Of course, Yuuto wouldn't play like this forever.
In fact.
When there were only 4 minutes left in the second quarter, his first assist of the game arrived.
It was still the Triangle Offense positioning.
Yuuto, Ryuhei Kasuga, and Tsutomu Iwamura stood on the left side of the half-court, while Giichi Omuro and Tomoki Tsugawa were on the other side.
This was also one of the reasons why Shutoku couldn't fully commit to double-teaming Yuuto.
The Triangle Offense tactic would further cut half the court into two battlefields. If you invested too much manpower on one side, there would inevitably be many openings on the other side.
This is the advantage of the Triangle Offense—the utilization of court space.
Yuuto held the ball at a 45-degree angle on the left side of the three-point line.
Facing Midorima, golden light burst from his entire body.
Kazunari Takao arrived to double-team immediately. Although they had only played together for just over a month, their chemistry had already formed.
The compatibility between the two was too good, like a match made in heaven.
The Eye of the Sky observed all of this.
At this moment, Yuuto felt as if his eyes were projecting over the court, and the movements of everyone on the court were under his observation.
Then.
His eyes and brain processed the physical data changes of the other nine people.
Shutoku's, and Seiho's.
Through these data changes, combined with over ten minutes of Weakness Revision, a broad, clear path was finally constructed in Yuuto's brain.
Golden light shone throughout the arena as Midorima and Takao joined forces to resist.
However.
During the drive, Yuuto suddenly swung his body, and the basketball shot out at that very instant.
Whoosh~
The ball pierced through Shutoku's entire defensive line, finally bouncing two steps in front of the free-throw line.
At that exact moment.
Ryuhei Kasuga, who was cutting to the basket, arrived perfectly at the spot where the ball landed.
"I've been waiting too long for this moment!" Kasuga wasn't surprised at all because Yuuto was capable of doing such things.
He caught the ball and immediately gathered it to jump. This was absolutely the most comfortable pass he had ever received in a real game.
It wasn't so much playing by his own will, but rather moving in accordance with the pass.
"A Guidance Pass?!"
Masaaki Nakatani was dumbfounded.
It wasn't simply completing the act of passing, but guiding the teammate to the best position through the pass.
This is the Guidance Pass.
Players are creatures that run after the basketball. Using this instinct reasonably can guide teammates' movements.
Some point guards can use this player instinct to guide their teammates to the most logical positions with the most opportunities through their passes.
Those who can do this are invariably historic-level point guards.
Players of this type share a common trait.
Playing alongside them results in better stats, and the team's record is guaranteed with an extremely high floor.
Amar'e Stoudemire (STAT) is a typical example.
He was the 9th overall pick by the Suns in 2002. In his first year, he averaged 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds.
In the following two years, his stats steadily improved, but until 2004, his team's record was terrible, missing the playoffs and even setting a franchise-worst record of 29-53.
But things took a turn in the 04-05 season. His Suns achieved a super record of 62 wins and 20 losses, and STAT's stats skyrocketed to an average of 26 points, earning him an All-Star selection.
Was this due to his talent and ability?
Not entirely.
The main reason was that the Suns welcomed the "Son of the Wind," Steve Nash, that year.
Similar examples include CP3 and DeAndre Jordan during the Clippers era, and CP3, Harden, and Capela during the Rockets era.
As long as you possess enough athletic ability, even muscle-brained idiots like DeAndre Jordan, Capela, and STAT can be fed into All-Stars by people like Nash, Paul, and Harden.
This is the magic of point guards at this level.
They possess the ability to turn trash into treasure, allowing mediocre players to play far above their own value.
Finally.
These muscle-brained idiots get big contracts, go to new teams, and then their stats plummet.
Unlucky fans can only scream "Fraud!"
However.
The real frauds aren't DeAndre Jordan and those muscle-brained idiots; they can't help it if they can't catch the ball!
It's those super point guards who artificially inflate their teammates' stats!
Now.
Masaaki Nakatani saw such a ball-handling core appear right in front of him.
On the court.
Ryuhei Kasuga caught the ball and scored with a layup directly.
Taisuke Otsubo couldn't react in time at all.
The timing of this pass was so precise, the angle so tricky, that it was completely out of his range to help defend.
The Shutoku captain could only watch helplessly as the opponent sent the ball into the hoop.
Cheers erupted from the Seiho fans and some neutral fans in the stands.
They could also see how impressive this pass was—finding a teammate's position precisely amidst a double-team, and leading the pass perfectly. It looked like a great pass no matter how you sliced it.
But beyond that, they didn't know much.
However, some point guard players, such as Izuki Shun, felt goosebumps all over their bodies.
"What's wrong, Izuki?" His teammates noticed his anomaly; Seirin's point guard was trembling uncontrollably.
"That was a Guidance Pass!" Izuki Shun squeezed out a few words with difficulty.
A non-point guard player delivering a pass he dreamed of making—he couldn't describe his feelings at this moment.
"What is a Guidance Pass?" The muscle-brained idiot Taiga Kagami had eyes clear to the point of stupidity.
"Phew, Kagami, what do you think of Kuroko's passes?" Izuki Shun exhaled, not explaining directly because he felt Kagami wouldn't understand if he just said it.
"Very impressive. He can always find my position. As long as I run into space, the ball will come just right."
He was throwing a tantrum recently, but he had to admit that Kuroko was really strong.
Without Kuroko back then, he couldn't have defeated Kaijo and the Generation of Miracles' Kise.
"As long as you know. Let me put it this way. Yuuto's pass is a level higher than Kuroko's." Izuki Shun didn't mind that Kuroko was right next to him. He said, "Kuroko observes and finds the best position we run to before passing the ball."
"Yuuto is different. His pass actively delivers the ball to the best position and guides the teammate to move there. The timing, force, and angle all reach Kasuga's most ideal state, making him complete the attack involuntarily!"
"So?"
"Do you still not understand? Even if Yuuto only passes, he can raise Seiho's offensive intensity by at least one level. Even the King, Shutoku, can't defend against it."
Kagami understood now.
He didn't know the overly complex stuff, but the phrase "even Shutoku can't defend against it" let him know the gold standard of this pass.
...
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