U16 star Nishida named in Japan's U18 roster
TOKYO (2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship) - Yudai Nishida has been named in Japan’s 12-man roster for the 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship set to start next week in Tehran, Iran. The 1999-born forward was Ja
TOKYO (2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship) - Yudai Nishida has been named in Japan's 12-man roster for the 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship set to start next week in Tehran, Iran.
The 1999-born forward was Japan's undisputed star-player at the 2015 FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Jakarta. His average of 18 points per game helped Japan get all the way to the Semi-Finals before eventually losing to Chinese Taipei.
Nishida is joined on the list by Keisuke Mimori, Taiga Kagitomi, Rei Ito and Shuki Nakata, who were all part of the U16 team in Jakarta.
| Japan 12-player roster for 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship | |||
| Yuki Mikami | Kazuma Tsuya | Kanta Mizuno | Tensho Sugimoto |
| Rei Ito | Keisuke Mimori | Avi Koki Schafer | Masada Keisuke |
| Yo Nishino | Taiga Kagitomi | Yudai Nishida | Shuck Nakata |
The Japanese will be coached by German coach Tobias Loibl, who was the coach of the U16 team in Jakarta last summer. One name not available to Loibl for the FIBA Asia U18s is 1998-born star Rui Hachimura.
Japan will take on hosts Iran, Korea, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Lebanon in Group B of the FIBA Asia U18 Championship. The Japanese finished sixth in the 2014 FIBA Asia U18 Championship in Doha, Qatar.
The 24th FIBA Asia U18 Championship, which runs from 22-31 July, is the qualifying event for the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship in Cairo with the top three teams from the 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship advancing to the U19 Worlds.
Japan have not qualified for the U19 Worlds since 1999.
FIBA