Japan’s men’s national team begins preparations for the qualifying round of the Asian Cup…HC Horvath makes a surprise announcement: “The captain is Hiejima” |

On November 13, a media day was held at the Ajinomoto National Sports Center for the Japan men’s national team (21st in the FIBA ​​​​rankings) in preparation for the “FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifying Window 2.”

After practice, head coach Tom Horvath spoke to the media about the training camp being held for the first time since he was confirmed to continue as manager, saying, “Because during the B League season, there are a lot of player tired and a few injuries because of that, it seems like we have a lot of young members, but we did our best.” He expressed his expectations.

Yuki Kawamura (Memphis Grizzlies), who served as a playmaker in the World Cup and the Paris Olympics, did not participate in this lineup. In addition, it was announced today that Teves Umi (Alvark Tokyo), who participated in the Paris Olympics, will not participate, and Yuki Togashi (Chiba Jets) is currently the only one guaranteed to be in the PG slot. However, Horvath doesn’t seem to see this situation as a negative.

“There are many guard players this season there are many interesting players, such as Takanari Sasaki, Sota Oura (both Sanen Neo Phoenix), Shuntoshi Maki (Osaka Evessa), and Takuto Nakamura (Hiroshima Dragonflies). We use Togashi, Kawamura, Teves, and Yudai Nishida (Seahorse Mikawa), but we haven’t brought in new players for about a year thinking they all have different styles, so I’m looking forward this.”

At the end of the press conference, Horvath made a surprise announcement before the reporters could ask him, “The captain this time is Mako (Shin Hiejima).” When asked why, the commander said with a smile, “ ` He has had a long career, and has a track record in Brex. When I talked to (former captain) Togashi, he said, “I like it. ”

“At the start of practice today, I explained the defense to the new members, but it was high and his voice was low (lol). But everyone respected him,” he said, expressing his expected for the performance of the new captain.