During the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the Japanese men's basketball team exposed a super scandal that shocked the world:
Takuya Hashimoto, 23, Yoshita Imamura, 22, Takuma Sato, 23, and Yuya Nagayoshi, 27, appeared in the red light district of the tournament after the match against Qatar on the evening of August 16, wearing the national team uniform with the word "JAPAN", and were eventually confirmed to buy a spring collectively.
Their actions were quickly discovered and publicly reported by the Japanese media, and for a time, the world was fried;
After the uproar, the first response of the Japanese Olympic Committee was to expel the 4 people from the Japanese delegation and immediately repatriate them; not only that, but under pressure from all walks of life, they flew to Tokyo to attend the press conference of the Japan Basketball Association on the spot, and at the beginning of the press conference, they collectively bowed to the Japanese public to apologize:
"Very, very sorry, we have fully recognized our mistake and hereby apologize to all of you."
Bowing and apologizing is obviously not enough, and then, the 4 protagonists of the scandal in the 2018-2019 B League regular season are all banned, and they did not return until the playoffs, which affected their subsequent development paths:
The leader of the scandal, Nagayoshi Yu, is also 30 years old this year, and although he still won a contract in Kyoto for the 2021-2022 season and continued to serve as captain, he has averaged only 6.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game this season, and only started 4 starts in 28 games.
Takuya Hashimoto from Osaka was sent to the temple to practice afterwards, and after his comeback, he continued to play for Osaka today, and although his average score per game rose to 13.4 this season, he only started 6 in 40 games, which was much lower than the 60-27 starts in the rookie season and the 59-27 starts in the 2nd season, and it seems that the role of the practice is not great;
Shiga's Takuma Sato switched to the Chiba Jet to help the team win the championship and stand firm in the starting lineup, but averaged 4.0 points per game last season, 5.7 points per game this season, and 17.2 minutes and 19.1 minutes per game respectively.
Only the youngest -
Keita Imamura
After leaving his old club Niigata and switching to the Golden Ryukyu Emperor, not only contributed an average of 10.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks per game as a starter, but also helped the team to become the top of the league standings and possibly create the best single-season record in league history, but also waited for the call of the Japanese men's basketball team.
Editor-in-chief | Porcelain Responsible Editor| Panpan Visual | Caixin
If you stand on a positive stand and look at things with a positive mindset, such a competition is a good thing for the problem youth who have been scolded by all the Japanese people and can't lift their heads, and even usher in a big turning point in life.
Before the start of the tournament, the Japan Men's Association announced the national team 24-member training list, including Yoshita Imamura.
From a member of the Four Gentlemen of the BuyIng Spring to a member of the national training team, on the one hand, the newly appointed head coach of the Japanese men's basketball team after the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, American Tom Hovasai, is a foreign monk, and he is not afraid of the impact of off-court events;
The second aspect is the most important factor, which is the anti-aging performance of Yoshinori Imamura after the end of the scandal ban period.
During the 1-year ban period, many people thought that the future of young people was ruined, and the first comeback of Yoshita Imabamura's performance was also mediocre, playing a total of 6 playoff games in the 2018-2019 season, all substitutes, each game contributing an average of 6.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists to his Niigata, the highest single game was 12 points, similar to Takuya Hashimoto, the second year of his career was far inferior to the rookie season, and Niigata also lost in the 3rd round with a 0:2 score;
The following season he continued to play for Niigata and made a lot of progress, starting 39-32, and the stats increased to 10.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists, but Niigata did not qualify for the playoffs; more importantly, he could only play role players here, although his status was relatively stable;
So, the following season he came to the Golden Emperor of Ryukyu, although the season 62 games only 20 starts, and even the data of this option is still slightly lower than the rookie season's 45 games and 20 starts, but in the playoffs Ryukyu beat Toyama Grouse by an aggregate score of 2:1 in the series he scored 27 points, thus he became the biggest contributor to the team's promotion to the finals, and even, none of them - once covered the limelight of foreign aides who often acted as data machines in Asia;
Although she eventually lost three games to the Chiba Jets in the Finals, Yoshita Imamura has already won herself the iron starting position and offensive end sharp knife for the 2021-2022 season; especially the outside sharp knife.
