Akimoto adjusted his glasses and said casually, "Those two defenders from Shizuoka are from Jousei. Jousei is at least a top eight team in the country. How could a top eight team be bad?"
Upon hearing this, Kishimoto immediately shut up. Toyotama's best result to date was only the quarterfinals; wasn't this tantamount to slapping himself in the face?
Seeing that Kishimoto had stopped responding, Akimoto continued, "However, Yo Aoki's other stats are terrible: 0 points and only 2 rebounds. That's about it; his offense is probably weak."
Someone chimed in, "Maybe this is Kanagawa's secret weapon against Tsuchiya?"
Coach Miura slammed his fist on the table. "You're right! Trading a strong defender for Atsushi is a losing proposition for us no matter how you look at it!"
Nitta chuckled and interjected, "That guy's defense is decent, but he definitely can't stop Tsuchiya."
Akimoto was stunned. "Why?"
Nitta laughed wildly, "My intuition is always right, hahaha!"
Akimoto rolled his eyes and sighed, "What a brainless idiot."
Coach Miura's smile faded, and he became serious. "If Kanagawa dares to field Aoki, it will actually benefit us, as we'll lose an offensive option!"
He suddenly raised his voice. "I'll emphasize it again, when fighting in Kanagawa, we absolutely cannot forget Maki — Shinichi Maki!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression tightened.
Miura continued, "No matter how good Sendoh and Aoki are, Kanagawa's ace is still him! If we don't take him down, we're definitely in for a tough fight!"
Coach Miura suddenly looked at Itakura: " Itakura, I've made up my mind! You'll be starting tomorrow!"
"Your mission is crucial: face off against Maki Shinichi Maki!"
"Your physical attributes are similar to Maki's, and you're also good at mid-range shooting. I believe you can handle it."
Itakura was completely stunned— Miura actually chose him as a starter? This was supposed to be Toyotama's first starter tomorrow!
He jumped to his feet and roared, "Mr. Miura! I'll beat him to a pulp!"
Coach Miura smiled and nodded, gesturing for him to sit down.
At that moment, Kishimoto was glaring fiercely at Itakura, Itakura shrank back under that gaze and almost lost his footing.
Miura witnessed this entire scene, and a subtle smile crept onto his lips.
Miura's method for dealing with Toyotama was simple: first, win over people like Itakura. Kishimoto, with his personality, would inevitably hate Itakura, and over time, internal conflicts would definitely arise within Toyotama. No matter what the outcome of the match was, Toyotama would definitely be the one to suffer.
Nitta glanced at the heights of Akagi and Uozumi on the Kanagawa roster, slapped his thigh and laughed, "Haha, Akimoto! Those two centers in Kanagawa are both so tall, you're going to have a headache again this time, aren't you?"
Akimoto adjusted his glasses and said steadily, "No matter how strong they are, they're not as good as Hiroshi Morishige! After losing to Meihou last time, I've already come up with a tactic to deal with power centers!"
Miura certainly knew about this— Daiei recently lost to Meihou in the summer tournament, and Akimoto remembered that game perfectly. He had privately discussed with Miura many ways to counter powerful centers, and today he could put those strategies to good use.
Atsushi Tsuchiya suddenly spoke up, "Don't forget about Soichiro Jin! His shooting accuracy is ridiculously high!"
Nitta said nonchalantly, "That guy has good open shots, but as long as there's someone of similar height guarding him closely, he's no threat."
Tsuchiya sighed, " Nitta, when are you going to get rid of this habit of underestimating your opponents?"
Nitta chuckled but didn't say anything.
Daiei and his group chatted enthusiastically, while Toyotama and the others remained as silent as sullen gourds. Only Itakura listened attentively, occasionally revealing an excited expression.
Miura glanced at his watch; it was already past nine. He then peered out the door, as if waiting for someone.
But waiting any longer wouldn't do, so he said, "It's getting late, let's call it a day."
"Tomorrow morning is the final tactical meeting. No one is allowed to be late!"
