Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 302 Autumn National Sports Team Roster

As is well known, each regional team has only 15 slots.

As in previous years, the best lineup from the prefectural tournament automatically became members of the representative team, namely Takenori Akagi, Tetsuya Naito, Sendoh, Kiminobu Kogure, and Kenji Fujima.

In addition, three other members of the Shohoku F4 were also selected.

In addition, there are Maki Shinichi and Ikeda Kazuhiro from Hainan High School.

That leaves one spot remaining.

Coach Taoka and Kazumi Kawasaki kept their eyes downcast and remained silent, unanimously handing over the decision-making power to Coach Anzai.

"We still need a small forward, so let's have Ichiro Sato!"

Coach Anzai did not refuse and made his choice without hesitation.

Since Shohoku had four players selected, it makes no sense that Shohoku, which had a better record, would have the same number of players selected, especially since Coach Anzai was the head coach of the Autumn National Sports Academy.

"Hello, Sato-kun. His mid-range and long-range shooting is exactly what we need."

Coach Taoka and Kazumi Kawasaki both expressed their agreement.

The player list is as follows
Center: Takenori Akagi, Kazuhiro Ikeda, Jun Uozumi
Power Forwards: Toru Hanagata, Tetsuya Naito, Minori Kishimoto

Small Forwards: Kimetsu Kimibu, Ryoji Ikegami, Ichiro Sato

Shooting Guards: Hisashi Mitsui, Minami, Tomokazu Godai

Point Guards: Kenji Fujima, Sendoh, Shinichi Maki
With too many centers, Toru Hanagata was relegated to the power forward position.

In fact, this was also suggested by Coach Anzai, who believed that Hanagata Toru was more suited to the power forward position.

The lineup of this year's Kanagawa representative team is even stronger than the last one.

Forget about the starting lineup, the bench alone could probably form an All-Star team.

Kogure commented that he had never fought a battle with such a rich roster of players!
Q: How would you describe the power represented by Kanagawa?

A: Dream Team!
Of all the previous Dream Teams in the United States, the first Dream Team is widely considered the strongest.

The Dream Team's roster was undeniably powerful, deserving the description "luxurious." It consisted of NBA legends such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, and Charles Barkley, most of whom were in their prime and all were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the Dream Team won the championship with an undefeated record of 8 wins and 0 losses, with an average net score of 43.8 points, which is the highest net score record of any Dream Team in history.

Their matches were almost without suspense, and their opponents struggled to find effective countermeasures.

Compared to the original Dream Team, the subsequent Dream Teams were undoubtedly much inferior, especially the worst-performing Dream Team VI.

Dream Team VI is the only Dream Team that failed to finish in the top three at the Olympics, and even failed to advance from the group stage with a perfect record.

Compared to the Kanagawa team, even the Akita and Fukuoka teams are far inferior.

With one month to go before the Autumn National Sports Tournament, the three coaches quickly issued an order to gather the players and begin preparations in an orderly manner.

These players will be training together for the next month.

To this end, the coaches developed a detailed training plan aimed at enhancing the understanding and cooperation among the players.

At the same time, the coaching team also designed a series of tactics to help the players get along as quickly as possible in order to achieve the best results.

That morning, all 15 players from various teams were present.

In addition, the coaching team also selected several caddies.

These caddies all come from Shohoku, Ryonan, and Tsukubu, which is also a personal preference of the three coaches.

Shohoku: Okamoto Nobuhiko, Yamamoto Kuma, Miyagi Ryota

Lingnan: Shenzong Ichiro, Fukuda Yoshihao

Tsukutake: Imamura, Natsume Hiroshi

The three coaches selected the most promising players from their respective teams in an effort to strengthen their squads.

As for the caddie's tasks, they only need to do logistical work such as picking up balls, massaging, carrying, and cleaning.

The three coaches finally entered the Kanagawa National Gymnasium after a short wait.

The 15 players from the Kanagawa representative team began to assemble and lined up in an orderly queue according to their height.

Everyone stood ramrod straight, demonstrating excellent discipline.

As the head coach, Coach Anzai began his speech.

As the head coach, Coach Anzai stood at the front of the team.

Coach Taoka and Coach Kawasaki, like two loyal followers, deliberately lagged behind, appearing to follow Coach Anzai's lead.

Coach Taoka was also holding a bundle of red jerseys.

