Episode 3

The Pass That Leads to Tomorrow
明日に架けるパス Ashita ni Kakeru Pasu Ro-Kyu-Bu!, Episode 03
Air date (Japan)	July 15, 2011
Episode Guide
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Plot

After agreeing to keep coaching the girls until their match vs. the boys team, Subaru starts training them according to the strategy he devised based on each one's strong points and the info he obtained about their opponents.

With so much at stake and so little time to prepare themselves, Subaru is even prone to go a little overboard to ensure their victory. One of his schemes involves deceiving Airi by claiming that she will play as Small Forward, due to her height complex, while she's actually playing as the Center.

Subaru's plan pays off and the girls manage to take a 16-10 lead at halftime. However, by the second half all the girls except Tomoka are visibly getting exhausted and it does not take long for the boys to catch up to them on a 14-2 run, and take the 24-18 lead.

Trivia

• As part of Subaru's plan to get around Airi's height complex, he starts with Tomoka as "the Center", but she quickly changes position to Small Forward after the tip-off. Earvin "Magic" Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers also did something similar in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals.
• The starting lineup of the girls team for this match is as follows:
  • Point Guard - Hinata
  • Shooting Guard - Saki
  • Center - Airi (Tomoka starts as Center)
  • Small Forward - Tomoka (Airi starts as Small Forward)
  • Power Forward - Maho
• Subaru places Hinata at the Point Guard position despite her not being the primary ball handler, the role usually assigned to Point Guards. This role, however, is assigned to Tomoka, the only member of the team with basketball experience. This makes Tomoka a Point Forward, an example of which in the NBA is LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.