| Introduction |
| Soichiro Jin | |
|---|---|
| |
| Name | |
| Characteristics | |
| Gender |  Male
|
| Birthday | August 22 |
| Height | 189 cm (6'2) |
| Weight | 71 kg (156lbs) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Professional Status | |
| Team | 
|
| Year | 2nd year |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Jersey Number | #6 |
| Personal Status | |
| First Appearance | |
| Voices | |
| Japanese Voice | Nobutoshi Canna |
| [v · t · e] | |
Soichiro Jin (神 宗一郎, Jin Sōichirō) is Kainan High's ace shooting guard, known and respected by his opponents for his infallibly accurate 3-pointers.
Jin initially joined Kainan's basketball team as a Center, but he lacked the strength and physique to compete for the position over players like Kazuma Takasago. When Riki Takato told him that he could not play as a Center, Jin was undeterred. He instead diverted his focus on improving his shooting, practicing 500 shots every day until he reached his current level.
Personality[]
Despite being the best in his position in the whole prefecture, Jin comes off as a modest character and speaks in a gentle manner. Similar to Shinichi Maki (and to Nobunaga Kiyota's dismay), Jin acknowledges Hanamichi Sakuragi's basketball forte more often than most peers since he knows how tough he is to face after being man-marked by him during the finals at the Kanagawa District Tournament.
Plot[]
Jin made his first appearance (excluding his silhouette being shown when Ayako discussed Kainan during Shohoku High's practice) riding the bicycle with Kiyota on their way to Shohoku vs Miuradai, which Maki was already watching. They arrived just as Shohoku scored its 100th point against Miuradai's 47 and Maki joined them on the sidelines. He watched the rest of the match--including Sakuragi getting dismissed with a comical dunk attempt on Tetsuya Naito's head--as Shohoku won the match 114-51.
Jin and Tadashi Muto were the only 2 out of the regular Kainan starters who started against Takezono High School. Due to Tatsumasa Oda's ankle injury, Kainan easily demolished Takezono 150-78 without ever playing Maki, Takasago, or Kiyota.
Jin started against Shohoku, but subbed out for Yoshinori Miyamasu in the 1st half so that Miyamasu could nullify Sakuragi. He came back in for the 2nd half and began draining 3's off of Maki's drives into the paint. This forced Coach Anzai to implement a box-and-1 defense with Sakuragi being the man-marker against Jin. Anzai also allowed his team to ignore the other 3 players of Kainan and literally prayed for them to miss (until Miyamasu subbed in which forced Ryota Miyagi to guard the perimeter). Kainan won the match 90-88.
Jin started against Ryonan High. Prior to the match, he recognized Kicchou Fukuda from their middle school days and briefly informed his team during the team huddle. Despite their initial struggles, Kainan eventually won in overtime 89-83.
Jin rested toward the end of the match against Takezato where Kainan comfortably won 98-51 to secure their 17th consecutive first place finish in the Kanagawa Regional Tournament. Jin then watched Shohoku defeat Ryonan in the final match prior to the award ceremony. He was included in the team of the tournament alongside Maki, Kaede Rukawa, Takenori Akagi, and Akira Sendoh.
Jin is often seen with his team at the National Inter High Tournament, and watched both of Shohoku's matches against Toyotama High and Sannoh High. Jin was absolutely flabbergasted along with the rest of his teammates when Sakuragi scored his first official midrange jumper during Shohoku's match against Toyotama. He also witnessed Shohoku's historic victory against Sannoh and saw Sannoh's consecutive championship run come to an end.
Jin and his team Kainan finished the National Inter High Tournament in second place.
Abilities[]
Jin is a deadly 3-point shooter, and can comfortably step back even further and shoot from way beyond the arc (preluding what NBA players regularly began doing in mid-2010s pioneered by Stephen Curry). Due to his shooting prowess, Jin has an effective pump fake since defenders have to respect his shooting. Jin's pump fakes easily beat defenders such as Hiroaki Koshino and Sakuragi (albeit the latter can recover with freakish athleticism and quickness before Jin can retake the shot).
Despite his reputation as a sharpshooter, Jin is also an underestimated playmaker; he makes numerous plays throughout the series, such as assisting Kiyota's opening dunk against Shohoku with a disguised pass past Rukawa, or assisting Takasago's wide open dunk against Ryonan with a behind-the-back pass which bypasses a double team blitz from Tomoyuki Uekusa and Jun Uozumi from positioning himself at the top of the key rather than merely standing outside the perimeter.
Defensively, his long wingspan allows him to guard shooters well. However, he's not as good of a lockdown wing defender like his fellow teammates Kiyota or Muto--likely due to not naturally developing his lateral quickness since he played Center up until high school--so players such as Hisashi Mitsui can blow by him. Jin also has a knack for intercepting passing lanes and getting steals.
As a member of Kainan, Jin has a good fitness level like the rest of his team. This allows him to get back on defense with his team and prevent easy transition opportunities for the opponents throughout an entire match.
| Physical Ability | 8/10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Technique | 10/10 | |
| Stamina | 9/10 | |
| Mental Strength | 9/10 | |
| Special Ability | 10/10 | |
Etymology[]
- The name Soichiro means "religion, sect, denomination, main point, origin, essence" (宗) (so), "one" (一) (ichi) and "son" (郎) (ro).
- Soichiro's surname Jin means "god, deity" (神).
Trivia[]
- Fukuda and Jin were middle school teammates when Fukuda transferred to Jin's school toward the end of Jin's 2nd year. Fukuda calls him Jin-Jin. Jin calls him Fukki.
- In the mobile game, Jin's shooting range can extend to half court with developments to his special moves, making him the player with longest shooting range, even longer than in the anime.
- His NBA counterpart would be Larry Bird, although both are tall but unathletic, both are considered as one of the most deadliest 3-point shooters ever
- Also the fact that Soichiro Jin and Shinichi Maki being teammates in Kainan can be a real life reference to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, both Magic and Bird are considered as one of the best rivals ever during 1980's NBA but are also friends. Unlike in real life though, Maki and Jin are actually teammates.