MIES (Switzerland) - Even though Paris 2024 will be Japan's eighth participation at the Olympics, they are yet to reach the top eight of this event, with the ninth-placed finish from 1936 still standing as their best result.
Reaching the Quarter-Finals for the first time seems like another sequel of the Mission Impossible movies, because not only have they never been there, but Japan had probably the worst luck in the entire Olympic draw.
They are stuck in the same group with the hosts, the reigning world champions, and the only team which won the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament away from home this summer. France, Germany and Brazil await in Group B.
The Roster
If Japan really are the underdogs in this group, at least they brought in a coach who knows how to create something from nothing. Tom Hovasse is one of the biggest names in Japanese basketball history, and he already knows how to play the Olympics with Japan.
Hovasse is a 57-year-old from Durango, Colorado. After graduating from Penn State in 1989, the path took him to Japan in the 1990s, where he would go on to win the scoring title in the Japanese Basketball League five times, all done with the Toyota Pacers, now known as Alvark Tokyo.
After his playing days, Hovasse started coaching in 2010, and took on the role of the assistant coach for women's national team, before taking on the full time head coaching job in 2017.
To say he woke up the women's game in Japan would be an understatement. Hovasse and his crew managed to pull off one of the best Cinderella stories ever, taking Japan to the Tokyo 2020 Women's Basketball Tournament Final, easily their best result ever.
After four years at the helm of the women's team, coach Tom needed a new challenge, so he took on the job of coaching the men's national team. The idea is the same, a lot of passing, a lot of three-point shooting, a lot of rhythm and running to drain the opponent.
He's got a perfect set of guards to do that kind of job, with Yuki Kawamura, Yuki Togashi and Keisei Tominaga, the man they call Samurai Steph after his ability to shoot the lights out from beyond the arc.
The wings are big and strong, led by Yudai Baba, Yuta Watanabe and Rui Hachimura, the LA Lakers forward making his return to the team.
All but four players are coming from Japanese clubs. Hachimura and Watanabe are obviously in the NBA, Tominaga is joining them next season, while the youngster Akira Jacobs plays college ball for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
Offense shouldn't be a problem with these guys. After all, they've got a coach who was a scorer, it's in his DNA, for sure.
The Question
Can they make the bigger guys chase them around? Japan's pace should be their biggest weapon because they are matching up with three gigantic teams in terms of size. France and Germany love playing with two bigs together on the floor, while Japan have no seven-footers on their roster, and need to force their opponents to run.
It goes down to the basic setup of basketball. Sure, you don't have to be tall to be an excellent player. It's just that size makes things easier on the court, that's all.
Can heart get the best over height?
The Hope
They fought hard both at the Olympics in 2021 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Being present at those events is crucial for a nation like Japan, every single minute of high level international basketball makes the next one all that easier.
The minutes have piled up now, and you know Japan will arrive in France prepared to take it to the next level. Their hopes rely on being here before, taking on different basketball cultures will not be as big of a shock as in Saitama in 2021 or Okinawa in 2023.
The Fear
Is there a Plan B if the shots aren't falling? Japan attempted more threes (163) than twos (161) in five World Cup games in 2023, and if they aren't making more than every third three-pointer, they are in trouble.
Across five games, they shot north of 34 percent in three wins, while falling into a 16-of-68 abyss in two defeats last summer. Sure, they've got Rui Hachimura now so things are a bit different, but not developing a Plan B could keep them away from the Quarter-Finals once again.
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