RYAN Rossiter finally gets a chance to play inside the Clark bubble as he is inserted in Japan's 12-man roster for its final assignment against China in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers on Saturday.
The 6-foot-9 naturalized player from Utsunomiya Brex will be the man in the middle for the Akatsuki Five when it aims to avenge their 66-57 defeat to the mainlanders last Wednesday.
Rossiter, 31, made his debut in the first window back in February last year when he had 17 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block in Japan's 108-68 win over Chinese Taipei.
He will replace Gavin Edwards, who averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks in the first two games for the Japanese in this window, as the team's naturalized player.
Japan is currently 2-1 in Group B and is fresh from its 98-61 victory over the Taiwanese on Friday.
Playing this third game-in-four days for coach Julio Lamas are Makoto Hiejima, Kosuke Takeuchi, Kosuke Kanamaru, and Avi Koki Schafer.
Staying in the lineup from the Chinese Taipei win on Friday are Naoto Tsuji and Daiki Tanaka, while brought back from the first China game are Yuki Togashi, Shuto Ando, Hugh Watanabe, and Tenketsu Harimoto.
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