The match started quickly.
Shizuoka got the ball first, Mikoshiba dribbled to the basket, turned around and shook off his opponent, and scored a layup.
Shizuoka took the first point.
Saitama's offense is much simpler. He basically passes the ball a few times each time, and shoots when he has the opportunity. He rarely drives to the basket, let alone dunks.
Yo Aoki sighed, "This is what high school basketball should be like."
Within just ten minutes of the start of the match, Shizuoka had taken control of the game.
Coach Takato asked Yo Aoki, " Aoki, what are your thoughts on this match?"
Yo Aoki said seriously, "Although it's only been ten minutes, Shizuoka is clearly stronger than Saitama. If nothing unexpected happens, our opponent tomorrow will be Shizuoka."
Coach Takato nodded. "So, how do we deal with Shizuoka tomorrow?"
Yo Aoki smiled and said, "Just do your best and perform normally."
Coach Takato pressed further, "Tell me more."
Yo Aoki explained, "According to the data, Shizuoka is a team Jousei composed of Josei. They use a 2-3 zone defense, and their offense revolves around Mikoshiba, who focuses on attacking the inside. They also have a good long-range shooter on the outside who can provide screens."
Sakuragi was stunned. " Shizuoka's tactics are similar to Kainan's?"
Yo Aoki explained, "Although they look alike, they are fundamentally different."
" Jousei's core Mikoshiba, is the finisher of attacks, while Captain Maki is the initiator of attacks. Therefore, Kainan's offense is more varied, while Jousei's is more one-dimensional."
Miyagi shook his head. "No, Jousei's offense isn't one-dimensional; he has strengths both inside and outside!"
Yo Aoki didn't argue, only saying, "Maybe."
He continued, "Tomorrow's game against Shizuoka only requires limiting Mikoshiba in the paint and shutting down their point guard on the perimeter."
"With those two points contained, the morale of their other players must be low, so tomorrow it'll be up to Captain Maki and Sendoh."
Sakuragi panicked. "What? Then I won't get a chance to play tomorrow?"
Yo Aoki reassured him, "You're Hanamichi Sakuragi, the Rebound King! You'll definitely play tomorrow!"
Sakuragi laughed, "Haha, Aoki still knows my strength!"
Akagi then said in a deep voice, "Don't underestimate Shizuoka, they are not a weak team."
Kiyota jumped out first, retorting, "Whether they're a weak team or not depends on who their opponents are! Even our Kainan Team could dominate them, let alone this all-star team we've assembled!"
Aoki nodded in agreement, "That's right, we're not afraid!"
Sakuragi immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, "Yes! Especially with a genius like me joining in!"
Although Sakuragi was exaggerating, Uozumi smirked, "These first-year kids these days are really stubborn."
Mitsui also curled his lip, "They really have no sense of proportion."
Miyagi nodded in agreement, "Exactly!"
Shinichi Maki and Fujima exchanged a knowing glance and chuckled. "Looks like these first-year kids have provided quite a bit of entertainment."
The referee's whistle blew, and the Shizuoka Prefecture Representative Team won against the Saitama Prefecture Representative Team by a score of 31 points.
Coach Takato stood up abruptly. "Let's go back to the hotel for the pre-match meeting tonight."
Just as everyone was about to turn and leave, a loud, boisterous voice suddenly came from behind, "You're Sendoh?"
Everyone turned around and saw the girl with the ponytail leading four or five people blocking their way. Akagi frowned. "They're from Toyotama High School!"
The woman with the ponytail is Minori Kishimoto from Toyotama.
Kishimoto, hands in his pockets, sneered and walked up to Sendoh, saying, "You genius who hasn't even touched the threshold of the national championships, today we've finally met a real one."
Sendoh looked confused. "You know me?"
Kishimoto scoffed, " Kanagawa's genius, Akira Sendoh, has dazzlingly flashy techniques. I was hoping to test my skills against you at the national tournament."
"What a pity," Sendoh added blankly, "Do you want an autograph?"
Aoki, Sakuragi, Kiyota immediately burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs. "Hahaha!"
Kishimoto's face turned green, and his teammates behind him were cursing and swearing.
