Shohoku Basketball Team湘北籃球隊

The pleasant sunshine polishes the deep blue ocean of the Shonan Coast. Along with the loud noise made by the Enoshima Electric Railway near by, comes the laughing of a group of high school students. They are heading to Shohoku High school.

Shohoku High School was located in Kanagawa, Japan. Shonan Coast and Enoshima Electric Railway are some of the landmarks around the campus. The school is especially famous because of their strong basketball team.

Anzai Mitsuyoshi

The coach is Mr. Anzai, a peaceful, fat, slow old man. He now has the nickname of "the Buddha with White Hair." He is one of those witty old men who would sit down, drink a cup of tea, and discuss knowledge.

He used to do Spartan way of training, and was called "the Devil with white hair". However, his training brought extreme pressure to one of his favorite student, leading to commit a suicide. After the incident, his strategy of being a coach changed. Now he focuses on maximizing the different advantages of each and every player, making Shohoku Basketball team a team consisting of the top players in different positions.

Anzai is also good at inspiring the players heart to do their best. One of his quotes is:"If you give up now, the game is already over." This sentence ignites the team's desperation to win the competition, and also gives strengths to every person who heard it. Including this one, his quotes are now used repeatedly in the Asian countries.

Hisashi Mitsui--三井 壽

Hisashi Mitsui is the shooting guard of the team. He is also one of the best three point shooters in Japan. He was also selected to be the MVP (most valuable player) when he graduated from middle school.

In his first year in Shohoku, he had conflicts with his teammates, however, they later soon became good friends. Unfortunately, he injured his knees during a game. This discouraged him, and later he became a gangster.

One day he came back to Shohoku High school and had a big fight with his past teammates. However, the fight made him remember his passion for basketball. He cried and begged coach Anzai, who is also his hero and the reason to join the team in the first place, to give him another chance.

"I want to play basketball!"

His return to the team gives Shohoku' s more possible strategies to do, and his accurate three point shots significantly increase the team's scoring ability.

Although he did not drink and smoke during his gangster life, it took a while for him to recover. His biggest weakness is that because he missed a year of training, he is not capable to play a full game due to the lack of physical strength. Conflicting to his weakness, his biggest strength is that he ever gives up, thus, no matter how tired he is, he would never give up the chance to score more points for the team.

Takenori Akagi--赤木 剛憲

The "Gorilla"--Takenori Akagi is the center of Shohoku. He is tall and strong, but the thing that makes him an outstanding center is his ambition to win the championship. He knows that there is no other path to success but practice. This is why he was elected to be the captain of the team.

When Akagi first joined the team, he was only a big guy who barely knows how to dribble. However, his enthusiasm was greater then any of his teammates, and he soon became a well- known center in Japan.

He was invincible when he is under the basket. Because he was so tall, almost no player can avoid his block. Also, Akagi's dunk is unstoppable-- it is called " Gorilla slam dunk"

He is respectful to any person who likes basketball and tries to win, but he hates when people think they don't practice, no matter how good they are.

"Dominate the national basketball competition !"

Ryota Miyagi-- 宮城 良田

How can a 168 cm player survive in the competitive basketball world? Ryota Miyagi would tell you --dribble and passing the ball.

"Don't think basketball is just about height"

His stubborn personality makes him the top point guard in Japan. This is because he was never afraid to face any opponent who is stronger or taller than him. His fast speed also allows him to lay up even facing players that are practically giants for him.

His other skill is passing. The accurate, creative passing connects the whole team. His passing allows the team to complete many surprising attacks. This is why Shohoku is famous for there offence.

His weakness is that he is easy to get angry. During a game, he was teased because of his height, so he tried to shoot by himself. It took a long time for him to realize his mistake. Finally, he calmed down and lead the team to victory.

Kaede Rukawa 流川 楓

Kaede Rukawa is the ace of the team. He can shoot, lay up, and even slam dunk. He plays the small forward in Shohoku basketball team.

Normally he is quiet, but when he is on the basketball court, he plays as hard as any of his teammates. Also, he was very handsome, this is why during the competition, Shohoku always has cheerleaders( however, the cheerleaders only cheer for him).

"No matter what, I will be number 1, I'll beat anyone who stops me from achieving that."

When he first join the team, he barely passed the ball. During the first few games of the competition, him not passing the ball is fine since he can easily score. However, as the opponents gets stronger, this issue became obvious. Many times he didn't pass the ball to his teammates who can score. Later, he realized that the real ace dosn't mean to score the most, but to help the team win. Shohoku became even stronger after he passes the ball. He is in the Japan national team after the national tournament, and his goal is to play in America.

Sakuragi Hanamichi櫻木花道

Sakuragi is a fast learner. After only playing basketball for 3 months, he is able to play in the starting lineup. He arrogantly said that he is a gifted basketball genius, and indeed, Shohoku would lose most of the games if it wasn't him. This is because of his significant ability to grab the rebound. Couch Anzai once said, "one who control the rebound controls the game." Sakuragi is the king of rebound due to his height, speed, and the characteristic of never giving up.

"I'm the Basketball genius, Sakuragi Hanamichi."

Red hair is his symbol, and he is a big topic in the school. Before he join the basketball team, he was a bad student, liked to fight, and, good at fighting. His incredible physical ability attracts many sports team. He didn't want to join any team, until a girl change everything. Sakuragi had a crush on Takenori Akagi's sister. To impress her, he decided to join the basketball team.

In the beginning, he was terrible at shooting, and worse in dribble. However, he is tall, flexible, fast, and more importantly, he doesn't give up. His first few games was a disaster because he fouled too many times. After few more games, he fast became one important player in the team. He is not the most humble person in the team, thus he had lots of conflicts with Kaede Rukawa , who is the lover of Akagi's sister. Because Kaede and Sakuragi both wants to prove themselves better then anyone else, they became stronger and stronger together. At first Kaede saw Sakuragi as an arrogant nobody, but later they became the best teammates and rivals.

"A Genius is 99% of talent, and 1% of effort."

He is truly a genius, but he didn't realize how hard he had practiced, and that is what makes him one of the best players in Japan.

With the five players listed above, Shohoku is almost invincible. Shohoku is now famous for their basketball team, and their legend will not end here.