basketball stories

Rattled after being knocked down by Uozumi in Shohoku's game against Ryonan, Akagi doubts himself and defers plays to his teammates, which lets Ryonan pull ahead and makes Shohoku wonder if they have a chance of catching up.

Sakuragi Hanamichi, having joined the basketball team to impress his crush, Akagi Haruko, must decide whether she is worth the effort when he tires of the game after only one week.

After advancing to the final four in their prefecture, Shohoku's first game will be against Shoyo, one of the tallest teams around. Sakuragi starts because of his uncanny rebound skills, but the team still struggles against the other team's height advantage and faces possible defeat.

Hanamichi and Ryota Miyagi quickly form a bond, but when a group of thugs with a score to settle with Ryota crash a practice session, everyone braces themselves for an all-out brawl.

The Shohoku team is nervous about their upcoming contest against the previous year's champions, Sannoh, who still have three players from their championship team, but Coach Anzai has a plan to make sure that Sannoh does not get an easy win out of them.

Sakuragi, having joined the basketball team in order to impress Haruko, the sister of the team's captain, has trouble staying on the bench when the opening minutes of the big practice game against their Ryonan rivals do not go well.

Rukawa learns something about Coach Anzai that makes him determined to become Japan's best high school basketball player. Then, while the Shohoku team goes to practice with another team in the ten days before the beginning of the national tournament, Sakuragi stays behind for special practice sessions that will push him to the limit and hone his skills.

Shohoku, trailing Ryonan in the final seconds of the game, has the opportunity to beat their rival when Hanamichi blocks a shot, giving Kaede Rukawa a chance at shooting the winning basket.

Sakuragi gets a break when Coach Anzai decides to give him a crack at playing center, but, with only three days before the game against Takezato, that means a gruelling training regimen of five hundred shots a day.

Shohoku High basketball player Sakuragai goes up against Sannoh's Mikio on the court.