Japan Names U18 Team for 28th Albert Schweitzer Tournament 2016

The Japanese Basketball Association has named the men’s under 18 eleven player team that will participate in the 28th Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim Germany as a part of their training in this year’s 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Men.

Avi Schafer – Saint Mary’s International

Yuki Mikami – Mesei HS

Nakamura Hiromori – Noshira Prefecture HS

Kazuma Tsuya – Rakuminami HS

Yo Nishino – Kinki University HS

Raita Akaho – Ichiritsufunabashi HS

Kai Toews – Bridgeton Academy

Keisuke Mimori – Sapporo Nihon HS

Taiga Kagitomi – Fukuoka University HS

Yudai Nishida – Fukuoka University HS

Rei Ito – Hirakikokorozashi INTL HS

 

Head coach Torsten Loibl returns to guide the young men’s team after mentoring last year’s Japanese U16 national team and Loibl selected the players that impressed him the most. From the U16 team, Fukuoka’s Yudai Nishida – the leading scorer of last year’s U16 team with an average of 18.8 points per game returns alongside U16 teammates Taiga Kagitomi, Keisuke Mimori and playmaker Rei Ito to join a number of fresh faces – noteable: Avi “Koki” Schafer, the only player standing above 203cm – is the second leading rebounder of the St Mary school based in Tokyo. Kai Toews, the 188cm scoring point guard from Bridgeton Academy provides the much needed scoring and outside shooting that the team will need to compete against able European teams. Raita Akaho of Ichiritsufunabashi is a power forward with a smooth touch from the perimeter and leads his varsity team in rebounding and shots blocked.

 

Gonzaga bound Rui Hachimura was initially listed in the 28 player pool that was announced late in February but Hachimura will be skipping the Albert Schweitzer Tournament to train with the senior national team in their participation for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia in July. Hachimura lead the team in scoring and rebounding in the 27^th edition of the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in 2014.

 

The eleven player team is scheduled to leave Japan and fly to Germany in 24^th of March to hold training camp and acclimate with the timezone. The 28^th Albert Schweitzer Tournament will be played from 26^th of March to 2^nd of April. Japan is in Group A alongside Australia, Serbia, Argentina, Turkey and the home team Germany. Group B consists of Egypt, Greece, Italy, China, the United States and France.

 

For the FIBA Asia U18 Championship, Japan is expected to field a twelve man team. The U18 Asian tournament will be held in Iran with the exact venue to be determined later from 15^th of July to 24^th.

 

Image courtesy of FIBA

2015 FIBA Asia U16 for Men: Japan Drawn in Group A

Japan was drawn in Group A for the 2015 FIBA Asia Under 16 Championship for Men that will be played from October 29 – November 7, 2015 in Semarang, Indonesia.

Group A features Japan with Kuwait, Hong Kong from East Asia and Malaysia from Southeast Asia. Group B features Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh, hosts Indonesia and Lebanon. Group C is composed of the Philippines, North Korea, Bahrain and Thailand. Group D has China, Iraq, India and South Korea.

Japan’s Under 16 national team is coached by Torsten Loibl and the national team has 13 players composed of the following:

Reo Shimajiri (Konan HS)

Keisuke Mimori (Sapporo Nihon HS)

Taiga Kagitomi (Fukuoka University HS)

Yudai Nishida (Fukuoka University HS)

Soichiro Inoue (Fukuoka University HS)

Seiya Takahara (Tsuchiura Nihon University HS)

Rei Ito (Hirakikokorozashi INTL HS)

Kazuki Miyamoto (Tokogakuen HS)

Kohei Tsuneta (Masatomo Fukaya HS)

Aren Hachimura (Mesei HS)

Ryo Kobayashi (Tokogakuen HS)

Daiki Tsuchiya (Kurashiki Tamashima HS)

Syuki Nakata (Fukuoka Tatsunishi HS)

 

In the 2013 edition of the tournament, Japan finished third lead by Aren Hachimura’s older brother Rui to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Under 17 World Championship for Men. This year’s top three finishers qualify to the Under 17 championship next year.

 

Two more training camps are scheduled for the 13 man U16 junior Hayabusa team before one more cut is made to round off the twelve man member of the team before the team leaves for Indonesia.

Japan Names 2015 FIBA Asia U16 National Team

It was late in February that the Japanese Basketball Association’s committee for youth basketball named the 26 player pool consisting of the men’s national team that was set to compete for the 2015 FIBA Asia U16 tournament. At that time, Japan was under the FIBA ban for domestic issues regarding its organization and the murky disposition of two Japan’s top basketball leagues.

