Japan gets ready for 3x3

TOKYO – With an automatic ticket to compete in men’s 3x3 basketball at the Tokyo Olympics next year, Japan has opened camp at the National Training Center where naturalized player Ira Brown and Tomoya (The Worm) Ochiai are trying out for berths on the four-man team.

There will be eight countries participating in the men’s and women’s divisions when 3x3 basketball makes its Olympic debut. So far, four entries have been confirmed for each event. Serbia, China, Mongolia and Romania have booked tickets in the women’s division while host Japan, Serbia, Russia and China are assured of slots in the men’s division. Aside from Japan’s automatic berth as host, the other countries qualified on the basis of the 3x3 individual world ranking points of their top 100 players and 3x3 activity of each national federation.

In March, India will host Olympic qualifying tournaments involving 20 teams in the men’s division and 20 teams in the women’s. The top three men’s teams and the top three women’s teams will advance to the Olympics, leaving only one spot left in both divisions. The remaining slots will be decided at the Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Budapest, Hungary, in April. The Japanese women’s team has been assured of a slot to play in Budapest if it fails to qualify in India. 

The countries in the women’s division competing in India are France, US, Germany, Uruguay and Indonesia in Pool A; Iran, Japan, Ukraine, Turkmenistan and Australia in Pool B, Netherlands, Estonia, Belarus, Hungary and Sri Lanka in Pool C; India, Italy, Chinese-Taipei, Czech Republic and Switzerland in Group D.

The countries in the men’s division playing in India are Mongolia, Poland, Brazil, Turkey and Spain in Pool A; US, Lithuania, Belgium, South Korea and New Zealand in Pool B; Philippines, Slovenia, France, Qatar and Dominican Republic in Group C and Netherlands, Latvia, Canada, Croatia and India in Pool D.

The 40 teams in both divisions were chosen on the basis of a medal performance at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup this year or their ranking in the FIBA 3x3 ladder. To assure a global reach, FIBA required that each continent may be represented by up to only 10 teams and at least 30 different countries would participate in the qualifiers.

In the men’s competition, each four-man lineup must include two players in the top 3x3 national rankings. The other two must be in the top 50 or claim at least 54,000 points in the FIBA 3x3 individual honor roll as of June 22, 2020. 

Japan’s head coach of both the men’s and women’s 3x3 teams is German Torsten Loibl who also mentors the national under-19 squad. Loibl, 47, began coaching in Japan in 2000. He stayed in Japan for two years then went home to Germany. In 2006, Loibl returned to Japan and after two years, moved back to Germany. In 2011, he was signed to a third tour of duty in Japan and has stayed since to handle the U-19 and 3x3 programs.

Brown, 37, was Japan’s naturalized player for 5x5 until Nick Fazekas came along. Now, he’s hoping to rejoin the Japanese team in 3x3 and make it to the Olympics. Two Japanese players trying out for the 3x3 team are Yuya Nagayoshi and Takuya Hashimoto who made headlines at the Jakarta Asian Games last year as two of four national players expelled from the squad for hiring a sex worker during the competitions. Ochiai, 32, is Japan’s No. 1 3x3 player and ranks 81st in the world with 569,560 FIBA points. He plays for the Tokyo Dime.EXE 3x3 team and the B-League second division club Koshigaya Alphas.

In other news related to Japanese basketball, the first Asian-American to play in the NBA passed away at the age of 95 in Utah last Wednesday. Wat Misaka, who was of Japanese descent, played on two University of Utah NCAA championship teams, became a staff sergeant in the US military and played three games for the New York Knicks, scoring seven points, in the 1947-48 season.

Misaka blazed the trail for other Asian-Americans to see action in the NBA. Fil-Americans Raymond Townsend (who suited up for the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers in 1978-82) and Jordan Clarkson (now playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers) followed in his footsteps. Japanese-American Rex Walters played for New Jersey, Philadelphia and Miami from 1993 to 2000. Jeremy Lin is considered a Chinese-American because he was born in Torrance, California. His parents Gie-ming and Shirley, emigrated from Taiwan to the US in the 1970s. Lim played for Golden State, New York, Houston, L. A. Lakers, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Toronto in nine NBA seasons. He now leads the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese Basketball Association.

An African-Japanese who is an NBA rookie this season is 6-8 Rui Hachimura of Gonzaga University. Hachimura, 21, is averaging 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 13 games so far this season. He was born in Japan to a Japanese mother Makiko Hachimura and a Beninese father Zakari Jabil.