Chapter 35: Starting Lineup

Thus, another two weeks passed.

As the National Tournament approached, Teikou also began to take action.

Baijin Kozo believed that the team's current chemistry was already quite good.

Several first-year freshmen possessed strong immediate combat power; they didn't need to level up and could basically be used right away.

Even if they didn't start, they could increase Teikou's bench depth.

Those few kids, combined with any experienced veteran, could form a second lineup.

However, that was just talk; until the match started, the team's true quality couldn't be tested.

Therefore, after the chemistry was mostly there, Baijin Kozo arranged a practice match for Teikou.

The match time was today, and the location was the Teikou Basketball Club.

A basketball powerhouse like Teikou never lacked practice matches; there were plenty of people wanting to challenge them.

Baijin Kozo didn't need to actively seek matches; he only needed to choose from the teams that requested to play Teikou.

Because it was the first battle for the team's new lineup, Baijin Kozo didn't pick too strong an opponent, but of course, it couldn't be too weak either.

He chose a team from Kanagawa to test the team.

Kawasaki Dai High School.

A powerhouse that was only one step away from entering the National Tournament last year, but narrowly lost to their opponent by 1 point in the final selection match.

Such an opponent was just right.

At this moment, the gym was full... uh, it wasn't full.

The match was scheduled for Saturday, and besides the people from the basketball club, there were no other spectators.

The people from the Teikou Basketball Club were changing into their match gear in the locker room.

Most of them looked very relaxed.

The upperclassmen didn't fear an opponent like Kawasaki Dai; Teikou's results over the past two years were above theirs.

As for the first-years, Tiandao Jingyan and the others didn't even know what the word "fear" meant. Aomine was concerned about how many minutes the coach would give him to play later.

After getting ready, everyone followed Nijimura Shuzo out of the gym.

By now, their opponents had also finished warming up, and the match could start at any time.

The jersey numbers in Japan were fixed, from the captain's number 4 up to 15, following the FIFA standard.

Tiandao Jingyan chose number 14 as his jersey number.

There was no special reason, and 14 wasn't his lucky number.

He just felt this number was more pleasing to the eye.

When he watched Slam Dunk in the past, he liked Sakuragi's humor and passion, and envied Rukawa Kaede and Sendoh Akira for being cool and good at playing.

He wanted to be them!

After growing up and watching it again, he found that the one he liked the most was actually Mitsui Hisashi.

How old was he then?

Tiandao Jingyan had already forgotten; he only remembered that when he saw Mitsui getting beaten up, he was cheering loudly.

Looking back after growing up, that line "Coach, I want to play basketball" made him want to cry.

That kind of indelible fighting spirit was admirable!

More importantly, Mitsui's family was very rich...

Both teams were warming up, and that guy Jiu Bao Chun had arrived again after hearing the news.

At this time, Baijin Kozo walked to Tiandao Jingyan's side and said to him, "See that number 7? He is Kawasaki Dai's ace guard. In last year's final selection tournament in Kanagawa, he scored 20+ points in 3 consecutive games."

Tiandao Jingyan nodded to show he saw him, then looked at Baijin Kozo again.

The latter didn't mince words and said directly, "He is your opponent today!"

"Opponent?" Tiandao Jingyan was stunned, "Am I starting today?"

"Scared?"

"I am quite scared." Tiandao Jingyan grinned, "Scared that one of him isn't enough for me to play against!"

This kid.

Baijin Kozo liked this kind of confident player; it was another important weapon beyond the player's technique.

When Aomine saw that Tiandao Jingyan could start, he couldn't help but ask expectantly, "What about me, Coach? Am I starting today too?"

"You're still young, Aomine. Just watch from the bench for now."

How am I young?

Isn't that guy Tiandao in the same grade as me?

Aomine felt a pain in his balls, his face twisted into a grimace.

Midorima didn't say anything, but inside he was thinking the same thing as Aomine.

Everyone was a genius, so how could they admit they were inferior to someone else? ===== CHAPTER 37 =====