Former Levanga Hokkaido head coach Torsten Loibl was named head coach and the man with the reputation for developing structure within the youth level got to work despite no assurances that Japan will be even allowed to field a team when the tournament starts.

Fast forward a couple of months and things have changed, FIBA lifted the ban on Japan and the country could participate in the tournaments again. While the JBA was reforming itself, the task force maintained the training program for the U16 men’s team as coach Loibl intended to have his boys play the structured basketball of euro ball.

After several weeks of tryouts and joint training, the Loibl alongside the JBA named the thirteen man squad set to train in preparation for the 2015 FIBA Asia U16 tournament for men later this month.

Reo Shimajiri (Konan HS)

Keisuke Mimori (Sapporo Nihon HS)

Taiga Kagitomi (Fukuoka University HS)

Yudai Nishida (Fukuoka University HS)

Soichiro Inoue (Fukuoka University HS)

Seiya Takahara (Tsuchiura Nihon University HS)

Rei Ito (Hirakikokorozashi INTL HS)

Kazuki Miyamoto (Tokogakuen HS)

Kohei Tsuneta (Masatomo Fukaya HS)

Aren Hachimura (Mesei HS)

Ryo Kobayashi (Tokogakuen HS)

Daiki Tsuchiya (Kurashiki Tamashima HS)

Syuki Nakata (Fukuoka Tatsunishi HS)

 

Leading the team is Fukuoka HS front-court of Inoue, Nishid and Kagitomi. Joining them are skilled big men Mimori of Sapporo alongside Tokogakuen’s Miyamoto and versatile freshman Aren Hachimura, whose older brother Rui Hachimura went on to star for the 2013 U16 and 2014 U17 national teams of Japan and was later called to participate to train with Japan’s senior national team.

Most of the team are guards that will assume a winger forward’s role lead by Tokogakuen’s scoring guard Ryo Kobayashi.

Under Torsten, the fledgling big men are trained with fundamentals from footwork to conditioning while also learning coordination from ball handling to shooting from the outside. The guards are taught to press on defense and recognize gaps within the defense to cut or position themselves for an open shot.

Thirteen players are called up as final as insurance for the probability of injury. Two more training camps are set for the thirteen young men as the final twelve man will be named after the last training camp in October 25.

The 2015 edition of the FIBA Asia Men’s U16 tournament was supposedly set to be hosted in Bangalore, India from July 2 to 12, 2015 but troubles with the country’s federation prompted FIBA to indefinitely postpone the tournament and find a willing host. Indonesia stepped up to host the event and the tournament is set for the city of Semarang from October 29 to November 7. Top three finishers will play in next year’s FIBA U17 World Championships for Men.

Japanese National Basketball Team for 2015 Jones Cup Named

A week after FIBA has officially lifted the sanction that barred the men and women’s national teams from participating in this year’s Asian Olympic qualifiers, head coach Hasegawa is ramping up his training roster as Japan enter its last stretch of preparations for next month’s FIBA Asia tournament held in Changsha, China.

Hasegawa calls up his heavy hitters in Kosuke Kanamaru and Naoto Tsuji to see action alongside the existing national team players in the 37^th William Jones Cup (Aug 29-Sep 6) that is held annually in Taiwan in which fellow Asian national teams and other invited teams participate as part of their respective international or off-season training.

The Japanese roster for the William Jones Cup this year is listed below:

Yuta Tabuse (Link Tochigi Brex)

Naoto Tsuji (Toshiba Brave Thunder)

Takumi Ishizaki (Mitsubishi Thunder)

Yuki Mitsuhara (Hitachi SunRockerz)

Makoto Hiejima (Aishin SeaHorses)

Atsuya Ota (Hamamatsu Phoenix Higashimikawa)

Ryoma Hashimoto (Aishin SeaHorses)

Kosuke Kanamaru (Aishin SeaHorses)

Joji Takeuchi (Hitachi SunRockerz)

Keijuro Matsui (Toyota Alvark)

Gaku Arao (Chiba Jets)

Daiki Tanaka (Toyota Alvark)

Takatoshi Furukawa (Link Tochigi Brex)

Rui Hachimura (Mesei Highschool)

Ryumo Ono (Chiba Jets)

Kenta Hirose (Hitachi SunRockerz)

The team is composed of veterans and young stars. Oldest is team co-captain Yuta Tabuse at 34 years of age while the youngest is 17 year old Rui Hachimura who played in last year’s FIBA U17 World championships that was held in Greece. Hachimura also participated in this year’s Jordan Brand Classic that allowed scouts from NCAA division I schools to get a further look of the young man’s on-court credentials. Hachimura despite failing to make the Japan rosters bound for the Atlas 8 Nations tournament in China, the European training and the Czech Republic select team three game exhibition series, had paid his dues with hard work and consistency in practice. With each cut, head coach Kenji Hasegawa would re-assure the young man that his time will come. Indeed, his time is nearing as he is bound for the Jones Cup as a part of the team full of stars that he still looks up to.

