Fujima and Mitsui!"
Takato squinted.
"I choose Akagi and Miyagi!"
Taoka was not to be outdone.
"I choose Uozumi and Fukuda!"
"In the end, I choose Takasago and Kiyota, and the rest are yours!" Takato said magnanimously.
The two teams were divided like this. Takato had seven players: Shinichi Maki, Ryota Miyagi, Kaede Rukawa Soichiro Jin, Nobunaga Kiyota, Takenori Akagi, and Kazuma Takasago. Taoka's team had eight players: Kenji Fujima, Hisashi Mitsui, Aoki Yo, Yo Aoki, Akira Sendoh Hanamichi Sakuragi, Kiccho Fukuda, Jun Uozumi, Toru Hanagata.
Looking at their respective teams, both coaches were eager to get started.
"Now the two sides are evenly matched, it all comes down to the skill of the team leader." That's what both of them thought.
Fifteen minutes later, the players gradually returned to the field.
Takato immediately spoke up.
"The first training item is—team-based scrimmage!"
" Taoka and I will each lead a team in the competition!"
"We've already assigned the personnel, now everyone split into two teams." Takato explained the group assignments to everyone.
Yo Aoki moved closer to Sendoh and grinned.
"Being able to be your teammate is like winning the lottery!"
Sendoh also curled the corners of his mouth slightly.
"This team-up trip is definitely going to be interesting."
After the group assignments were completed, the two coaches each led their players to one side to assign tasks.
Taoka spoke.
"This scrimmage is just a preliminary assessment; everyone will get playing time."
After a pause, Taoka continued.
The starting lineup is: Point Guard Fujima, Shooting Guard Mitsui, Small Forward Sendoh, Power Forward Yo Aoki, and Center Jun Uozumi!
No sooner Taoka finished speaking than Hanamichi Sakuragi exploded.
"Old man! Why didn't you let me go first? Are you jealous that we beat Ryonan?"
Upon seeing Sakuragi, Taoka instinctively tightened a certain part of his body.
Uozumi Sakuragi dared to talk back to his coach, Uozumi immediately bristled and yelled, "Shut up, Sakuragi!"
"You ape, you dare target this genius?"
Sendoh smiled and pulled Sakuragi aside, gently advising, " Sakuragi, this is just a practice match. It doesn't matter whether you start or stop."
Mitsui chimed in, " Sakuragi, don't be stubborn. Have you forgotten what Coach Anzai said about us?"
Yo Aoki whispered in Sakuragi's ear, " Sakuragi, Taoka has the right to fire players. If you get fired, what will Anzai and Haruko think of you when you go back to Shohoku? Think it over carefully!"
Upon hearing the Haruko Akagi, Sakuragi immediately wilted, scratching the back of his head and chuckling, "Alright, alright, I'll step in to save the day when you guys can't hold on anymore!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Aoki and Sendoh exchanged a glance and burst out laughing—this Sakuragi was indeed a real troublemaker.
The match proceeded according to the standard procedure, with two 20-minute halves, for a total of 40 minutes. Takato's team wore yellow vests, Taoka's team wore white vests.
After the players changed into their vests, Taoka, having calmed down, said, "Get ready and go on the court. I won't give you any tactics yet; just play freely."
The crowd responded, "Yes!"
The five turned and entered the court. Aoki glanced at the other side. Takato's starting lineup consisted of Maki, Akagi, Rukawa, Jin, and Kiyota. Seeing that Takasago wasn't in the starting lineup, Aoki nodded to himself— Takato was fair enough not to favor his own people.
Akagi and Uozumi stood in the center circle, their eyes met, and they both smiled—who would have thought these old rivals would be teammates today? The referee tossed the ball high into the air, and the game officially began. Akagi and Uozumi jumped at the same time, and with a "smack," their hands struck the ball simultaneously, evenly matched! The ball was pushed away by the combined force of their movements!
Aoki used his physical advantage to block Jin, then intercepted the ball and passed it to Fujima with one hand. The White Team immediately launched an attack!
