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

As for the choice between the power forward and center positions, Coach Sun hesitated...

The Eagles national team is very famous, and Nash is not the only well-known player. Thibo, who is also a member of the Eagles team, is also quite famous.

With his outstanding physical attributes, brutal playing style, and top-notch athleticism, Thibodeau is arguably the perfect answer for a beastly interior player!

Faced with this behemoth, the Chinese men's basketball team, whose interior strength is relatively weak, simply couldn't find a suitable candidate to deal with it.

Even Coach Sun felt like he couldn't cook without rice.

Not only Sun Jiao, but Xiang Yang also noticed this, and he looked towards the audience seats.

Today, Hai Lao also brought members of the national youth team to watch the game, including Xiao Gao, who failed to make it to the national team during the trial due to poor performance.

Xiang Yang sighed, somewhat helplessly.

[What a pity, if that big guy were here, it would have been much easier, wouldn't it?]

Unfortunately, it's impossible for members of the national youth team to play in national team training matches.

In the end, Coach Sun selected two interior players with decent physical strength and began the practice match…

Chapter 220 Two Steals

"How come these guys are all so strong? They really are worthy of being called the best players in the UK."

Li Wenyu quietly observed Nash and his group, muttering to himself.

As a fitness enthusiast, Li Wenyu spends almost every day at the gym lifting weights, which makes him one of the best in terms of physical fitness among the Chinese men's basketball team.

However, compared to the players on the British national team, Li Wenyu's physical attributes can only be considered average.

During the warm-up, Justin Thibodeau slammed the ball into the basket with one hand, creating a spectacular dunk. As the basketball slammed into the hoop with a loud "bang," a gasp of surprise erupted in the arena.

What is it like to witness a burly man over two meters tall and weighing over two hundred kilograms wreaking havoc on a basketball hoop?

Xiangyang dribbled the ball slowly, alternating his hands to find his feel for it. Looking at Thibo's arrogant expression, he couldn't help but curl his lip: "Is this a show of force? It's really making me uncomfortable."

"Captain, catch the ball!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiang Yang made a quick bounce pass, and the basketball immediately came into Li Wenyu's hands.

Li Wenyu was slightly taken aback, clearly not understanding Xiangyang's meaning, but after Xiangyang gestured towards Xibe with his lip, Li Wenyu suddenly realized.

With a sharp look in his eyes and a deep breath, Li Wenyu looked at Thibo's muscular physique, and defiantly raised his arm, then blasted the ball with his right hand towards the basket and leaped into the air!

Li Wenyu's excellent dynamic talent allows him to easily perform difficult moves when dunking.

He leaned back slightly in mid-air and slammed the ball into the basket with a powerful dunk.

"Bangdang"!

In terms of sheer impact, Li Wenyu's dunk was just as impressive as Thibo's.

The audience was very supportive, cheering as their own players went up to perform.

Thibo muttered a curse under his breath, reached for the basketball, and was about to dunk again. He was clearly annoyed that Li Wenyu was receiving more cheers than him.

Just then, the official referee of the Chinese Basketball Association blew his whistle, interrupting everyone's warm-up.

He waved in the direction of both teams, the meaning of which was self-evident: the jump ball players should come forward.

Nash crossed his arms, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said, "Go, Thibe, let these frogs in a well see what world-class strength really looks like."

Xiang Yang patted his center forward's backside and reassured him, "Don't be too nervous, this is just a training match. Just do your best."

Because Thibo's fame and appearance were too intimidating, the center from the Chinese team was somewhat intimidated before the game even started. Fortunately, when Xiangyang comforted him, he secretly started some "chicken soup for the soul," which made the center feel a little more at ease.

"I will do my best!"

……

……

"The game consists of two quarters, each lasting ten minutes. If the score is tied, there will be no overtime, and no fouls or free throws will be awarded."

The referee stood at the center jump ball point and announced it loudly, then he repeated it to Nash and his team in a different voice.

After confirming that both sides were in position, the referee held the whistle to his lips and prepared to start the game with the ball in both hands.

beep—

With the sound of a whistle, the training match between the national players of the United Kingdom and the national players of China began.

.

"Woo-ha!"

Thibo's legs sprang out like springs, catching the basketball at its highest point.

Unsurprisingly, they lost the jump ball. Xiang Yang quickly retreated to observe the Eagle Nation's offensive strategy, thinking to himself with some helplessness: To win the jump ball against Thibo, you probably need someone like Murasakibara to have a chance...

At this moment, in the audience, Xiao Gao was sitting obediently next to Hai Lao, staring at Xi Bo without blinking, his hands secretly gripping the hem of his clothes tightly.

"Come up and block one of them!"

Nash was attacking from the high post, and facing Xiang Yang's defense, he decisively asked his teammate for a screen.

The basketball culture in the United States values ​​physicality, so every player on their team, from guards to centers, has a robust physique.

Xiang Yang felt the screener beside him, who was like a wall, and immediately stepped back, adjusted his feet, and successfully bypassed the screen, standing in front of Nash again.

"Ok?"

