2024-08-05 09:35:40
When the water comes in, they really row fast. It’s amazing. I think they’ve greatly surpassed Korea in competitiveness, but they’re trying to widen the gap. This is what is said about Japanese basketball.
Let’s look at Japanese men’s basketball, even if we leave aside women’s basketball, which has risen to the top of the world. Thanks to active investment and systematic development plans, they were able to compete on equal terms with the world’s top teams at the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Cup last year. Thanks to that, they were the only Asian country to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s basketball finals.
At the Paris Olympics, where they had climbed to 26th place in the FIBA rankings, they were ahead of France, the host country and European powerhouse ranked 9th in the world, in the second group match until the end. They almost caught a big fish. They lost 90-94 in overtime, but basketball fans around the world were shocked.
France, which has many members who are active in the NBA (American professional basketball league), such as Victor Wembanyama (20, 223cm, San Antonio), almost suffered a humiliation. The short guard Yuki Kawamura, who is 172cm tall, was flying with 29 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The Korean men’s basketball team has not been able to get close to the main stage since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. It is currently not easy to enter the top ranks even in Asia. I think that domestic basketball officials and fans who have felt the gap between themselves and Japanese basketball in recent years have definitely felt the difference this time.
However, the Japan Basketball Association (JBA) is not stopping this momentum and recently released its 2024 business policy, which includes detailed plans to further strengthen the Japanese national basketball team during the Olympics.
This is a typical announcement made every year. However, I thought that this year, after the Olympics, they would do some analysis and organize it and then release it. It seems that they are confident and intend to ride the Olympic atmosphere and make it happen.
The plan is beyond expectations. JBA has declared that they will “make Japan healthy through basketball.” They have stated that they will increase interest in basketball through the challenge of focusing on improving the national team’s performance, and expand the influx of “basketball families” in an environment of low birth rates. Ultimately, they are going to go further and match the status of baseball and soccer in Japan.
In addition to further refining the scouting and training linkage system that immediately brings up promising young players to become national team players at the highest level, they also plan to strengthen activities related to scouting overseas players with Japanese nationality and applications for naturalization.
We have decided to secure enough number of evaluation matches in advance so that players playing in their domestic leagues and overseas can frequently play in national team matches. In particular, we have decided to focus on making evaluation matches with the national teams of Germany (3rd) and Australia (5th), with which we have established partnerships.
He also said that he would be more active in hosting ‘large-scale’ international competitions hosted by FIBA in Japan while maintaining close ties with FIBA and FIBA Asia. There is nothing better than hosting international competitions to boost power through matches with world-class teams and create a national basketball boom. Korea has not hosted a major integrated competition since hosting the 1995 Asian Men’s Basketball Championship (now the Asia Cup).
Korean basketball has been aware of the rapid momentum of Japanese basketball, but has not been able to respond. It is true that they have not even pretended to follow suit. They have only accepted the differences in the administrative and operational capabilities of the two associations, and have barely made any moves to try anything with their budgets or resources.
There are signs of increased competitiveness since the appointment of the new executive vice president of the Basketball Association in March. Representative examples include the long-term vision of developing 1 million registered basketball players by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, advancing the men’s national team to the Olympic quarterfinals, and the women’s national team to the semifinals. A gold medal in basketball at the 2030 Asian Games was also set as a goal.
Coach Ahn Jun-ho of the men’s basketball team also showed potential by reorganizing the team around young players who are desperate and dedicated to playing team play. It is believed that it will definitely have a psychological impact on the star players at home and abroad who have been on and off the national team. It is said that they are also pursuing the recruitment of naturalized players.
The key is setting and execution. I have set a goal, but I am curious about the budget that can be used. I do not know how much can be spent boldly on strengthening the national team’s performance and expanding the base. This is an area that requires determination.
As I keep saying, it is important to start something, and securing a budget that fits our reality is also a task. Japan announced that it will spend 931 million yen (about 8.57 billion won) just on strengthening and fostering activities from July to June of next year.
Reporter Yoo Jae-young [email protected]
2024-08-05 09:35:40