In some respects, he wasn't wrong.
Everyone starts playing basketball because of their love for it.
But just carrying this kind of pure thought is unfeasible.
In modern basketball, or perhaps the entire history of basketball, the court is a battlefield!
Whether it's professional leagues or international competitions, every game is a war.
For victory, players might use "war trample" to hit people on the court, or even use the "Heavenly Foot" flying kick.
In short, real competition will never be pure.
While thinking about this, the bullet comments in front of him started rolling again.
'**Tendo Keigon**?'
'What is your relationship with **Tendou Souji**?'
'Let's make a prediction first, the number one pretender of this work!'
'This guy is really handsome, almost threatened me. Definitely an important character!'
'Wake up upstairs, your looks are at most comparable to **Gian** (Fat Tiger)!'
Brain-damaged netizens are so joyful.
Tendo Keigon felt that this anime had definitely just broadcasted Episode 1, the progress bar was at least halfway through or more, and the exciting parts hadn't even arrived yet, but these pretenders had already started finding entertainment for themselves.
*I haven't even made my move yet!*
Less idle chatter.
After waiting a while, **Shirogane Kozo** walked over with his assistant coach and the current team captain, **Nijimura Shuuzo**.
"First, welcome everyone to the **Teiko** Basketball Club."
"As you can see, our basketball club pursues the philosophy of victory above all else."
Shirogane Kozo pointed to the banner hanging above the gym, where four big characters "Hundred Battles Hundred Victories" were written.
However, speaking of which, although Teiko is a regular at the Nationals, they haven't actually won the National Championship that many times.
This has to do with the National Tournament format, which uses BO1 (Best of One) throughout, a single-elimination system.
This format is recognized as the cruelest and most exciting format.
It's not "almost," but rather every year there are guaranteed upsets.
Even stronger teams might be cut down by a team suddenly exploding, or even a single player exploding.
Therefore, wanting to win consecutive National Championships is a very difficult thing.
Not only do you need strength, but you also need luck on your side.
Seeing everyone's expressions become serious, realizing what kind of basketball club Teiko is, Shirogane Kozo nodded and continued.
"We are a team based on the principle of victory. Since it is victory-ism, the entrance ceremony will be spoken with basketball."
"I won't arrange any physical tests for you now. If you want to get a position at Teiko, you can only rely on yourselves."
"Now we will begin group confrontation training. Those whose names are called form a team. Your opponent is the Teiko Second String."
Shirogane Kozo's arrangement was simple and neat.
Conducting physical tests one by one is absolutely unfeasible because there are simply too many people.
If they were all tested once, they basically wouldn't have anything else to do today.
Whether it's a mule or a horse, take it out for a spin and it will be clear.
However, in his heart, he had actually already noted a few faces.
Among them, the one who attracted him the most must be **Murasakibara Atsushi**, who had already reached 190CM at a young age.
'Wow, so tall!'
'And he's a kuudere!'
'Stupidly cute, stupidly cute. Is this guy really a junior high student?'
Holding the materials in his hand, Shirogane Kozo began to look forward to Murasakibara Atsushi's performance.
Murasakibara Atsushi has been a famous basketball genius since elementary school.
Because of his height, he was naturally selected by the basketball club coach and dragged to play basketball.
Like that fat guy **Morishige Hiroshi** in *Slam Dunk*, a child with this kind of body and athletic ability will be hailed as a treasure of the basketball world.
Murasakibara Atsushi did not disappoint the teacher who had high hopes for him.
Standing out from the crowd since childhood, even if he didn't know how to play basketball, he still caused a dimensionality reduction strike against his peers on the court.
In his first year of contact with basketball, he very easily helped his team win the regional championship.
He is a veritable talent monster.
...
Soon, the grouping was completed.
Time was limited; Teiko couldn't arrange a 40-minute game.
This confrontation match would only last 20 minutes per game, adopting a method of two 10-minute halves.
Tendo Keigon's luck wasn't bad; he was assigned to the same squad as **Kuroko**, with a total of 10 people.
Unsurprisingly, this group of people would each get a chance to show themselves for 10 minutes.
After the grouping was completed and training clothes were changed into, the games began immediately, with several games proceeding simultaneously.
Tendo Keigon sat on the bench with Kuroko for the first 10 minutes, as the other 5 new students took the court first.
Unsurprisingly, these new students who were temporarily thrown together were beaten badly by the Teiko Second String seniors.
This didn't surprise anyone at all.
After all, it is Teiko. Even the Second String has the qualifications to be starters on other less powerful teams.
Moreover, the Teiko Second String is actually the reserve for the First String.
Teiko's First String, which is the regulars, only consists of those few people. The remaining substitutes will be selected from the players who perform well in the Second String.
In other words, these newcomers were facing the reserves of the powerhouse Teiko.
This was done intentionally by Shirogane Kozo, to give these newcomers a warning, letting these reckless youths know the immensity of heaven and earth.
In just 5 minutes, the score became 16:4. Tendo Keigon's team of first-year students only scored a mere 4 points in 5 minutes.
Their strength was originally not as good as the Second String, and they lacked tacit understanding and cooperation. Such a point difference was very reasonable.
'Too weak, beaten 16:4 just like that?'
'Didn't you see the opening monologue? Teiko is a powerhouse team. It's not strange to beat some rookies, right?'
'I'm looking forward to how Kuroko leads the team to reverse this now. According to the tropes, it must be CBA teammates, then the protagonist explodes to reverse it, right?'
The dog-shit netizens guessed mostly right.
But the person leading the reversal today isn't the protagonist.
Before developing his Misdirection, Kuroko is purely a scrub.
Wanting Kuroko to lead the team to reverse the situation is completely overthinking it.
The first half of the game was soon ready to end.
Tendo Keigon was ready to take the court. Just as he stood up, he found Kuroko's hands were trembling.
"You seem very nervous, Kuroko."
"We're about to go on stage immediately. Shouldn't you be excited?"
"I... sorry, Tendo-kun. The seniors are all very amazing."
Kuroko knew his own level very well.
He asked himself if his love for basketball would lose to anyone, but being weaker than anyone else—he equally didn't think he would lose to anyone in *that* regard.
Tendo Keigon naturally knew, but he still confidently spread his legs, placing his hands on his knees to warm up his body.
"Just because of this?"
"Mhm. Are you not nervous at all, Tendo-kun?"
"Of course not!" Tendo Keigon said with radiating vigor, "Because I am the strongest!"