Japan U18 pulls off thrilling win over Kazakhstan

Image courtesy of FIBA Asia

Akito Uchida made a basket with 28 seconds left to help seal the win for Japan against a bigger Kazakhstan squad, 81-80. The Kazakhs had a chance to win the game but Balabiy Agabek’s shot missed, giving Japan the close win in the 23^rd FIBA Asia U18 Tournament in Doha, Qatar.

Japan got a good start in the 1^st quarter as they seemed in control when they lead 23-15 at the end of the period.

In the 2^nd quarter, Kazakhstan would muster a spirited comeback, erasing a 13 point deficit by outscoring Japan 28-19 in the 3^rd quarter with Valentin Kirilin, Ruslan Aitkali and Andrey Litvinenko accounting most of the point production of the team in the period.

Despite the defensive collapse and Kazakhstan now leading, Japan had some fight left in their squad as they battled Kazakhstan in a tight contest in the 4^th quarter with Uchida’s jumper. Akito Uchida despite struggled with his shooting, going 3/11, made the basket when it really counted. Uchida finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Shota Tsuyama carried much of the scoring with Japan as he scores a game high 27 points alongside 4 rebounds and 6 assists.

Japan also benefitted from the spark that Ryosuke Motomura provider off the bench, scoring 11 points, including making 3/5 of his three point shooting. Yuki Mikami shot 4/11 with his three pointer tries and finished with 12 points. Japan survived a bigger Kazakhstan team despite missing Ryogo Sumino and not playing Myuji Yamanashi.

U18 Japan falls to Chinese Taipei 84-75

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A bad 3rd quarter cost Japan the game against their East Asia rivals, Chinese Taipei as the latter squad won 84-75 in the second day of the 23rd 2014 FIBA Asia U18 Tournament in Doha, Qatar.

After a tight contest in the first half where Japan was trailing 38-36, Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Po-Yu and Tseng Pin-Fu heated up. Po-Yu would score 9 of his 20 points in the 3rd while Pin-Fu scored 8 of 17 points in the same quarter. Japan had a defensive breakdown despite shooting decently in the open exchange of baskets. Result was Japan being outscored 29-19. Chinese Taipei would manage to hang-on to their lead in the fourth enroute to their 84-75 win.

Despite the loss, Taiga Watanabe would perform admirably, getting a double double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Akito Uchida would continue his fine play by giving out a 15 points and 9 rebounds performance. Shota Tsuyama had an all around game of 14 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Star, Ryogo Sumino was DNP due to a sprained ankle. Yuki Mikami would score a team high 20 points but needed 18 shots to do so as he also shot 4/14 from beyond the arc.

Japan cruises to second win in the FIBA Asia U18 tournament

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Head coach Tatsuyuki Hayashi decided to rest his starters and field the reserves for quality minutes against Hong Kong. It was a low risk move and yet, the reserves managed to deliver a strong performance as Japan overcame Hong Kong, 96-71.

Taichi Aoki being named starter, produced a strong game of 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Shota Tsuyama who also was named starter, added 18 points to the cause.

Half-time, Japan lead 50-30 and Japan managed to play cruise control basketball for a comfortable win. Yuki Mikami still struggled with his shooting, going 2/10 from three point distance. Ryogo Sumino was rested and did not play. Instead, Akito Uchida continued his strong play by adding 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to his well rounded production.

For this game, Japan outrebounded Hong Kong 63-38. Japan shot 44% compared to Hong Kong’s 28%. This is the second win for Japan in the ongoing U18 tournament.

Japan U18 wins in the 2014 FIBA Asia U18 opener

Photo courtesy of FIBA Asia

Despite Ryogo Sumino struggling, Japan managed to hold off Iraq’s 3rd quarter rally to win their opening match, 81-62 in the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 men’s tournament.

Ryogo Sumino shot 4-13 on the floor but his teammates responded when the team called for it. Ryosuke Motomura scored 11 points off the bench when teammates Yuki Mikami and Sumino were struggling with their shooting. Mikami, being counted on by coach Tatsuyuki Hayashi to be the zone busting stretch four, scored 14 points but needed 15 shots to do so as he shot 4/13 from beyond the arc at a 31% clip.

Sumino finished with 11 points at a 31% shooting. Starting center Taiga Watanabe finished with 6 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. When Iraq’s Jassam Alsaadi was making his shots, Japan used double teams in hopes to contain Alsaadi, but he would go on to score a game high 25 points. Akito Uchida is easily the best performer among the starters, finishing with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

“Iraq’s zone forced us to shoot many three point shots, unfortunately, we missed a lot of tries,” said head coach Tatsuyuki Hayashi as his team shot 12/32 from beyond the arc and Yuki Mikami accounted most of it with his attempts. Japan will face Hong Kong as their next assignment.

Japan loses to Egypt; finishes 14th in FIBA U17 worlds

Japan finished fourteenth overall in the recently concluded 3rd FIBA Under 17 world championships after bowing down to Egypt, 68-53 despite a 22 point effort by Rui Hachimura.

The pivotal second quarter was the most decisive of the game as Egypt outscored the Japanese 22-9 when Hachimura found himself being triple teamed. Result was Japan unnable to mount a rally in the second half as the Egyptians controlled the tempo with their rebounding.