“This feels unreal,” said Hachimura in an interview with Yahoo.jp as he was in disbelief that he is teammates with players like Kosuke Kanamaru and Kenta Hirose. “I am used to watching them, but when I got called up to the national team, I am living a dream of playing for Japan,” said the ecstatic young man who will don the senior Hayabusa jersey for the first time.

For Naoto Tsuji, he was supposed to rest and recover while the team plays in the Jones Cup. But when youngster Yuki Togashi was offered a tryout contract in Italy, Tsuji was called up as Hasegawa granted Togashi his blessing in pursuing the path that Takumi Ishizaki took when the latter was playing in Germany.

This version of Japan has a front-court rotation that is heavy on the wings but has a shortage in big men to provide interior defense and rebounding as per the depth chart of the team below:

PG – Tabuse, Ishizaki, Hiejima, Hashimoto

SG – Kanamaru, Tanaka, Furukawa, Tsuji, Matsui

SF – Ono, Hirose, Hachimura

PF – Mitsuhara, Arao

C – Takeuchi, Ota

According to head coach Hasegawa as quoted by the JBA, Japan cannot yet match the height of several Asian teams but they can remain competitive by means of utility that harnesses the team’s strengths in: speed, shooting and mobility. The said team’s strengths are found in Japan’s quick playmaking guards and abled shooting wings that is a recipe for the “small ball” tactic that Hasegawa has been working this summer. While there are plenty of guards and shooters on the wings, Japan this summer is having a shortage of big men. First, Kosuke Takeuchi is skipping national team duties for now. Yuta Watanabe is back in the United States and will not play in the Olympic qualifiers and Tenketsu Harimoto is recovering from an injury that kept him out of the Jones Cup bound team. The shortage of big men is also consequential to the small ball rotation that Hasegawa plans to test in the Jones Cup.

Joji Takeuchi and Atsuya Ota are the tallest in the team, with both standing 206cm. The main power forwards are also undersized with Chiba’s hardworking Gaku Arao and Hitachi’s Yuki Mitsuhara being the rotation. That is a front-court that is thin with each position having only a primary backup.

Under Hasegawa’s small ball, small forwards such as Ryumo Ono and Rui Hachimura will see minutes at the power forward spot. Both are no stranger to playing the position one slot up as Ono plays both small forward and power forward in his years in the NBL. Hachimura played any of the five positions at one point for Mesei, his power forward experience that held the most significance was in the 2013 FIBA U16 and FIBA U17 tournaments that pitted him against taller and stronger players that are also mobile as Japan. Against bigger and more experienced competitors against other Asian teams in the Jones Cup, Hachimura will chalk this one up as another learning experience.

While the front-court is at a shortage, the guards and wings are plenty for small ball to thrive. The team has four pure point guards to run Hasegawa’s pick and roll small ball offense. Naoto Tsuji plays both point guard and shooting guard position for Toshiba. He is the fifth point guard set in the rotation but he is also fixed to be either the second or third option at shooting guard; headlined by NBL finals MVP Kosuke Kanamaru and breakout superstar Daiki Tanaka.

The shooting guards for this team can be leveled up to the small forward positions. This means that under small ball, Kanamaru, Tanaka, Furukawa and can all play small forward and still retain their strengths without compromising defensive match ups. Keijuro Matsui will not play small forward as he is set to be a rotation shooter who’s only job is to navigate the offense by curling out of screens and getting into position for his catch and shoot game. The beauty of Kenta Hirose’s game is that he plays small forward and can still slide down to shooting guard. Although the veteran has lost a bit of speed, he can still slash to the basket and pull up with those transition daggers in which he thrived on early in his career.

Fourteen of the sixteen players all can hit the three with the only exception being Arao and Ota. With Hasegawa’s pick and roll offense, big men must set screens for the guard dribble entry to set creative plays either with either dishing it off quickly to a flank shooter curling off another screen or reward the screening bigman with a ping pass for a wide open jumpshot. This is why it is imperative that big men under Hasegawa’s offense must be able to shoot outside given the opportunity as they are essentially the pressure release valves that frees up the interior lanes as they draw the opposing big men out of the paint that will be more vulnerable to a either a baseline attack or a cutter for an easy basket.

