[54] Grade 11: Inarizaki Practice Match
Coach Blackbeard sat on a bench by the court, his right elbow resting on his knee, his chin propped up vertically.
Director Fukui sat on the other side of the bench, taking notes in his notebook with a fountain pen specially made by Tsurumeikan.
The rustling sound of pen nibs scratching against paper and the creaking sound of players' sneakers rubbing against the floor both passed through Kurobe's ear canals, one on the left and one on the right.
Director Kurosu took the opportunity to look at Director Fukui's data record book—Director Fukui was very generous and showed it to him directly without hiding anything, but Director Kurosu still only understood a little bit of it.
Director Fukui's notebook resembles a draft notebook from a student quiz, filled with many jumping numbers and simple symbols, as well as a large number of seemingly random marks and arrows.
Coach Blackbeard didn't stare at it for long out of politeness, but with just a few quick glances, he could barely make out a few data records about the players on the field.
He also had a notebook containing data records and tactical analyses of the Hemingguan team members, so he could identify the data at a glance.
The data recorded by Coach Fukui includes not only the data of the Tsurumeikan players, but also the data of the Inarizaki players. In fact, much of the data is not basic data or data records from IH, but Inarizaki's latest tactical plans.
In particular, the connection that Director Fukui made between the names of Ooji and the setter made Director Kurosu's heart skip a beat.
At that time, Da'er and the setter had not yet launched their newly practiced quick attack, which had never been shown in an official match, but the astute coach Fukui had already caught the signal of this impending attack from the restless movements of the Inarizaki players.
...As expected, he is the legendary coach of the championship team.
Their eyes are so sharp.
Blackbeard secretly complained.
As Coach Fukui turned another page in his "draft notebook," the scoreboard turned another page as well.
The scoreline changed from 2-0 at the start to 17-14.
Heming Pavilion maintained a score difference of three or four points throughout.
The three or four-point gap seemed to be deliberately maintained, always hovering there, never truly widened by Tsurumeikan, nor truly closed in by Inarizaki.
This delicate sense of balance largely stems from the Crane Cry Pavilion's almost "laid-back" composure.
Perhaps they themselves did not intend to "go easy" on the team, but from the perspective of Director Blackbeard, the other party's attitude was already equivalent to "going easy" on the team.
In this practice match, only one of the familiar faces from the Tsurumeikan team that won the IH championship played, Imadegawa; the rest of the "veterans" were all waiting on the sidelines.
Even their starting free agent just stood lazily in the waiting area, idly rubbing the soles of his shoes, his eyes vacant, as if the fierce battle on the court had nothing to do with him.
Inarizaki's all-out spikes occasionally broke through Tsurumeikan's defense, and some of the Tsurumeikan's slightly inexperienced new starters failed to receive them.
Instead of roster adjustments, what they received was a disapproving "death stare" from the libero on the sidelines.
But he never made any attempt to substitute any of his teammates on the field.
Yes, in this half of the game, the defensive burden of Hemingguan was almost entirely shouldered by Hemingguan's new main attackers who were not liberos.
Imadegawa, whose biggest weakness in the IH national tournament was stamina, surprisingly showed a completely different style in this half of the practice match.
He frequently made wide-range movements, constantly covering defensive positions, and even sprinted multiple times to make up for several poor first passes from extreme angles or when teammates handled them hastily.
When Jin Chuchuan completed all these actions, his breathing was steady and his expression was calm, so composed that it seemed he still had energy to spare.
This can perhaps be partly attributed to the nature of practice matches—where you don't have to carefully allocate every bit of energy like you would in a formal competition.
Therefore, Imadegawa can unleash his abilities without restraint, making extensive runs and adjustments, which also allows him to better control the quality of his ball control.
However, Director Kurosu keenly sensed that the meaning behind Imadegawa's ease and composure went far beyond that.
At this year's IH tournament, in addition to their exceptional blocking and defense, the Hemingguan team's tactical system also clearly demonstrated the characteristic of "centering on the setter," with almost the entire team supporting and ensuring Jin Chuchuan's organization and performance.
Imadegawa's calm handling and ball-holding ability did not disappoint them. He calmly stabilized the disadvantageous situation of Tsurumeikan and quietly took control of the rhythm of the game.
However, the setter's physical weakness has always been a weakness for Heming Hall.
Whether it was the quarterfinals, the semifinals, or even the finals, Jingtashan had tried to wear down Imaichi Chuan by having him receive the first pass and exhaust his stamina.
—But they mostly failed. The Tsurumeikan team's protection of Imadegawa was too tight. Once they realized that the other side wanted to target Imadegawa, it instantly aroused the fighting spirit of the entire Tsurumeikan team.
Their overall first pass accuracy rate increased rather than decreased, firmly protecting their own setter and directly stifling the opponent's attempt with strong teamwork.
Once the opponents of Tsurumikan realized the logic behind Tsurumikan's operation, they quickly changed their strategy and chose to launch more violent attacks, deliberately creating chaotic and irregular first passes, in an attempt to force Imadegawa to move significantly to recover those balls that were out of position.
However, the way Crane Cry Pavilion responded exceeded their expectations.
When a ball is too sharp to be properly passed to the setter, the players at Heming Hall quickly develop a silent understanding.
The middle blocker decisively stepped to the side, the outside hitter retreated to cover, and the libero made a diving save without hesitation.
Then, either through a hasty pass between attackers, an adjustment attack is launched towards the opponent; or the attackers directly adjust and spike the ball without going through the setter; or the ball is simply passed over the net, and the front row defense is strengthened to prevent the tip ball from being intercepted.
