Yamashita Shio never underestimated a first-year student.
Especially when that first-year was a starter for Shutoku.
This implied that Kazunari Takao either possessed incredibly high talent or had an immediate, high-level combat readiness to impress a coach like Nakatani Masaaki.
It was even possible he had both.
"Get me the tapes of their games. I need to take a good look at just how special this kid is."
He planned to spend the entire morning studying this freshman player.
"The rest of you, stick to the basic training drills. Dismissed."
After giving his orders, he returned to his office.
They had their third-round match tomorrow, so today's training was simply light maintenance to keep them in form.
Meanwhile.
Over at the Seirin basketball club, they hadn't stopped just because they were eliminated.
High school basketball wasn't just about the Inter-High; there was also the Winter Cup, second only to the nationals in prestige.
That was their last chance this year.
At this moment, they had already begun preparing for the Winter Cup qualifiers months in advance—starting their prep even earlier than the national soccer team usually would.
Taiga Kagami seemed like a different person today.
During the practice match, he refused to coordinate with his teammates, forcing plays and turning the ball over repeatedly.
Riko Aida scolded him several times, but Kagami continued to do things his own way.
She knew exactly what was going through Kagami's head.
He was attempting to win matches using Yuuto's style.
In the match against Seiho, the impact Yuuto left on Kagami was beyond imagination.
As a coach, Riko didn't know how to handle this.
If it were an old-school coach like Yamashita Shio, he might have acted like that bald maniac from Whiplash. He would use bullying tactics to constantly belittle and deny the player, only to swoop in when the player was on the verge of a breakdown with a line like, "Hey, listen, I did that for your own good. I see something special in you, and I don't want you to waste your talent like my former student did," effectively brainwashing them.
That was a manipulation tactic commonly used by old-school Western coaches to control their players.
But obviously, Riko couldn't bring herself to use those methods.
Helpless, she made a phone call to the soul of the team, Teppei Kiyoshi.
As a coach, sometimes she sought help from her father, and sometimes she sought help from her players.
Yuuto felt she wasn't really suited to be a head coach; she was better fit as a trainer, much like her father, Kagetora Aida.
The day passed quickly.
The third round of the group stages began.
Seiho's match was scheduled for the morning, while the "main event" of Group A was given to Shutoku.
The draw might have been fair, but the organizers clearly knew what the fans wanted to see. They always placed the focal matches during prime time.
However, Seiho's match still attracted over twenty thousand fans to the venue.
Yuuto's match against Seirin had shown the fans what it looked like when he was "slacking off" on the court. Now, they were desperate to see Yuuto play for real.
This round's opponent wasn't on the same level as the "Black King" or Seirin.
Seiho played steadily, locking down defense to spark counterattacks, and established a 50-point lead by halftime.
The game was completely one-sided.
In the second half, Yuuto sat on the bench, sitting next to his coach who was currently cosplaying as a Zen Master.
"Coach, if you can't sleep, there's no need to force yourself."
"You don't understand. I am engaging in deep-level meditation."
The old man's skin was thick; Yuuto's teasing didn't faze him in the slightest.
"Iwamura is injured."
"What?!"
Hearing this, the old guy instantly sprang up from his seat, only to find Tsutomu Iwamura perfectly intact. He had just completed a two-handed slam dunk and was roaring at his opponents with full energy.
" during the game, you must give me adequate respect, Yuuto," the old man glared.
"Then you need to show an attitude worthy of my respect, instead of deliberately imitating some other old guy."
Yuuto really didn't get it. What was so great about imitating Phil Jackson?
Sure, the Zen Master achieved massive success with the Bulls and the Lakers.
But the problem was, after he left historical-level superstars like Jordan, Shaq, and Kobe, look at what happened to Phil Jackson in New York.
"You don't understand. As long as I remain calm and confident, the players won't panic. They will play with confidence," Yamashita gave his reasoning.
This was something he had realized on his own.
But Yuuto felt that the reason the Zen Master often dozed off during games probably had more to do with his private life.
God knows when he got involved with Jeanie Buss.
At his age, messing around with that kind of high-profile socialite...
Yuuto and Yamashita began bickering.
The players on the side were astonished.
It was their first time seeing a player dare to talk to the coach like that, and surprisingly, the coach wasn't even angry.
Twenty minutes later.
The game ended. Seiho won the third round without any suspense.
After shaking hands and packing up, everyone went home.
As for Yuuto, upon returning to school, he ran up to the rooftop to start his first simulation since entering high school.
"Simulation, start!"
He closed his eyes with a sense of ritual, muttered the command, and then opened his eyes to look at the text on the interface.
[Simulation Starting...]
[Randomly Drawing Talents...]
[Drawn Talent: Hawk Eye]
[Drawn Talent: Acrobatic Shot]
[Drawn Talent: High-Speed Jumping]
[Drawn Talent: Wildness: Lynx]
[Drawn Talent: Brute Force]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Blue Talent "Hawk Eye": A 360-degree field of vision with no blind spots. You can instantly switch perspectives within your mind to observe the state of the entire court.]
"Hawk Eye? Functionally, it doesn't look much different from the Eagle Eye."
Yuuto rubbed his chin as he looked at this talent.
Although it was a rare vision-based talent, its attributes overlapped with the Eagle Eye.
"I'll try fusing them during the simulation to see the effect."
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Purple Talent "Acrobatic Shot": Greatly improves the player's flexibility and balance. You can complete a shot from any posture while in the air.]
Aomine's second coming?
Yuuto immediately thought of Aomine Daiki. However, the skill description explicitly marked the words "in the air," and there was no stat boost attached to it.
"Is there a high probability that it has limitations and won't reach Aomine's level?"
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Blue Talent "High-Speed Jumping": Greatly improves the player's instantaneous jumping ability.]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Blue Talent "Brute Force": Increases the player's physical contact ability and dunking destructive power. Strength attribute increased by 5 points. (Note: This talent will affect shooting touch to a certain extent; please adapt as soon as possible.)]
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