FIBA Basketball
JPN - Igarashi keen to make his mark in Japan
TOKYO (FIBA World Championship) - The eyes of the basketball world will be on Japan this summer and Kei Igarashi is determined to be the focus of their gaze.The 26-year-old point guard looks set to win a place in the host nation's line-up for the FIBA World Championship and put himself in the shop window for a move to one of the game's big leagues.He has just finish his
:: WIN a trip to the FIBA World Championship Finals weekend ::
TOKYO (FIBA World Championship) - The eyes of the basketball world will be on Japan this summer and Kei Igarashi is determined to be the focus of their gaze.
The 26-year-old point guard looks set to win a place in the host nation's line-up for the FIBA World Championship and put himself in the shop window for a move to one of the game's big leagues.
He has just finish his third season in the JBL, playing for the Hitachi Sunrockers, and has been a part of Croatian head coach Zeljko Pavlicevic's Japan squad for the past two years.
"I've gained experience in the JBL and also in international games," Igarashi told the Japan Times. "The World Championship is a chance for me, and I'm hoping to showcase myself there.
"Yes, I have a vague thought on playing outside the country.
"I believe the best way to earn the chance is to get the attention of the scouts. In that sense, with Japan hosting the World Championship, a lot of scouts will visit, so both individually and as a team, we'd like to be appealing to them."
Despite his relative inexperience, Igarashi has become one of the senior players for Japan and is likely to bear a significant burden as one of the minnows of the international game try and compete with the likes of powerhouse nations USA, Serbia & Montenegro and Argentina.
"I'm still relatively young in the JBL, but in this team I'm in the middle or maybe elder," said Igarashi, whose national team debut came as a substitute for veteran guard Takahiro Setsumasa in 2004.
"As I got playing time, I became to feel like I needed to lead the team."
The FIBA World Championship, which tips off on August 19, pits Japan against Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Angola and Panama in their Group B preliminary round games in Hiroshima.
The bottom two teams in each of the four groups will miss out on the final round at Saitama Super Arena and, unfortunately for Japan, they are not among the favourites to progress.
Igarashi is hoping he can be their key man, his electric pace making him a real game-breaker.
"I'm a point guard, so I want to show my speed and then feed passes capitalising on it," he said. "And I'd also like to change a flow of a game when needed."
This helped him score 20 points in two of Japan's three friendlies again Australia last July but, significantly, it was not enough to prevent defeats.
Perhaps this is why he is not guaranteed his place in the side and will have to impress at next month's training camp in Croatia and exhibitions in Spain and Italy.
He is just one of four point guards - along with Setsumasa, Kenjiro Hongo and Igarashi's Hitachi team-mate Shinsuke Kashiwagi - in contention for a spot in the team.
Igarashi is particularly wary of Setsumasa, who helped Toshiba Brave Thunders clinch the 2005 JBL title.
"Setsumasa-san's been leading both at the JBL and the national team," Igarashi said.
"So I won't be considered as 'Japan's point guard' unless I exceed him. It is a good motivator for me."
Two point guards he won't have to compete against are Yuta Tabuse and Kenichi Sako, who were among almost a third of Japan's 22-man squad to walk out of last month's training camp in Tokyo due to their dislike of Pavlicevic's policy of picking younger players.
Tabuse, the first Japanese-born NBA player and born in the same year as Igarashi, is a good friend of the Hitachi man, while Sako was Igarashi's idol growing up and attending the same schools of Hokuriku High School and Chuo University.
However, there is no room for sentiment as far as Igarashi is concerned.
"I don't feel it is a pity," he said. "But on the other hand, I can imagine that I could've stepped up (by playing with them)."
PA Sport
TOKYO (FIBA World Championship) - The eyes of the basketball world will be on Japan this summer and Kei Igarashi is determined to be the focus of their gaze.
The 26-year-old point guard looks set to win a place in the host nation's line-up for the FIBA World Championship and put himself in the shop window for a move to one of the game's big leagues.
He has just finish his third season in the JBL, playing for the Hitachi Sunrockers, and has been a part of Croatian head coach Zeljko Pavlicevic's Japan squad for the past two years.
"I've gained experience in the JBL and also in international games," Igarashi told the Japan Times. "The World Championship is a chance for me, and I'm hoping to showcase myself there.
"Yes, I have a vague thought on playing outside the country.
"I believe the best way to earn the chance is to get the attention of the scouts. In that sense, with Japan hosting the World Championship, a lot of scouts will visit, so both individually and as a team, we'd like to be appealing to them."
Despite his relative inexperience, Igarashi has become one of the senior players for Japan and is likely to bear a significant burden as one of the minnows of the international game try and compete with the likes of powerhouse nations USA, Serbia & Montenegro and Argentina.
"I'm still relatively young in the JBL, but in this team I'm in the middle or maybe elder," said Igarashi, whose national team debut came as a substitute for veteran guard Takahiro Setsumasa in 2004.
"As I got playing time, I became to feel like I needed to lead the team."
The FIBA World Championship, which tips off on August 19, pits Japan against Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Angola and Panama in their Group B preliminary round games in Hiroshima.
The bottom two teams in each of the four groups will miss out on the final round at Saitama Super Arena and, unfortunately for Japan, they are not among the favourites to progress.
Igarashi is hoping he can be their key man, his electric pace making him a real game-breaker.
"I'm a point guard, so I want to show my speed and then feed passes capitalising on it," he said. "And I'd also like to change a flow of a game when needed."
This helped him score 20 points in two of Japan's three friendlies again Australia last July but, significantly, it was not enough to prevent defeats.
Perhaps this is why he is not guaranteed his place in the side and will have to impress at next month's training camp in Croatia and exhibitions in Spain and Italy.
He is just one of four point guards - along with Setsumasa, Kenjiro Hongo and Igarashi's Hitachi team-mate Shinsuke Kashiwagi - in contention for a spot in the team.
Igarashi is particularly wary of Setsumasa, who helped Toshiba Brave Thunders clinch the 2005 JBL title.
"Setsumasa-san's been leading both at the JBL and the national team," Igarashi said.
"So I won't be considered as 'Japan's point guard' unless I exceed him. It is a good motivator for me."
Two point guards he won't have to compete against are Yuta Tabuse and Kenichi Sako, who were among almost a third of Japan's 22-man squad to walk out of last month's training camp in Tokyo due to their dislike of Pavlicevic's policy of picking younger players.
Tabuse, the first Japanese-born NBA player and born in the same year as Igarashi, is a good friend of the Hitachi man, while Sako was Igarashi's idol growing up and attending the same schools of Hokuriku High School and Chuo University.
However, there is no room for sentiment as far as Igarashi is concerned.
"I don't feel it is a pity," he said. "But on the other hand, I can imagine that I could've stepped up (by playing with them)."
PA Sport