They used almost instinctive teamwork to "digest" dangerous balls internally, determined not to let the chaos spread to the direction of the setter.
Even if mistakes still occur occasionally, resulting in direct points being conceded, there is not a trace of complaint in the team; instead, they quickly get to the next point of defense.
None of the members of the Heming Pavilion team felt anxious because they had taken on more defensive pressure.
They simply looked indifferently at their opponents who had launched a powerful attack, as if silently declaring:
"This level of impact shouldn't be borne by our second-tier players."
"And this level of difficulty will not affect every ball we pass to the setter."
This extreme defensive pressure, if placed in any other school, would likely breed dissatisfaction among the players towards the setter, but in Heming Hall, all the players were completely willing to endure it.
However, as mentioned earlier, the physical weakness of the main setter has always been a shortcoming of Heming Hall.
The excessive defensive pressure meant that Heming Hall used up all six substitution opportunities in almost every game. Apart from the libero and a few starters, every player on the twelve-man team had rotated around the court. The strange tacit understanding between these twelve players was something that left all the schools that had played against them, as well as those that had only watched videotapes and studied tactics, speechless.
But Coach Blackbeard thought of the National Sports Games that had just concluded not long ago—
From the hard-won videotape of the baseline, it's still clear that Kyoto's attackers were yielding to Imadegawa, but Imadegawa had already begun to adjust himself.
He gradually expanded his defensive area, consciously taking the initiative to share the pressure and try to give back to the team in the receiving and defensive phases, rather than passively accepting protection.
—This is terrifying.
During the IH tournament, Imadegawa was still a setter who needed to be supported by the players, but during the National Sports Tournament, Imadegawa's stamina was enough to allow him to share some of the team's defensive responsibilities.
Immediately afterwards, Coach Kurosu recalled how Oshiro had praised Imadegawa's near-perfect ball control and timing after returning from the national youth team training camp.
After tracing all the videotapes of Tsurumeikan matches that he could obtain over the past few months, Coach Kurosu suddenly discovered that Imadegawa's rate of evolution in just a few short months was terrifying.
His setting ability, technical stability, and especially his physical reserves all seem to be increasing at a very strange rate.
An almost absurd thought suddenly struck Director Blackbeard's mind: given this incredible rate of progress...
Could it be that the time when the Kawakami system came into contact with volleyball was...?
—It's actually not that long?
...This idea is absurd.
The little man in Blackbeard's mind immediately shook his head violently, almost roughly throwing away this unfounded guess.
...That's impossible!
Absolutely impossible!!!
It's probably because the coaches from the national youth team's intensive training camp and the coaches around him had such a huge influence on Imadegawa that he improved so quickly...
At this moment, Director Blackbeard subconsciously ignored the other illogical points.
The score was 18-15, and the two sides took a break at halftime.
Coach Fukui has made adjustments to the practice match lineup, and Imadegawa has also been temporarily substituted.
The Inarizaki team members gathered together, but their eyes couldn't help but glance at the distance—the figure with the bird-shaped hair tie at the end of his hair, after being replaced, did not go to the waiting team members on the sidelines, but stood calmly between the two coaches, talking quietly with their coach from Tsurumeikan.
“Hey, look,” Akagi nudged Big Ear next to him with his elbow, “He stands among the supervisors and doesn’t look out of place at all.”
Upon hearing this, Big Ears also turned his head to examine him carefully.
Imadegawa, standing on the sidelines, seemed oblivious to the gaze cast towards Inarizaki. He stood tall and straight, his gaze calm and serene, intently listening to Coach Fukui's words, occasionally nodding in response. His every move exuded a composure and calmness beyond his years.
He picked up where Akagi left off, his tone tinged with inquiry: "Indeed, his aura doesn't feel like that of a high school student at all, it's more like..."
"—Like a school board member who came to Inarisaki to offer guidance," Akagi blurted out, his voice tinged with a hint of teasing.
Big Ears shook his head and retorted, "Judging by his age, he should be the child of the school board member."
Akagi: "Are you kidding me? Even the children of the school board members wouldn't have this kind of demeanor."
Big Ear insisted, "But there aren't any school board members this young, are there?"
“If we ignore his age, isn’t he a school board member?” Akagi raised an eyebrow.
The two gradually veered off course during their quiet argument.
The ace captain, who was currently engaging in friendly social interaction (actually gathering information) with the third-year main attacker of Tsurumeikan—one of the newly drawn SR characters by Imadegawa—couldn't help but turn around and glare at them: "You two..."
"If you keep talking nonsense, you'll have to run twenty laps after the practice session!"
Captain Inarizaki's eyes screamed: Can't you whisper a little quieter?!
The opposing team's main attackers' attention was completely drawn to those two.
Akagi immediately made an exaggerated zipping motion with his mouth, but his eyes were still silently communicating with Big Ears.
The other second-year team members hid to the side, their shoulders shaking from trying to suppress their laughter.
First graders really do have an edge over third graders.
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(listlessly sucking on the little ones' paws) I definitely caught a cold. That awful rainy day really got me down. (Lies down)
It's been several months since the National Sports Festival and training camp, so I'll write about Xiao He's evolution over these past few months—Xiao He's new six stats will be shown again in the Spring High School—
The Spring High School Pro Tournament will also be introducing a new SSR character, and the lineup for this year's tournament has been confirmed—in order: Tomi, Inarisaki, and Fukutani (heart emoji).
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