It’s Better If I Can’t Win
Taiga breaks the hoop in the first 30 seconds… Heh, that’s what you get for underestimating a non-star team lead by a female coach. *smirk* I love how both teams begin by showing off what they’ve got, not wasting a single moment. It’s a pretty fast-paced game, which becomes hard for even Kuroko to keep up with. They seem evenly matched at first, but the gap finally appears towards the end of the game lead by Kise’s team. Taiga’s greatest strength would have to be that losing makes him happy, hence the episode title. What’s the point if there aren’t any challenges? =P …I wish I could feel that way about everything. >>
What really interested me was Kuroko’s weakness. He’s not really magical or anything, as his invisibility wears off after a while. Plus, he’s not physically strong enough to keep up with the fast pace of the game. They can’t always rely on him. I wonder how they’re going to turn things around. Even though Kise is very familiar with Kuroko’s style, Taiga says that Kuroko is his greatest weakness. He just can’t imitate his invisible trick better…not with his super star status and screaming fangirls.
The animation isn’t anything too special here. It just looks cool when sweat flies in the air. xD
Meeping Anime 
You’re right, the animation wasn’t that impressive but… it still looked damn good for a basketball game. A little too much talk for my taste in some moments. Even if in the end that was what carried the episode, because I’m still loving the characters. (And I really liked Taiga’s mindset too.)
I agree with you about Kuroko’s invisibility (or “attention misdirection” would be a better term now that the trick was explained). But what interested me the most was actually Kise’s fascination for him and the other guy always screaming “Why are you so happy about it!?” (or something along those lines). Being that Kise’s strength lies in imitating others’ moves and taking them to a new level, Kuroko being the only one he can’t copy makes Kise admire him and value him more than the others.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the outcome of the match next episode. I think Seirin will lose but they still have a chance so…
The best part about this show is that it’s going to be 25 episodes long.