In the second half of his sentence, Miura's eyes were fixed on Kishimoto and Tsuyoshi Minami, and the meaning couldn't be clearer.
Kishimoto snorted coldly, slammed the door shut in anger, and stormed out.
Coach Miura stared at the retreating figures of Toyotama and his group, his lips twitching. He'd let them run wild for a few days, and then deal with these troublemakers properly after the National Sports Festival.
Soon, only Miura and Yamakura, the Osaka Team's manager, remained in the room. Yamakura asked curiously, "Senior, when did Coach Kitano contact you?"
Kitano? Miura laughed. "He never even contacted me! Even if he did, I wouldn't see him!" Yamakura suddenly realized, "So you only said that to appease those Toyotama kids?"
"Stabilize them? "Miura nodded. "That's exactly what I intend to do." He walked to the window, looked at the night outside, and said, "Actually, it was my suggestion to let Toyotama join the National Sports Festival team."
"Did you suggest that?" Yamakura was stunned. In his memory, Miura was not the type to back down. Actually, we heard rumors more than a month ago that the National Sports Festival was being held in Osaka, and some guys at the top wanted to mix Daiei Toyotama into a team to participate, and even came up with the idea that this would improve the team's strength.
Since they've made up their minds, why shouldn't I go along with it and offer my opinion? Miura scoffed, "These idiots!" Yamakura finally understood that it wasn't that Miura had changed his mind; it was the situation that forced him to.
Miura chuckled again, but this might not be a bad thing! Their opponent in the Winter Selection Tournament is still Toyotama. It would be good to seize their main players during this National Sports Festival. This way, they can understand their strengths and weaknesses and also sow the seeds of conflict in their hearts!
Once this seed sprouts, it will be the time when Toyotama completely collapses. If Yo Aoki were here at that time, he would definitely be able to get together with Toyotama's Coach Wangpu and they would resonate with each other!
Knock, knock, knock! There was a knock on the door. Miura said in a deep voice, "Come in!" Someone pushed the door open and said, "I'm sorry, I'm late."
The reporter who arrived was Kashiwaba, Osaka reporter who had interviewed Yo Aoki before. Miura didn't mind that he was late and went up to him warmly, saying, "Brother Kashiwaba, it must have been hard for you to come all this way."
But Kashiwaba bowed to Miura and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Miura! I only managed to get the video of the Kainan Team's national tournament preliminaries; I couldn't find the other teams' videos." Miura had assumed he hadn't gotten the videos, and only breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
Previously, fearing the worst, Miura had asked Kashiwaba, a reporter he was on good terms with, to find a recording of the Kanagawa Prefecture preliminary finals. Actually, Miura only wanted a recording of one team, since several teams would be played in the round-robin tournament, and there would be something he could refer to.
But he didn't expect Kashiwaba to be so stubborn, insisting on getting all the match recordings, which made it too late. Miura was still quite grateful, patting Kashiwaba on the shoulder, "Brother Kashiwaba, you've helped me a lot."
"Haha, of course!" Seeing that he wasn't angry, Kashiwaba immediately beamed and handed over three videotapes. Miura casually picked one and tossed it to Yamakura next to the TV, "Watch this one first."
Yamakura glanced down at the videotape label, which read "Kainan vs. Takezato". Inside the room, Miura sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and acted like the boss.
Yamakura, sitting next to him, clutched his notebook, waiting to take notes. Across from him, Kashiwaba sat upright, looking somewhat reserved. Kashiwaba's younger brother Eijiro, was a first-year high school student and a reserve member of the Daiei basketball team.
Kashiwaba went to great lengths to make a good impression on his younger brother, Miura. For example, he spent a considerable amount of money to obtain the Kanagawa footage from other reporters.
"Eijiro, I've done all I can to help. The rest is up to you!" Kashiwaba muttered as the match started playing on TV.
At the opening tip-off, Takasago passed the ball to Soichiro Jin, but Yo Aoki intercepted it. Miura exhaled a smoke ring; Yo Aoki was indeed a master at stealing the ball!
In the video, Yo Aoki receives the ball and immediately drives towards the basket. Huh? Miura is stunned; his dribbling speed shouldn't be this slow!
