Beep~
The whistle blew, ending the first quarter.
Returning to the bench, Seirin's players looked relaxed but complicated.
At this time, the score on the field was 34:26!
Their Seirin actually led King Shutoku by 8 points!
"The tactics didn't change; it's our specialty blitzkrieg. But the players' consumption is much less than expected." Riko Aida could see the players' current state.
Unprecedentedly excellent.
She knew where the problem lay; just look at the stats.
In a single quarter, except for Izuki Shun, the four Seirin players on the court all scored more than 6 points.
Although scoring was dispersed, the team's attack power increased instead of decreasing.
And because the number of players who could score increased, the result was a reduction in stamina consumption.
This is the multi-point blossoming pursued by most head coaches.
"If only it could stay like this forever." Riko Aida knew this was impossible. Unless she remodeled Kagami in Yuuto's direction.
But the difficulty was too high.
The Lion emerging from Okushirazome was hailed as a super genius once in fifty years.
Moreover, it was time to bring these guys back to reality.
"Yuuto, rest for the second quarter, okay?"
"Sure."
Yuuto agreed without hesitation.
Others instantly understood their coach's meaning.
No matter how powerful Yuuto was, he didn't belong to them; he would always be the King of Seiho.
"Did you get what you wanted?" Momoi sat next to him and asked.
"Not yet, but soon."
Midorima didn't possess buff talents like Wildness, barring the possibility of him suddenly stepping into the Zone domain. His correction of Midorima was more than half complete.
Off-ball movement ability, one-on-one ability, and the shooting ability granted by extraordinary touch—all corrected.
"Then... shall we go to the beach again later?"
She leaned into Yuuto's ear again to blow air. The Seiho King shivered all over.
The little fairy is messing with my Daoist heart again.
He said righteously, "I don't go anywhere without benefits."
Implying: I won't go if there's no reward.
Hearing this, Momoi rolled her eyes at him and said, "But there's a moon at night."
Moon?
What can the moon do?
"Don't you want to punish me in the name of the moon?" (Sailor Moon reference)
Too evil.
This fairy is truly too evil.
To maintain world peace and justice, Yuuto could only go to the meeting alone.
He kept a straight face and said, "Alright. Just so happens I sweated all over after playing."
You and your many excuses. Who bathes in seawater?
Momoi couldn't help but pinch him, rolling her eyes again. Only in her teens, she had already mastered infinite charm.
...
The second quarter continued.
The loss in the first quarter wasn't the result the King wanted.
They launched a fierce attack right away, using Midorima as bait to stretch Seirin's defense, creating scoring opportunities for other players.
When Seirin adjusted, Midorima would stand up and hit a three-pointer to score.
Defense couldn't hold; offense was also a bit chaotic for Seirin.
Because Kagami was trying to imitate Yuuto's playstyle, actively making various complex coordinations with teammates.
"That idiot." Riko Aida seemed to have seen the result.
Yuuto's playstyle is a typical ball-dominant core playstyle.
Meaning the whole team builds offense around one player.
Such a player has extremely high value and is the cornerstone of team building.
But the requirements are also quite harsh. Every ball-dominant core needs to possess several abilities:
Strong driving ability, strong perimeter shooting ability, passing ability to find teammates accurately after attracting double-teams, and excellent big-picture view.
Only by satisfying these points can one cover the whole court with their influence.
Such a player is simply the representative of omnipotence.
But Kagami wasn't this type of player.
His role in Seirin was more of a finisher. When the ball reached his hands, it meant Seirin's offense was coming to an end.
Taking Kobe's ability to do Kidd's job—this was digging his own grave.
Only 3 minutes into the second quarter, Shutoku tied the score.
Riko Aida could only call a timeout to calm Kagami down.
Hearing this, Kagami showed an unwilling expression. Seeing this, she could only sigh secretly; the impact of the match was too great.
Indeed great.
Now playing basketball, Yuuto's figure would always involuntarily appear in Kagami's mind, and he wanted to imitate his style.
He longed to be as strong as Yuuto.
Yuuto watched silently.
Kagami wasn't without the potential to be a ball-dominant core.
Entering the second door of the Zone, his playstyle was that of a ball-dominant core.
At that time, Seirin's offense was like a violent storm, defeating Yamashita Shio's proud defense time and again in the simulation.
In that state, all Seirin members were connected by heart.
Just an exchange of glances was enough to read each other's thoughts.
But that was built on the state of the Zone's second door. Ordinary Kagami was more suitable as a finishing point.
Riko Aida's reminder failed to wake Kagami up. Finally, Kuroko couldn't help but poke his ribs and say something to him, which restored him to normal.
Thus, Seirin played their own basketball, fighting back and forth with Shutoku.
"Just haven't seen them for a while, and everyone in Seirin has improved so much."
Momoi compared with previous data.
Found that Seirin's players had improved greatly in all aspects compared to before.
"Passing became more decisive; player reception awareness is stronger. The previous ball-hogging situation disappeared. Is it because they've been playing beach basketball?"
This woman wasn't a fuel-efficient lamp either.
Riko Aida had just felt relieved about the team's performance, but her face darkened again hearing Momoi's words.
The match wasn't even over, yet the opponent figured out her team thoroughly and even saw the purpose of the training program she prepared.
"Are people outside all monsters like this? Do we really have a chance in the Winter Cup?"
Leaving aside Seiho, just passing the hurdle of Shutoku and Tōō before them would be hard.
Anyone associated with Teiko and Hozumi Academy wasn't simple.
The match continued.
Yuuto put on his armor again in the third quarter.
He wanted to complete the final part of the correction.
And.
After completing the correction on Midorima, he handed the ball rights back to Izuki Shun.
"Teaching time is over; now is the time for me to collect my commission."
"Hah?"
Izuki Shun didn't understand. What commission?
As far as he knew, Yuuto's correction ability would disappear after the match.
Unaware of the reason, Izuki Shun continued to play in his own rhythm without reservation.
And Yuuto observed constantly, actively participating in Seirin's offensive system, recording it bit by bit in his brain and body.
Then...
The match ended.
Seirin won this practice match. After the game, both sides were panting heavily, resting on the court.
Only Yuuto, with his perfect match rhythm, had surprisingly low stamina consumption, still refreshed at this moment.
"It was a pleasure playing with you. Goodbye, everyone from Seirin and Shutoku."
He walked fast, without a trace of nostalgia.
Seeing this, Momoi also waved to Midorima and Kuroko. "Bye-bye Little Green, bye-bye Kuroko-kun, see you next time!"
After speaking, she followed Yuuto out of the gym, heading towards the beach...
...
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