Posture to keep attacking is shown in the last quarter
The Japan Men’s National Basketball Team played against Bahrain in Window 5 of the World Cup Asian Regional Competitors.
Japan’s starting pitchers are Yuki Togashi, Yutaro Suda, Aki Chambers, Tenketsu Harimoto, and Luke Evans. Japan took the lead with Harimoto’s free throw, which earned a driving foul, followed by Togashi’s layup, Aki’s 3-pointer, Evans’ fast break in transition, and Harimoto’s 3-pointer. with 10-0.
The defense sometimes hit without a mark from over-help, but even if a gap was made, it worked by anticipating the passing course and inviting turnovers, stretching the body and preventing rushes. And Harimoto, who has a good shot touch, sank four 3-point shots in this quarter alone, and Japan, who sank 6 out of 12 long-range shots, took the lead with 24-10.
In the 2nd quarter, it was a battle for points with a high probability of each other scoring a shot. There was a scene where the flow went to Bahrain, such as making consecutive deep threes, but Evans scored from inside and outside, and Kawamura took advantage of the speed mismatch with the center and calmly he took advantage of the fact that he didn’t pass. Then, Soichiro Inoue, who was kicked out by Coe Flippin in the last possession, sank a 3-pointer and ended the first half with a 50-33 lead.
In the second half, the accuracy of the 3-point shot decided so far declined, and the movement of the ball became stagnant, making it difficult to score. Furthermore, when consecutive goals were conceded, they fell into a vicious circle where the atmosphere of the away game swallowed them up and their play atrophied, and in the latter stages of the game, they were forced to close the gap from four points. Still, Harimoto made a 4-point play that sinks a 3-point shot while receiving a foul, and stayed on.
In the last quarter with a 6 point lead, Japan continued to dominate the game while maintaining a lead of about 2-3 possessions. It was a tense situation where one mistake could change the course of the game.
Although Kai Teves was blocked from driving layups, he continued to attack boldly and showed offensive power in the final quarter, such as stimulating a basket count. Kawamura, who created a mismatch with the middle from the pass exchange, scored steadily from 1on1. Then, with 2 minutes and 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Kawamura sank a tough 3-pointer after a Teves layup to make it 85-69. Japan, who held a large lead in the early stages, won with a final score of 87-74.
