The scrub team from last episode gets owned, and so they make a big deal of bringing in the real starters. However, it doesn’t make any difference and by the time it’s 86 to 24, the Earth team empties the bench (except for Afro). The game ends with the Earth team winning 132 to 46, and so they’re officially in the Intergalactic Basketball League. All the scrubs and role players celebrate, while the real stars go and brood. While DT gets some and Lazuli broods around the city, Hideyoshi heads to his old stomping grounds. He’s a bit disappointed that the victory was so easy, but fortunately a mysterious red-headed Goran challenges Hideyoshi to a little 1-on-1. The Goran tells Hideyoshi that he’s come to break Hideyoshi’s spirit, and even though Hideyoshi gets an easy steal, the Goran is right there for the block. Then, in one smooth motion, he rebounds the ball and dunks it again, giving Hideyoshi a sense of how tough the better players in the IBL (minor league) really are. Later, DT finds Hideyoshi practicing 3’s, even though the team is on break. DT tells Hideyoshi to get a little more arc in the shot, as Hideyoshi is used to playing in windy conditions outside. Meanwhile, Yoshimune is looking for some sponsors for free money and Gyuma puts the clamps down on virtual-Hideyoshi in a basketball simulation.
This was a pretty boring episode, although it was nice to see Hideyoshi working on his outside shot in order to get defenders to back up off him. He’s now 0-2 on 1-on-1 situations, and so he must be getting a sense that just driving for a dunk won’t work against tall defenders with skills. Other than that, not much happened, except that we got to see DT be a playah off the court, and show his hair.
