National and Golden Generation

"The champion of Kanagawa Prefecture is, of course, Takeishi Junior High School. After that, their journey is not over yet. The champion team of each prefecture will go to the National Conference. There are 29 prefecture in total. Last year's championship team in the country where it is located will get a seat for the seeded team, and other teams will skip the first round and start playing against each other first.

Last year's Kanagawa champion, Kainan Junior High School, was the third runner-up in the country, so Takeishi just had a bye to observe its future opponents.

Among them, the most excited one is undoubtedly Mitsui. Japan is now in the golden generation. Basketball players in the same grade as Mitsui include Shinichi Maki, Kenji Fujima, Morohoshi Dai, Kazunari Fukatsu, Jun Tsuchiya, Retsu Minami, Mikoshiba, and so on. In this national conference, you can compete with these peers, and even if you lose, you can still grow a lot.

What's more, at this time, Mitsui was not afraid of anyone, and in sharp contrast to Mitsui's excitement were their team members. Only after leaving Kanagawa did they realize that there are geniuses all over Japan.

Looking at Kanagawa, Takeishi Middle School can be considered alone because Mitsui is there. No other junior high school is Takeishi's opponent, but there are too many monsters in the country, and among Mitsui's team members, only Katsumi Ichiro is the only one who can be considered a master.

Among them, the powerful middle schools include last year's runner-up, Gakuen Middle School from Aiwa. They have nationally famous backcourt double guns Maki Shinichi and Morohoshi Dai; Akita Middle School has rebounders Nobe Masahiro and Fukatsu Kazunari; Oka's Shōtai Middle School has Fujima Kenji and Togashi Yoshihiro, and last year's champion, Teikou Junior High School in Tokyo, has five people known as the Generation of Miracles... Compared with these people, Takeishi seems a little less confident,

especially in Basketball Kingdom Magazine. It is said that the Generation of Miracles are all prodigies who emerge every ten years. Last year, Basketball Kingdom had the so-called five uncrowned kings who were said to be geniuses.

After recognizing one of them, Mitsui couldn't help but be shocked by basketball kingdom shamelessness and boasting. Of course, Mitsui knew Akashi Seijuro. He happened to have met Akashi at a family gathering during the previous summer vacation, and the two of them even practiced together.

Akashi's level is, of course, very good. As a defender, Akashi is stable in controlling the ball and has a stable mid-range shot. Although he is often very good at mid-range shooting, in Mitsui's opinion, he considered himself second in mid-range, and no one dared to claim first place. Even Akashi bows to him and calls him his elder brother.

But that's it. He is an excellent point guard. Although he is not very fast, he has excellent ball touch and man-ball skills. He is good at crossover. A prodigy born once in ten years? That has to be someone like Sakuragi and Rukawa. Look at the five people in the so-called Generation of Miracles.

Small forward Kise Ryota, tsk, this guy is quite handsome, but he is only 172 cm. He was only 180 in high school. I heard he is good at imitating his opponent's skills, so what does that mean? The style is so fancy. He only started playing basketball in the second year of junior high and has been playing for two years now. This guy might as well concentrate on being a model.

Power forward Aomine Daiki, 180 cm, has extremely high agility. I heard that he played street ball since he was a child, so he has a lot of extracurricular activities. He is Teiko's ace player, maybe another Sendoh?

Center Atsushi Murasakihara is 2.1 m tall, has top strength, and has ridiculous speed, but he has a loose nature and doesn't like to train. If anyone can really be called a wizard, it should be him.

Shooting guard Midorima Shintaro is said to have a 100% shooting percentage and is 182 cm tall. He seems to be the same type of shooter as Asami.

Then there is the point guard Akashi Seijuro, who is 161 cm tall, has average speed, has an excellent overall situation, and is good at crossover.