The Egyptians outrebounded the Japanese, 54-36. Yuto Nomi added 11 points for Japan.

Japan U17 Dominates Emirates in rare win

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The men’s Under 17 national team earned their first win in the 3rd FIBA Under 17 World Championships by routing the hosts, United Arab Emirates 91-49. Outcome of the game was decided in the 3rd quarter when Japan, already up by double digits went on a 16-3 run and making the fourth quarter, spare time.

Japan enjoyed their highest shooting mark, by clipping at 48.1 with their field goals and making 13 of their 30 shots attempted from three points distance. Hayato Maki lead the team in scoring with 24 points, including three makes for his three pointers. Guard Kaito Muto, finished with 17 points and making five of his 10 three point shots. Rui Hachimura, Japan’s leading scorer finished with 14 points in 27 minutes of play. Japan will face Egypt in their final classification match.

Japan loses to USA, ends Jones Cup winless

“Losing has it’s toughest lessons,” that according to head coach Kenji Hasegawa after seeing his squad lose their last assignment in the 36th William Jones Cup against the much more athletic USA selection 90-72.

Japan fell behind at midway of the first quarter and never recovered as by the end of the first quarter, score read 25-12. Coached by Sam Vincent, USA will cruise to an easy finish. Five USA players would score in double figures lead by Craig Williams’ 20 points.

With the game decided early, Japan would just play through it. Yuki Togashi scored 10 points and dished out 5 assists in the clincher. Daiki Tanaka would top score for team Hayabusa with 15 points. Yuki Mitsuhara managed 13 points while Makoto Hiejima off the bench, added 12 points.

Japan ends the 36th William Jones Cup winless, with a 0-7 record. Perhaps the worst outing for the Japanese in recent memory. Last year, Japan finished with a 1-6 record. Instead of fielding a full force Japanese team, Hasegawa opted to field a young and inexperienced squad to help their development. True enough, losses would perhaps be a valuable lesson to these still developing youngsters. In this outing, Hasegawa would keep track and record the players that will complete the supporting cast for the Asian Games. From this squad, Hasegawa will handpick the best performing ones or the players he believe will work with the senior members back home. Next for Japan is a trip to Australia later this month.

Italy cruises past Japan in the U17 tournament

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Barely two nights after being upset by China, Italy would make sure that they would start the game right and avoid another upset from an Asian team as they beat Japan, 83-56.

The Italians rediscovered their shooting, clipping at 47% as a team in the game. Italy also made 7/22 of their three point shooting. Italy also owned the board over Japan 53-33.

Rui Hachimura, playing in all 40 minutes scored 35 points by shooting 11/22 from the field and making 3/6 of his shots from beyond the arc. Hachimura would also add 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks to his night.

Despite Hachimura’s points production, Japan struggled with their offense as a team, scoring only 8 points in the first quarter. Italy tightened up on defense in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, making Japan shoot less than 30% in those occassions. Hayato Maki would add 11 points for Japan, but he struggled with his shooting, going 4/19 from the field and making only 1/7 of this three point tries.

Japan scored 24 points in the final quarter but it hardly mattered as the Italians would play loose, assured of a victory.

World Cup bound Egypt routs Japan

Japan is a step closer in losing all their games in the ongoing 36th William Jones Cup as they lost against the FIBA World Cup bound Egypt 69-55.

Japan fell behind in the first quarter and could never recover to threaten the Egyptians side. Aishin’s Makoto Hiejima lead Japan with 17 points and Daiki Tanaka added 13 points. Yuki Togashi played his worst game against Egypt, finishing with 3 points and 3 turnovers in 20 minutes of playing time.

The Egyptians played a balance offense where 11 players scored in the game for Egypt, lead by Amir Abdelham’s 16 points.

Japan is now 0-6 and will face the United States that is mentored by former NBA player Sam Mitchell. This will be the last game for the Jones Cup and Japan is assured of a bottom finish.

Japan loses to Taiwan youngsters, goes 0-5 in Jones Cup

In what was supposed to be the most winnable game of the tournament, Japan lost to the fledgling youngsters of the Chinese Taipei national team 79-69 after being outscored in the pivotal third quarter.

Heading into the game, Kenji Hasegawa fielded a new starting lineup featuring Daiki Tanaka, Takatoshi Furukawa, Yuki Mitsuhara, Hironori Watanabe and Tenketsu Harimoto.

Much like the previous games, Japan’s erratic offense and defensive breakdown was stemming from on-court chemistry issues. The offense was easily subdued by a zone defense and was left to settle with poor shot decisions and players forcing the action with isolation.

Oddly enough, Japan shot 44% in the game but allowed Chinese Taipei’s youngsters to shoot over 53% as five players from the opposition finished with double digit in scoring lead by Chang Jung-Hsuan’s 17 points.

Takatoshi Furukawa lead Japan with 19 points while Hironori Watanabe finished with 16 points. Head coach Kenji Hasegawa did not field Yuki Togashi and starter Yuya Nagayoshi. In last year’s Jones Cup, the national team beat the development squad of Chinese Taipei, giving them their only win. Japan will face the Egyptian national team next who are bound for the FIBA World Cup later this month.