2nd Quarter Stall ‘I mightn’t get them to play in their usual rhythm’
In the first match of Window 4 of the World Cup 2023 qualifiers, the Japan Men’s Basketball National Team faced the Iran National Team in the enemy territory. Due to political circumstances, the commander Tom Horvath was absent, and there were only 11 bench registrations without naturalized players, so it was not possible to face the full system. Yudai Baba played an active role with 27 points, and there was also a step up of young players, but they were defeated by Iran, who surpassed them with the best finishing power here, 68-79.
Yoshio Sasa, who took command as acting head coach, looked back at the post-match press conference. “Iran is always a tough opponent, but the players played really well. Of course, there were some things we had to work out, such as rebounding, turnovers, and offense. Especially in the second quarter, we scored just five points. It’s over, but I mightn’t get the players to play in the usual rhythm, but there’s a game in Japan soon, this time under coach Tom, and I think he’ll do a perfect game. I would like to thank them and congratulate Iran on their victory.”
He also kept in close contact with head coach Horvath, saying, “I spoke with Tom on the phone at halftime and he sent me an email.” Due to the absence of naturalized players, Japan is more lacking in size this time than usual, and Iran attacked from the low post of 218cm Hamed Haddadi. Haddadi recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, but Japan continued to pressurize the team by aggressively setting up double teams, and took a total of 7 turnovers. Although he allowed guard Benam Yakuchari to score 30 points, including 5 of 9 3-point shots, Sasa said the team as a whole was a passing defense.
“The main thing was to stop key players like (Mohammad) Jamsidi, Yakchari, Haddadi and (Arsalan) Kazemi. Also, overall the defense was good, but the young Iranian players scored big shots, but 79 is a good number.”
“I need a 3-point shot, but I have to do a paint attack.”
On the offensive side, on the other hand, he commented, “The success rate of 3-point shots was less than 30%. Japan has to splash 3-point shots every game, but today it didn’t come.” The first quarter exploded, but following that it stalled and finally succeeded in 11 out of 40 shots (success rate of 27.5%). In addition, he continues that it was painful that he was too dependent on 3-point shots and lacked paint attacks, such as being a factor in finishing with 5 points in the 2nd quarter.
“Japan needs a 3-point shot, but at the same time we have to do a paint attack like Baba did in the 4th quarter. In the game, I didn’t handle it very well.If there was a head coach, he would have said something positive.Even if there is a big Haddadi in the bottom of the goal, we have to attack.In the second half, there is We were able to improve a bit, but we have to attack throughout the match.”
By the way, Mo Abedini, who has served as the coaching staff of the Iran national team for many years, has joined Utsunomiya Brex, where Sasa serves as head coach, as an assistant coach from this season. When asked regarding this at the press conference, Sasa said, “I told him not to talk regarding the national team (laughs),” emphasizing his respect for the Iranian national team. “Iran are always beating us, and Japan is the team that always wants to win. I hope the Iranian basketball world will help my team.I want to win the domestic league once more. “
The young players such as Yutaka Yoshii and Soichiro Inoue, who gave up to Iran’s strength but struggled with their bodies on the inside, showed how they stepped up once more. “The most important thing is to play hard for 40 minutes. Japan has a bright future,” said Sasa. We want to demonstrate this result in the home game once morest Kazakhstan on the 30th, and this time we want to get a solid result of victory.
