Tbh I think Ryota is REALLY clean. That boy does not want to smell bad in front of his girl Ayako.
He definitely takes like 1-2 showers each day. Bro would have EXPENSIVE shampoos and conditioners to make sure his hair was looking good. Also LOTSSSS of curl cream, he’d have some in his backpack and everything in case his hair got frizzy during school.
I feel like he’d be the type to have a perfume collection. I doubt hes rich or anything but BEST BELIEVE that boy is going to have Dior Sauvage, Tom Ford, and Chanel perfume.
He’d def be the type to do alot of nail care, like filing them and making sure his nailbeds are clean.
HIM AND AYAKO WOULD DEFFFF GO TO BEAUTY SALONS TOGETHER
Sendoh
• Whenever I think of the term business casual, THIS MF COMES TO MIND.
• Unlike Ryota, Sendoh isn’t necessarily obsessed with looking good, but I think he puts effort into being clean and presentable. I mean, who else is wearing a mf button up shirt while fishing?!?!
• If there is a type of self-care he’s into though, it’s DEFINITELY haircare. He wouldn’t have expensive asl haircare products like Ryota, but he got CANS AND CANS of hairgel, and he’d wake up early to perfect his hair.
• He’d probably have a fresh smell?? Like he wouldn’t smell musty or sweaty but he also wouldn’t be spraying perfume or cologne all over himself. After games he’d be QUICK to shower, from both wanting to not feel sweaty, and not wanting to smell bad.
• I feel like his hands probably get really dirty and grimy from fishing, but at the end of a fishing session, he gives his hands a DEEP cleanse. I just know his nails are clean asl!
Ayako
• We all know this girl KNOWS how to take care of her. She probably has even more hair products than Ryota, and she keeps them on HAND. Definitely gets routine haircuts too, I HC that her and Ryota go to the same stylist 😜
• I think that, although Ayako is very pretty, she isn’t necessarily worried about her appearance, and her hygiene is good but it’s to make herself feel good. Like she doesn’t want to smell good because she’s worried about attracting others, but because she wants to feel comfortable yk?
As we all know, there are many different attributes and a certain degree of athleticism that make up a good basketball player, including jumping ability, height, speed, reflexes, etc. But there is a key component that a great player possesses which cannot be measured and is often acquired only by playing the game itself. That key factor is basketball intelligence (basketball IQ). In this analysis, I would like to highlight the importance of basketball IQ and how Inoue Takehiko depicts this component in his work, the legendary manga Slam Dunk.
By definition, basketball intelligence is essentially "the ability to just instinctively play the game and adapt to any situation that comes up." These cognitive skills require a blend of on-field experience, technical skill, and game awareness. Basketball IQ pertains but is not limited to the listed skills below:
Ability to predict the next move of the opponent
Know what to do when not in possession of the ball
Ability to choose when/whom to pass the ball to
Observational skills of the game
Adapt to changes
and so much more.
Since this is a deep and very broad topic, I can only analyze a few scenes from the manga and this analysis alone is nowhere near enough to discuss basketball IQ thoroughly. Let's take a look at the first example of the first characteristic of a player who possesses high basketball IQ:
1. Ability to predict the next move of the opponent.
In the picture above, we can see that Rukawa can't quite shake off Sendou yet, since Sendou is able to predict his next action. This is purely from Sendou's on-field experience. He simply can tell when Rukawa is going to run with the ball. In this scene, we can also see how Sendou shifts from his analytical mind to pure game sense. At first, he's asking himself what Rukawa would do, then after seeing Rukawa dribble, his body instinctively has an appropriate reaction.
This is not the only example when players can guess another's next course of action in the manga.
In the 2 pictures above, Miyagi is also able to read Mitsui's intention without having to discuss with him their attack against Kainan beforehand. Notice how Mitsui intentionally stands right on the 3 point line, in this case, obviously wanting to deceive Kainan's defense that he would go for a 3 pointer.