But what happened next terrified Miura. "What is this?!" Kashiwaba exclaimed. "Is this real? It can't be fake, can it?!"
On TV, Yo Aoki jumped up forcefully, knocking Kiyota away. But what happened next was even more jaw-dropping: he dunked over Takasago and then blocked Kiyota!
Yo Aoki was like a tiger charging through the paint in Kainan. Miura's cigarette was almost finished, Kashiwa's jaw nearly dropped to the ground, and Yamakura stumbled and said, "Senior, we were completely wrong about Aoki."
Miura forced himself to calm down. He spoke calmly, "Luckily we knew before the match, otherwise we would definitely be at a disadvantage."
Yamakura asked urgently, "Should we call the team members over now and let them know too?" Miura pondered for a moment.
No need, we'll talk about it tomorrow morning. He then asked, "Who won the game in the end?"
Well... I'm not entirely sure either, but I'd guess Kainan will win.
But as soon as the first half ended, Yamakura said with a smirk, " Aoki mostly drives into the paint. As long as we can force him out of the paint, he's helpless."
Kashiwaba shook his head in rebuttal, "Have you forgotten his passing skills? He can still cause trouble even on the perimeter!"
Yamakura gave a wry smile, turned to Coach Miura, and asked, "Senior, what are our tactics for tomorrow's match against Kanagawa...?"
In fact, Miura and Yamakura had already decided on their tactics for Kanagawa, but they changed them at the last minute in the afternoon because of Sendoh's appearance. Who would have thought that an even more formidable character would suddenly appear?
Coach Miura spoke in a deep voice, "Don't rush, let's watch the second half first."
The second half has just begun, and the two sides are locked in a fierce battle.
But at that moment, Yo Aoki actually dared to shoot a three-pointer.
Kashiwaba and Yamakura exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock. This Yo Aoki had no flaws at all!
But as soon as the scene cut to Yo Aoki's injury, Kashiwaba sighed, "Ah... what a pity."
Yamakura chimed in, "Yes, the outcome should be decided by now."
Coach Miura didn't respond. He felt something was off. There wasn't a hint of panic on his face; instead, it was as if he had a backup plan.
As time went by, the group became completely absorbed in the game, and before they knew it, they had reached the final stage.
Suddenly, Yo Aoki stopped dribbling, raised his hand beyond the three-point line, and launched a shot—surprisingly, with his left hand!
"Ah!" Yamakura and Kashiwaba exclaimed simultaneously.
Coach Miura's lips suddenly curled into a smile. Sure enough, he had a backup plan!
"Unbelievable! "Yamakura muttered to himself, " Takezato actually won!"
Kashiwaba exclaimed that Yo Aoki was incredibly lucky; he could even score with his left hand. He should buy a lottery ticket.
Coach Miura didn't try to talk about luck with Kashiwaba; instead, he asked, "Kashiwaba, you interviewed Yo Aoki today. What did you think of him?"
Kashiwaba scratched the back of his head. Nothing special, just an ordinary high school student.
However, his answers during the interview were particularly unexpected, completely defying common sense.
Coach Miura suddenly laughed. "What an interesting kid!"
At the same time, in their hotel in Kanagawa, Aoki and his friends were also watching Daiei's video of Toyotama.
Toyotama's tactics rely on Kishimoto's strength to quickly break through the paint, or Kishimoto attracts double teams and then passes the ball to Tsuyoshi Minami and Itakura on the perimeter for shooting. This is the so-called RunGun offense.
However, in this match, Toyotama's run-and-gun offense was completely countered by Daiei's style of play, putting them on the defensive from the very beginning.
First, Kishimoto was tightly marked by Atsushi Tsuchiya and couldn't break through the paint at all, while Tsuyoshi Minami on the outside was shut down by Daiei's number five player.
The number five player had clearly figured out Tsuyoshi Minami's offensive tactics, giving Tsuyoshi Minami no chance to even unleash his "killer instincts."
As expected, Toyotama High School has been Daiei!