Variable geometry

Once more, because it seems to bear repeating, we cannot gauge the strength of shounen sports characters by comparing their performance in matches if there has been any time at all between the matches in question. The name of the game, whatever game it may be, is “evolution”.

( ES21 and PoT manga spoilers ensue )

A big part of keeping shounen from being deathly boring depends on that passionate motivation of the characters to advance over the course of the story (and, in extreme cases, over the course of days or hours) and keep the balance of power uncertain.