😀 Linzz and I decided in preparation for Kuroko no Basket’s Season 2, we will do the marathon coverage! Together will be releasing four (or more) episodes per week. This will be a whole lot of fun since neither of us were able to finish covering the show while it had aired due to RL circumstances. Without any further ado, lets get started!
Seirin is up against one of the three Kings, Seiho who is famous for their ridiculously strong defense. After the third-year’s horrific results after playing against Seiho last year, the team is determined to defeat them. However Seirin starts off on a slow and miserable start, and are quickly falling behind in the scores. Finally Riko figures out what makes their defense so different and explains that Seiho uses old martial arts techniques that helps preserve their energy.
Impression:
Seiho incorporates old martial arts techniques into their playing strategy. It helps them maintain their stamina which allows them to keep up with their strong man to man defense which requires the players to stick to their target like glue. It takes up a lot of energy, and if you don’t have that stamina, there is no way you will be able to keep up with your opponent. When it comes to man to man, SPEED is the answer. If you’re faster than your opponent, then you will be able to get around them, it’s as simple and straight forward as that. It’s the same rule that applies to getting and keeping yourself open. Seirin had a slow and not to mention, quite a miserable start because they were buckling under the pressured IN-YOUR-FACE defense and couldn’t make any passes. When they attacked for the opening, they were too slow. So in short, in order to defeat these guys, speed is essential. Another big factor is courage. Being pressured makes you be it consciously or subconsciously intimidated, which leads to distraction.
Tsugawa reminds me a lot of myself when it comes to playing defense…. except for the big mouth part and sadistic nature. It’s a nostalgic feeling since like him I would end up grinning like an idiot while I played defense. I get so engrossed into it that whenever I saw that my opponent is frustrated, there is a great satisfaction. (Heck there was this one time that I was doing so well that like Kagami had ended up doing, they frequently ended up getting “Charging” Fouls, I giggled and jumped a little with glee- I couldn’t help myself it was the best game I have ever played both on offense and defense.) It’s not part of mocking (except for Tsugawa, he by nature ends up doing so intentionally), but it’s all part of a sense of pride because it’s something that we excel in. Now that Kagami had finally kicked the team into gear, Tsugawa is even more fired up, because lets face it, sometimes- even during important games like this: it’s fun being challenged.
Kuroko had not been in the spotlight in the game so far, but with his daily fortune not in his favor, what is in store his struggles ahead?
