Where does Harrellson's 21-rebound debut rank among best in Continental Cup Qualifiers?
TOKYO (Japan) - A big part of the 77-56 victory was the play of Josh Harrellson, who made his first appearance in a Japan national team jersey with 21 rebounds.
TOKYO (Japan) - AKATSUKI JAPAN overcame a slow start to beat Guam in their first game of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.
"...GOODNESS, 21 REBOUNDS? THAT’S PRETTY GOOD."
A big part of the 77-56 victory was the play of Josh Harrellson, who made his first appearance in a Japan national team jersey. The 35-year-old reached double-digits with 11 points, but what stood out was his hustle on the boards that led to a whopping number of 21 rebounds.
"Josh has been great, like this whole camp. He’s been fantastic. 21 rebounds, that’s what he can do," gushed Tom Hovasse in the post-game press conference.
"And he can defend the basket. And he did a great job of being a solid wall under there. They ha d hard time dealing with him.
"On the offensive end, he did great picking and popping. This was our first game together so my advice would be next time, do a little bit more diving and just try to keep the balance going on a little bit .. but that’s part of your growth, this is our first time together, he’s learning us, we’re learning from him.
"But goodness, 21 rebounds? That’s pretty good."
It is only the second time in any Continental Cup Qualifiers game since the previous cycle that a player has grabbed at least 20 rebounds.
Interestingly, Harrellson's rebounding total beats out fellow Japan national team player Ryan Rossiter's 19 rebounds collected in his national team debut back in 2020.
Of course, it is still short of the record of 24 boards set by Palestine's Sani Sakakini.
Top 5 Rebounds (Single Game) since last Continental Cup Qualifiers cycle
FIBA