In the second match against China, it was reversed in the last 5 minutes and “it was a very important lesson.”
The Japan Men’s Basketball National Team played against China again in the “Asia Cup 2021 Qualifying” held in the Philippines and lost 84-90.
Coach Julio Lamas summed up at a post-match press conference: “The team is growing and getting better and better. But I’m not happy now because I wanted to win the match. Everyone was playing well until 35 minutes. Good shooting and against the big man. But I had to keep doing it for 40 minutes to win. It was a very important lesson in team building. “
As coach Lamas Head said, the Japanese national team took advantage of the challenge of the day before yesterday when they lost 57-66, and by kicking out from the aggressive paint attack from the beginning of this game, out of 20 in the first half alone. He took the lead with 10 successful 3-point shots. However, in the final quarter, which was 69-65 and Japan’s 4-point lead, China’s 1-3-1 zone defense could not be captured at all, and the opponent took the initiative. As a result, he overwhelmed the fourth quarter with 15-25 and lost with a final score of 84-90.
Regarding the zone offense that could not be rebuilt even though he tried to fix it by taking a time-out, coach Lamas head admitted that he was “proven that he needed to prepare more offense for the matchup zone”. It was.
Still, “It was an important lesson for the next game. Now that we are growing the team’s system, we have to practice more about the zone,” he said for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Asian Cup finals. I was enthusiastic.
“I was able to show growth with the ability to carry out defense and offense.”
In the “Asia Cup 2021 Qualifying” held in the Philippines, Ryan Rossiter, who made his first appearance against China today, was the team’s longest player in 32 minutes and 21 seconds, with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Was recorded. He defended with high intensity from the beginning of the game, responded calmly when the game heated up, and demonstrated his own leadership.
At the post-match press conference, Rossiter, like the commander, said, “I was able to show growth in defense and offense performance compared to the first match.” Even so, “There were a lot of positive parts, but unfortunately the negative part came out in the remaining 5 minutes, which was the cause of the defeat,” he said, regretting the play at the end of the game that could not capture the zone defense. That’s right.
“I’ve been scouting and getting ready for the zone, but I’m reluctant because of a problem with our judgment. I didn’t kick out after attacking the zone with a drive. I turned the ball outside. “
The Japanese national team finished the “Asia Cup 2021 Qualifying” with two wins against Chinese Taipei and two losses against China, including the match held in February. Immediately after the B-League was over, the national team training camp began, and it was worth the harvest that the domestic team alone fought a close battle with the powerful China. I hope that the Japanese national team will take on the challenge of making the best use of the issues obtained this time for the Tokyo Olympics and the Asian Cup.
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