Kuroko's Basketball: I'm not the boss?

Returning to the game, if Popovich could see the problem, then Coach Shutoku Nakatani Hitoshi would certainly be aware of it.

He frowned as he looked at the tactics board in his hand, wanting to speak up and deploy tactics several times, but in the end, these unspoken words turned into a sigh and a hopeful and sincere look at Midorima and Takao.

Takao:…

"Coach, there's no need to change tactics. Just play at the same pace as in the first half."

Let's go. ”

Midorima sat upright on the bench, gently rubbing the wristband on his hand.

Midorima's face was flushed red from the series of difficult three-pointers in the second quarter, but this did not diminish the surging fighting spirit in his eyes.

Nakatani Hitoshi sighed deeply and reluctantly agreed to Midorima's request.

With three senior players leaving the team, Xiude's roster is really weak.

"Okay, but Midorima, you need to try to keep your shot attempts to a minimum. In the fourth quarter... Shutoku can't do without you."

"I see."

……

……

On the other side, Hai Chang's substitute bench

Xiang Yang had just finished explaining the key points of the second half's strategy to his teammates when he was met with a disdainful and strange look.

Xiangyang was stunned. He looked at Kise's disgusted expression and slapped him with a chop without any politeness: "What are you doing? If you think there's a problem or a flaw in what I said, just say it. I'm not some tyrant who won't listen to advice."

"No, no, Xiangyang, what you said sounds very good, and it seems highly feasible. We just think... this tactic is just too inhumane, isn't it?"

The carefree Xiaojue always says whatever comes to mind. He scratched his head, still pondering what Xiangyang had just said.

A few minutes ago

Xiangyang: "Next, we should increase our defense against the other players in Shutoku and reduce the pressure on Midorima. Ryota, give Midorima more easy shooting opportunities and don't press them too hard."

Kise: "Why?"

"When a wild beast faces a desperate situation, it will do everything in its power to seek a chance to survive. But if it is given a glimmer of hope, it will hesitate and look back, wondering whether to risk its life."

"For Shutoku now, Midorima is his lifeline. As long as he doesn't fall, they will continue to cling to the wishful thinking that 'we can rely on Midorima,' thus increasing the pressure on Midorima."

Xiangyang spoke with great confidence, stating that even if Midorima continued to play a three-point-per-second strategy, Kaijo, holding the advantage, could change tactics at any time. Meanwhile, Shutoku, whose raw strength was significantly weaker, could only be led by the nose by Kaijo, ultimately suffering a slow and inevitable defeat.

Upon hearing this, everyone at Kaijo gasped in shock. Even Takeuchi, who had been sitting calmly to the side, secretly rejoiced: "Thank goodness this guy is from Kaijo."

Yuki even pulled out a notebook from somewhere and wrote down everything Xiangyang had just said.

If you look closely, you can also find a line of text on the notebook cover: "The 1001st idea to defeat Senior Xiangyang".

Kise kept clicking his tongue and shaking his head, his eyes filled with a hint of reluctance as he looked at the bench next to Shutoku's.

"Hopefully, this game won't drive Midorima to the brink of despair..."

……

……

Beep—Third quarter

Haichang has the first serve

Although the score difference was very close, Haichang's overall offense remained well-organized, with each round of movement and shot selection being very effective.

After several pick-and-roll plays, Xiangyang found an open space, received a pass from Yuki, and took a wide-open three-pointer, scoring successfully.

As the basketball swished through the net, Xiang Yang backed away, making a gun-like gesture with both hands, alternately bringing them to his lips and blowing on them, mimicking a cowboy putting away his gun.

The movement is directed towards the waist.

Talent: The cheers after the goal have begun.

"Xiangyang really loves to do celebration moves. Since the first summer season, he has given the audience a lot of interesting moves."

As the big screen continuously replayed Xiangyang's goal and celebration, Bobo smiled and offered another explanation to the audience.

"This was one of Xiangyang's favorite celebration moves last year. Many fans even gave this move a name: 'holstering the gun,' which is quite apt."

"Besides that, there are also three-finger head smashes, hand shrugs, throat slits, and so on. Xiang Yang's celebration moves alone could make a highlight reel."

At the scene, when Xiang Yang made the "holstering" gesture, many spectators cheered. Although Xiang Yang's playing style is not so flashy, his colorful celebration moves and his playful personality are enough to attract many fans.

"This guy is really popular."

Takao sighed inwardly, but his dribbling was quick. He pushed the ball across half the court again, looking for a scoring opportunity.

"Ok?"

Takao let out a soft exclamation. Under the "Eagle Eye" of the Hawk, he saw everything that happened on the field, down to the smallest detail.

Haichang's defense in this round was completely different from that in the first half!

In the past, besides Kise, there would always be at least one Kaijo defender near Midorima, waiting for an opportunity to double-team Kise. But this time, there was only Kise around Midorima!

Not only that, even Kise's positioning was slightly biased towards the inside, standing in a position where he could help defend his teammates at any time, while he basically didn't provide any defensive intensity for Midorima.

"Xiao Zhen."

Takao gave a soft call, his hands moving swiftly. Although he subconsciously sensed something was wrong, the scoring opportunity was right in front of him, so of course he had to seize it first.

