bestfiction Chapter 139: Facing the National Competition
Chapter 139: Facing the National Competition
"Center Akagi Takenori, power forward Kusao Takeshi, small forward Katsumi Ichiro, shooting guard Mitsui Hisashi, point guard Mugure Kiminori. Tomorrow, show your true strength to your opponents." In the last practice match, Coach Anzai finally sent out the strongest lineup he had.
"Good! Defeat Changcheng!" Xiangbei players echoed in unison
On the third day, the last warm-up match is about to start
"Let's teach Xiangbei a lesson by winning three games in a row." Winning two games in a row, although the process was not so smooth, but it was still a win after all. This made some of Changcheng's players look down on Xiangbei.
"No, this time Xiangbei has put all the main players on the field, everyone should not be careless. Xiangbei will never let you win the third game so easily." Coach Miyazaki noticed the difference in Xiangbei's lineup in this game. As a coach who often participates in national competitions, Miyazaki's vision is naturally different from that of his students. After two days of competition, Miyazaki has a better understanding of the strength of Xiangbei's players. As soon as he saw Xiangbei's lineup, he realized that this is Xiangbei's strongest lineup.
"Yes," the Changcheng team members agreed in unison, but whether they heard it or not, only the game would tell.
On the jump ball, Akagi was still invincible, and the players of Changcheng were used to it. They retreated. But their defense was not fast enough. They thought that Xiangbei would continue to advance slowly to the front court as before and hand it to Akagi in the interior for a single play. But this time, after Mumu got the ball, he directly made a long pass. The players of Changcheng followed the direction of the ball and found that a Xiangbei player in red appeared under the basket. After getting the ball, he directly made a layup and scored!
"It's just a surprise attack, don't be careless," Captain Kuwata reminded his teammates.
Changcheng's attack is also the old routine, handed over to Mikoshiba singles. Two games have proved that the captain of Xiangbei is no match for Mikoshiba. Mikoshiba successfully breaks through the defense of Kusao Takeshi, and Akagi comes to assist.
"Hmph, Akagi, if you come out, there will be no one under the basket." Mikoshiba smiled disdainfully and passed the ball directly to the center under the basket.
"Snap!" The ball was stolen halfway, and it was Mitsui who stole the ball! "Kumure" Mitsui made a long pass to Mugure, and Mugure and Katsumi were like two sharp knives, piercing straight into the heart of Changcheng, and finally Katsumi completed the attack with a three-pointer.
Changcheng's Mikoshiba scored 2 points, but Shohoku responded with a three-pointer from Mitsui.
Changcheng tried to open the offensive from the outside, but Yufune's three-pointer was blocked by Mitsui, and Xiangbei counterattacked and scored two more points. Xiangbei players who did not play to their full potential in the two training games played at full power in this game. At the beginning, they beat Changcheng 14:4, which caught Changcheng off guard. After the timeout, Changcheng's offense was adjusted and recovered a lot of points. However, in the strength comparison of the tridents of both sides. Compared with Kuwata Shuichi, Mugure wins in offensive power and wide shooting range, while Kuwata Shuichi wins in rich experience in major competitions and strong breakthrough ability. However, his shooting is slightly lacking, and he has almost no long-range shots. Mugure has figured out his weaknesses and does not give him the opportunity to break through easily. It has restricted Kuwata's performance to a great extent. Although Mikoshiba is stronger than the captain of Xiangbei, Coach Anzai used Kusao Takeshi, Horita and Fukuda to defend Mikoshiba in a round-robin battle, which greatly consumed Mikoshiba's physical strength. And Yufune, under the targeting of Mitsui, lost his previous sharpshooter power. In the other two positions, Akagi vs. Nagasawa Yusei and Hasegawa vs. Ishihara Akira also had advantages. In the end, in the last match, Xiangbei defeated Changcheng by 88 points 73:15. Although they "only" won by 5 points, with 23 minutes left in the game, Xiangbei was already leading by points. Coach Anzai didn't want to embarrass his junior, so he called off the game early.
"Thank you for your guidance" The Xiangbei players who finished their training camp greeted the Changcheng players
"I didn't expect Xiangbei to be so strong, but we won't lose again in the national competition." Although it was embarrassing to lose the last game by a large margin, as the captain, Kuwata Shuichi still blessed Xiangbei in a very graceful manner.
"Xiangbei is a very strong team. They will make some waves in the national competition." Changcheng's players and coaches watched the Xiangbei players leave.
In the following days, Xiangbei has been doing adjustment training to ensure that they are in the best condition for the national competition! On this day, Xiangbei finally set out for the national competition venue they have long dreamed of - Kyoto!
"Hello! Are you guys from Shohoku also leaving today?" Just as everyone from Shohoku sat down, they heard Fujita's voice! "Hello! Captain Fujita, are you guys leaving today too?" Kusao Takeshi asked politely. "Yes, not only our Hainan, but Shoyo is also leaving today. Look, Sakata and the others are coming." Fujita said while pointing behind Shohoku. "Hello everyone! It seems that all three teams from Kanagawa are leaving today!!" Sakata greeted everyone. "Congratulations to Shoyo for winning the play-offs and entering the national competition!" Kusao Takeshi congratulated. Shoyo finally caught the last train to the national competition with its own strength.
"Captain Kusao Takeshi, I have some bad news for you. Your Xiangbei team's grouping is a bit bad." Fujita handed a magazine to the Xiangbei players!
"We, Xiangbei, were actually rated as a C-level team. We have no objection to your Hainan being an A-level team, but Shoyo is only a B-level team." Mitsui glanced at the magazine and was immediately dissatisfied.
"Maybe the conference has its own evaluation method! After all, this is the first time for Xiangbei to participate in the national competition," Sakata said a little embarrassedly. Although he was dissatisfied with Mitsui's words, he was the defeated opponent of Xiangbei after all, but now his evaluation is higher than Xiangbei.
"Mitsui, you don't have to worry about the team rating. You should pay attention to your group opponents." Fujitagi stepped forward to help Shoyo. "Let me explain to you the group opponents in your half. The seeded team in your group is Hakata University of Commerce Affiliated Team. Hakata University of Commerce Affiliated Team can be said to be a national powerhouse second only to Sannoh. Even our Hainan will find it difficult to defeat them. And the second opponent in your group is Aiwa College. Aiwa College made it to the semi-finals last term. If it weren't for their previous performance, they would have gotten a seeded seat. It can be said that there are two seeded teams in your group. Touou has been a national top eight team for many years, and Urayasu Commerce has also been a top eight team. Fortunately, Urayasu Commerce and Touou will meet in the second round. If you make it to the third round, you will face their winner. The fourth round is Hakata University of Commerce Affiliated Team. It can be said that your first national tournament journey was rather bumpy."
"Playing against three national quarterfinal teams in a row?!" After hearing Fujita's explanation, the faces of the Xiangbei players became much more serious.
"What's everyone's expression? Don't forget, we made it to the national competition from the fiercely fought Kanagawa. Hainan Shoyo is also a national-level team. We didn't lose to them in the game, so why should we be afraid of other teams?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit solemn, Mu Mu hurriedly spoke to encourage the players
"Yes, we are also very strong in Xiangbei. Why should we be afraid of them? We must play well in every game and let them see the strength of Xiangbei." Captain Kusao Takeshi also stood up to encourage the players
"Okay!" The Xiangbei players echoed in unison.
"Shohoku, whoever underestimates this team will definitely pay the price," the players from Hainan and Shoyo thought silently in their hearts.
National Competition, Xiangbei Comes (End of Volume 1)