Basketball: Japan Falls to China in New Coach Dai Oketani's 1st Game in Charge

Japan squandered a 14-point halftime lead in a 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier against China on Thursday night, February 26.

China, which trailed 47-33 at halftime, outscored Japan 25-9 in the third quarter and held on for an 87-80 victory at Okinawa Arena.

It was new head coach Dai Oketani's first game in charge of the Japan national team after being named Tom Hovasse's successor on February 1.

World No 22 Akatsuki Japan dropped to 2-1 in the Asian Group B standings, while China improved to 1-2.

Starting with a Sanning Liao layup, 27th-ranked China opened the third quarter on a 13-0 run to pull within a point. Then, with 3:04 left in the period, a Jiahao Yu free throw gave the visitors their first lead of the game, 50-49.

Japan's Keisei Tominaga, who's in his first season with the B.League's Levanga Hokkaido, scored the final points of the third quarter, converting a driving layup to pull his team within 58-56. Forty-two seconds remained on the clock in the third quarter.

The score remained the same heading into the fourth quarter.

China outscored Japan 29-24 in the final stanza, finishing the game with five double-digit scorers. Veteran big man Jinqiu Hu led all players with 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the floor and grabbed 12 rebounds. Liao poured in 16 points and handed out a team-best five assists, and Jiwei Zhao finished with 14 points. Xining He and Rui Zhao added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Statistical Factors in the Game

Japan struggled to make 3-point shots in this Basketball World Cup qualifier. Oketani's squad was 5-for-26 (19.2%) from beyond the arc.

Also, the hosts were 15-for-27 from the free-throw line.

Japan had just four turnovers in the first half. That number doubled to eight in the second half.

"[In the] first half we played well," said Oketani, who also coaches the B.League's Ryukyu Golden Kings. "Each individual [showed] their strength. The ball movement was also good. We played at a very good pace.

"But from the beginning of the second half, we committed too many turnovers. Overall, I think we lost the rhythm. We couldn't compose ourselves and then we couldn't come back at the end."

China held an 11-2 advantage in fast-break points.

Winning coach Shiqiang Guo's team also made significant improvement on its 3-point shooting from the first half (2-for-11) to the second half (7-for-15). That helped fuel the team's successful comeback.

"When we were down by [15] points, we didn't give up, we competed possession by possession," Rui Zhao told reporters. "This time, Japan had some main guys come back to the team and they're getting stronger than the last time. I think on the road, all we need to do is focus on us. It doesn't matter how the opponents prepare for this game. It's more important to focus on us than anything."

The Lineup Versus China

Oketani opted for a starting five of Takumi Saito and Yudai Nishida in the backcourt, along with Yudai Baba, Watanabe and Alex Kirk.

Tominaga provided a spark off the bench with 14 points, matching Nishida for the team-high total. Nishida's uneven performance included 1-for-8 from 3-point range.

Watanabe, who had 14 points and six rebounds, was held to only three points in the second half. He led the team in playing time (32 minutes, 11 seconds). Nishida, who logged 27:14, and Kirk (24:25) were the only members of the Japan roster to play more than 20 minutes.

Among the team's reserves, shooting guard Shuta Hara had the most minutes (18:06).

Kirk notched a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds, and Baba and backup point guard Yuki Togashi had eight points apiece.

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Strong Start for Japan in Basketball World Cup Qualifier

Watanabe scored the first five points. The Chiba Jets star's slam dunk at the 9:10 mark was the game's first exclamation point. Less than a minute later, the former NBA player sank a 3-pointer.

Kirk made 1 of 2 free throws to increase the lead to 6-0, and Baba knocked down a 3 to give the hosts a 9-0 advantage.

China sliced the deficit to 10-5 moments later, but Japan maintained its strong offense in the early going.

And the hosts led 21-11 entering the second quarter.

Oketani's team took its largest lead of the contest on two occasions late in the second quarter. A Baba dunk, coming after he intercepted a pass, made it 41-26. And with 1:35 until halftime, Watanabe buried a pull-up jumper for a 43-28 lead.

Halftime Adjustments for the Winning Team

After being outplayed for the first 20 minutes, China stepped onto the court with renewed focus in the second half.

Coach Guo pinpointed two aspects of the team's first-half performance that led to Japan's big lead.

"First of all, the players were a little bit nervous," Guo told a news conference. "Secondly, we didn't do well on defensive execution, which is why we were down by a lot of points."

During intermission, Guo reminded the players about the importance of believing in one another while they competed.

"At halftime in the locker room, I told my players we have to trust each other, trust our team and trust our Chinese basketball," Guo stated.

Watanabe Disappointed in His Play

Looking back on his performance, Watanabe said it showed that he needs to make a bigger impact in future games.

"As a leader with this team, I've got to do better," Watanabe said at Okinawa Arena. "When things start going bad, I've got to be the one who talks to the team, who makes plays. I've got to do more on the court."