Fujima rushed to the frontcourt, Sendoh stood on the outside, turning to the side and reaching out for the ball. Fujima immediately passed the ball to him.
" Sendoh, let me see how you organize an attack."
As soon as Sendoh received the ball, Rukawa closed in to defend him. Rukawa had shone brightly in the national tournament and was later selected for the national youth team; his technique and mentality were both incredibly stable.
But there was one person he always wanted to defeat— Sendoh! Even Sawakita of Sannoh ranked behind Sendoh in his heart. As for why, Rukawa himself couldn't explain it, but it was probably because Sendoh was the first person to beat him.
Sendoh chuckled and muttered, "This troublesome fellow!"
Takato, fanning himself with a paper fan, stared intently at the situation on the field. " Maki is stronger than Fujima. Akagi and Uozumi are old rivals, they know each other very well, so there shouldn't be any problems. Kiyota also has experience with Mitsui. As for Sendoh, let Rukawa keep an eye on him, it should be fine."
Takato's gaze swept over Aoki and Jin, and he had just muttered, " Aoki's situation, Jin might..." when he suddenly shouted, "Watch out!"
Suddenly, Aoki turned around, bypassed Jin, and charged towards the basket. It was so sudden that Jin didn't have time to react.
At the same time, Sendoh's eyes narrowed as he raised his hand and tossed the ball high into the air.
" Alley-oop?!" Fukuda jumped to his feet! But the trajectory of that ball was even higher than the Sendoh passed to him when Ryonan played Kainan last time!
"That pass was way too high!" Hanagata exclaimed. Taoka and Fukuda remained silent; they believed in Sendoh, but they still stared intently at the ball.
Akagi tightly marked Uozumi under the basket, preventing him from receiving the ball. "How did Sendoh manage that shot..." Akagi was wondering when he suddenly saw a figure jump near the edge of the paint!
" Aoki!!!" Akagi froze, a sense of powerlessness washing over him.
With a loud "thump," Aoki stomped his feet heavily on the ground, using the force of the push to leap into the air! With a "smack," he caught the ball in mid-air with both hands raised! At this moment, the ball was still half an arm's length away from the basket. He leaned back, gathered his strength in his arms, and slammed it into the basket like a fully drawn bow, with great force!
With a loud "bang," the ball slammed into the basket! After the dunk, Aoki grabbed the rim with such force that it almost deformed the frame, making a "squeak" sound!
"Ah!" Two Kainan Team players under the basket screamed in terror and ran away covering their heads! Everyone on the court was stunned!
"That's terrifying!" "He's not human!" "I get chills every time I see him!"
Shinichi Maki smiled and shook his head, "This kid still loves to cause trouble!"
Aoki ran back to the backcourt and gave Sendoh a high five.
"Beautiful pass!" "Beautiful spike!" they both exclaimed in unison.
Taoka, standing on the sidelines, laughed, " Sendoh and Aoki are a perfect match, you won't find another pair like them anywhere else in the country!"
Yo Aoki was pondering Sendoh earlier, thinking to himself that the ball was perfectly timed to his jumping limit, and that Sendoh must have put a lot of effort into training him to make such a precise pass.
The words had barely left his mouth when the roles reversed.
Team Yellow's Shinichi Maki advanced the ball into the attacking third, where he was marked by his old rival, Fujima. The two knew each other like the back of their hand, and they went straight into battle without any pretense.
Shinichi Maki lowered his center of gravity and used the explosive power of his first step to force his way past Fujima. But Fujima was prepared and immediately slid to the side, using his agile footwork to stick to his defensive position.
Miyagi, also a defender, stared at the two of them in disbelief; their skill level was simply outrageous.
Seeing that he hadn't shaken off Fujima with his first step, Shinichi Maki immediately flicked the ball to the left and passed it to Kiyota. Kiyota received the ball and without hesitation, immediately turned to the baseline, pushed off with both legs, used his waist and back to generate power, and passed the ball to the baseline with his arms.