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|---|---|
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| Prefecture | Kanagawa |
| Team Captain | Takenori Akagi |
| Vice-Captain | Kiminobu Kogure |
| Coach | Mitsuyoshi Anzai |
| Jersey Color |   
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| [v · t · e] | |
Shohoku High School is an urban public high school located in Kanagawa Prefecture. This basketball team is the focus of Slam Dunk.
Story[]
For 2 years, Shohoku had been considered of no consequence at the Prefectural level and largely a one-man team because of the presence of its team captain Takenori Akagi. It was not until his 3rd year that things began to turn around for Shohoku. With the return of the short but quick and fast Point Guard Ryota Miyagi, the 3-pt shooter and former Junior High MVP, Hisashi Mitsui, the addition of freshmen, Kaede Rukawa the "Super Rookie" and, Hanamichi Sakuragi, a total beginner with incredible athleticism. Together, Shohoku rose to distinction and proved that they are a team to be reckoned with. They are the only non-seeded team to make it to the final 4 of the Kanagawa Interhigh Tournament, eliminating Shoyo, which was considered as the 2nd strongest team in Kanagawa. Their sole loss was against the eventual champion Kainan, but still gained access to the Nationals, finishing as the 2nd place representative for Kanagawa after defeating Takezato and Ryonan. They are rketball careers. It is worth noting that the Kainan's lineup in the previous year were stronger than their current yet they lost by 30 points against Sannoh. Also, the current Sannoh is stronger than the previous year, which makes the challenge even bigger for Shohoku.
With unyielding determination, they emerged victorious despite the odds. However, with the absence of Sakuragi who injured his back, and the hard-fought match taking everything what Shohoku have, the team could not display their 100% and lost terribly to Aiwa Gakuen in the 3rd round. Akagi and Kogure retired to take exams for college; Miyagi took over as the new captain and Mitsui remained for the Winter Tournament; Rukawa decided to stay and went into the All-Japan Junior Camp instead; Sakuragi continues to recover from his back injury under rehabilitation; Haruko was introduced as the 2nd manager of the team.
Offense and Defense[]
Akagi is the main scorer and defender under the basket. Mitsui is the 3-pointer. Rukawa is the team's ace player and can score in all areas. Miyagi is the one responsible for carrying the ball and making plays. If there is an opportunity, he will drive through the basket using his speed and quickness against taller defenders. The team has many chances to score because of Sakuragi's offensive rebounds, which is one of the major factors in their victories. Later on, Sakuragi has learned to shoot which became a big plus for the team. Nearly everyone on the team has decent defense aside from Sakuragi, who is still somewhat inexperienced even towards the end of the series. However he makes up for it with his peerless athleticism, enabling to react faster simply by instinct to counter fakes against him.
Akagi and Sakuragi are the main defenders when it comes to the zone under the rim, with Akagi's height and Sakuragi's incredible jumping ability proving a problem even for stronger teams. Their powerful blocks can turn the tides, easily returning the offense to Shohoku. The team also rely on dunks, executed by mainly Akagi, Rukawa and Sakuragi, important shots that proved to be the game changer in crucial moments.
Weakness[]
The team has a very weak bench, with Kogure being the only reliable player to be subbed in. Because of this, everything has to be relied on the starters completely. In their game against Ryonan it's also seen that the Shohoku players get a lot of fouls, which is a problem because of their weak bench. Shohoku doesn't have training regimen that's tough as Kainan's or Ryonan's. It is obvious that the starters have higher physical capabilities than the bench, which only increases their burden. In multiple cases, the starters exhibited extreme fatigue; Mitsui in multiple cases and Rukawa in the match against Kainan. Few members do make contributions during the series (i.e. Yasuda against Toyotama), but they are overall incredibly unreliable.