Conditions are set for Japan’s small ball. Being it consequential or Hasegawa’s deliberate approach basing on the mentor’s vision of a successful team, there is no denying that Japan is an underdog that will enter the tournament with low expectations. For the past two years, Japan has struggled in the said tournament. Japan finished seventh and ninth in 2013 and 2014 respectively, accumulating a record of two wins and eleven losses in two years, even losing to the Chinese Taipei B team last year despite the latter being picked as the weakest of the teams among the participants in the Jones Cup last year. Despite the last placed finish in the Jones Cup last year, all is forgiven as Hasegawa managed to bag the bronze medal in the Incheon Asian Games, giving hope once more for Japan’s basketball future as we march into the years leading to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

For this year, Hasegawa and the team is not aiming to win the Jones Cup. They will use the tournament as a testing ground for combinations and in scouting the opposition. Rotations must be finalized with the best personnel as much as possible to run it and the coaching staff must be given the knowledge of the opposing team’s strengths and weaknesses given their respective structures containing players of each teams. This will arm team Hayabusa with the final tools needed as they enter the last phase of their preparation before competing in next month’s FIBA Asia.

This year’s William Jones Cup has a world cup feel to it as teams like Iran, the Philippines and South Korea participated in the FIBA World Cup last year. Chinese Taipei will field an A team and a B team as always while the Wellington Saints from New Zealand, a Russian select team, a United States team composed of professionals players alongside Japan completes this year’s Jones Cup tournament.

image courtesy of ABOVEMG.

Japanese National Team for the 2015 Atlas 8 Nations Tournament

  It has been five years in the making but Yuta Tabuse is back with the Japanese national team. Tabuse’s return also marks the return of Team Hayabusa to the international basketball stage after FIBA sanctions have been lifted, making their participation for the Asian qualifiers of the Rio Janeiro Olympic basketball tournament official. Tabuse headlines a Japanese team that is mainly composed of veterans. The players named by the Japanese Basketball Association are: Yuta Tabuse (Link Tochigi Brex) Takumi Ishizaki (Mitsubishi Dolphins) Yuki Mitsuhara (Hitachi Sunrockers) Atsuya Ota (Hamamatsu Phoenix Higashimikawa) Ryoma Hashimoto (Aishin SeaHorses) Hironori Watanabe (Link Tochigi Brex) Joji Takeuchi (Hitachi SunRockers) Keijuro Matsui (Toyota Alvark) Gaku Arao (Chiba Jets) Daiki Tanaka (Toyota Alvark) Takatoshi Furukawa (Link Tochigi Brex) Ryumo Ono (Chiba Jets) Kenta Hirose (Hitachi SunRockers) Tenketsu Harimoto (Toyota Alvark)   Head coach Kenji Hasegawa named his squad just before the final week of practice before Japan sets off to China, for the 2015 Atlas 8 Nations Tournament that also features Iran, China, Italy, Slovakia, United States, Lithuania and Australia. The tournament will be held in Suzhou, China from July 27 to August 1, 2015. Japan is grouped with the United States, Australia and Lithuania in Group B. Group A consists of Iran, China, Slovakia and Italy. For Hasegawa’s squad that features mostly veterans and a number of upcoming stars, the team composition is based on how well the players fit into his pick and roll system that involves a high dribble entry across a high screen that serves as a double action for a curling shooter off another screen as a template. The offense needs pure playmakers to orchestrate and Hasegawa is counting on Tabuse, Ishizaki and Hashimoto to facilitate and dictate its offense. Also essential to run the pick and roll offense are bigmen that are mobile to set screens as many as necessary. These bigmen must also be able to shoot the mid-range and long range shots for the defense to stretch out that gives plenty of space for driving and cutting. Joji Takeuchi, Tenketsu Harimoto and Yuki Mitsuhara fit such billing. While Atsuya Ota and Gaku Arao are not known for their outside shot, Hasegawa named them for their rebounding, boxing out insider and the ability to pin down the paint. As the guards and the bigmen are keeping things in constant motion, half of the offense dynamics relies on shooters and cutters. The team has a platoon of shooters with Keijuro Matsui returning alongside Takatoshi Furukawa, Ryumo Ono and Hironori Watanabe. In making the most of the gaps opened by the constant screens, Daiki Tanaka and Kenta Hirose are adept in slashing through those opened space. While Kenji Hasegawa stated that the team is still a work in progress and personnel could still change in leading to the FIBA Asia 2015 qualifiers, he is putting the pieces in place and the Atlas tournament will serve as the first test. The team could still be reinforced from the names omitted in their Chinese sojourn that includes Takuya Kawamura, Rui Hachimura, Kosuke Kanamaru and Makoto Hiejima. After the Atlas Tournament, Team Hayabusa embarks on a European trip spanning from August 5 to August 13 for training where they will meet the Czech national team selection in Vienna, Austria followed days later in Brno, Czech Republic where they will play against the Czech national team. After the European trip, the Czech Republic national selection will be the one to visit Japan and Team Hayabusa will host them in a three set friendlies in which proceeds will go to charity. First game is in August 14 in Chiba followed by the Tokyo hosting the final two legs in August 15 and 16. Japan will also participate in the 2015 William Jones Cup in Taiwan from August 29 to September 6, 2015. The 28^th 2015 FIBA Asia Qualifiers for Rio is set for September 23 to August 3, 2015 in which the winner will play in the Rio De Janeiro Olympic Summer Basketball Tournament. Despite the odds are against Japan in winning the Asian qualifiers, Hasegawa and the JBA have the long term vision in set that started from last year. The introduction of younger players into the pool is a preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. image courtesy of the JBA

