"Although that's what is said, Ah-Yu can see the potential possibilities of the opponent."
Momoi had been to Seiho once.
She was surprised to find that aside from this year's two first-year players, Yuuto and Tomoki Tsugawa, the other starters and substitutes had all become more well-rounded compared to last year.
He used those eyes of his to help Seiho go a step further.
Very possibly, Seirin's potential possibilities were even clearer to Yuuto than to Seirin themselves.
The second quarter began.
Seiho's ball.
Ryuhei Kasuga dribbled leisurely across half-court.
No adjustments; a winning Seiho didn't need to make any adjustments.
But Seirin.
They had to make adjustments.
Using Kagami, the only one whose model and athletic ability matched, to main-defend Yuuto, with players ambushing nearby ready to help defend at any time.
Mainly focusing on defending the drive.
Yuuto looked simple, but that was just an external manifestation after his internals reached the extreme.
But how exactly to defend?
Kagami didn't have a particularly good idea, just instinctively keeping a one-body-length distance from Yuuto.
Step~
"Here it comes!"
Yuuto took just one step forward, and Kagami already faced a formidable enemy, concentrating fully.
But Yuuto quickly pulled his foot back, seemingly about to step back outside the three-point line.
"Step-back shot!"
Kagami made a judgment, his center of gravity starting to move forward.
And Yuuto.
His left hand contacted the basketball quickly, looking like he was about to complete the gathering motion.
But the moment he gathered, his dominant right hand released the basketball. He used his left hand to control the ball and fake right, then instantly followed the ball, swinging fiercely to accelerate to the left.
"Damn it, fooled again!"
Kagami's attention was extremely focused; he saw Yuuto's entire crossover move clearly.
It was an extremely standard "Shammgod."
And Yuuto.
He was like a gust of wind, blowing near Seirin's free-throw line in a breath.
A defender on the side quickly helped defend.
Yuuto could totally shake him off and attack the rim.
But in the image brought by the Eagle Eye (Yuuto's vision/spatial awareness), he saw Ryuhei Kasuga cutting to coordinate with him.
Snap!
Yuuto passed the ball laterally to the middle without looking back.
That position happened to be the direction before Izuki Shun helped defend; at this moment, Ryuhei Kasuga appeared exactly there.
Snap!
"Truly comfortable."
Such a pass, although not as good as Akashi's, exceeded 90% of point guards in the country.
Ryuhei Kasuga strode with strange steps into the Seirin paint and scored with a low layup again.
"Seiho scores consecutively!"
"Wonderful distribution, wonderful connection!"
"10 points! The gap between the two sides has widened to double digits!"
"Seirin has no solution for the Lion King!"
The gap reached double digits again.
Riko Aida's expression carried heaviness. Luck wouldn't always favor them; Izuki Shun was never a main scorer, he couldn't keep hitting lucky threes.
If the score gap continued to widen...
"Please run!"
While Seiho players were meticulously preparing to return to defense.
A blue figure suddenly ran quickly under the basket.
He picked up the basketball first, then spun in a large circle on the spot, utilizing centrifugal force, and finally threw the ball out fiercely.
Kagami ran forward desperately the moment he heard Kuroko's voice.
He unhesitatingly chose to trust Kuroko, this guy he had known for only a month.
The basketball broke through the air, tearing through the atmosphere and crashing toward Seiho's paint.
This pass shocked Shio Yamashita, who was getting a bit sleepy, into opening his eyes wide.
The basketball passed through fully 8 players.
Before they could recover, Kagami received this super long pass.
Bang!
Just catching the ball produced a sound several times louder than his usual dribbling.
"It hurts!"
Kagami sucked in a breath of cold air; this was absolutely the most forceful pass he had ever received.
Stabilizing his arm, he gathered the ball, jumped, and dunked it into the hoop.
All this happened in an instant.
Seirin's style was fast, but the completion time of their offense this time reached an appalling level—it only took three seconds.
"What is this? What just happened?"
Seiho fans hadn't even finished cheering; how did the opponent score immediately after turning their heads?
"A pass penetrating the whole court? As expected of Yuuto's old teammate, this is too reckless!"
Such a scalp-tingling move.
Besides those six geniuses, only Yuuto's two teammates could use it.
Yuuto's Eagle Eye actually noticed it, but by the time he reacted and wanted to act, it was too late.
[Weakness]
[Correction]
The talent activated silently once again.
He nodded toward Kuroko and said, "Not bad, very focused attention."
"I achieved a three-peat in the National Tournament in middle school, Yuuto!" Kuroko rarely trash-talked.
Very much his style, stabbing into people's hearts calmly.
Something neither the Generation of Miracles nor Yuuto achieved, he, Kuroko, did.
He was indeed a National Tournament three-peat winner.
"True enough."
Yuuto certainly wouldn't be affected by this level of trash talk.
Still the same tactic.
Yuuto passed Kagami one-on-one again.
At the same time.
Ryuhei Kasuga coordinated with a cut, and Tsutomu Iwamura also sought an advantageous position under the basket.
The Bulls' Triangle Offense wasn't suitable for Seiho, but as long as Yuuto could maintain one-on-one invincibility, this tactic was valid for Seiho.
After all, tactics are dead; people are alive.
Even Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense was different during the Bulls and Lakers eras.
With the Bulls, he mainly created scoring opportunities for Jordan.
With the Lakers, he mainly created scoring opportunities for O'Neal.
And during the period when Kobe was the talker, the core of the Lakers' Triangle Offense shifted from inside to outside.
But at that time, Kobe's Pippen wasn't an outside player, but the center Pau Gasol who had extremely strong策应 (playmaking/coordination) ability.
And Seiho?
Yuuto possessed scoring ability while also having extremely strong team-connecting ability.
Teammates only needed to coordinate with his actions based on his characteristics to make the tactic run.
Bang!
Iwamura received the ball under the basket and posted up Mitobe for a dunk.
"Where is Teppei? Where is that guy now?"
This Seirin substitute wasn't enough for him to fight.
Iwamura involuntarily recalled Teppei Kiyoshi from last year.
That Uncrowned King, Iron Heart, caused him quite a bit of trouble back then.
Mitobe remained silent, but his eyes looked at Iwamura.
As if saying something, but his mouth didn't move at all.
Shinji Koganei translated for him from the sidelines, "Teppei is injured and is currently recuperating in the hospital! That's what Mitobe said."
...
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