The Japanese came very close to their greatest basketball feat on the Olympic stage, and even the first victory by an Asian country at the Olympics since 2008, in the men's event! But the earthquake so feared by the French ultimately did not happen, thanks to a miracle by Matthew Strazel.
His 3+1 action in the final moments of regulation time allowed them to snatch an extra time in which Victor Wembanyama and the others were able to finish the job.
This outcome went down badly on the Japanese side because of the action mentioned above and the foul whistled, controversial and much commented on on social networks, against Yuki Kawamura on the French leader.
” I think there was no fault “, says the man who could have been the hero of the evening, to BasketNews, before conceding: ” But Strazel is a good shooter. It was a difficult shot and he made it. »
I think he whistles it but it's very very very light pic.twitter.com/pt29pTDrFM
— Noktax (@Noktax_t) July 30, 2024
” We obviously tried not to foul. If they had scored a 3-pointer, we were still ahead. The last thing we wanted to do was foul. I think Kawamura did a great job, and I'm not going to blame him or blame anyone else. “, adds Yuta Watanabe, without aiming for arbitration.
The Japanese remain “fair play”
” It didn't look like a foul, but he had his back to me, so I didn't see if there was any contact. I feel like our point guard was trying to stay away from him. But that's the way it was. The call was made, the free throw was converted, and we went to overtime. “, recalls without seeking to cause controversy the coach of the Japanese selection, Tom Hovasse.
The latter recalls that this shot was obviously not the ” first option ” sought by the Blues. It was rather an instinctive choice on the part of the Frenchman, forced to send while the clock was ticking and the Japanese defense had held up during the previous seconds.
” We stopped them from doing what they wanted to do, they got the ball out and passed it around. Our point guard covered it well and maybe got close. But Strazel made a great shot. “, continues the technician.
Also a good sport, Yuta Watanabe considers that the French have signed ” a decisive action. It is not for nothing that they won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and are among the best basketball teams in the world. »
Photo: FIBA.com