"I chose Okinawa because I felt it was an environment that would allow me to pursue higher altitudes as a basketball player, so I decided to come (here)."
After officially joining the Golden Emperor, Yoshita Imabari said so in an interview with the team's own website.
It is true that the distance from the main body of Japanese territory, the strong Chinese minnan culture, the controversial US military base in Japan, and the almost uninterrupted Ryukyu independence movement make the Ryukyu Islands look unique, distinctive, lonely and proud in the territory of Japan;
But the fanatical nature of the basketball atmosphere here is unquestionable, the history of the Golden Emperor of Ryukyu is not long, founded in 2007, but before joining the B League, he had already won the BJ League 4 championships;
After adapting to the rhythm of the B League, this season has achieved a crazy big leap forward, and at present, not only is it 27 wins and 3 losses to shake off opponents half a street, it is likely to set a single season winning record for the league, it has just achieved another 17 consecutive wins, and this wave of winning streaks shows no signs of ending.
Basketball has always been apolitical and other, fair, objective, as long as the effect of full immersion in the team is visible to the naked eye, Keith Richardson, who has been an assistant coach on the team for a long time, believes that Yoshita Imamura's performance today is largely due to her performance in Nissouchi in the 2019-2020 season, which can actually be seen as a stepping stone for his future development;
When we came to Ryukyu, we achieved explosive growth.
"What I saw in him was that everything started when he was in Niigata, and I also witnessed his growth in Ryukyu. I think in the right environment and the right team he can and will be one of the best pitchers in Japan. ”
"The team and his team-mates were able to assist him in always being in the right position on the pitch, allowing him to observe the basket very well and then knock the opponent down. It boosted his confidence because his teammates believed he could get in. ”
"And what really impressed me was the shooting effort he made in the most difficult situations and at the time, like drift shots and mid-range shots — because, I think he knew he couldn't just be a one-way scorer."
Keith Richardson explains.
Looking back at last season's playoffs, Ryukyu eliminated Toyama's series with 27 points in two single games and 5 of 17 three-pointers in 10 and 7 of 17 in three-pointers — while the B League, with only 40 minutes per game instead of 48 minutes in the NBA and CBA, is a very impressive statistic.
Yoshita Imamura is 191cm taller than NBA superstar Steven Curry; weighs 80KG, 3KG lighter than the latter, and the innate physical conditions are indeed similar; flexible footwork, agile body, three-point shots as fast as electricity, and the latter's technology is also similar.
The duo's jersey number is exactly the same, number 30.
Accidental?
No.
When you type in the Google search bar: Japan Curry, what pops up is the University of Nebraska in the United States in the fall of 2020, Keio Tominaga, who is committed to the NCAA, and the female version of Naoko Honbashi.
But in Richardson's view, the title of the Japanese Curry is and can only be —
"When we watch Steven Curry play, we find that his other scoring abilities besides creating his own chance shots and catching shots such as drift shots, mid-range shots and even attacking the basket (all shows), Imamura Yoshita has his own characteristics of fully integrating himself into the game."
"With Yoshita Imamura, (the team) can look for a better future."
He said.
Copyright Notice: Exclusive manuscript of "East Asian Premier League", author Zhong Xing'er. The material is mainly from Japanese media such as japan-forward and the website of B.League, and has been strongly supported by colleagues in the East Asian Super League; the pictures are mainly from the websites of the Japanese media, and the East Asian Premier League is used according to the practice of self-media. If you have any doubts about copyright, please deal with it immediately, and if other media or self-media need to reprint, please communicate in advance.
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