Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 281 I have never been on a super team!

Before we knew it, August had arrived.

This day also marks the start of the summer national tournament.

The host of this year's national tournament is Osaka Prefecture, and the opening ceremony will be held at the Osaka Nagai Multipurpose Stadium.

As the largest stadium in Osaka Prefecture, Nagai Stadium can accommodate more than 40,000 spectators and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including high-definition electronic displays, ergonomic seats, and a top-notch sound system, ensuring that every spectator can enjoy the best viewing experience.

At this moment, the stadium was bustling with noise as 59 teams from all over the country began to gather together.

They were wearing their respective team jerseys and, under the arrangement of the staff, lined up in different areas.

When the team came on the field, the audience was enthusiastic, chanting the team's name.

In an instant, the entire arena transformed into a vibrant and passionate ocean.

At this moment, three teams from Kanagawa Prefecture came onto the court together: Shohoku, Shoyo, and Ryonan.

As expected, Ryonan easily passed the national qualifying tournament and secured a spot in the main tournament of the Summer National Championship.

Given Ryonan's strength, the playoffs can only be described as easy and enjoyable.

In Coach Taoka's words, you need to widen the gap to 30 points.

That's right, those were the words Coach Taoka said before he was knocked to the ground by Sakuragi's Thousand Years of Death.

Overall, while the teams that qualify for the playoffs have some strength, based on past performance, the strongest are usually only at the level of the top 32 teams nationwide.

Given Ryonan's strength, this year's playoffs were like a great white shark had infiltrated their ranks, resulting in resounding victories in every match.

When they appeared, Kogure, Sendoh, Mitsui, and Fujima were chatting about all sorts of things.

Not only are they top-notch ball skills, but they are also exceptionally handsome, widely recognized as the four most handsome men in Kanagawa, instantly attracting the attention of countless viewers.

Audiences all have eyes to discover beauty.

As the top high school student in the country, Kogure is the most popular, followed by Mitsui, and then Fujima and Sendoh.

Unfortunately, it was Fujima and Sendoh's first time participating in the Summer National Tournament, and the audience didn't even know their names.

At that moment, Sannoh Industrial happened to leave through another player tunnel and encountered the three Kanagawa teams head-on.

Upon seeing Kogure and the others, Sawakita immediately broke away from the group and greeted everyone.

At this moment, Zebei was radiating confidence.

After suffering repeated setbacks at the training camp, Zebei realized that there are always people more capable than you.

During this period, he significantly increased the intensity of his training.

With targeted training, Sawakita not only improved his combat skills but also mastered a unique technique, preparing to give Kogure and the others a surprise.

Immediately, Zebei stood in front of Sendoh and said, "Sendoh, we're in the same group. You'd better do your best. As long as Ryonan advances to the national top eight, we can have another showdown then."

In this year's national tournament, Ryonan was not very lucky, as they were grouped with Sannoh Industrial in the first group.

"Kitazawa, this isn't difficult for us!"

Before encountering Sannoh Industrial, Ryonan's opponents were not particularly strong.

Perhaps because they hadn't been in contact for a while, the fisherman seemed to have forgotten Zebei's name.

Thus, Kitazawa came into being.

"You damned Sendoh, remember this: my name is Zebei, not Beize!"

Zebei was taken aback at first, then flew into a rage.

Zebei never expected that Sendoh would forget his name.

This is an utter disgrace, and they really don't respect him at all.

"Sorry, I forgot your name is Zebei!"

Sendoh scratched the back of his head, looking completely unashamed.

"By the way, Zekita, how does it feel to join a super team?"

Upon hearing what Sendoh said, Zebei jumped up like a monkey whose tail had been stepped on.

He subconsciously thought that Sendoh was openly mocking him!

Zebei's face turned bright red, and he immediately retorted, "I have never been on a super team!"

According to Zebei, Sannoh Industrial failed to win any national championships last year and cannot be considered a super team!

If we're talking about truly super-strong teams, I think Shohoku is more suitable, after all, Shohoku has the number one high school player in the country.

"Before I joined, Sannoh Industrial was not considered a super team; Shohoku was."

In an attempt to exonerate himself, Zebei dragged Xiangbei down with him.

Actually, there was one more thing Zebei didn't say.

After he joined, Sannoh Industrial became a true super team, perfectly filling the void left by graduating players such as Kashima Fusou and Sakurai Kentaro.

Kogure and Sendoh exchanged a glance, both seeing a smile in each other's eyes.