Rukawa is unable to play a full match if he continuously plays his explosive scoring style for 40 minutes (like he did against Kainan). And Mitsui's stamina is even lower than Rukawa's due to his 2-year absence from basketball. Miyagi, though the playmaker, cannot contribute much in terms of scoring points due to his lack in height, having to rely on his teammates instead. The team also lacks somewhat in defense, though their plays against stronger teams such as Kainan, Ryonan and Sannoh were driven purely by determination. Despite Sakuragi's rapid development throughout the series, his lack of basketball experience in 1-on-1 (offensively and defensively) is exploited by both Kainan and Ryonan when they allow Yoshinori Miyamasu and Kicchou Fukuda, respectively, to play iso-ball against him to great effect.
Though Shohoku High overcomes many obstacles together, they are not intrinsicly cohesive (primary example being Sakuragi never passing to Rukawa throughout the entire Slam Dunk series with very few exceptions). Though Rukawa gradually develops his teamwork, he is very solitary throughout the majority of the series--both on and off the court--and for the most part is merely focused on developing himself to become the best player. And both Rukawa and Sakuragi are rookies with zero regard for seniority which frequently irritate the upperclassmen. Even though Miyagi and Mitsui make amends to play together, their history which led to both of them being hospitalized is still etched in their history (albeit this is one of the least detrimental factors throughout the series once Mitsui rejoins the team). Mitsui and Akagi still occasionally clash due to their dominant personalities which dates back to their first years in high school. All of these dynamics (along with many more) make it very difficult for Shohoku to maintain a strong team spirit. They do occasionally show signs of effective teamwork (i.e. Akagi and Mitsui finally developing a basic flare screen pick-and-roll against Sannoh), but ultimately Shohoku's teamwork is unflattering compared to other teams' such as Kainan or Shoyo who demonstrate much better unity.
Matches[]
Shohoku High School’ Basketball Team Matches
| Practice Matches | Score |
| Shohoku High School vs. Ryonan High School | 86 - 87 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Takezono High School | 88 - 70 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Ryokufu High School | 75 - 74 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Jousei High School | 73 - 72 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Shoyo High School/Ryonan High School | 76 – 74 |
| Kanagawa Preliminaries | Score |
| Shohoku High School vs. Miuradai High School (1st Round) | 114 - 51 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Kakuya High School (2nd Round) | 160 - 24 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Kouhata High School (3rd Round) | 103 - 59 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Tsukubu High School (4th Round) | 111 - 79 |
| Kanagawa Quarter Final | Score |
| Shohoku High School vs. Shoyo High School | 62 - 60 |
| Kanagawa Finals | Score |
| Shohoku High School vs. Kainan High School (1st Round) | 88 - 90 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Takezato High School (2nd Round) | 120 - 81 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Ryonan High School (3rd Round) | 70 - 66 |
| Inter High Tournament | Score |
| Shohoku High School vs. Toyotama High School (1st Round) | 91 - 87 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Sannoh High School (2nd Round) | 79 - 78 |
| Shohoku High School vs. Aiwa Gakuen High School (3rd Round) | 40 - 102 |
Characters[]
- #4: Takenori Akagi – 3rd Year.
- #5: Kiminobu Kogure – 3rd Year.
- #6: Yasuharu Yasuda – 2nd Year.
- #7: Ryota Miyagi – 2nd Year.
- #8: Tetsushi Shiozaki – 2nd Year.
- #9: Satoru Kakuta – 2nd Year.
- #10: Hanamichi Sakuragi – 1st Year.
- #11: Kaede Rukawa – 1st Year.
- #12: Kentaro Iishi – 1st Year.
- #13: Satoro Sasaoka – 1st Year.
- #14: Hisashi Mitsui – 3rd Year.
- #15: Toki Kuwata – 1st Year.
- Ayako – 2nd Year and Manager.
Team[]
Stats[]
| Offense | 10/10 | [[File:{{{image}}}|135px]] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | 8/10 | ||
| Bench Strength | 3/10 | ||
| Height | 8/10 | ||
| Teamwork | 7/10 | ||
Trivia[]
- Shohoku High School is likely to be based on the Chicago Bulls, because of the team colors red and black and the similarities of the logos.