TOKYO (Japan) - Rui Hachimura is set for a big return to Japan's national team after being included in the team's 16-man squad for the Olympics.
The Los Angeles Lakers forward is back for the first time since Tokyo hosted the Summer Games a few years ago. He now has six NBA seasons under his belt, the last two with the Lakers.
At 2.03M (6'8"), the strong, athletic, and skillful power forward brings fresh impetus to a Japan roster that needed bolstering on the front line.
Coach Tom Hovasse engineered a run to 19th place at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup and did so without Hachimura. Japan claimed a spot in this summer's Olympic Games in France as the Asian country that had the best finish at the 32-team event.
Josh Hawkinson played some of the best basketball of his career last year and has not surprisingly kept his spot in the team so far.
Hawkinson averaged a team-high 28.6 efficiency per game after leading Japan in scoring (21.0 points per game) and rebounds (10.8 per game). Yuta Watanabe is another key man in the named squad. The 2.06M (6'9") forward has six years of NBA experience.
While Hachimura's 22.3 points per game led all scorers for Japan at the Olympics in Tokyo, where they fell to Spain, Slovenia and Argentina, the onus will be on him to fit in to Hovasse's high-octane system that requires fast play, tenacious defending and a lot of three-point shooting.
Of the teams that did not advance to the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup, only 16th placed Venezuela (168) attempted more shots from deep than Japan (163). Japan did beat Venzuela, however, in their meeting in Okinawa.
Three-point shooting is a key part of Hachimura's game. He was 8 of 21 (38.1 percent) from behind the arc at the last Olympics and this season in Los Angeles, he buried 42.2 percent (98-232) in the regular season.
The backcourt has the usual faces of guard Yuki Kawamura, Yuki Togashi and Makoto Hiejima.
There is also the exciting Keisei Tominaga, who played for Japan at the Asia Cup two years ago and at last year's World Cup. The explosive 3-point marksman, who has just wrapped up his career with the Nebraska Cornhuskers in American college basketball, hit 12 3-balls from 37 attempts at the World Cup.
He was 4-7 from deep and had 17 points in a come-from-behind win over Finland, and then drilled six of eight from long range against Cape Verde and had 22 points. That 80-71 victory clinched a spot in the Olympics for Japan.
FIBA