Japan look to gain more momentum as they face Kazakhstan

ALMATY (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Japan finished the first round strong with two straight wins and surely want more, but will they manage to make it three in a row at Kazakhstan's expense?

The Kazakhs, meanwhile, are reeling from the retirement of big man Anton Ponomarev, and they are looking for someone to step up big time in the fourth window of the Asian Qualifiers.

Key matchup:

Tha someone could be Nikolay Bazhin, who has been among the Kazakhs' most productive players with 4.2 points per game on top of 4.0 rebounds. He will be facing a stiff challenge in this contest, though, as he takes on athletic wonder Rui Hachimura, who was a superb offensive catalyst for the Akatsuki Five in the previous window. Hachimura put up 18.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game in the first round, and he should continue to be a vital cog for coach Julio Lamas and the Japanese.

X-factor:

With no more Ponomarev patrolling the paint, the onus is on Alex Zhigulin to take on a bigger role and more of the scoring responsibilities. Right now, he norms 7.3 points per game while shooting just under 40% from the floor. He will have to up those numbers if the Steppe Wolves want to have a shot at handing the Japanese a devastating defeat in Almaty. He will also need to be tough defensively as he will probably be tasked to try and stop the highly productive Ira Brown.

Kazakhstan outlook:

Without Ponomarev, Kazakhstan will need to make a whole lot of adjustments, and they need more than just one guy to step up in a huge way. Aside from Zhigulin and Bazhin, much of the responsibility of carrying this team will lie with Rustam Yergali and Rustam Murzagaliev. If that core of players can raise their level of play a notch or two, Kazakhstan will have a good chance here. Otherwise, they will have an extremely hard time beating a younger, bigger and more athletic Japan.

Japan outlook:

Coach Lamas has a very deep team at his disposal, especially with the addition of US NCAA product Yuta Watanabe, who will form a very potent frontline combo with Hachimura and Brown. That big three together with the backcourt combination of Makoto Hiejima, Daiki Tanaka and Yudai Baba is good enough to beat the very best in Asia, and as long as they stay true to form and are fit, they shouldn't have many problems netting their third straight victory in the Asian Qualifiers.

FIBA