Midorima received the ball at the top of the arc, glancing at Kise out of the corner of his eye. He noticed that although Kise had moved forward slightly, he was still leaving him plenty of space. This was a stark contrast to his defensive attitude in the first half.

Without hesitation, Midorima immediately raised his hand and jumped. Kise merely made a token move to defend, allowing Midorima to hit another three-pointer.

In the following rounds, every offensive and defensive play between the two teams seemed to be a microcosm of this offensive play. Kaijo's offensive play continued the offensive rhythm of the first two quarters. Only on the defensive end, Kise changed to eye-based defense against Midorima.

With half of the third quarter gone, Midorima hit another three-pointer, and the score was finally tied.

76-76, this was the first time in the entire match that Xiude had tied the score.

"What is this feeling...? Why...? Something just doesn't feel right..."

Takao frowned slightly, looking at the score on the scoreboard, a sense of unease flashing through his mind for no apparent reason.

It was another round of attacks from Xiude. Haichang's defense did not change after the score was tied, but continued to implement Xiangyang's plan.

Seeing Midorima with an opportunity on the flank, Takao was about to pass the ball, but stopped halfway through the motion.

Takao's action startled Xiangyang. He touched his nose and asked with a smile, "What's wrong? Aren't you going to pass the ball? Your ace..."

But I can't wait any longer; I can feel his burning desire to score, even standing here."

After saying that, Xiangyang gestured towards Takao with his lip to Midorima, who was now kneeling slightly, ready to catch the ball and shoot.

However, Takao did not pass the ball as before, but instead frowned and looked at Hidamari in front of him.

"Although I don't know what you're plotting, your goal is to keep Xiao Zhen taking action, right?"

Faced with Takao's question, Xiangyang remained noncommittal; after all, it was so obvious that anyone could see it.

"But what I don't understand is, if you want to deplete Xiao Zhen's stamina, then why leave him dwindling in the first place?"

While dribbling low to guard against Hikaru's attempt to steal the ball, Takao asked the question that had been on his mind.

If the goal was to wear down Midorima, Kaijo wouldn't have needed to leave only Kise standing in front of him to put on a show. Although Kise's defensive moves looked serious, slight interference was completely ineffective in stopping Midorima.

This time, Xiangyang didn't answer, but simply pointed to the time on the scoreboard.

The 24-second shot clock has already passed halfway. If Takao doesn't attack soon, then Shutoku will commit another 24-second violation.

What should we do...? Should we pass the ball to Midorima...?

Without needing to be reminded by Xiangyang, Takao naturally knew that time was almost up, and a struggle flashed in his eyes as he hesitated, unsure of what decision to make.

On the flank, Midorima, seeing this, did not react, but remained quietly standing in place, waiting for Takao to pass the ball.

Even if he doesn't pass the ball to Midorima in the end, Midorima won't complain.

Just as Kagami trusted Kuroko and Kise trusted Hikaru, Midorima also had complete trust in Takao.

"Phew—I don't know what you guys are up to..."

Takao closed his eyes and exhaled. When he opened them again, his gaze became resolute.

"But no matter what, we definitely can't do as you wish!"

As soon as Takao finished speaking, he broke through with a step between his legs. Putting aside his special "eyes", Takao's ability to break through was not bad.

Xiangyang reacted quickly. The moment he noticed Takao's movement, he changed his position and followed up with a sliding defense.

Unfortunately, Takao is a point guard known for his speed, and since Hikaru didn't expect him to take a one-on-one shot, he was caught off guard.

With a quick layup, Takao successfully exploited the fact that Hikaru's speed had decreased due to his increased weight, scoring two points for Shutoku.

"Great shot! With that, Xiude has taken the lead!"

"Is this the first time they've taken the lead in the entire match?"

"That guard with glasses is such a sharpshooter! He hasn't missed a single shot yet! Oh no, I think I'm starting to like this team!"

Scattered discussions arose in the stands, with many neutral fans now switching sides to Xiude's side.

Unfortunately, Takao didn't hear it. But even if he had, he probably wouldn't be happy at a time like this, because…

"Really, I didn't expect you to see through me. Although I couldn't guess everything, you deserve praise just for resisting the urge to pass the ball to Midorima."

to

Yang clapped his hands, his eyes filled with approval as he looked at Takao. His expression remained unchanged despite Takao scoring a goal; he always seemed calm and composed.

Seeing Xiangyang's expression, Gaowei became even more uneasy. He secretly observed the situation, fearing that something he couldn't understand might suddenly appear somewhere.

"Don't be so nervous, Mr. Takao."

Xiangyang shrugged, passed the ball to Yuki, and then walked to the corner alone. Perhaps because he was in the mood, he suddenly had the idea of ​​chatting with Takao for a while longer.

"You know, if a sparrow is fed and clothed every day, it will soon lose its instinct to hunt and survive, and will only be able to depend on its owner to survive."

With his hands on his knees, Xiangyang watched with great interest as Yuki organized the attack, while talking to Takao.

"Huh? This story is quite novel. And then what?"

Takao pursed his lips. Although he didn't understand what Xiangyang meant, if Xiangyang didn't attack and just chatted with him, Takao would be willing to listen even if what he said was boring.

"Hey, don't be so dismissive. I'm only telling you this as a reward!"