Sakuragi, one of the Problem Children Army, couldn't stand it. He immediately glared at them and said, "You ponytail brat, how dare you yell at me like that?"
Mitsui sighed, "You've lost before, haven't you learned your lesson?"
Miyagi poked Kishimoto's nose and snapped, "Idiot! How dare you come here to humiliate yourself!"
After being relentlessly teased by the Shohoku team, Kishimoto completely lost his temper. Although he had won the last national tournament by chance, he was still unconvinced and felt that Tsuyoshi Minami had lost his composure at the end, otherwise they would have won much earlier.
"Damn it! You bunch of guys won a game purely by luck, and you dare to be so arrogant?" Kishimoto clenched his fist, ready to strike.
"Enough, Kishimoto!" A voice pressed down on his fist. Aoki tilted his head and saw that it was Tsuyoshi Minami Ryū, the captain of Toyotama.
Aoki sized up Tsuyoshi Minami. He was 1.84 meters tall, with bangs on his sideburns and sharp eyes, looking gloomy at first glance.
"No wonder he's nicknamed the Ace Killer, his aura really suits him." Aoki muttered to himself, then suddenly remembered something: why didn't Tsuyoshi Minami cause trouble for Jun Tsuchiya during the Osaka qualifier finals?
He figured there were probably two reasons: either Tsuyoshi Minami didn't play at the time, or Daiei Academy had figured him out and made targeted arrangements before the match. He would only know the answer by watching the video.
Aoki looked around but didn't see Jun Tsuchiya and his Daiei players. "Looks like Toyotama's players are outnumbered today. Interesting."
Actually, what he was most concerned about was Daiei. Toyotama scored over 100 points in each of their first two games, but only scored 55 points against Daiei, and only allowed Tomioka to score 48 points in their first national game.
" Daiei Academy really lives up to its reputation as a defense-oriented team. I wonder what lineup Osaka Team will field this time. I'm really looking forward to it."
Tsuyoshi Minami walked over and pressed Kishimoto's raised fist down. "Enough talk, let's see who's better on the field."
After saying that, he smiled at Kaede Rukawa, turned to leave, Aoki suddenly stroked his chin, grinned, and called out, "Wait!"
Tsuyoshi Minami and the others paused, turning to look at Aoki. "You're looking for the Tsuchiya?" Tsuyoshi Minami frowned.
Aoki grinned, "I heard before that the king of Osaka is Daiei Academy, and their ace is Jun Tsuchiya. I heard that no one in Osaka can beat him, so I wanted to meet him."
Kishimoto exploded, "The kings of Osaka are Toyotama High School!"
Aoki scratched his head, feigning ignorance. " Toyotama High School? I've never heard of it."
"Bastards!" Kishimoto was about to lose his temper. " Kishimoto, don't fall for their tricks!" Tsuyoshi Minami quickly stopped him.
Aoki shrugged, looking completely innocent. "Then let's settle this with a match. Oh, by the way, you're all from Toyotama, right? So you're the substitutes, huh?"
Although Yo Aoki was arguing fiercely with Toyotama's people just now, Coach Takato was already patting him on the back and walking back.
"Alright, let's go. Don't waste our time arguing with those punks."
Yo Aoki stroked his chin, still savoring Kishimoto's outburst earlier, and chuckled mischievously twice.
On the way back to the hotel, Coach Takato suddenly asked him a question.
" Aoki, were you deliberately trying to provoke Toyotama's players?"
"That's not all," Yo Aoki chuckled, shaking the mineral water bottle in his hand. "We only saw Toyotama's people earlier, not Daiei's. I wanted to find out their attitude towards Daiei."
Coach Takato nodded knowingly.
"As expected, those arrogant guys from Toyotama harbor quite a bit of hostility towards Daiei."
So you want to exacerbate their conflict?
"Well, I'm just killing time anyway, so teasing them won't hurt."
"You're so mean!" Sakuragi suddenly interjected, slapping his thigh and laughing.
Yo Aoki paused for a moment, then scratched the back of his head.
Everyone nodded in agreement, their expressions saying, "That was a pretty underhanded move."
Coach Takato chuckled twice and patted Aoki on the shoulder.
