Coach Akai sighed helplessly, "Sigh... We did hear that the Kainan Team is going all out to poach Aoki."
Everyone fell silent instantly.
Hojo frowned, clutching his basketball shorts, and asked the question immediately.
"Is Aoki going to just abandon the project and leave?"
Although everyone was feeling uneasy, Nakamura still managed a forced smile.
"That's true. If we had been more assertive, would we have suffered such a crushing defeat in the qualifiers?"
Suddenly, a resolute shout rang out, and everyone turned their heads in unison. It was Terashima who had spoken.
Terashima puffed out his chest, looking serious.
"I'm a newcomer, and I didn't get to go through the summer qualifiers with everyone, but I believe in Aoki!"
Hojo stared at him, his tone full of doubt.
Why are you so sure?
Terashima raised his chin.
He taught me a lot of basketball skills from the bottom of his heart!
Someone nearby rolled their eyes.
What kind of reason is that?
Terashima immediately retorted.
"He's even willing to teach me everything he knows, even as a newcomer. Who among you hasn't been personally guided by him?"
Everyone looked at each other and nodded.
Yo Aoki never held back any skill he wanted to learn.
"With a captain who's so protective of the team, how can he go anywhere else?" Shirota suddenly interjected.
He slapped his forehead, his tone resolute.
"I knew about the looting of Aoki in Kainan a long time ago, and he told me he would never leave!"
" Aoki and I were classmates in junior high school. Back then, the two of us decided to go to Takezato High School. He even declared that he would lead Takezato to national domination!"
" Aoki isn't one to give up halfway!"
Coach Akai nodded in agreement and patted everyone on the shoulder.
" Aoki is the captain, you have to trust him!"
"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.
Coach Akai finally breathed a sigh of relief; Aoki was a pillar of the team.
Shirota's eyes suddenly lit up, and he moved closer to the coach.
"Teacher, Aoki and his team have a warm-up match tomorrow. Shall we all go and cheer them on?"
Nakamura bounced around, clutching the ball, extremely excited.
"Yes, let's show those people from Kainan how united we are in Takezato!"
Nobody knows whether he genuinely wanted to cheer or was trying to skip training.
Oriyuki Iwasaki nodded in agreement.
"I'll have the driver come tomorrow, and we'll take the bus!"
She then turned to Shirota and spoke.
"Do you have the phone number for the Kainan reception office? I need to talk to Aoki before I go."
Classroom of Class 4, Grade 1, Kainan High School.
Kaede Rukawa and Hanamichi Sakuragi were catching up on sleep at their desks when Yo Aoki took advantage of the break between classes to pull Kiyota aside and ask him about the strengths and weaknesses of each team in the national tournament.
The original manga only focused on Toyotama and Sannoh, glossing over the other teams. Aoki wanted to learn more to prepare for the future.
"Is Aoki -kun here?" A girl's voice called from outside the classroom.
Is Yo Aoki from Takezato here?
"I'm here!" Yo Aoki stood up and walked towards the door.
Kiyota lay on the table, muttering jealously.
"Is even Aoki going to get confessed to? The girls from Kainan are so inconsiderate!"
Aoki stood at the doorway, looking at the girl in front of him.
"Did you need something from me?"
The girl gripped her backpack strap tightly, her face flushed red.
"Yes... yes," she stammered, not expecting Yo Aoki to be so tall. She felt like a dwarf standing next to him, and even looking up made her nervous.
"There's a phone call for you in the reception room. Teacher Koyama asked me to come find you."
" Koyama?" Yo Aoki scratched his head.
"Isn't he a physical education teacher from Kainan? Why is he in the reception room?"
"I understand, thank you!"
Yo Aoki knocked on the door of the reception room, and only went in after a response came from inside.
Sure enough, sitting inside was Teacher Koyama, whom I had seen before.
Koyama pointed to the telephone on the table.
"They're looking for you."
Aoki picked up the phone, and a familiar voice came through the receiver.
"Hello, who's looking for me?"
"Uh... it's me."
"Oh, it's Iwasaki. What can I do for you?"
Aoki chuckled dryly twice.
