TOKYO (Japan) - Japan have zero plans of slowing down after forming arguably their best team in quite a while when they take on Qatar for the first time in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
The East Asian contenders are clearly keen on building another winning streak after opening Window 4 with a 106-78 rout of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah by bringing in 3 of their best and most recognized players for Monday.
Rui Hachimura, Yuki Kawamura, and Yuta Watanabe headline the 12-man squad bound to figure in a battle between the previous and the current World Cup hosts, to be held at the Toyota Arena in the Japanese capital.
First since Paris
This will be the first time that the troika are teaming up since the 2024 Paris Olympics, in which the East Asian squad turned a lot of impressed heads when they gave some of the world's best a run for their money.
Japan, though, weren't able to bring home a victory from the competition eventually ruled by the United States, which makes their upcoming match against the Gulf team a chance to succeed alongside each other.
Coach Dai Oketani will indeed be blessed in handling such a talent-laden lineup with the NBA trio in tow, the first time that he'd be working with them together since he was appointed as chief mentor last February.
And so far, the 48-year-old bench tactician has been meshing nicely with his stars, particularly Hachimura.
Heavy faves
Proof of which was their conquest of the Saudis last Thursday. Oketani let the talented forward do his thing and in turn, the latter submitted a near-perfect outing with 29 points behind an 11-of-14 clip from the field.
Still, it was a balanced attack from AKATSUKI JAPAN, with Kawamura himself willingly setting up his teammates like he always does, eventually finishing with 9 of the team's 29 assists in the masterful win on the road.
Their on-court exploits, together with Watanabe's pinpoint accuracy from deep and of course his leadership being one of their more experienced forwards, shall make Team Japan a heavy favorite entering the bout.
On an even keel
Still, Team Japan surely wouldn't want to be confident of their chances against the Qataris.
They will be taking on a team that's bent on getting back on track after suffering a harsh 83-57 beatdown at the hands of China last Thursday as well, which also spoiled the debut of basketball at the Al Janoub Arena.
Adding more fuel to the visiting team is the fact that they've lost to Japan in their last 3 meetings in FIBA play, according to available records. The last time they won was during the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup in Manila.
There, the batch led by Asian icon Yasseen Musa pulled off a 75-74 escape to go 5-0 in their head-to-head. But then came the losing skid in the next 13 years, in which Qatar lost by an average margin of 33.3 points.
FIBA