"This incident also serves as a reminder that our team is a makeshift mix, so we need to be wary of these kinds of divisive tactics."
Yo Aoki awkwardly scratched his head and muttered, "How did I become a bad guy...?"
Soki Fukami is a second-year student at Shizuoka University, having graduated from Jousei High School less than two years ago.
He used to be a player on the Jousei Basketball Team, and he even recruited Mikoshiba into the basketball club. Even after he went to university, he would go to Jousei.
Today he made a special trip to the Osaka National Sports Festival Basketball Arena to watch the Shizuoka Prefecture game, accompanied by Shizuoka University University's Coach Shioya.
Fukami was sitting in the stands swinging his legs when he suddenly remembered his conversation with Coach Jousei Coach Aso the night before.
" Fukami, you've watched all the matches in this year's national tournament, haven't you?" Coach Aso asked in a deep voice.
Aso is Coach Anzai's junior. He is in his early fifties and has thinning hair on top of his head, so thin that you can see his scalp. He has a Mediterranean-style haircut.
"I went to check it out on purpose." Fukami's tone was somewhat somber.
Coach Aso sighed deeply.
"Sigh, Mikoshiba still hasn't recovered from that match."
The match Aso was referring to was the one between Jousei Meihou Industrial.
Hiroshi Morishige scored 50 points, grabbed 22 rebounds, and blocked 10 shots in that game, Jousei was completely dominated 56-102.
Coach Aso looked worried.
"Although he didn't say it, I know in my heart that we're facing Kanagawa tomorrow, and I'm afraid he won't be able to handle the blow."
" Kanagawa?" Fukami frowned. "They didn't follow the usual rules this year, not letting Kainan participate alone, but instead forming a mixed team?"
"Exactly." Aso lit a cigarette and blew a smoke ring. "Do you know what this means?"
Fukami swallowed Fukami. "That means Kanagawa has plenty of tough opponents besides Kainan!"
"That's why I'm worried about Mikoshiba getting another shock," Coach Aso sighed. " Shizuoka University was initially interested in him, but after watching that match, he hesitated. Shioya came with you this time because he wants to reassess Mikoshiba's worth, right? I don't want Mikoshiba's future to be ruined like this!"
Neither of them spoke for several minutes before Fukami spoke.
"Should I talk to him?"
"That's the only way now!"
Fukami at Aso's hunched back, Fukami realized that Mikoshiba wasn't the only one who was devastated.
"Wow--" The sudden shout brought him back to reality.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that the players from Kanagawa and Shizuoka had already entered the field.
After the players entered the field, they immediately began warming up, while the reporters on the sidelines were busy with their cameras and microphones.
Reporter A leaned over and started talking.
"From what I've heard, Kanagawa is incredibly strong this year. Last year, only Kainan was representing China at the National Sports Festival, but the situation has changed drastically this year!"
Reporter B pointed his camera at the Kanagawa players and grunted in agreement.
"Yes, but their teamwork is a big problem."
Reporter A then asked.
Who do you think will win this match?
Reporter B thought for a moment.
"It should still be Kanagawa, but this is their first official joint training session, so getting them to mesh will definitely be tough and the process won't be easy. Besides, Shizuoka isn't someone to be trifled with!"
"Hey, look!" Reporter A suddenly pointed.
People from Osaka, Aichi, and Fukuoka have arrived!
Reporter B chuckled.
"They're definitely just here to join in the fun; Kanagawa is a top favorite to win this year."
The referee blew his whistle, signaling the start of the match, and the players from both sides immediately took to the field.
Reporter A shouted excitedly.
"The players from both sides have entered the field!"
Reporter B read aloud the list in his hand.
" Shizuoka's starting lineup is no surprise."
"In Kanagawa's starting lineup, only Maki and Jin are from Kainan, and in Sannoh's victory over Shohoku, only Akagi was in the starting lineup."
Reporter A scratched his head.
"I remember there was a first-year player named Kaede Rukawa in that game, who was on par with Sawakita, and he didn't even start?"
"Hmm, it seems Kanagawa is truly teeming with talent!"
"Swish!" The referee tossed the ball up, and Akagi and Shizuoka Team's number 5 jumped up at the same time to compete for the ball.