2. Know what to do when not in possession of the ball
This attribute often requires a player to have an awareness of good spacing, when to set a screen, where to move if a teammate is dribbling towards said player, when to spread defense, etc. Let's take a look at how Akagi does it.
This is a very nice example of screen coordination. Akagi not only knows how to best take advantage of his large body but also knows when is most appropriate to do so. Since forward-center Yuradaira doesn't have the experience, height or strength like that of Uozumi, he's no match for Rukawa's extraordinary speed and skill. Thus, it's most logical to screen Sendou, and create space for Rukawa here because he would have no difficulty getting past Yuradaira.
Similarly, Uozumi also displays the same skill in the same match.
And then, there is Sakuragi, clueless as usual (lol, sorry, this is kinda funny, I have to include this here).
Here is another example of knowing exactly where to be on the basketball court.
Fukuda knows exactly where to run on the basketball court. He gets an opening and decides on the spot to do a cut in. Notice that he doesn't even look at Sendou to ask for a pass, such tacit understanding between these 2 players is very impressive.
3. Ability to know when/whom to pass the ball to
Perhaps I don't need to stress how important it is that a player knows when or whom to pass the ball to. Let's compare the 2 opening tip-off scenes between Akagi and Sakuragi.
Akagi passing the ball to Miyagi, Shohoku's point guard who is responsible as a playmaker for his team (and afterwards, he does make an excellent pass to Rukawa, Shohoku's scoring machine).
I don't need to say much here. Sakuragi's inexperience is plenty evident, thank you Rukawa for your concise explanation.
We need to look at incredible point guards such as Maki, Fujima, Miyagi and Fukatsu to truly appreciate fine plays. Again, there are way too many scenes to include in this analysis, so I will just talk about the ones that I happened to stumble upon first when I read the manga again for the 9th time.
Not much to explain here. Aida Hikoichi already describes clearly how fast Fujima makes decision when to pass the ball, or when to attack himself. He's very flexible and responsive to different situations that may arise on court.
Often times, players have to decide, on the spot, possible routes of offense to take (dribbling-penetration, shoot on spot, pass the ball). And just like Fujima of Shoyo, Minami of Toyotama also shows us a beautiful example of quick decision-making on court.
Although Mitsui correctly guesses that Minami is about to pass to Kishimoto, Minami immediately makes an impromptu decision to pass to Itakura instead. Even though Minami is forced to switch whom to pass to on the spot, his decision is very accurate since Itakura is quite fast. He's in a good position to make a shot and he's a lot taller than Shohoku's point guard, Miyagi.
4. Observational skills/game awareness
Of course, there are various players that demonstrate their extraordinary ability to "read" the flow of the game.
One such player is Mitsui. These two pictures are taken from the match between Ryonan and Shohoku to secure the last ticket to national championship.
Mitsui immediately realizes Ryonan's offense strategy (as nicely explained by Fujima and Maki), he then stops Fukuda, Ryonan's offense spearhead at the time by intentionally making it look like Fukuda is committing a foul. Such skills also require a certain degree of game experience and knowledge of offense/defense strategies, and it's worth noting that Mitsui is the very first player who notices Ryonan's guarding approach.
A highly intelligent basketball player also has the characteristic of knowing what is going on in all corners. More often than not, such a player has a high degree of game awareness that they may appear to focus on the opponent in front of them only, but it's actually the opposite.
Miyagi has the habit of looking elsewhere, but it doesn't mean that he's not paying attention to other players' movements on court. All in all, point guards (including Sendou, who plays this position once) often demonstrate this attribute since they are regarded as the conductor of offense in Slam Dunk.
Surprisingly, Sakuragi also shows that he has a certain degree of game awareness after 4 months of playing the game. In the match against Sannoh, he is instructed to observe the game once by coach Anzai, then immediately applies what he learns during the very same match.
Sakuragi figures out Kawata Mikio can only shoot under the basket after playing against him for a short amount of time. He is finally able to use some tactical thinking based on what he can observe about his opponent. He's very different from the usual Sakuragi Hanamichi who never thinks about his own plays or only uses his brute strength to win on the basketball court in the beginning of the series.