"Sawakita, don't you know that before we joined Shohoku, Shohoku was always eliminated in the first round of the prefectural tournament and could only be considered a super bad team? It was under our leadership that Shohoku truly transformed into a super strong team this year."

Zebei was speechless after being confronted, because it was indeed the truth.

Sendoh continued, "Sawakita, are you settling in well at Sannoh Industrial?"

"well enough."

Zebei's answer sounded somewhat reluctant.

While speaking, Zebei subconsciously glanced at Okawada.

After joining Sannoh Industrial, Zebei was filled with remorse.

He shouldn't have listened to his father, Tetsuji Sawakita; he got screwed over.

Sawakita's time at Sannoh Industrial was nothing short of horrific.

Before joining Sannoh Industries, Sawakita originally thought he could easily control Kawada.

After joining Sannoh Industrial, I discovered that Okawada had grown taller yet again.

In just one year, Dahetian grew 25 centimeters and has not stopped growing.

Kawada is now over 190 centimeters tall.

The reason why Sawakita was bullied by Kawada was not only because of his physical disadvantage, but also because of his lack of fighting skills.

In the previous national tournament, Kawada was brutally beaten by Kogure, and after witnessing Kentaro Sakurai being brutally beaten by Tetsuo and Rukawa, he felt ashamed and became even more courageous, and went on to delve deeper into judo.

So when Sawakita joined Sannoh Industries, he was easily controlled by Kawada and had no ability to resist.

They were bullied so badly!

To paraphrase Fukatsu, he was practically beaten to death.

Fukatsu currently likes to use 'yo' as the end of sentences, but when the storyline comes out, he will switch to 'le'.

The details are derived from a conversation between Kawada and Aida Yayoi.

Kogure had observed Sawakita's subtle actions; how could he not know that Kawada was bullying Sawakita?

He even suspected that Sawakita's decision to go to America before graduating from high school might have been influenced by Kawada.

"Little one, we should go line up now."

At that moment, Kawada grabbed Sawakita's shoulder and forcibly dragged him away.

"Let me go, let me go!"

Zebei struggled, but to no avail.

Even though he's been practicing sparring intensely lately, the time has been too short to see much effect yet. Seeing Sawakita being dragged away by Kawada, everyone couldn't help but smile.

I'm afraid my brother is suffering, but I'm also afraid he'll drive a Land Rover!

"We should head over there too."

Soon, the three teams arrived at their respective areas.

The team's region is closely related to its performance in last year's national tournament.

Shohoku is located in the central area, next to Sannoh Industrial High School, followed by Hakata University of Commerce and Aiwa Academy.

Buri High School, the national champions last year, failed to qualify for the next round, and their seeded position was taken by Aiwa Academy.

The seeded teams in the four groups are as follows.

Group 1: Shanwang

Group 2: Shohoku

Group 3: Hakata

Group 4: Love and

Because they did not participate in the national competition last year, Ryonan and Shoyo were placed in the peripheral area.

Furthermore, their grouping situation is very unfavorable.

Ryonan was assigned to the first group, while Shoyo was assigned to the third group.

Their ultimate opponents are the two most powerful teams in the country, and it remains to be seen whether they can withstand them.

Kogure was not optimistic about Ryonan, given the obvious difference in strength between the two sides.

Even if Ryonan were to suddenly become as dominant as Shohoku in the original storyline, they would still be no match for Sannoh Industrial.

This is because the Ryonan team is not as strong as the Shohoku team in the storyline.

On the contrary, Shoyo has a chance to defeat Hakata.

Compared to last year, Hakata's strength has declined slightly. Although Nobisuke Suzuki is still alive, their core outside player, Kenjiro Itakura, has graduated and gone on to higher education.

In contrast, Shohoku's strength has been further enhanced.

With one increase and one decrease, Shohoku has a good chance of defeating Hakata.

As for the other strong teams, Luoan was placed in Group 1, Daiei Academy in Group 2, Toyotama in Group 3, and Josei High School and Jinbo University Affiliated High School in Group 4.

Here are Basketball Weekly's ratings for these top teams.

AA level: Shohoku High School, Sannoh Industrial High School

A+ Level: Hakata University of Commerce Affiliated School, Shoyo High School, Aiwa Academy

Grade A: Daiei Academy, Jousei High School, Rakuan, Jinbo University Affiliated School, Ryonan

As for Toyotama High School, after the coach was dismissed and the ace player transferred to another school, Basketball Weekly believed that Toyotama's strength was not as good as before, and ultimately rated it as a B+ team.

