Finally, after all the freshmen had introduced themselves, the upperclassmen began their introductions.
At this point, the previously unnamed basketball captain was the first to speak: "Welcome to the Shōhoku High School basketball team. I am the team captain, Takasaki Gensuke, Class 3-6, 184 cm tall, and I play power forward."
Another upperclassman, the tallest among the older students, stepped forward and said: "Class 3-8, Takahashi Akira, 189 cm tall, and I play center."
"Class 3-4, Kawaki Kazuo, 176 cm tall, and I play small forward."
Afterward, the other upperclassmen also began introducing themselves: "Class 2-4...", "Class 2-10...", "Class 2-6..."
The entire team had only three third-year players; the rest were all second-years.
Moreover, apart from Takasaki Gensuke and Takahashi Akira, the others were not very tall; not a single one exceeded 180 cm.
After everyone had finished their introductions, the basketball team captain walked up to Coach Anzai and said: "Coach, a total of 12 new players have joined the team."
"Mm, then proceed as I just instructed!" Coach Anzai said slowly.
"Understood, Coach," Takasaki Gensuke replied... Soon after, the first-year students had been divided into teams.
Due to Mitsui Hisashi's reputation and Akagi Takenori's height, Takasaki Gensuke believed that the two of them should not be on the same team; otherwise, it would be too unfair to the other team.
Therefore, Takasaki Gensuke directly put them on separate teams, and then the rest of the players were randomly assigned.
The final teams were Mitsui Team: with Horita Tokuo as center, Mitsui Hisashi as power forward, and three minor characters A, B, C. (Although Mitsui Hisashi was one centimeter taller than Horita Tokuo, Mitsui Hisashi would absolutely refuse to go into the paint to contend with Akagi, that Gorilla. Therefore, in the end, Horita Tokuo had to shoulder everything.)
And Akagi Team: with Akagi Takenori as center, Kogure Kiminobu as power forward, and the same three minor characters A, B, C.
As soon as the game began, Akagi secured possession of the ball with his height advantage.
However, when he got the ball in the paint, he intended to show off his skills but made a huge blunder in front of everyone.
Indeed, just like in the original story, Akagi drove past his defender but lost the ball. It wasn't a steal; he simply lost control of the ball due to his poor dribbling skills.
This scene made everyone present, except for Coach Anzai who had seen it all and didn't laugh, unable to hold back their laughter.
Even Mitsui, being close by, could see a blush appear on Akagi's dark face.
These were all classic moments, which made Mitsui Hisashi feel fortunate that he hadn't gone to another school; otherwise, he would have missed many classic scenes.
Getting back to the main point, after Akagi lost the ball, it was picked up by minor character A from Mitsui Team.
Mitsui, seeing his teammate gain possession, instantly accelerated, ran to the frontcourt, received a pass from his teammate, and scored with a fast-break layup.
This layup seemed to be a signal, as the rest of the game became a personal scoring show for Mitsui Hisashi.
Three-pointers, mid-range jumpers, driving layups, reverse layups... Mitsui Hisashi seemed to have displayed almost every scoring method.
Of course, Mitsui wasn't just focused on scoring himself; when the opponent double-teamed him and one of his teammates was in a good, undefended position, Mitsui Hisashi would also punish the opponent with a pass.
Coach Anzai couldn't help but nod, sighing inwardly: This Mitsui is much stronger than he was in the Prefectural Tournament finals in Middle School. It seems he has been training diligently this summer.
With Mitsui's outburst, the score quickly widened, with Mitsui Team leading Akagi Team 24:8.
In just 10 minutes, they had already doubled the opponent's score.
Akagi, enraged, directly took over the task of defending Mitsui from his teammate, coming out to guard Mitsui on the perimeter.
"I don't care if you were the Middle School MVP; it's high school now. You and I are both first-year freshmen, and I will never fear you!" Akagi said after approaching Mitsui.
Mitsui Hisashi smirked slightly: "Indeed, it's high school now, and you and I are both first-year freshmen, but..." Mitsui paused, then said with a serious expression: "Even if we are both first-year freshmen, there is still a gap between us!"
At this moment, Mitsui Hisashi couldn't help but exclaim internally: Finally, it's here! You've finally been pushed to guard me. Now is the time to truly test the results of my training over the past month.
Akagi, I won't be limited by you like Mitsui Hisashi in the original story. Mitsui Hisashi's heart was now ablaze with fighting spirit.
Mitsui first executed a triple threat, attempting to shift Akagi's defensive Center of Gravity, but this move seemed to have no effect on him; Akagi simply continued to prepare to defend his shot.
Seeing this, Mitsui no longer hesitated, quickly executed a crossover drive, and as Akagi retreated, Mitsui immediately pulled up for a jump shot, which went in.
Although Akagi tried his best to recover his balance and charged at Mitsui, Mitsui's shooting release speed was now much faster than when he first transmigrated.
If he had just transmigrated and hadn't improved his shooting release speed, he might have actually been blocked by Akagi, or even if not blocked, Akagi could have interfered with it with his height and wingspan.
Unfortunately, the current Mitsui Hisashi had evolved; the shooting space he had just created was already sufficient for him.
Akagi, watching Mitsui easily make the shot under his intense defense, his expression darkened, but he gritted his teeth and turned back to rejoin the game.
Akagi once again established position in the paint, even deeper than before. If he could receive the ball, he could directly attack the rim.
This was a method he had carefully considered to perfectly circumvent his weakness of poor ball-handling skills.
Of course, this method wasn't foolproof. First, you had to ensure that your attack under the basket was confident enough to put the ball in; otherwise, getting such a deep position would be useless if you couldn't score.
Fortunately, Horita Tokuo, the center for Mitsui Team, was too weak compared to Akagi, so Akagi could easily handle this first condition.
Secondly, you must have a passer who can deliver the ball to the paint; otherwise, no matter how deep your position is, if you don't receive the ball, it's all for nothing.
And such players who can pass the ball to the paint are extremely rare. Didn't Yao Ming, later in the NBA, never get such a player throughout his professional career?