Japan start U16 campaign with record-breaking win inspired by success of seniors

DOHA (Qatar) - You don’t have to pay too much attention to recognize that Japan have been rapidly elevating their level in the basketball world. While Rui Hachimura, Yuta Watanabe, and Yudai Baba among others take up most of the spotlight, there’s much more going on that points towards the intriguing improvement of Japan basketball.

If you were watching Japan’s first game at the FIBA U16 Asian Championship 2022, you would see the glaring sig as well as Japan jumped out to a 98-33 win over Kuwait. Not only was it a big win, it was historic win for the junior national team.

Japan have been one of the best teams ever in U16 Asian Championships ever since the inaugural 2009 edition, but no other team - not even with Yudai Baba or even Rui Hachimura - have won a game by as many points and held their opponents to fewer points.

The previous record for biggest margin of victory was 64 in a 119-55 win over Qatar, while the least points allowed was 36 against Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, all set by the team in 2011 led by Baba.

In addition, Japan achieved this by getting everyone involved with all 12 players playing at least 10 minutes and scoring at least one field goal. Passes were swung left and right, totaling for 27 assists as Japan shot 56.9 percent from the floor.

Of course, this is only the first game and there is a lot more basketball to be played, but there were many positive signs to point out for how well-oiled this team played. More or less, this is a result of the effort from the national team program in building a foundation of inspiration.

"Many people were interested in basketball in the Olympic games last year," said Shawn Marion Williams, who recorded a solid 6 points and 6 rebounds.

"Basketball definitely became more poplar and more competitive than before in Japan. I love basketball, so I am happy this situation."

These teenagers have grown up watching players like Hachimura and Watanabe go up against some of the best in the world over the past few years and it’s lit a fire in them to follow their footsteps.

"They inspire me a lot," Kei Rooney, who had 9 points in this game, said of Japan’s basketball stars. "They made me believe that Japanese player can compete at the international level like the NBA."

"Rui Hachimura is the best role model," said Williams. "I always watch his play on YouTube and imitate his moves."

There is definitely a lot of ground for players like Williams to cover before even catching up to Hachimura, but they’re moving forward in the right direction. At the very least, in their first game ever playing for the national team in an international competition, Williams and the rest of this squad have already done something no other Japan national team has done.

They just have to keep building on that success.

Just as their seniors did.

FIBA