Just as number 8 crossed half-court, Kiyota closed in. Kiyota's defensive skills were already solid, and no matter how number 8 tried to shake him off, he couldn't.
Aoki glanced at the commotion out of the corner of his eye and subtly moved half a step toward Kiyota. Just then, number 8 changed the direction of his dribble, and the route was heading straight for the position Mamoru Aoki.
An opportunity! Aoki suddenly darted out and reached Number 8 in a few steps, forming an encirclement with Kiyota.
Number 8 hadn't noticed Aoki hiding nearby at all. Startled by Aoki's sudden rush, before he could react, Aoki's hand had already slapped the ball away with a "smack."
Shizuoka's two defenders were completely Aoki down by Aoki's unpredictable defense, unable to organize any decent attacks, and their rhythm was completely disrupted.
In the second half, Mikoshiba barely touched the ball, and his previous ability to organize the team as a whole had lost its edge from the first half.
Akagi watched the scene and thought to himself: Mikoshiba is indeed strong, but compared to Sendoh and Aoki who can control the entire field, he is still a bit lacking.
There was no other way but to call a Shizuoka.
Coach Aso gathered the players together, picked up the tactical board, and began to give instructions. "From now on, you guys should focus on receiving passes on the perimeter. Leave the inside to them for now!"
"Pass the ball quickly once it crosses half-court, and if someone receives it, shoot decisively. Everyone else rushes in to grab the rebound! According to the statistics, we have the advantage in this!"
Unfortunately, not long after the game resumed, a young red-haired boy shattered Aso's plans!
"I'm Sakuragi, the Rebound King!" With this shout, Sakuragi snatched the ball right off Mikoshiba's head.
"Wow! That's his fifth consecutive rebound!" "This red-haired kid's got some skills!" "Yeah, he doesn't look like a greenhorn!"
Coach Aso slumped in his chair, his face turning green, completely at a loss.
Seeing that the situation was spiraling out of control, Mikoshiba shouted at the top of her lungs, "No one is allowed to give up until the very last second! Even if we lose the game, we can't lose that fighting spirit!"
Shizuoka is indeed a tough opponent. They fought alongside Mikoshiba until the very last second, and even when they were far behind, they never let their guard down.
"Whistle--" The final whistle blew, and Kanagawa Prefecture won the opening game with a score of 101 to 54.
Mikoshiba took a deep breath. "Although the result is the same as against Meihou Industrial, I'm not too disappointed."
He smiled and said, "I gave it my all in this match, and I have no regrets. They were truly formidable opponents."
The top scorers in this game were Shinichi Maki and Kaede Rukawa, each with 25 points! Sendoh delivered 18 assists, Sakuragi grabbed 13 rebounds, and Yo Aoki went on a scoring spree with 14 steals!
As soon as the match ended, reporters A and B from Osaka surrounded Yo Aoki, wanting to interview him.
Aoki glanced at their press passes and asked, "You're local Osaka reporters, right?"
Reporter B, Kashiwaba, nodded. "Yes, we're both from Osaka. My name is Kashiwaba, and his is Nishio."
Aoki suddenly asked out of the blue, "Have you guys been to Koshien?"
Kashiwaba and Nishio were taken aback. Kashiwaba replied, "I've been there..."
Aoki pressed further. "Have you guys ever heard of a high school pitcher named Tatsuya Uesugi before?"
Nishio: "There was indeed a very good pitcher named Uesugi five or six years ago, but I can't remember if his name was Tatsuya..."
Aoki was about to ask more questions when Kashiwaba quickly interrupted him, " Aoki, let's talk about that later, shall we talk about basketball first?"
Kashiwaba steered the conversation back on track. "With your skills, why did Kanagawa Prefecture make you a substitute?"
Aoki laughed, "I have to correct you, being strong has nothing to do with being a substitute, it's the coach's tactical arrangement."
Kashiwaba pressed further, "So, Coach Takato deliberately made you a substitute?"
Aoki said seriously, "That's right! Coach Takato designed 12 starting lineups and 36 tactical combinations for us, and we only used a tiny fraction of them today!"
Kashiwaba stared wide-eyed, speechless for a long time.
Nishio then asked, "Are you confident of winning the next match against the host Osaka Team?"
Aoki smiled slyly, " The Osaka Team is too strong; I have absolutely no confidence in beating them!"
Nishio gasped, his mouth agape. "Huh?"
Aoki said earnestly, "I think Osaka will definitely win. If you don't believe me, come find me again after the next match, and we'll see if I'm right!"
Aoki nodded to them, then turned and left, leaving the two reporters looking at each other in bewilderment.
"How are we supposed to write this?!"
The hotel where the Osaka Team was staying that night.
The entire Daiei team was huddled in Coach Miura's room, discussing how to review the Kanagawa game footage before finalizing their tactics for the next day. Although everyone was eager to watch the footage, Coach Miura spoke first.
Coach Miura glanced at his watch, frowned, and asked, "Have you informed those guys from Toyotama yet?"
"We've notified everyone!" one team member replied confidently, patting his chest. "We sent the message half an hour ago!"
Just then, the sound of a door opening suddenly came from the corridor, followed by a series of footsteps approaching. "It's Toyotama's people!" someone with sharp eyes shouted.
Everyone peered out through the half-open door, and sure enough, it was Toyotama and his gang! But these guys didn't stop at all when they passed the door; they just swaggered straight down the corridor!
" Kishimoto! Where are you going?" Coach Miura chased after them, shouting at the top of his lungs, "We're waiting to watch the Kanagawa replay!"
