Photo/Illutration Members of Japan’s national basketball team pose after their World Cup victory over Cape Verde in Okinawa Prefecture on Sept. 2. (Tetsuro Takehana)

Japan’s national basketball team capitalized on its speed, stamina and strength in three-point shoots to gain a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Japan defeated Cape Verde 80-71 at the Basketball World Cup at Okinawa Arena in Okinawa Prefecture on Sept. 2 and qualified for the Paris Games by finishing top among Asian competitors.

The national squad’s 12 members have an average height of 192 centimeters.

“We are pretty short by international standards. We cannot win if we play the same way as our rivals,” captain Yuki Togashi has stated repeatedly.

At 165 cm, Togashi is listed as the shortest player competing in this year’s World Cup by the International Basketball Federation.

Under head coach Tom Hovasse, Japan’s strategy has been to carry the ball to the opponent’s side as speedily as possible the moment the opponent’s offense ends.

For that purpose, Hovasse picked Togashi and Yuki Kawamura, who both play as point guard and are nimble-footed, as national team members.

Kawamura, who is 172 cm tall, is the third shortest player on the overall World Cup roster.

Japanese players have also built up physical strength so that they can dribble, pass and shoot more accurately late in a game when their opponents are tiring.

The stamina they acquired allowed Japan, 36th in world rankings, to pull off come-from-behind victories over favorites Finland, 24th, and Venezuela, 17th.

Japan ended the World Cup with its first three wins, while it lost to Germany, ranked 11th in the world, and third-ranked Australia.

Japan’s strength in three-point shoots also contributed to its performance at the World Cup.

Keisei Tominaga, perhaps the best shooter in the national squad, sank six of his eight three pointers in Japan’s game against Cape Verde, 64th in world rankings.

An injury-plagued Yuta Watanabe, the only National Basketball Association player in the national squad, said before the World Cup started that he would retire from the national team if Japan failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Watanabe, 28, who plays for the Phoenix Suns, sprained his right ankle and entered the World Cup in less than tip-top shape.

The veteran struggled with leg pain in the quest to take the national team to Paris.

His suggestion at “retirement” fired up younger players, such as Kawamura and Tominaga, both 22.

“I am really proud of this team,” Watanabe said after Japan’s victory over Venezuela on Aug. 31. “I want to play with my teammates forever. I want to win the next game (against Cape Verde), gain a place in Paris and play in the national team all my life.”

No sooner had Japan won over the African island country than Kawamura rushed toward Watanabe and hugged him tightly.

“I owe where I stand to all my teammates,” Watanabe said after the game, wiping tears from his eyes.

It was the first time since the Montreal Games in 1976 for Japan to win a basketball berth at an Olympics on its own merit. It competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as host nation.

(This article was compiled from reports by Shuhei Nomura and Kento Takahashi.)

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