“The point guard is quite responsible for not winning as a team.”
The Japan Men’s Basketball National Team faced the first match against China in the World Cup 2023 qualifying Window 1, but was overwhelmed by the offense and defense and suffered a complete defeat of 63-79.
Takumi Saito said, “I was able to re-recognize that the accuracy of the basketball we wanted to do is still low. We also do more aggressive defense and lose the rebound at the height, so if we do not take it together, it will be a tall player I was keenly aware that I couldn’t win, “he recalled.
Japan had a bad start and suddenly took a double-digit behind in 5 minutes. Even so, Saito, who participated on the way, broke down with his favorite drive and created a chance to cut off the bad flow. Saito also says, “I made a huddle with the replaced players and brought it closer to a slightly up-tempo basketball.” “The offense ball stopped moving at 5 outs, and I couldn’t make a quick inbound after it was decided, so I wanted to make it faster.”
Saito said, “I wasn’t so nervous and I was able to play in my own way,” said Saito, who played as usual despite being the first representative, and recorded 4 goals and 3 assists in about 11 minutes. “Although the accuracy of the basketball that Tom (Hovasse) wanted to do was low, I myself had some things that I could embody in the limited playtime,” he continued, and his performance was constant. It seems that I got a response.
Even so, he said, “The point guard is quite responsible for not winning as a team,” he said, and regretted not being able to lead the team to victory.
We are not allowed to follow the same rut as we are about to play against China tomorrow. Saito analyzed the cause of the stagnation of the offense, saying, “I struck a point guard speed mismatch, but there was an inside player with moving legs, and I could not hit outside or paint attack,” but this has improved. If possible, the success rate of the 3-point shot will increase, and the result should be different from the first round.
.
