46 to 20. Facing theGermanyin opening, the Japan was beaten in the paint by the “Mannschaft”, who used the slightest favorable “matchup” to go and pound the small Japanese players.
Captain of the Japanese selection, Yuta Watanabe does not expect anything else against France…
“Obviously, they're going to play low post.” he confided to us thus. “It's clear that we have a size disadvantage and they're going to use it. We have to be ready, we have to be physical. We can't stop everything. They're going to make runs, we know that. We don't have time to lower our heads, we have to keep our heads up.”
As with the women, the Japanese team is trying to compensate for its lack of size with pace and 3-pointers.
“We have to play a fast-paced game, play our game. And see what happens.”
“What we have to do is play fast, shoot a lot of 3-pointers, keep a fast pace.” This is what the man who recently decided to leave the NBA to return to Japan explained.
A strategy validated by Tom Hovasse, the coach, who had managed to take the women's team to the final of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, before taking charge of the men's team.
“They have a clear size advantage. We need to play a fast-paced game, play our game. And see what happens. I think we shot 38%, or 35%, in that game (against Germany) so we're going to have to be on fire for this game against France.” explained the American technician, insisting on the reduction of weak times, “sequences of two to three minutes where the gap goes from 8 to 14 or 16 points…”
Interview conducted in Villeneuve d'Ascq