"Of course it wasn't an accident, I just didn't expect you to call."
"Hmph, I'm just telling you, we're going to Kainan to cheer you on during your warm-up match tomorrow."
"You?"
" Teacher Akai, and all the other team members, go too!"
"That's wonderful!" Yo Aoki's tone brightened considerably.
"There's... there's one more thing..." Oriyuki Iwasaki's voice suddenly became hesitant.
"What's up?"
Oriyuki Iwasaki said quickly.
"October 30th is my birthday, and I'd like to invite you to my villa for a birthday party!"
She took a breath and quickly added more.
"Don't misunderstand! I just wanted to thank you, that's all."
Aoki's heart skipped a beat. This extravagance was exactly like a lavish banquet in a detective movie.
"A villa? Will they hire detectives or police officers for the birthday party?"
Oriyuki Iwasaki asked curiously.
Why would you ask that?
"It's nothing! It's nothing!" Aoki waved his hand.
Although he felt a little bad about ignoring Iwasaki's kindness, he was actually quite looking forward to it.
"Okay! I'll definitely be there!"
"Hmm," Oriyuki Iwasaki tried to keep her tone casual.
"I'll have someone pick you up then."
Aoki put down the phone and turned to Teacher Koyama.
"I'm going back to the classroom now. Good luck in the warm-up match tomorrow!"
"Thanks!"
Aoki returned to his seat, Kiyota immediately came over to gossip.
" Aoki, you got confessed to?"
"No!" Aoki shook his head.
"It's our team's phone number; they're coming to watch our game tomorrow."
"Oh~" Kiyota immediately breathed a sigh of relief!
After training in the evening, Shinichi Maki gathered all the players together for a short meeting.
Shinichi Maki crossed his arms and spoke in a serious tone.
"Tomorrow we're going to face off against the Chiba Prefecture Representative Team. Although Coach Takato didn't give us any specific tactics, we still need to figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are."
" Urayasu Commercial is a tough nut to crack in the local area. They made it to the quarterfinals of the national competition this year, but ultimately lost to the Aiwa Academy."
Shinichi Maki flipped through the documents in his hand and said, "According to the information I've checked, Chiba Prefecture's lineup, like ours, is a mixed team made up of various teams, but they will most likely adopt Urayasu Commercial's playing style."
" Urayasu Commercial is a slow-starting team; they only really shine in the second half and mainly rely on three-pointers to widen the gap."
"Take the first round of the national tournament, for example, their match against Yuki Technical," Shinichi Maki paused, "The score at halftime was 51-42, with Urayasu Commercial only leading by 9 points."
"But they started the second half with a three-pointer, widening the gap to 26 points. Yuki Technical's mentality collapsed, and the game was no longer in doubt."
"So we need to keep a close eye on their performance in the second half."
Yo Aoki raised his hand. "Captain Mu, do we have any recordings of Urayasu Commercial's matches?"
"Yes, but Coach Takato won't give them to us." Shinichi Maki curled his lip.
Jin leaned over and said, "If the opponent has strong outside shooting, we can use a 1-2-2 zone defense to limit their three-point shooting."
Yo Aoki immediately waved his hand in opposition. "No, this tactic is not suitable for us."
Sendoh twitched the corner of his mouth. "I also think it won't work. Don't forget Coach Takato Takato's starting lineup."
Mitsui rolled his eyes. "Then we can change players!"
Shinichi Maki crossed his arms and said, " Coach Takato said he doesn't specify tactics, but he does arrange the starting lineup."
Sakuragi immediately jumped up. "Are you doubting my genius skills?"
Kiyota laughed from the side, "You really know your place."
Kaede Rukawa actually nodded.
Sakuragi bristled. "You Stinking Fox, Wild Monkey!"
Yo Aoki quickly tried to smooth things over. " Sakuragi, nobody meant it that way. Everyone has their strengths. I think we should just use man-to-man marking."
"Since Coach Takato has arranged this lineup, let's make good use of their strengths."
Sendoh raised an eyebrow. "What strange tactic have you come up with this time?"
