New basketball men’s representative from Japan, new members are seen to be inspired, but overwhelmed by the high degree of perfection of China, a miserable defeat by 33 points –Basketball Count | Basket Count

I couldn’t improve the bad start-up & shoot selection

The new Japan men’s basketball team, led by Tom Hovasse, has entered the second round of the World Cup 2023 qualifying Window 1 against China. Japan changed four members from the first round, starting with five members, Leo Vendrame, Makoto Hiejima, Aki Chambers, Tenketsu Harimoto, and Luke Evans. And in China, Jou Chi, who was injured and sent off in the first leg, was out of the starting lineup.

In the first round, he couldn’t get the rhythm in the early stages and finished the first quarter with 11-27, and as a result, the difference was lost and he lost 63-79. Japan wanted to improve this bad start, but they made the same rut, such as making mistakes and making it 0-8. Evans scored his first goal from the match, and Ryo Terashima, who participated in the middle of the match, continued on the drive, but with a speedy development such as being able to score three-point shots in a row, the basketball that Japan wanted to do was reversed by China. In the 5th minute of the start, I carried a double-digit behind.

Although the guards were able to carry out the strategy of attacking by hitting a speed mismatch, the score was sluggish in front of the height of China, such as Terashima being blocked in a row. Even in the defense, he continued to lose points inside from the cooperative play that surpassed Japan, and was greatly pushed out to 10-29.

In the first quarter, it was not possible to make an interlocking offense, and only one out of nine three-point shots was decided, but in the second quarter, the offense was activated by the increase in cutting. Then, a 3-point shot began to be decided, and Evans got a second chance point in connection with the offense rebound, and at one point he was close to 11 points. However, it was gradually adjusted to the movement of the off-ball and it became impossible to make a gap, and it was pushed out again due to the increase in simple mistakes. He couldn’t finish well in the offense and allowed haste, and when he stepped on his back, he was able to shoot a 3-point shot from the skip pass with high probability. Neither offense nor defense could find a breakthrough, and the behind spread to 29-53, ending the first half.

A big difference in the success rate of 3-point shooting

Even in the second half, China’s 1on1 skills, high accuracy, and good cooperation will be noticeable. In Japan, good play such as matching chambers from Hiejima’s drive came out, but it became a single shot, and immediately after that, a 3-point shot was decided, and it was not possible to get a continuous score and catch the rhythm until the end. Kishimoto’s deep three in the last play was decided, and although the final quarter was slightly higher, he suffered a big defeat with a final score of 73-106.

China steadily struck Japan’s weaknesses and created a no-mark, succeeding in 14 out of 24 (58.3%) 3-point shots. On the other hand, Japan also had the consciousness of throwing a lot of 3-point shots in the second round, but there was a big difference in the process until shooting, such as more tough shots, 8 out of 32 (25%). Was not a success and a new weapon. As an individual and as a team, further improvement is required.