LILLE (France) - Japan knew they faced a major challenge opening the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 2024 against the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 champions Germany. And while the Asians lost the game, here are five reasons Japan fans can be hopeful for better things to come.
Japan fought hard against Germany but ended up losing 97-77 to Germany to start their Group B campaign. Tom Hovasse's team do have some positives to take from the game as they look ahead to their second game against hosts France on July 30.
1. The Big Three delivered
Japan have a big three in the trio of Rui Hachimura, Yuta Watanabe and Josh Hawkinson and they showed they could hold up against the best in the world. Hachimura did struggle with his shooting but he collected 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The NBA star made just 4 of 20 shots and that percentage can only go up from here.
Watanabe drained 4 three-pointers in scoring 16 points to go along with 2 rebounds and 2 blocks. And Hawkinson chipped in a nice double-double of 13 points (on 4 of 5 shots and 5 of 6 free throws) and 11 rebounds and also added 2 assists and 2 steals.
2. The shooting
Japan converted only 31.3 percent of their three-pointers at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, but Hovasse's men knocked down 12 of 34 triple attempts against Germany for 35.0 percent. The long range shooting kept Japan close over long stretches in the first half.
Japan also were stellar at the free throw line, making 17 of 20 foul shots fro 85.0 percent.
3. Better than last year against Germany
Japan opened the FIBA World Cup 2023 against Germany and even though the winning margin in Paris was higher - 20 to the 81-63 defeat in Okinawa - Japan showed improvement over last year.
The Asians were down just 52-44 at halftime after trailing 53-30 at the World Cup at intermission. Japan committed 13 turnovers in both games but they grabbed 12 offensive rebounds this time around to just 8 last year - actually winning the rebound battle 39-36 after having been out-rebounded 47-36 a year earlier.
4. Germany are World Champs
Let's not forget ... Germany are the world champions. They took the world by storm last summer in knocking off all challengers including upstart Latvia, superpower USA and European giants Serbia in the Knockout Phase. Japan will have time to learn their lessons as they prepare for France.
"Germany is a great team. They won the World Cup last year. I think we did a great job in the first half but we couldn't keep it up for 40 minutes. They made a run in the second half and we couldn't hold it down. We are going to compete for 40 minutes in the next game," Watanabe said about his team's performance.
5. Two third-place teams reach Quarter-Finals
Japan do not necessarily have to place in the top two of Group B, which also includes Brazil. The top two of the three third-placed teams also advance to the Quarter-Finals, meaning everything is still up for grabs for Japan.
FIBA