The Korean men’s basketball team, led by coach Ahn Joon-ho, will leave for Japan on the afternoon of the 3rd for a friendly match with the Japanese national team.
South Korea and Japan will play friendly matches at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on the 5th and 7th. 에볼루션 바카라사이트
Last year, a warm-up match between Korea and Japan was held in Korea ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and this year, the venue was moved to Japan.
Our national team, which was born in 1996, has been preparing for this competition by training at Goyang Gymnasium in Gyeonggi Province since June 29.
The FIBA’s world ranking is 26th in Japan and 50th in Korea, and Japan is expected to have some power difference with the best members ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Japan competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as a host country, and won a ticket to the finals on its own to the Paris Olympics.
On the other hand, Korea has not made it to the Olympic finals since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Japan’s list of 16 players includes active NBA players Rui Hachimura of the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Watanabe of Memphis.
Watanabe is expected to miss the event due to a leg injury, but most of the main players, including naturalized player Josh Hawkinson, Kawamura Yuki, Baba Yudai, Hiejima Makoto and Dogashi Yuki, appear.
In addition, Keisei Domina (University of Nebraska), who recently showed outstanding outside skills in U.S. college basketball, was also selected.
Born to a Benin national father and a Japanese mother in West Africa, Hachimura had 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2023-2024 season.
The annual salary of $17 million (about 23.5 billion won) is incomparable even if the salaries of Korean players participating in the tournament are combined. The highest annual salary in the 2024-2025 KBL is 750 million won for Moon Sung-gon, who is not included in the national team.
Seven people are over 200cm tall in Japan and four in Korea, with an average height of 194.1cm in Japan and 193.9cm in Korea.
Unlike Japan, which is preparing for the Paris Olympics, Korea formed a national team centered on young players not long after the KBL season ended.
Six of the 12 players were born in the 2000s. Five of the remaining six players were also born in 1999.
Coach Ahn Joon-ho said in an interview before leaving the country, “When I watched the video of Japan’s match against Australia in June, the organization is as accurate as a cog,” adding, “As there is a motive to prepare for the Olympics, the players’ will seemed strong.”
Japan had one draw and one loss with 89-90 and 95-95 in two warm-up matches with fifth-ranked Australia in the FIBA rankings in June.
“We are in the lowest condition in a way after the KBL season is over and past the break,” coach Ahn said. “We asked the players to stick to the basics such as defense and rebound, and to do their best to maintain their concentration no matter how many minutes they spend on the court.”
“As these players are the present and future of our men’s basketball, it can be an opportunity to develop further if they gain good experience against active NBA players,” he said. “Our players are highly motivated to give it a try, and the team atmosphere is good.”
The game starts at 7 p.m. on the 5th and 7:30 p.m. on the 7th.
Naver Sports will broadcast it live, and the national team, which will return home on the 8th, will prepare for the FIBA Asia Cup qualifying round in November.