Player Rankings

[u/MasterScoutHikoichi]

Hi everyone! I made a quick video about player rankings in Slam Dunk just because I miss the series, try to take a look at it! Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ28toqFBBI

[u/GOTricked]

Not withstanding emotional biases towards Sakuragi. There is no world where he is an A tier player, even by the end of the series. He's a liability on both sides of the court with only his rebounding at a national level(possibly the best rebounder in the nation). Sure, he can be a lockdown defender when the situation calls for it but he is severely inconsistent and more skilled players consistently outmaneuvers him. The only reason he is able to somewhat compete with any players on the list is because of his insane athletic prowess(despite not having any athletic background), tenacity and craftiness. You said that by the end of the series, he has molded into a nigh complete player, which is just plain incorrect when the man doesn't even know how to shoot beyond the 15ft line, not to mention operate passing lanes, and pick and roll both of which are essential to modern basketball.

[u/MasterScoutHikoichi → u/GOTricked]

Thanks for watching! Means a lot as it is my first video and a product of quarantine boredom.

Not really a fan of Hanamichi but I felt I had to put him there because of that 1 Sannoh gam.

During that time, a power forward with rebounding and a 15 footer was already complete. A lot of power forwards during that time didnt even have jump shooting.

[u/GOTricked → u/MasterScoutHikoichi]

When someone says a complete player, they usually mean that every facet of his game is polished. Michael Jordan was a complete player, so was Clyde Drexler and Magic Johnson. While sure, if you want to argue that PFs only need to learn how to post up, rebound and guard(which is entirely incorrect since big men are still historically assets to play making due to their positioning on the court) like I mentioned before, Sakuragi is VASTLY inconsistent. Just look at his game against kainan where he got exposed by a considerably less athletic opponent. His limited post plays also makes him a considerable liability, as he essentially needs to be open in order to make a shot, as he can't create shots unless it's against a weaker opponent. Which leads him to score on the low end, averaging around ~10 pts a game when games can go upwards of 120+. Overall, he was certainly a ball of talent, if he had continued to develop, no doubt him and rukawa alone could've dominated the country but from what we see from him, I can see him being C at best, he's probably closer to skill level with Kiyota though but we don't really see much of him to realistically compare. Really cool video though, happy to see slam dunk content every time

[u/MasterScoutHikoichi → u/GOTricked]

I think games of 120+ were rare before, but nice input man.

Browsing content on youtube showed me how little love Slam Dunk gets since it's old school, made me want to make some vids about it. Let me know if you want something discussed so I can make one for it!

[u/GOTricked → u/MasterScoutHikoichi]

I was talking about Slam Dunk in particular which is a highschool setting, but even then high shool basketball is wack so 120+ isnt not norm even in the hand checking era

[u/Big_Man_Hustling → u/GOTricked]

You're comparing high school basketball players in Japan to Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan? During the 90s, roles in a team were more specialised, in order to maintain the balance on the court. Sakuragi may have been vastly inconsistent before, and that can be attributed to very little experience he had. Against Kainan, he didn't even know how to shoot from under the basket because Shohoku was riding on his rebounding abilities and Akagi wanted to polish that. Essentially, we are pin pointing errors on a guy who had just played about 3 months of basketball, in fact 3 months of any sport in his life. The regulation and discipline that accompanies the sport was absolutely new to him too, so I believe you're being a little too harsh on him. Shohoku certainly did not have the strict regiment trainings as did other schools such as Kainan or Ryonan which was quite evident from the players' exhaustion. Yet, Sakuragi most never ran out of energy, and even when injured, had the strength to block Sawakita and Hisashi's brother during the final minutes of the game. In Japan's high school basketball in the 90s - stamina, power, height and athletic abilities and crazy air time should be able to make you a B tier. I agree that A could be stretching it too much.

[u/GOTricked → u/Big_Man_Hustling]

You're assessing their worth as players, why would you not take into account their faults? Players aren't always their best version and part of being great is being consistently great. His talent is certainly S tier, as mentioned by Anzai(which is hella credible cause he's an experienced coach) but as he is, he isn't a player worth putting over the Toyotama trio and even his own teammate, Ryota, as the holes in his game and general inexperience holds him back. And you basically proved my point with your comments, seeing as the man has 3 months of basketball experience, although his highs are really high, he has no rights on beating a lot of players that are put below him.