Despite the fact that Kagami was in dire foul trouble, the seniors and Riko had already planned ahead to sub out both Kagami and Kuroko so that they could preserve their energy for their next game. The seniors reveal that they have done more than just the usual practices. They have worked over time, studying and training hard so that they would be prepared to counter Seiho’s unique playing style. However Koganei gets hurt and is forced to sub out. Kuroko volunteers and acts as Kagami’s proxy to seek revenge against Seiho’s number one defense man Tsugawa.
Impression:
Kuroko is out for revenge as Kagami’s proxy, but without a doubt he has a grudge against Tsugawa of his own. Kagami seriously needs to learn to shut up. He is always taking a fit when he is benched. Dude, you have four fouls- deal with it and have some faith in your team! God, he’s so ignorant. I can’t wait to see him be put in his place in the future. Fortunately later into the episode he finally zipped his mouth and was able to see a new perspective of how his team plays on the court that can only be seen on the bench.
Seirin studied hard to learn how to recognize their Seiho’s habits. Their efforts paid off, especially during the last quarter when only then they could strip Seiho’s confidence and play hard. It was a very close game, I wonder at times whether Kuroko would have used that feign swipe even if Kagami hadn’t called out his name. A part of me believes so since he was pretty unfazed about Tsugawa being in his face, but at the same time- hey why not put in some Bromance Feels? Either way, Kuroko such a BOSS!!!!!!!!!! AND BAM THEY SCORE~!
What a close game, and WHAT A VICTORY! EPIC LAST PLAY!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3
Meanwhile, on the other court: Shutoku ruthlessly destroyed their opponent!
Onto King Game #2! Seirin VS Shuutoku
DAMNNN~ Midorima has no intentions of letting Kagami score. But damn, what a close call for Shuutoku’s first basket. Nice defense on Hyuuga’s part. Definitely the best part about this game is that nether team have scored within the first two minutes, that only tells you have tight the defense is- of course Midorima is the one to break it and with such swag gets the first point. With those kinds of ‘air time’ shots that take up alot of time on the clock; rather than watching the ball fly in the air, like Kuroko had told Kagami to do: get your ass running down the court already and prepare for a counter strike. There is not a minute to lose. Kuroko’s pass from under their basket wasn’t something that was purely fictional- it is in fact from is a strategy that is used in real games. I have experienced these plays myself. From my experience it’s certainly something that is not a play that is commonly used, mostly because the only way for it to work is to use it when the opponent least expects it or when your opponents are playing full court defense. On top of that you need someone who can match the speed of the pass and be able to catch the damn thing without traveling. In this case, Kagami was the catcher, and with that, BOOM they scored in less than two seconds maintaining the balance of the game.
I have to say that I absolutely loved the animation in this episode. It really delivered how much pressure there is on the defense, and the struggles to get open. The display of the muscles and the details put into scanning the court is very well done. The two images below are probably my favorite screenshot of the man-to-man defense.
Finally, Takao is definitely going to be trouble since he can sense Kuroko’s small presence. This is probably Kuroko’s horoscope warning that we heard back in Ep 8. He is going to have to be very careful, and adapt to being seen- especially if Takao is going to be marking him.