Japan national player pool for FIBA Asia 2015

Image courtesy of the JBA

As the popular saying goes “Basketball Never Stops”, so does Japan’s hopes to reach the 2016 Rio Olympics by competing in the upcoming FIBA Asia 2015 Qualifying Tournament (Sept. 23 – Oct. 3, 2015) to be held in Changsha – Hunan China.

With the recent FIBA ban being “partially” lifted that will allow the men and women’s team to compete in this year’s Olympic basketball qualifying tournament, the Japanese Basketball Association have unveiled today the players that will compose Japan’s national player pool for FIBA Asia 2015.

The players are:

Yuta Tabusa (Link Tochigi)

Atsuya Ota (Hamamatsu Phoenix)

Takumi Ishizaki (Mitsubishi)

Joji Takeuchi (Hitachi)

Kenta Hirose (Hitachi)

Keijuro Matsui (Toyota)

Takuya Kawamura (Ex-Wakayama)

Gaku Arao (Chiba Jets)

Takatoshi Furukawa (Link Tochigi)

Takahiro Kurihara (Toshiba)

Ryumo Ono (Chiba)

Hironori Watanabe (Link Tochigi)

Ryoma Hashimoto (Aishin)

Kosuke Kanamaru (Aishin)

Naoto Tsuji (Toshiba)

Yuki Mitsuhara (Hitachi)

Shigehiro Taguchi (Akita)

Makoto Hiejima (Aishin)

Naoya Kumagae (Link Tochigi)

Yuya Nagayoshi (Toshiba)

Daiki Tanaka (Toshiba)

Tenketsu Harimoto (Toyota)

Kengo Nomoto (Toshiba)

Yuki Togashi (Ex-Texas Legends)

Yuta Watanabe (George Washington)

Yudai Baba (Tsukubadai)

Rui Hachimura (Mesei)

 

Leading the pool is Kosuke Kanamaru, who won the NBL Japan Finals MVP to lead AIshin to the NBL championship last month. Players from Toyota include the sharpshooter Keijuro Matsui, the prolific guard Daiki Tanaka alongside and rising star Tenketsu Harimoto.

Returning to national team duties are Yuta Tabuse and Takuya Kawamura. Tabuse last played for Japan in the 2010 Asian Games while Kawamura was among the best five players awarded in the 2011 edition of FIBA Asia.

Missing is the other half of the Takeuchi twins. Kosuke Takeuchi is recovering from an injury and it leaves Hitachi’s Joji Takeuchi to help lead the team after their successful tandem in Japan’s bronze medal winning team last year in the Incheon Asian games.

Photo courtesy of FIBA

The pool also features Yuta Watanabe, who is entering his sophomore year in George Washington. Yuki Togashi, part of last year’s Asian games squad played for the Texas Legends in the NBA D-League. Rui Hachimura, who lead Mesei to two All Japan HS crowns will make his first call up to the senior national team after playing in the 2014 FIBA U17 world championships and the 2015 Jordan Brand Classic international game.

Part of Japan’s preparation for the FIBA Asia tournament will be the Atlas 8 National tournament (Jul. 27 – Aug. 1) in Suzhou China 2015 William Jones Cup in Taiwan (Aug. 29 – Sept. 06, 2015). In 2013, Japan finished 9^th in FIBA Asia that was held in Manila, Philippines.

Japan finishes Asian Games with bronze medal

Photo courtesy of the JBA

Head coach Kenji Hasegawa is in no mood of consolation. He is indeed happy of the outcome of what the team has accomplished in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. They were one win awayfrom the gold medal game, but lost to the eventual champions and hosts, South Korea.

That does not dampen Hasegawa’s spirits or the team’s cheerful ways. They got bronze, came close to the gold medal game and they came together to do what was needed. Kenji Hasegawa was a man on a mission. Two things he wanted in his first year at the helm of the Japanese national team, that many felt were in decline after years of falling behind expectation. One was to bring back respectability of the team’s reputation. Second wasto achieve something that not only the team can be proud of, but the fan as well. Hasegawa did not promise the stars, but was not content with mediocrity however. He wanted a disciplined team that can play as a cohesive unit against Asia’s best.