Off the field, Kevin Kelly let out a soft exclamation, leaning forward slightly and focusing his attention on Xiang Yang.

As the saying goes, the layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the details. Just by observing the footwork that Xiang Yang used to get around the screen, Kevin learned a lot.

[That's interesting... but I wonder if his one-on-one defense is as good as Nash said.]

On the court, seeing that the pick-and-roll tactic had failed to work, Nash decisively made a gesture to his teammates to spread out. He looked at Xiang Yang, who was slightly lowering his body to defend, and his eyes flashed with fighting spirit.

The Demon King's Eye!

With a burst of black light, Nash's figure accelerated by three points, executing a simple and clean crossover, heading straight for Yang's left side.

Back when the two had played one-on-one, Nash already knew that the best way to attack Xiang Yang was not through fancy rhythm attacks, but through simple and swift breakthroughs!

Taking advantage of his physical abilities, Nashka couldn't help but smile when he got to Xiangyang's side.

[I won this ball, barring any surprises!]

However, barring any unforeseen circumstances, this ball is bound to encounter an accident.

Faced with Nash's pressure, Xiang Yang did not choose to fight back. Instead, he took a step back and circled behind Nash, making a risky steal from behind, which sent the basketball flying out of Nash's hands.

The basketball rolled to the ground, and Zhou Yi, with quick reflexes, dove to retrieve it. He then teamed up with Li Wenyu, who had already made a fast break, and secured the first victory of the day!

The Chinese men's basketball team scores two points, which is valid!

"Good! Good! Good!"

In the stands, Hai Lao shouted "Bravo!" three times in a row. Xiang Yang's steal at the open goal was really a morale booster!

After the steal led to a point for the team, Li Wenyu returned to the court and gave Xiang Yang and Zhou Yi a high-five, his face showing great excitement.

"We took a point from the world's number one ranked Eagles national team! This feels amazing!"

Before Li Wenyu could even celebrate for long, Xiang Yang slapped him on the back of the head, reminding him, "Get into position quickly, they're attacking."

"Oh oh oh."

Li Wenyu immediately turned around and returned to his defensive position.

Under normal circumstances, if Xiangyang did this to the captain, in order to protect him...

To save face, Li Wenyu would have argued with him a bit, but the situation was special now, and Xiang Yang had just made a great contribution, so Li Wenyu didn't say anything.

In this offensive possession for the Eagles, for some reason, it wasn't Nash controlling the ball, but instead a guy with a full beard and the typical Eagles look was in charge.

Upon reaching the middle of the field in China, the bearded man ignored Zhou Yi in front of him and went straight to Xiang Yang next to Nash, beckoning to him in a provocative gesture.

【Um? 】

Xiang Yang frowned slightly, put his hands on his hips and remained standing in place, ignoring the bearded man's provocation.

Seeing that Xiang Yang didn't react, the bearded man simply asked Nash to screen for him and then switched defenses, still standing in front of Xiang Yang.

"Nash said your defense is great, but I don't think so."

The bearded man, speaking with a thick British accent, addressed Xiangyang.

Xiang Yang glanced at the beard on his face and replied, "I don't know how good his defense is, but I should be able to steal it from you."

The bearded man was slightly taken aback, then an angry expression appeared on his face. He stopped talking to Xiang Yang and started dribbling the ball between his legs, intending to teach Xiang Yang a lesson.

Xiang Yang watched the bearded man dribbling the ball with a calm expression. Even if it was the same move, the effect would be completely different if two different people did it.

For example, this crossover dribble; if Akashi were to do it, the pressure he could put on Xiangyang would be incomparable to that of this bearded guy.

After the bearded man had been dribbling for about six or seven seconds, seeing that Xiang Yang was still motionless, he decided not to wait any longer. He performed a side-step drop shot, dribbling the basketball directly into his hand while it was suspended in mid-air.

However, before the bearded man could even begin his breakthrough, Xiang Yang, who had anticipated his move, made a flying steal and snatched the ball directly into his own arms.

"Youshouldtrimyourbeard, rookie."

(You should trim your beard, newbie.)

Xiangyang's light, airy voice reached the ears of the bearded man, whose eyes widened in disbelief as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He stared blankly at his empty hands until the referee blew the whistle to signal a point, at which point he turned around in a daze.

Nash crossed his arms and looked at him with a mocking expression. The bearded man shrank back dejectedly and remained silent.

Just then, Kevin, the coach of the Eagles team, raised his right hand and slowly said, "Timeout."

(pause)

The first two rounds of attacks were intercepted by Xiang Yang, resulting in points lost. Even the rookie coach could sense that something was wrong, let alone Kevin Kelly.

On the other side, after seeing that the United States had requested a pause, cheers erupted from the audience.

They managed to stop the world's number one basketball nation from playing within the first minute. Although it was just a training match, it was still something for them to celebrate.

After delivering a series of outstanding performances, Xiang Yang high-fived his teammates, nodded to Coach Sun, and then plopped down on the bench.

Unlike his teammates' excitement, Xiang Yang squinted at the Eagles' bench, his face showing no sign of happiness.