Although he understood that it was probably an exaggeration, Mitsui was still under a lot of pressure because compared to a five-core team like this, Takeishi can count as 2.5 cores at most. Tokuo can barely count as half a core, and the others are basically useless. Even the point guard position may be a hindrance.

"What the hell? This is too exaggerated. It's just like the All-Star Game. No wonder I was defeated in the first round in the Nationals back then. Who would have thought that these famous high school captains or the core members of single-core teams were at least two or three in junior high school? They are all together. It feels like even if our Kanagawa All-Star Team competes with them, it will be tough!"

Look at the schedule, Fujima plus Miko Shiba plus Togashi Yoshihiro? In the early morning, Maki plus Morohoshi Dai and Oyama? There are guys like Matsumoto Fukatsu in Akita, and there is also this giant Teikou who seems to be a monster, and players even with a good ability, he can't start..." Mitsui only thought.

"Hey, are you from Kanagawa?" Suddenly, a groggy voice sounded.

"Yeah, what's the matter?" Horita Tokuo next to Mitsui replied, not wanting to be strangled directly: "You are discussing other schools in heated discussions here. Do you think you don't take our Furukawa Middle School seriously?" He was caught off guard!

Tokuo was choked by the opponent and couldn't breathe. Tokuda and Takashima rushed to rescue him. After rescuing Tokuo, Tokuo couldn't help but cough loudly. Others also glared at the sudden appearance of this group of people.

The group of people is also from Osaka's Furukawa Junior High School: forward Kishimoto Minori, forward Tsuchiya Jun, center Mitsaki Iwata, guard Minami Retsu, and point guard Daijiro Itakura. It can be said that Osaka's All-Star team is almost the same.

"Tsk!" Mitsui thought it was troublesome because people in Osaka are good at small tricks, and the fans are low-quality, so the players might face challenges. Mitsui doesn't want to have anything to do with them. "What kind of school is Furukawa? I've never heard of it."

Kishimoto was about to get angry but was stopped by Minami. Minami looked at Takeshi coldly: "It's no big deal, Kishimoto. We will just send them home the next day."

"It's up to you; I think you should buy your tickets early!" Tokuda and Takashima retorted, but Minami didn't take it seriously. "If you want to use your words, do it now. I advise you to watch our game today, otherwise, you won't even know how you lost." After saying that, he turned around to leave.

Minami and Kishimoto left first. Itakura and Iwata shrugged and chased after them. Tsuchiya stayed and explained to Mitsui and others, "It's normal that you haven't heard of Furukawa, as it was established just this year and will only be around for one year."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mitsui asked. Tsuchiya explained, "Yes, because Osaka, despite being a large city, has only reached the top eight in the country in basketball history. This time, we gathered the strongest players in the prefecture in hope for better results."

"Well, although their very capable, they are not the teammate I want," Tsuchiya added when Mitsui expressed interest. Tsuchiya continued, "I think I'm better at point guard, but not every coach uses a 190-meter tall man as a point guard."

After a friendly farewell to Tsuchiya, Mitsui led everyone to find a seat and watch Furukawa's game. Furukawa Junior High School played run & gun, showcasing the Osaka characteristic tactic that scores well.

Minami and Kishimoto are top scorers in Osaka, excelling in mid-range shooting and air-cutting. Iwata uses his fast running to dominate the opposing center, and Itakura, though lacking a three-pointer, contributes with height and power. Tsuchiya serves as the court commander and organization forward.

Seeing Furukawa score 60 before halftime, Takeshi's team faces darkened. As a team that has used run and gun, they understand the power of Furukawa. "Damn it, are our opponents in the first round at this level? I feel like all five of them are so strong. this simply cheating?" Takashima, the point guard, cursed under pressure.

Run-and-gun tactics demand fast running and quick shots, putting high pressure on the core point guard. In the national competition, Takashima's hidden inferiority might be exposed. Ikegami and Tokuo also face challenges against the strong opponents. Only Katsumi and Mitsui seem unfazed.