Coach Anzai first scanned each player's face, then cleared his throat and began to speak.

"From today onwards, you will represent Kanagawa Prefecture in the Autumn National Sports Games. This is both an honor and a responsibility!"
I hope you will remember that we are now a group.

When you put on this jersey, you represent not only yourselves, but also the entire Kanagawa region.

Coach Anzai's voice was strong and clear. After a slight pause, he continued, "However, this doesn't mean you can rest easy. If anyone fails to integrate into the team and drags the team down, they will be dismissed. Do you all understand?"

All 15 players on the team shouted in unison, "Understood!"

No one wanted to hold the team back, because everyone present knew that with the strength of the Kanagawa team, they had a very good chance of winning the championship.

For many players, this will likely be the most prestigious honor they have earned in high school.

After all, the Autumn National Sports Games is one of the three major national competitions.

"To ensure team unity, I will next select a team captain, vice-captain, and locker room leader."

As he spoke, Coach Anzai extended his right hand, and Coach Kawasaki Kazumi immediately picked out the number four jersey from Coach Taoka's arms and handed it to his mentor.

As soon as Coach Anzai finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Kogure.

Because no one present was more suitable to be the captain than him!

Kogure's appointment as captain reflects popular support.

Aside from his seniority, no one can rival him in terms of ability, personality, or reputation.

Even players who dislike him the most have to admit this.

"I propose that Kiminobu Kogure be the team captain. Who agrees and who disagrees?"

"Agreed!" "Agreed!" "Agreed!"

All the other team players voted in favor; not a single one voted against.

Kogure took the number four jersey and put it on right there.

At that moment, Coach Kazumi Kawasaki handed over the number five jersey, which symbolized the vice-captain.

Coach Anzai's gaze swept over the team players again, finally settling on Kenji Fujima.

"What do you all think about having Kenji Fujima as vice-captain?"

Coach Anzai made this arrangement primarily based on the performance of the Shohoku team.

At the same time, the number of Xiangyang players selected for the national team is second only to Xiangbei.

Among the Shohoku F4, Fujima stole the show in this national tournament, putting up a good fight against Fukatsu of Sannoh Industrial, and holding his own.

Without a doubt, Fujima is the best choice.

"Agreed!" "Agreed!" "Agreed!"

As expected, Hanagata, Kishimoto, and Minami all expressed their agreement.

The Shohoku players reacted rather strangely; they didn't immediately agree with Coach Anzai's words, but instead all looked at Kogure.

This shows that, in the eyes of the Shohoku players, Kogure's prestige was even greater than Coach Anzai's.

Go against Tiangang!

Coach Anzai remained calm and showed no dissatisfaction. He knew his own situation well; he was known at Shohoku as a hands-off manager, content to retire, with Kogure usually in charge of the team's training.

"Agree!"

Kogure naturally wouldn't openly oppose Coach Anzai's proposal.

"Agreed!" "Agreed!"

Shohoku players Akagi, Mitsui, Naito, and Sato Ichiro followed suit and spoke.

This demonstrates Kogure's authority within the Shohoku team.

To put it bluntly, if he chooses to transfer schools, the main players of Shohoku will probably all leave with him.

Because they are so eager to improve!
Following Kogure not only brings honors, but also teaches many practical skills.

What's most frustrating is that Kogure's influence has also extended to other teams, especially Ryonan.

Following Shohoku, Uozumi, Sendoh, and Ikegami also expressed their agreement.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the other players had no choice but to follow suit.

After receiving the number five jersey, Fujima expressed his gratitude to Kogure with his eyes.

He was genuinely afraid of losing face!
"Who wants the locker room leader?"

As everyone knows, being a locker room leader is a thankless and demanding job.

"Let me do it!"

Seeing that no one was volunteering, Ichiro Sato raised his hand.

He was very self-aware and believed that with his abilities, it would be difficult to get playing time.

Instead of doing that, it would be better to help manage the locker room.

After assigning the main positions, Coach Anzai let the players choose the remaining jerseys themselves.

Mitsui immediately rushed to Coach Taoka and grabbed the number 11 jersey as quickly as possible.

This is a jersey that symbolizes the handsome guy; how could he give it to someone else?

Upon seeing this, Akagi's expression changed slightly.

Because he also wanted the number 11 jersey!
Don't ask why, the answer is that I look too old and want to balance out my appearance.

