Defense that robbed Lithuania of 24 turnovers
Eijiro Ogawa who succeeded in three 3-point shots
“FIBA U17 World Cup”Played against Lithuania, who is in the lead with two consecutive victories in the final round of the qualifying round. Although he caught up in the final stage, he lost by 10 points from 63-73, and lost three consecutive qualifying rounds. As a result, Japan, which is 4th in Group B, will face France, which is 1st in Group A, to advance to the Top 8.
Suddenly, he allowed the lead to 0-11 with 5 consecutive goals, but Japan also caught up with 9-11 with 4 consecutive goals. Japan creates a chance by stealing the ball from a tenacious defense, but the shot after that is undecided. On the contrary, the rebound was picked up, and the conceding points from the haste and the second chance echoed, chasing the difference of 19 points with 25-44 and entering the second half.
A 3-point shot by Kaon Watanabe (1st year of Ohori High School attached to Fukuoka University) and Yusho Kawashima (2nd year of Ohori High School attached to Fukuoka University) showed their original movement as an ace and started a counterattack. As soon as the 4th quarter started, Kei Rooney (3rd year of Shochi Fukaya High School) and Eijiro Ogawa (2nd year of Haguro High School) scored 3 points in a row, approaching a 10-point difference with 46-56.
However, the three-point shot that was shot to catch up was not decided, and in the defense, a rebound was caught and a goal was conceded, and the difference could not be closed. At the end, Ogawa scored two consecutive 3-point shots, but lost by a 10-point difference of 63-73, and finished the qualifying round with three consecutive losses.
The shooting success rate up to the third quarter was sluggish at 26%. The final quarter with no end rose to 42.1% (8/19), surpassing Lithuania at 23-17 in the last 10 minutes. The total number of shots in this match has increased to 65, but the success rate is 30.8% (20/65), which reduces the accuracy of more than 40%. Ace Kawashima scored 27 points and is currently in second place in the top scorer battle with an average of 19.7 points.
France, the opponent of the next round, overwhelmed New Zealand, who played in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship, 104-35. But just a year ago, just as the Japanese men’s national team heading for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics scored Venus 81-75 against France in the last warm-up game, it’s no wonder what happens. Armed with the defense that is being completed, the battle with the world will continue.
