RUI Hachimura of the Washington Wizards and Yuta Watanabe of the Toronto Raptors banner the 32-man Japan pool for the men's basketball competitions in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Japan Basketball Association (JBA) released its preliminary roster three months away from the quadrennial games as it brings together the best of the best from the Land of the Rising Sun.
It's a loaded cast which included some of the top players in the B.League.
Leading the guards are longtime national team members Makoto Hiejima of the Utsunomiya Brex and Naoto Tsuji of the Kawasaki Brave Thunders.
Other backcourt players in the list include Kai Toews (Utsunomiya Brex), Ryusei Shinoyama (Kawasaki Brave Thunders), Keita Imamura (Ryukyu Golden Kings), Leo Vendrame (SunRockers Shibuya), Yuki Togashi (Chiba Jets), Daiki Tanaka and Seiya Ando (Alvark Tokyo), Shuto Ando (Nagoya Diamond Dolphins), Takatoshi Furukawa (Akita Northern Happinets), and Isaiah Murphy (Hiroshima Dragonflies).
Also called up are playmakers Yudai Baba, who is playing for Melbourne United in the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia; Taichi Nakamura, who is with the Wonju Dongbu Promy in the Korean Basketball League (KBL); and Hugh Watanabe of Lake Forest College.
The frontcourt is equally stacked led by resident national team members Kosuke Takeuchi (Utsunomiya Brex) and Joji Takeuchi (Alvark Tokyo).
Kosuke Hashimoto (Toyama Grouses), Tenketsu Harimoto (Nagoya Diamond Dolphins), Kosuke Kanamaru and Avi Koki Schafer (SeaHorses Mikawa), Yuya Nagayoshi (Kyoto Hannaryz), Aki Chambers (Yokohama B-Corsairs), Yudai Nishida (Niigata Albirex BB), and Atsuya Ota (San-En NeoPhoenix) are all listed in the center/forward positions.
It will also be an interesting race for the nod to be Japan's naturalized player for the tilt, with Kawasaki Brave Thunders' Nick Fazekas intent on keeping his spot.
Also among those listed are Ryan Rossiter (Utsunomiya Brex), Gavin Edwards (Chiba Jets), Ira Brown (Osaka Evessa), and Michael Parker (Gunma Crane Thunders).
Julio Lamas will continue to call the shots for Japan as it earned an automatic berth as hosts.
Japan is slotted in Group C together with 2019 Fiba World Cup gold medalist Spain, silver medalist Argentina, and the winner of the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Kaunas, Lithuania.
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