Certainly, this Japanese team did so and it speaks redemption among their ranks. The Takeuchi Twins were playing together again as Joji was the healthiest he has been for the past three years. Kosuke Kanamaru, Atsuya Ota, Naoto Tsuji, Kosuke Takeuchi and Makoto Hiejima were part of last year’s national team that finished9th in the Manila FIBA Asia staging. They have themselves feeling good after more than a year in relishing to dobetter and Hasegawa provided just that. Takumi Ishizaki managed to help his team in a big way, often providing leadership as the team’s floor general. Same goes for Yuki Togashi, who quickly signed on after a short butmemorable stint in the NBA D-League with the Dallas Mavericks.The road was far less cheerful to start. Kenji Hasegawa was entrusted with the team and its expectations for redeeming the basketball brand and developing the young talents for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. Hasegawa assembled a team with the veteran mainstays and welcomed back several veterans like Yusuke Okada and Takumi Ishizaki. He added lesser unheralded names like Ryumo Ono, Yuki Mitsuhara and Dieye Sakamoto. The important part where the youth of this team. He chose Makoto Hiejima, Kosuke Kanamaru, Naoto Tsuji, Daiki Tanaka and Yuki Togashi.

In assembling a team, Hasegawa had to balance winning; the mark for respectability that is elevated above any substantial effort that commiserates applause. Then the second priority is to train further the youth of the team. Coach Hasegawa could have put a premium on winning by making sure that the team is composed of veteran talents and the big names of the NBL and BJ-League combined. Like a true coach, he expects balance projected towards parallel perspectives of winning and training for development. Coach Hasegawa could have found an easy way out by fully emphasizing development over winning now for the sake of winning tomorrow. Again, perspective of overlapping agendas that are often compromised by the indispensable results in the present.

Amidst questions, Hasegawa had a clear mind and a  vision on how to accomplish something in just a matter of months and start laying the framework of the future. When camp opened, there was an air of optimism as Hasegawa was a coach who pays attention to close detail involving team play and the progress of young players. He asked the veterans to have a proactive role in shaping the future by mentorship. The Takeuchi twins helped young bigman Tenketsu Harimoto in his post and outside game. Takumi Ishizaki was the troop leader for budding guards Makoto Hiejima and Naoto Tsuji as the team was gearing up for the 5th FIBA Asia Cup.

In the 5th Asia Cup it was the first time where the team encountered its public expectations. In 2012, Japan finished a close second to champions, Iran. A second finals appearance would immediately spell realization of the team’s performance. Instead, Japan would  finish sixth, a fall from grace as runner-ups from the previous editions. Japan won against India, lose to China, win against Indonesia to set up a quarterfinals knockout match against East Asian rivals, Chinese Taipei. Japan would lose to Chinese Taipei, 76-62 and would settle for the qualification games. Japan lost to a rebuilding Jordan squad, 79-72 and would win the following day, 82-48 against Singapore. The results of the Asia Cup were disappointing and Kenji Hasegawa put no excuse on why the team could not live up to its second place finish two years ago. Instead, Hasegawa recounted the games and why they lost. The most pressing concern was the bench players where the reserves can’t sustain what the starters have started. Hasegawa never pointed that chief gunner Kosuke Kanamaru was injured nor the  fact that it was his first tournament since taking over the team. Coach Hasegawa took all the criticisms by both the fans and the press despite how harsh or unfair they maybe. He accepted the fact that expectations were to have a medal finish.

Next phase of the training was the annual William Jones Cup. As the team prepared for the 36th edition of the tournament, Hasegawa would seem to have halted continuity with the current national team he is training for the Asian Games. He announced that they will be sending a team composed of young players for training in the Jones Cup, leaving out the veterans to accomplish their off-season contracts and yet maintain their training when called upon. From the Asia Cup team, Hasegawa handpicked Hiejima, Harimoto, Tanaka, Togashi, Ono to be his main rotation for the tournament. He added players like Dieye Sakamoto and called up a couple of college players. These moves had the fans and press asking on what is the plan here exactly. Hasegawa would answer that he is using the Jones Cup as training for younger players and to determine the reserves for the national team. Japan with renewed optimism of winning a couple of games and showcasing their young talents was attainable as powerhouses like South Korea, the Philippines were not participating. Iran sent a young team instead of their world cup team. Expectations quickly were doused as  Japan would go winless in the round robin phase, with a 0-7 record, a huge downfall from the single win team the year before. It would seem to many that Japan is on a continuous decline even with their young talents not capable of beating the other countries’ young talents. In the classification round,

Japan would rout Jordan 80-64 but fall to Chinese Taipei B, 73-71 to finish last.