Kishimoto chuckled, picking his ear, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Come on, do we, who sit on the sidelines, need to watch this stuff?"
Coach Miura's face darkened. "I deliberately held back in the last game, but this time our opponent is Kanagawa! You must be fully focused. I'll save all your playing opportunities for you!"
Kishimoto scoffed, "You think you can fool me with that?" With that, he led Itakura, Iwata, and the others to retreat!
Miura suddenly gave a sinister laugh, "I'm not that idiot Jinpei! If you dare to step out of this door even half a step, I guarantee your basketball careers will be over immediately!"
"What?" Itakura on the spot.
Miura's tone was as cold as ice. "I mean what I say!"
In fact, it has long been said in Osaka's high school basketball circles that Daiei's Coach Miura, has very strong backing. The Ministry of Education gave him special preferential treatment, which is why Daiei was able to pull Toyotama down from its position as the king of Osaka in such a short time.
Itakura was immediately conflicted. He was only a second-year student; was it worth jeopardizing his future for Kishimoto and his group of third-years? Miura immediately adopted a pained expression. "I wasn't even planning to take you guys to the National Sports Festival team! But Kitano- senpai pleaded with me, wanting you to have another chance at the national tournament, so I relented and let you come!"
These words caused unease not only among Itakura but also among the others. " Kishimoto!" Tsuyoshi Minami pulled him aside, "We're in the same boat as Daiei now, don't cause any more trouble!"
"Besides, we can't let Kitano- sensei's good intentions go to waste!"
Upon hearing Kitano's name, Kishimoto deflated. After hesitating for a long time, he finally led the Toyotama team back. With everyone finally assembled, Coach Miura inserted the videotape into the VCR: "This is the video of today's Kanagawa match. Everyone watch it carefully."
The room fell silent instantly, everyone staring at the screen. The first half was entirely Sendoh's solo show, even Shinichi Maki was overshadowed by him. His precise organizational skills made Daiei and his group feel Daiei.
" Sendoh..." Kishimoto stared in disbelief. He never imagined that the person he had mocked was so skilled in combat. Remembering his earlier provocation of the Kanagawa gang, his face burned with embarrassment—so, in their eyes, he was nothing more than a clown?
The second half was even more explosive, with Kaede Rukawa, Kiyota, and Sakuragi dunking in succession, leaving everyone breathless. Tsuyoshi Minami stared at Kaede Rukawa on the screen, his heart filled with mixed emotions—it was this fearless spirit that had brought him back to his former self, and to meet him again now, wasn't this a twist of fate?
"Beep--" The recording finished playing. Coach Miura coughed. "Alright, let's talk about our thoughts. Tsuyoshi Minami, you go first."
Tsuyoshi Minami thought for a moment and said, "We played against Kanagawa Shohoku in the national tournament. They're pretty strong, especially Kaede Rukawa, who's a first-year student. He's incredibly good!"
"Oh? Anything else?" Coach Miura asked calmly. "There's also Maki and number 11, both tough opponents."
Miura ignored Tsuyoshi Minami's words and turned to ask Atsushi Tsuchiya, " Atsushi, what do you think?"
"I watched it live today, and with the recordings, both halves of the Kanagawa match revolved around Sendoh and Yo Aoki as the main attackers," Atsushi Tsuchiya said calmly.
Coach Miura nodded—just from the fact that he could accurately call out the names of those two players, you could tell he had done his homework. Tsuchiya continued, " Kanagawa's offense is quite unique; it's not organized by guards, but rather led by two players who are around 1.9 meters tall."
He picked up a document. "According to the data, Sendoh and Aoki are both forwards, so they can also be called playmaking forwards!"
"A playmaking forward?" Kishimoto paused, surprised. Why did this sound like they were talking about him?
Tsuchiya, still staring at the data, continued, "These two are tall, and their vision for organizing the attack is much wider than that of ordinary guards. They can find the opponent's weaknesses very easily."
Kishimoto thought to himself: So this is how Tsuchiya fights too?
Tsuchiya put down the documents. "Although both are playmakers, their styles are worlds apart! Sendoh is suited for organizing positional attacks, able to seize fleeting opportunities and pass the ball to the most suitable place. Number 15, on the other hand, relies on exceptional defense, forcing opponents into turnovers to launch fast breaks."
Coach Miura nodded in agreement. "Well said! Your analysis is spot on!"
Tsuchiya's analysis was clearly far superior to Tsuyoshi Minami's, a fact that everyone present knew perfectly well. This disparity caused the faces of Toyotama and his gang to instantly fall.
To be fair, Tsuyoshi Minami's abilities wouldn't warrant such a perfunctory analysis, but he harbored a deep-seated resentment towards Coach Miura, opting for bland and unhelpful remarks, which ultimately backfired.
At this moment, the tall player with black-rimmed glasses spoke up, "That Sendoh made 18 assists in the first half alone, that's outrageous!" This person was Daiei's center, Takashi Akimoto.
A flippant voice chimed in. "Don't worry, I'll handle Sendoh!" The speaker was Sendoh 'Daiei small forward, Masaharu Nitta, whose skill was second only to Atsushi Tsuchiya, and he was the team's second toughest player.
Coach Miura immediately tapped the table. " Nitta, don't underestimate them."
Nitta shook his head, laughing hysterically, "I know, I know~"
Akimoto chimed in, "And that Yo Aoki, his defensive ability is absolutely top-tier nationwide. He got 14 steals in the first half alone, that's unbelievable!"
Kishimoto immediately scoffed, "That only proves that Shizuoka's defenders are terrible!"