5. Know what play to make and when
This particular skill requires high level of strategic and game based knowledge. In my opinion, coaches in Slam Dunk are the ones that show this skill the best. Let's take a look at the beginning of the final match between Shohoku and Sannoh.
Coach Anzai decides to switch Shohoku's focus of offense from Rukawa and Akagi to Sakuragi. This has several impacts on Sannoh:
This change surprises most players in Sannoh's defense line, even coach Doumoto himself is taken aback.
Because of this surprise attack focus, Shohoku then asserts that it's not any basketball team that Sannoh has played against before.
Later, when coach Anzai sees that Sannoh's captain, Fukatsu still calmly commands offense and defense effectively in Sannoh's favor, he then utilizes Mitsui, Shohoku's second offense spearhead. It is clear that Anzai is very experienced and creative with plays. He knows what is the best strategy for each opponent and he's quite flexible when it comes to adapting to changes in play styles for his team.
That is not to say he doesn't value Shohoku's traditional style of play. In the match with Toyotama, he makes a claim that if Shohoku regulars cannot play as they normally would, they will not emerge victorious the next round. That is because as a team, Shohoku must feel comfortable with their own distinctive style of play first (Run&Gun) before they can even attempt another play style.
The key is: when to use Run&Gun, Shohoku's most preferred play style and when to switch to another style of play. Coach Anzai always seems to know what's best.
Another talented coach that also has great basketball IQ is coach Domoto of Sannoh. Although he's the youngest basketball coach in the whole series, his level of coaching is not much inferior to that of coach Anzai. Let's analyze the scene in which he calls a timeout in chapter 230.
It's quite unusual that coach Domoto decides to call for a timeout here, even though it's explained that Sannoh fails to take the lead. It's only the first 15 minutes of the match, and the score is 19-14 in Shohoku's favor; it's especially strange since Sannoh is not playing too bad (except for Sawakita who is not focusing on the game). Previously, Domoto decides to take out Sawakita and Masahiro to use Mikio, a first year player with no experience. Why call for a timeout now when Shohoku is still unsure of how to deal with a giant like Mikio?
The answer is because Sannoh players are not in the right mindset. Coach Domoto then makes a bold decision.
As stated above, he decides to use the first timeout because Sannoh players are not playing as they normally should. It's not the score that coach Domoto worries about, it's his players' state of mind that matters. Not only that, he promptly makes a decision to use Mikio as the new attack point since Sakuragi still cannot come up with countermeasures against Mikio. He uses this timeout especially to tell his players that they will use Mikio as the focus of offense instead because he hopes he can take advantage of Sakuragi's inexperience.
This decision is very reasonable in the perspective of a team that has dominated the nation multiple times. Sannoh needs to get back its own rhythm first, and its players need to grasp the flow of the game as they usually should.
Lastly, we need to look at the player with the highest basketball IQ in the whole series, Sendou. Near the end of the match between Ryonan and Kainan, Sendou realizes his team is in a desperate situation. His captain, Uozumi has fouled 4 times, Ryonan's offense specialist Fukuda is subbed out. Knowing that Ryonan would not last much longer against Kainan's defense line, Sendou intentionally lets Maki catch up with him, trying to bait him to committing a foul.
If Maki actually commits a foul like Sendou's calculation, Sendou will get 2 free throws, thus sealing victory for Ryonan. Even in case Maki doesn't fall for it, at worst, Sendou will have fought to a tie for Ryonan. It's amazing to see that even coach Takao and coach Takato don't really know something is amiss. The only people that suddenly realize what's truly happening at that critical momemnt are Fujima and Maki.
It's almost scary to think about how unfathomable Sendou's game based knowledge and intelligence is. Even Maki almost falls for the trap he sets out.
All the scenes above from Slam Dunk can truly testify that basketball IQ isn't just about scoring points. Elite players generally have an instinctive quality that helps them make quick decisions on the spot effectively. Through a few examples in the manga, we can clearly see the stark difference between a good player and a great player. And that difference is the immeasurable factor-basketball IQ.
