Yesterday (June 9), the Japanese men's basketball team officially announced the 24-man shortlist for the Asian Cup qualifiers, with Wizards player Yamura and Raptors player Yuta Watanabe on the list. In addition, naturalized player Zhang Bentianjie is also in the big list. Previously, Hachimura did not explicitly indicate whether to participate in the Asian Cup qualifiers, and the domestic media also disputed it. Some people think that Yamura participated in the playoffs and would not play such a low-level game as the Asian Cup qualifiers. Some people also said that Japan would definitely let him participate, after all, Japan's strength is not enough to make Hachimura not fight.
After the official announcement of the candidate list of the Japanese men's basketball team, the probability of Yamura's participation has undoubtedly increased. The men's basketball Asian Cup qualifiers will be held in the Philippines, and the first match of the Chinese team will be against Japan. After Japan's official announcement of the shortlist, Hachimura was interviewed by Japanese media about the group's first opponent, The Chinese team, who said that the Chinese team is a first-class team in Asia, but the Japanese team will win the first game and win at least 30 points.
I have to say that Hachimura's confidence is very strong, which may come from his excellent performance in the NBA. Hachimura was selected by the Wizards with the 9th pick in the first round of 2019, and is 2.03 meters tall as a small forward. He averaged 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in his first NBA season; 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds this season, and averaged 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in the playoffs. Judging from the performance of Hachimura in the first two NBA seasons, the whole of Asia is second only to Yao Ming and better than Yi Jianlian. He is only 23 years old this year and will undoubtedly be a fierce rival of Chinese basketball for many years to come.
At about the same time as the Japanese men's basketball team announced the candidate list, the Chinese men's national basketball team announced the departure of Yi Jianlian, Guo Allen and Wang Zhelin. Li Dapeng, a national team doctor, explained in detail the reasons for the three people leaving the team, Yi Jianlian's Achilles tendon injury recovery cycle was less than 12 months, and the state was not ideal; Guo Allen was unable to exert strength because of plantar fasciitis, unable to run and jump at full strength; and Wang Zhelin was because of a waist injury. Unfortunately, the three will not qualify for this Asian Cup qualifier, which will inevitably greatly reduce the strength of the Chinese team.
However, even if Yi Jianlian, Guo Allen and Wang Zhelin leave the team, will the Japanese team have the certainty of winning over the Chinese team?
From the perspective of overall strength, the Chinese team is comprehensively stronger than the Chinese team. Before the rise of Hachimura, the Chinese team suppressed the opponent in the entire game against the Japanese team with Yuta Watanabe and naturalized center Fazekas, and the victory or defeat was not suspenseful. Does an eight-village village have the ability to change this situation in an all-round way? Filipino naturalized player Clarkson is above Yamura and has won the best sixth man award this season. But he led the Philippines against China and had no chance of winning. Therefore, I personally believe that Japan does not yet have the strength to overthrow the Chinese team.
Hachimura's words remind me of Japan's first NBA player, Yuta Takuya, who once said "win the Chinese team in three years." In a sense, I personally hope that Hachimura can play and let the Chinese team test his true strength.