After that what would seem disaster of the Jones Cup, Hasegawa was calm as he addressed the press in returning home. Again, he took in the criticism and the questions of competence of his coaching outside the college competition. To him, why worry of what people would say when you are still tasked  to deliver not until the main battle is drawn out. Hasegawa would now call up the veterans to join the best performing ones from the Jones Cup. They would embark on their final sojourn prior to the Asian Games; this time, a trip to Australia to play games against Australian NBL teams.

After a number of losses against NBL teams in Australia, expectations were low for the team heading into the Asian Games. Fans feared the worst showing for their team as the previous results of the preparation schedule leading to this tournament was not at all encouraging. Still, Hasegawa addressed what is the team’s status. He pointed out that the veterans are conditioned, several players like Kosuke Kanamaru and Naoto Tsuji are healthy, the team has been refining their offensive and defensive sets for the past weeks. Now they are ready to compete against a stronger field. Iran was in full force, the Philippines even without Andray Blatche were still contenders. South Korea, as hosts are a dangerous team to play. Other teams composed of China, a young team seeking redemption. Qatar has its veterans while  Kazakhstan was poised to enter medal contention and Chinese Taipei had its veteran stars even without Quincy Davis.

Japan would start its Asia Games campaign by routing Kuwait, 89-75. Spirits dampened however after losing a close game against Qatar, 72-71. Japan would advance to  the next round in the group of Iran, China and Mongolia. In meeting Iran, Japan succumbed against the height and skill of the Hamed Haddadi lead team as Japan would get routed 82-59. Things looked gloomy when they were to face China next as they are staring a potential elimination. Kenji Hasegawa reminded his team again that it does not matter which team they face, they must function as a unit and results will speak for themselves. The team would respond against the younger and taller Chinese team. While the veterans were controlling the game, it was the youth that provided the spark. Makoto Hiejima scored a team high 23 points to beat China 79-72. The team’s upset win proved to be the spark that people hopeful again. Japan would rout Mongolia 96-70 to advance into the semifinals. As luck would have it, Japan would have a chance to upset the hosts and rivals, South Korea. Although Japan would fall against South Korea’s shooting prowess, the team put up a fight against the hosts, showing a good first half that showed signs of a potential upset and into the gold medal game. After the loss, Hasegawa talked with his players and reminded them that there is one more game to be fought and that game was against Kazakhstan, another surprise team. Like Japan, Kazakhstan almost upset Iran as they gave them an elimination scare despite losing 80-78.

The bronze medal game was all in fact about respectability as Japan played its most physical game to date, often fighting against stronger built players for loose balls and the rebounds. The Takeuchi twins worked in unison, providing the interior presence that Japan seemed to lack the year before. The difference this year was that Joji was healthy and that also improves Kosuke’s game. A close game needed composure on which Ishizaki’s mentoring of Makoto Hiejima was starting to show. Kosuke Kanamaru, who has been leading Japan in scoring, scored 21 points to help Japan finish bronze since doing so in 1994 at the Hiroshima Asian Games.

While South Korea basked in their triumph at home and Iran consoled themselves of the close silver finish, Kenji Hasegawa continued mentoring his players, citing that playing as a unit is paramount in competition. This team has not been this good since 2011 albeit less star studded. Both Japan’s men and women teams finished bronze in Incheon. The women’s team were young as the veterans played in the World Cup. Amidst the criticism and the odds, Hasegawa not only coached but went out of his way to mentor players on the sport’s essence.

A lesser man would have compromised and completed a different path, but Hasegawa did it in balance, fielding a competitive team that helped grew respect. A team that is competitive have its veterans and young players to defer to one another, often alternating between support and taking charge. He never promised a gold or folded against the pressure, Hasegawa gave the fans optimism to look forward into the future with his pragmatic approach of the game. Japanese basketball can be competitive again and Olympic dreams would continue.

Japan falters late, loses to the Philippines in OT

Photo courtesy of FIBA Asia

In yet another end of game collapse, Japan had a few defensive lapses late in the game as the Philippines managed to tie the game with a three pointer from Ranbill Tongco with no seconds left to force the game in overtime. Japan would lose in extra time as the Philippines simply took over as they won, 105-113.

The game was close throughout the four quarters as Japan leaned on the hot hands of Shota Tsuyama and Akito Uchida. Both would combine for 68 of Japan’s 105 points in the game.