Yo Aoki chuckled, "I bet the coaches from Chiba Prefecture aren't as well-prepared as we are. Coach Takato's starting lineup is already a surprise for them; we don't need to overdo it."
Shinichi Maki became interested. " Aoki, you have a plan? Tell me about it."
Yo Aoki clapped his hands. "In this competition, we'll center around Sakuragi!"
Sakuragi slapped his thigh and laughed wildly, " Aoki, you're the one who understands me best!"
Kiyota immediately exclaimed, " Aoki, are you crazy? How can this idiot be a core member!"
Yo Aoki said earnestly, "I think Sakuragi is amazing."
Aoki shrugged again. "Of course, if you don't agree with this plan, you can suggest something else."
Sakuragi's eyes widened. "What!"
Kiyota immediately shouted, "I disagree!"
Shinichi Maki spoke first, "Don't rush, Aoki, finish explaining the plan."
Yo Aoki leaned closer and whispered, "Didn't you guys notice? Coach Takato's starting lineup is very similar to the yellow team's lineup during practice?"
After thinking for a moment, everyone nodded; except for Sakuragi, the other four agreed.
Yo Aoki continued, "There's something wrong with that lineup; you've all probably noticed."
The problem for the Yellow Team at that time was that both Shinichi Maki and Kaede Rukawa wanted to have the ball and attack, which disrupted their rhythm.
Akagi asked, "Would replacing Jin with Sakuragi solve the problem?"
Sakuragi bluntly replied, "No!"
Everyone who was concentrating intently swayed.
Why are you saying that?
Yo Aoki explained, "What I mean is, since we can't solve it, let's find another scoring option to strengthen our offense."
Mitsui rolled his eyes. "What kind of scoring point is Sakuragi?!"
Kiyota exclaimed, "If we substitute Jin, we'll lose an offensive weapon!"
Yo Aoki waved his hand. "My plan is for everyone to pass the ball to Sakuragi so he can attack."
Miyagi immediately objected. "This is too frivolous, I disagree."
Sakuragi panicked. " Ryota, you're against it too!"
Yo Aoki looked at Kaede Rukawa: " Rukawa, what are your thoughts?"
Kaede Rukawa remained silent for a long time before replying, "It doesn't matter."
Where is Senior Sendoh?
"It's just a warm-up match, I'll listen to you guys." Sendoh simply washed his hands of the matter.
Where is Fujima- senpai?
Fujima smiled. "I agree."
Hanagata was taken aback; this tactic was far too hasty.
Yo Aoki looked at Shinichi Maki: "Where's Captain Maki?"
Shinichi Maki stared at Aoki, thinking to himself that this kid definitely had a backup plan.
After a while, Shinichi Maki spoke up, "Then let's give it a try."
The next morning, the Chiba Prefecture Representative Team departed and boarded the train to Kanagawa.
In addition to the fifteen players, two technical staff members accompanied the team to analyze the opponents, as Kanagawa is a favorite to win the championship.
Genta Shimizu sat in his seat flipping through a magazine; it was " Basketball Weekly."
He's from Urayasu Commercial and also the ace of the Chiba Team. He's 1.83 meters tall, has a bowl cut, and plays shooting guard.
Akashi nudged him with her elbow. " Shimizu, what did the magazine say about Kanagawa?"
Daisuke Akashi is Urayasu's starting center. He is 1.91 meters tall, has eyes as big as Fukuda's, and a middle parting hairstyle.
Shimizu smiled and said, "What else can I say? That they're strong."
Akashi scoffed but remained silent.
The Kainan Team, representing Kanagawa in the national tournament, won the runner-up title, and Shohoku even managed to upset Sannoh Industrial High School. Moreover, their combined team is even stronger. Genta Shimizu looked solemn, his words full of apprehension.
Even if they are strong, we are not pushovers! The outcome is still uncertain! Akashi retorted, his neck stiff with resentment.
Genta Shimizu held the magazine up to Akashi and said, "Look at this ' Basketball Weekly.' It clearly states that Shinichi Maki's Kanagawa Team has top-tier players in every position nationwide, with top-notch offense and defense!"