Due to the number of teams, Chiba Prefecture’s selection format was different from regions like Tokyo and Kanagawa.
?
Those major regions had too many teams, so they were generally divided into four groups for competition.
The final four teams that broke out of their groups would then play a round-robin tournament to determine the two slots for the national tournament.
Chiba Prefecture did not have that qualification.
Its number of teams was only half that of the Tokyo region, and it had only one national tournament slot.
Therefore.
Chiba Prefecture’s prefectural tournament selection was divided only into upper and lower halves of the bracket.
The two teams that successfully broke out would compete for the only qualification slot.
“I remember they were only two games away from reaching the final qualifier last year.
I didn’t expect to meet them this early.” “Meeting Toho University Affiliated in the first game.
What bad luck.” “The unlucky ones are them.” Eikichi Nebuya did not care at all, his fighting spirit surging.
“Eikichi is right.
We are the team that broke out of Chiba Prefecture last year.” “And every year, we become stronger.
Remember our goal: dominate the nation!” “Dismissed.
After you go home, behave yourselves and don’t put in extra practice.” With the national tournament approaching, this was actually not the time for hard training.
If someone got injured, the loss would outweigh the gain.
At that moment, the system’s mission panel reacted.
“Optional Mission 1: Breakthrough.” “Mission Requirement: Help Chiba Middle School break through and obtain Chiba Prefecture’s national tournament qualification slot.” “Mission Reward: Lottery chances x2!” Looking at the mission notification, Hibari felt pleasantly surprised for a moment.
But when he saw that the reward was only two lottery chances, he fell into thought.
“Is it because the team I’m on is very strong?” Hibari was still uncertain for now, but even a mosquito’s leg was still meat.
“Accept!” After accepting the first mission, he continued looking down.
This time, the system had refreshed two missions in total.
“Optional Mission 2: The Best.” “Mission Requirement: Enter Chiba Prefecture’s prefectural tournament Best Five and be selected as the qualifying tournament’s Most Valuable Player.” “Mission Reward: Lottery chances x5!” Sure enough, the number of lottery chances rewarded was related to the difficulty of the mission.
At this stage, his level was not much different from Eikichi Nebuya’s.
In addition, he was a newcomer, which naturally put him a step behind Eikichi Nebuya during evaluation.
Trying to snatch the MVP from Eikichi Nebuya would not be easy.
“I happen to like challenging difficult things.” “Accept!” Hibari accepted all the missions.
One Breakthrough and one The Best.
Now he had a brand-new goal.
Not only did he have to lead the team out of Chiba Prefecture’s siege, but he also had to surpass Eikichi Nebuya in performance and be selected as the prefectural tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
As for the Best Five, if he became MVP, would he still need to worry about not making the Best Five?
…
After basketball club activities ended, Hibari sent Yukino home as usual, then rode his bike to the court for extra practice.
He had not listened to a single word the coach said.
Because Hibari No.
2 was constantly monitoring his physical condition in real time.
Once his body touched the red line, it would immediately stop him.
This training continued directly until the day the prefectural tournament opened.
Hibari had not slept well today.
When a person looked forward to something happening the next day with immense anticipation, they would enter this kind of excited state.
Hibari opened his flip phone.
The screen showed the date: Saturday, June 1, 2006.
The national tournament was finally about to begin.
One thing had to be admitted.
Hibari was not a particularly driven person.
That could be seen from his school grades.
After entering society later, the 996 work schedule had also worn away his enthusiasm.
He felt as though he repeated the same day over and over again.
But now, he was full of passion.
“Today’s the opening match, right?
Play well and don’t be nervous.
If the coach is letting you start, that proves you have the ability.” “Remember to protect yourself on the court.
Your dad and I will cheer for you from in front of the TV.” Hibari was about to close his phone when another text message popped up on the small screen.
Although he couldn’t say he had very deep feelings for them, these plain and simple words still made Hibari feel good.
After preparing his things, Hibari rode his bike out.
Everyone gathered at the school, then took a bus to a local multipurpose arena in Chiba Prefecture for the game.
When they arrived at the arena, it was already packed with people.
Because it was the weekend, people had time to come watch the game live.
Chiba Prefecture was a countryside place, but the local people had great enthusiasm for sports.
They had their own professional basketball team and soccer team.
Their results just weren’t very good.
A small region meant a small market.
Wealthy owners did not look favorably on this place.
Lacking enough money for player signings, the teams hovered around the middle and lower ranks every year.
But the people of Chiba Prefecture had, after all these years, continued going to the venue to cheer for the teams they loved.
They had been cheering for more than ten or twenty years.
When they arrived in the locker room, every teammate’s face was full of seriousness.
Although they had won four straight warm-up games and performed excellently, as seasoned fans, everyone knew that official games and warm-up games were vastly different.
It was like the NBA playoffs and the regular season: completely different levels of intensity.
Not to mention that today’s opponent, Toho University Affiliated, was not weak.
Their foundation was even deeper than Chiba Middle School’s.
When the time came, Hayato Takahashi led them out of the locker room and onto the court to warm up.
More than ten thousand fans had come to the venue today.
In the stands, two groups of fans stood out especially clearly.
They wore matching uniforms and shouted slogans of “Chiba” and “Toho.” These people were the fans of the two teams.
Hibari looked at the densely packed audience in the stands, and a sudden surge of pride rose in his heart.
He discovered that he really liked playing basketball under this kind of spotlight.
Beating an opponent down under the gaze of more than ten thousand pairs of eyes filled his heart with a sense of accomplishment.
He stepped onto the court to warm up.
Before long, warm-up time ended, and both sides came to the center circle and took their positions.
The opponent’s core player was named Akito Suzuki.
Like Eikichi Nebuya, he was a number-five player.
This showed just how much this era of basketball valued interior players.
Akito Suzuki stood a full 1.97 meters tall, and his build looked absurdly strong.
Even Eikichi Nebuya was clearly behind him in terms of physical model.
This was Akito Suzuki’s third year.
In last year’s national tournament, he had averaged 17.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks.
His advantage was his physical model.
After training for three years in middle school, his technique was also very well-rounded.
His weakness was athleticism.
He wasn’t fast enough, and he couldn’t jump high enough.
With the referee’s whistle, the 2006 Chiba Prefecture national tournament preliminaries officially began.
The 1.97-meter Akito Suzuki won the jump ball.
Toho University Affiliated’s point guard brought the ball forward at an unhurried pace, waiting for Akito Suzuki to establish position.
This was the mainstream of the era.
Especially for teams whose core was a center, the tempo was generally slow.
…
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