Japan would lead 93-88 with under a minute left but turnovers and fouls as well as defensive lapses allowed Ranbill Tongco to setup the game tying three pointer. Kobe Paras, who is playing ball in the United States lead the fourth quarter and overtime charge for the Philippines as he would score 15 of his team high 27 points in the fourth quarter and extra time as Japan was outscored 20-12.

Team Hayabusa would run out of gas in overtime as Tsuyama and Uchida looked tired while the Philippines had still a lot of fight in them as they would control the period and end the game with a resounding, heroic comeback.

Tsuyama scored 34 points while Uchida top scored with 38 points. Taichi Aoki with 12 points while Ryogo Sumino and Yuki Mikami each added 8 points. Japan finishes sixth in the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 tournament.

Japan national basketball team for the 2014 17th Asian Games

 

The Japanese Basketball Association announced the twelve man squad for the 2014 17th Asian Games men’s basketball tournament that will be played in Incheon, South Korea from September 20 – October 3, 2014.

Takumi Ishizaki
Ryumo Ono (Chiba Jets)
Takatoshi Furukawa (Link Tochigi Brex)
Makoto Hiejima (Aishin SeaHorses)
Atsuya Ota (Hamamatsu Phoenix Higashimikawa)
Naoto Tsuji (Toshiba Brave Thunder)
Kosuke Takeuchi (Hiroshima Dragonflies)
Daiki Tanaka (Toyota Alvark)
Tenketsu Harimoto (Toyota Alvark)
Yuki Togashi
Kosuke Kanamaru (Aishin SeaHorses)
Joji Takeuchi (Hitachi SunRockerz)

Ishizaki, Ota, Kosuke and Joji Takeuchi played in the 4th FIBA Asia Cup and despite not playing in the 36th William Jones Cup, they have been working on their physical conditioning. The young ones are lead by Yuki Togashi, who had a short yet memorable Las Vegas NBA Summer League participation with the Dallas Mavericks. Other young stars like Tanaka, Harimoto, Furukawa, Hiejima and Ono suited up for Japan in the William Jones Cup held in Taiwan. Returning from injury are Toshiba’s hotshot Naoto Tsuji and Kanamaru.

The team is a mixture of veteran stars and upcoming young players. “A good national team training for the future still needs veterans to mentor the team,” according to head coach Kenji Hasegawa. “The core of the team are the veterans, while the nucleus are the young ones for the future,” Hasegawa referring to the long term development of the young players of today that could be a part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics basketball tournament.

The national team will be without Wakayama’s Takuya Kawamura who last suited up with the national team in 2011 for the FIBA Asia London Olympic qualifiers held in Wuhan, China. Kawamura stated that he wanted to take the offseason with rest and preparation for the National Basketball League. The team will also be missing Yuta Watanabe, who will be suiting up for George Washington University in the NCAA Division 1 league in North America.

Japan finished fourth in the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou.

Japan U18 team unable to make comeback against Iran

Image courtesy of FIBA Asia

A poor first half became the undoing of the Japanese U18 squad against Iran as they could not complete a comeback and they fell to the Iranians, 72-65 in the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 championships.

Japan was very limited in the 1st quarter, scoring only 9 points, making it their worst 1st quarter in their current campaign. Japan would only score 9 points as they were shackled by Iran’s defense. Japan shot 22% in that period while the Iranians registered a 47% mark as a team.

Japan would stage a rally in the 2nd quarter lead by Shota Tsuyama as Japan played a faster tempo to offset Iran’s height advantage. As the first half ended, Japan trailed 37-32.

In the 2nd half of the game, Japan could not stop Iran’s inside game as they kept pounding the ball inside and scoring at an efficient rate compared to their mid-range shots and long-range shots. While Japan could not make a dent of Iran’s interior defense, settling for outside shots with Iran negating any drives to the basket with their trapping zone. The game was physical and both teams would slow the tempo down due to their frequent trips to the free-throw line. Iran made 10-16 of their foul shots while Japan made 15-18 tries at the foul line. Iran’s size and interior defense was the negating factor for Japan as they got out rebounded, 51-31 with Iran scoring 20 on second chance points compared to Japan’s 8 points.

Taiga Watanabe fouled out, having a miserable game of 3 points and 3 rebounds as he shot 1-5 inside the paint. Overall, Japan was left to shoot jumpshots as Iran’s interior defense proved to formidable. Japan shot 21-71 at a 30% clip. Shota Tsuyama was efficient on his offense, scoring 15 points and shooting 6/14 and burying 2/4 from beyond the arc. Yuki Mikami top scored for Japan with 17 points but shot 4/15. Myuji Tsuruta shot 4/4 and scored 8 points in the game. Aside from Tsuyama and Tsuruta, the rest of the team struggled mightily with their shooting. Ryogo Sumino did not play due to injury.