The last time they won was when Rukawa teamed up with Sawakita in the All-Japan team

Just last month Japan won again by 19 points in the Asian qualifier for FIBA World Cup 27, without their 2 NBA/G-league players, and on a Chinese home court too.

Needless to say the Chinese fans were ultra pissed.

The most surprising part of this to me is that there was Olympic basketball all the way back in 1936. The BAA wasn’t founded until 1946 and the NBA wasn’t founded until 1949.

I really wonder how Japan would have fared over the past few years without Hawkinson. He’s probably been the national team’s most important player since he became eligible to play for them.

Both coaches are respectfully highly calculated it doesn’t surprise me how close of a game this was

1936 China was a different country

Well it certainly helps when they got their big man from US , a Seattle born guy that went through US college basketball Hawkinson not like he was born in Japan . He was huge there at the end and well all throughout the game .

I dont like how national sport has turned into just clubs , you arent good in certain sport just hire foreigner in this case American . Or if you are missing center and you are strongest basketball nation just hire Cameroonian … You can fix your lineup in national sport now by adding foreign players it definitively ruins it

It really should be regulated or its just gonna turn into nations buying best players. Lots of Europe countries have added Americans who have nothing to do with country now as well

Who is this exquisite twink?

the whole of Asia celebrated with Japan in this victory.