Past, present, and future of Japan's point guards

TOKYO (Japan) - Maybe it’s how the point guards of Japan women’s basketball are trained. Maybe there’s some secret tradition that they pass on to each other, generation to generation. Maybe it’s just in their blood.

Whatever the reason may be, Japan keeps on churning out unbelievable talent at the guard position and the trend seems nowhere close to slowing down.

The OGs (Original Guards)

The line of superstar guards from Japan is obviously a long one, but let’s start with one of the best ever to have laced her shoes up for the national team.

After starring at the youth level, Yuko Oga made her Women’s Asia Cup debut back in 2001 only one week before she turned 19. She then proceeded to be one of the youngest ever to play in the Olympics for the Japan women’s basketball team in 2004. Four years later, she became the second Japanese player to play in the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury.

Oga played in six Women’s Asia Cups through the 2000s and early 2010s, winning five medals throughout that span. She had battled China and Korea fiercely in the early stages of her national team career and it was only until 2013 when Oga was able to secure her first Women’s Asia Cup championship in Bangkok.

The 2013 Women’s Asia Cup title was Japan’s first in over 40 years and most likely Oga would not have been able to experience that without the help of Asami Yoshida, another one of Japan’s legendary point guards.

Yoshida made her Women’s Asia Cup debut at just 19 years old in 2007 and has never failed to help lead Japan to a medal in the competition. Finally, after three straight Bronze medals form 2007 to 2011, Yoshida tasted the glory of winning it all in 2013 and didn’t look back.

She repeated as a member of the All-Star Five and a champion in 2015, before one last run in 2017 to complete the three-peat. Even in her last Women’s Asia Cup played, Yoshida was still doing what she does best with 6.0 assists per game (2^nd among all players).

Oga and Yoshida were among two of the brightest to play the position for Japan, leading the team into the golden era of today. They’ve been able to peacefully take a step back as the next generation of floor generals are stepping up.

Today’s Stars

The path was paved and one of the first to pick up the flaming torch from Yoshida was Rui Machida in 2015.

It only took Machida her second Women’s Asia Cup game ever to turn heads when she dropped 16 assists against India, making it the highest total of assists in a game since 2007. She’s finished among the top 4 in assists per game in all three Asia Cups - all of which have also resulted in gold medals for her and Japan.

If it wasn’t enough that Japan had Machida, another point guard emerged at the Women’s Asia Cup 2017 in Manami Fujioka. In what was her senior national team debut, Fujioka led the tournament with 8.2 assists per game which was also the highest assist average since 2007 as well. She has three games with double digits in assists, highlighted by a 19-point, 14-assist game in a crucial win over China in the Semi-Finals.

However, an unfortunate injury has cut Fujioka’s career short of what might have been. With that void left to fill in at the Women’s Asia Cup 2019, Nako Motohashi stepped right into place.

The 26-year-old made her debut in 2019 and even though she didn’t put up the eye-popping assist numbers of the two mentioned above, she might have been just as impressive - or even more.

Motohashi started off slowly but shifted gears when it mattered most with one of the best 3-game stretches in the Women’s Asia Cup ever. Against Korea, Australia, and China, she averaged 22.3 points and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 55.7 percent from three-point range on the way to help Japan secure their four-peat.

There was certainly no surprise that she was named the TISSOT MVP that year, firmly planting herself as yet another point guard great from Japan.

Next in (a long) Line

Since this is Japan we’re talking about, you know there are already some promising young point guards waiting in line for their turn.

The recent women’s youth teams for Japan have featured two guards, Yuzuka Ishihara and Saki Ikeda.

Ishihara was quick to make a name for herself at the U19 Women’s World Cup when she scored 16 points on 4 three-pointers to get Japan a win over Germany in their first game. Fans will be looking to see her blossom more as a scorer, as she has already proven herself to be a fierce leader on the court.

Ikeda plays more of a back-up role to Ishihara, but has her moments impacting games as well. Her 14 points and 5 steals against Hungary in the same competition was why Japan was able to get through the Round of 16.

We’ll have to wait and see if Ishihara and Ikeda can improve and develop into becoming the next great guars from Japan, but the track record suggests there is a great chance that they will.

FIBA