The reason why the little-known Ryonan was rated as an A-level team is mainly due to Ryonan's victory over Hainan High School and Buri High School.

In addition, it is also closely related to the Kanagawa team's dominance of the three major national tournaments last year.

In addition, when Aida Yayoi interviewed Kogure, Kogure gave Ryonan a very high evaluation, believing that Ryonan was at least a top-eight team in the country.

Therefore, Basketball Weekly will not repeat the mistake of giving Shohoku a C-level rating as it did in the original work.

This is also the main reason why Ryonan was able to get an A rating in their first competition.

This year, Shohoku finally has a basketball manager, so the team captain no longer has to stand at the front holding a sign like last year.

This is why Kogure was willing to become the team captain; otherwise, he would never have agreed, even if you beat him to death.

Because he didn't want to die!
Ayako stood at the front holding the sign, a meter or two away from Kogure.

The Shohoku players lined up in order of their team standing.

As the captain and ace, Kogure naturally stood at the front, followed by Akagi, Mitsui, Naito, Ichiro Sato, Miyagi, Nobuhiko Okamoto, and others.

Poor Mitsui, once again persuaded by Akagi with reason, didn't dare to compete with Akagi for the second position.

Mitsui was very reluctant about this.

He believed that with his abilities, he should be ranked ahead of Akagi, especially since he had participated in the training camp, while Akagi had not.

While waiting, Kogure also carefully observed the other teams.

It has to be said that there are too few outstanding freshmen this year.

Aside from Sawakita, Sendoh, and Naito, only Itakura Daijiro, Miyagi, Ajin, and Fukuda are truly outstanding.

It must be said here that Daijiro Itakura joined Daiei Academy and partnered with Jun Tsuchiya; it remains to be seen what kind of sparks they will create.

When Kogure observed Sannoh Industries, he discovered a problem.

That means Matsumoto Minoru's ranking is a bit low!
Although Minoru Matsumoto is still ranked high, he is behind Yu Ito, Fukatsu, Kawada, and Sawakita, ranking exactly fifth.

Compared to last year, Minoru Matsumoto's ranking is not as good as last year.

Last year, Minoru Matsumoto ranked third, while Fukatsu, Kawada, and others were ranked behind him.

The change in his position clearly shows that Minoru Matsumoto's position at Sannoh Industrial is now precarious.

If this continues, it is very likely that Satoshi Ichinokura will once again replace someone else in the starting lineup in the storyline year.

"Pity!"

Kogure shook his head, feeling sorry for Matsumoto Minoru.

Last year, Minoru Matsumoto performed exceptionally well. If he were on another team, he would definitely be highly regarded.

Unfortunately, at Sannoh Industrial, due to overlapping functions, his position was replaced by Sawakita.

Kogure then looked at Kawada, whose chubby little boy from last year had evolved into a burly man over 190 centimeters tall.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Kawada will likely be the starting center for Sannoh Industrial.

While waiting, the summer national tournament rally finally began.

Soon after, the chairman of the national organizing committee took the stage to speak.

Just like last year, the whole process took less than five minutes.

The difference this year is that there is an additional segment: a speech by a player representative.

"Now, please welcome Kiminobu Kogure from the Shohoku team to the stage to speak!"

As soon as the emcee finished speaking, the entire audience erupted in applause.

Under Kogure's leadership, Shohoku, which had been eliminated in the first round of the prefectural tournament, made it into the national tournament and even achieved a top-four finish. Kogure was also selected for the All-Star team.

In the Winter Tournament, Shohoku High School won the championship, and Kogure not only won the MVP award, but also stepped over the previous number one high school player in the country to rise to the top.

In terms of honors and team achievements, no one is more suitable than Kogure, and even Suzuki Nobisuke is convinced of his worth.

Soon, Kogure stood on the stage and took the microphone from the emcee.

"I won't waste everyone's time. I hope everyone can achieve their desired results in this national competition!"

Kogure spoke concisely and to the point, offering his heartfelt blessings to all the players present.

This simple and clear style satisfied everyone present.

Everyone hopes to leave their mark in this national competition and realize their dreams.

This move won the support of the audience and players, who gave him a warm round of applause when he stepped down from the stage.

After the pep rally, apart from the four seeded teams and one team that received a bye, the remaining teams headed to the competition venue to prepare for their first match.

(End of this chapter)