In just a few breaths, all the jerseys found owners.

"Same as usual, you guys go warm up first. We'll have a scrimmage later, and I'll decide the starting lineup based on your performance!"

Coach Anzai once again took a hands-off approach, handing over the responsibility of the scrimmage to Coach Taoka.

After the warm-up was over, Coach Taoka began to assign teams.

Red Team: Uozumi, Naito, Kogure, Minami, Maki

White team: Akagi, Hanagata, Sendō, Mitsui, Fujima

The remaining five players share a substitute.

Coach Taoka makes arrangements entirely arbitrarily, adjusting his approach based on the players' performance on the field.

Judging from their rosters, the two teams are evenly matched.

However, judging from the lineup composition, the white team's teamwork is relatively more seamless.

After the lineups were finalized, the two temporary teams began to discuss tactics.

Kogure spoke first: "Let's play one star and four shooters, but our inside game is not our advantage."

Although 'Awakened Fish' is strong, 'Awakened Red' is stronger overall.

As for the matchup between Naito and Hanagata, the two are bound to mainly engage in a blowout battle.

Furthermore, Naito's support abilities have not yet been developed, making him unsuitable as the core of the "One Star, Four Radiants" strategy.

The reason for insisting on using a one-star-four-shooter tactic is that all five players have shooting ability.

Because of Akagi, Uozumi also practiced throwing diligently.

Despite not being the best, with some practice, I should be able to make open mid-range shots.

As for the core of the "One Star, Four Radiances" tactic, it is naturally Kogure who will take on this role.

Small forwards can also serve as the core of a one-star-four-shooter tactic, after all, that's what the future gOat will be like.

The difference is that if gOat doesn't have an opportunity, he'll pass the ball to someone else.

If a teammate makes a shot, he gets an assist; if a teammate misses, it lowers the teammate's shooting percentage; if a teammate makes a mistake, it's the teammate's mistake.

To put it simply, gOat got all the benefits.

This is also the main reason why their accuracy drops after becoming gOat's teammates.

Kogure doesn't have that bad habit. When it really comes down to it, he won't pass the ball around to others; he'll only use his own abilities to score.

Unlike the Red Team, the White Team opted for a run-and-gun strategy.

It's not that they don't want to play a one-star-four-shooter strategy, it's just that they don't have an advantage in the paint either.

Although Akagi is stronger than Uozumi, Uozumi's strength is defense. He can make one or two shots occasionally, but if the frequency is high, Akagi's efficiency will drop.

There was no way around it; the two of them respected each other so much that they knew each other's habits and playing styles all too well.

"Ah Shen, you'll be the referee!"

Before the match began, Coach Taoka waved to Soichiro Jin and handed him the whistle.

He had always thought highly of Ah Shen, and he appointed Ah Shen as a referee so that he could observe the players' performance up close.

"Yes, Coach!"

Under Fukuda Kichijou's envious gaze, Ajin excitedly took the whistle and began to act as referee.

Beep~
Soon, Ah Shen blew the whistle to start the game and then tossed the ball high into the air.

The next moment, Uozumi and Akagi jumped up at the same time.

Taking advantage of his jumping ability, Akagi managed to pass the ball to Fujima by a very small margin.

The moment he received the ball, Fujima led his team in a fast break.

Amu quickly moved forward, actively seeking physical contact during the defensive maneuver.

Fujima was affected to some extent by his entanglement.

Despite Fujima's increased training in combat, there is still a significant gap between him and Maki.

Seeing no opportunity, Fujima bounced a pass to Hanagata.

At this moment, Hanagata gained a body length advantage by running in the opposite direction.

As Hanagata caught the ball, Naito suddenly quickened his pace and instantly completed a parallel run.

Facing Naito's defense, Hanagata began to sway left and right, using his fairly solid footwork in the paint to create some shooting space.

In an instant, Hanagata jumped and shot the basket.

Naito also jumped up, providing ample disruption.

bang~
Hanagata missed a shot under Naito's defense.

Uozumi entangled Akagi, while Kogure rushed into the paint, easily grabbed the rebound, and then passed the ball to Maki.

"Mumu!"

Maki steadily crossed the halfway line and then passed the ball to Kogure without hesitation.

Facing Sendoh's defense, Kogure easily broke through with a crossover step, and after drawing Akagi's defense, assisted Uozumi to complete an alley-oop.

(End of this chapter)