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Photo by N. Akiyama

You’ve got to figure that if the Japanese can make a sport out of being fat, there should be little to stop them becoming basketball stars. After all, they’re great at volleyball—another sport that requires height—so what’s holding them back on the basketball court?

Themselves, according to coach Michael Olson, who worked with Japan Basketball League champions Link Tochigi Brex last season. The 31-year-old skill development specialist from Portland cites the case of Takuya Kawamura, a 191cm shooting guard for Tochigi who he describes as “one of the best shooters in the world.” The 24-year-old has athletic ability and knows how to score, but it’s what he doesn’t have that’s keeping him from the big time.

“He’s got great talent, but that is not enough,” explains Olson, who also runs a skill development school in Tokyo called Team Michael Basketball. “But he could definitely change things. To do that, you’ve got to be first in and last out of the gym and training room.”

In other words, buck up, wise up and beef up, and you could go places. If you don’t bother, you’ll be stuck in the comfort zone of domestic sports like so many Japanese athletes. Olson concedes that Kawamura might have a better chance in Europe, where they play more of a team game, but he would need major fixes to make it in the tough, physical world of the NBA.

“He has a chance to play in the NBA, but that chance is fading,” Olson says, arguing that if Kawamura had gone to college in the US instead of joining the JBL straight out of high school, he’d be playing there today. As it is, he can shoot with the best players in the world, but his build—and hence his ability to defend against very physical players—works against him in a league where there is unbelievably intense competition for roster spots.

Ironically, the one man who did make it to the NBA—and the star of the Tochigi lineup—is one of the smallest guys out there: Yuta Tabuse (173cm, 75kg). Sure, he only played a few games for the Phoenix Suns, but the fact that he got there at all was a major achievement.

“He’s one of the best point guards I’ve been around—I can see why he had a chance in the NBA,” says Olson, who has worked with NBA players such as Kevin Love, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire. “It was only his size and inconsistent jump shot that kept him out of the league. But the NBA players he did play with loved him because he is a pass-first guy and knows how to get everybody the ball at the right times.”

Tabuse, 29, returned to Japan to join the Brex two years ago and played a major part in leading the team to the Japan title, beating JBL powerhouse Aisin SeaHorses 3-0 in the finals in April. Since then, Brex coach Tom Wisman has moved on to helm Japan’s national team and Olson is pondering a move to the NBA. Tabuse and Kawamura remain as Tochigi’s two biggest stars (although Tabuse has a get-out clause in his contract should an NBA team come calling), while Jason Rabedeaux has taken over as head coach.

The pressure will be on for the Utsunomiya-based team when the new season starts on September 17. The Brex will begin with a road game against the Hitachi SunRockers at Yoyogi National Gymnasium, but it’s still the SeaHorses who will likely provide the biggest challenge to the new champions. The team topped the league standings with a 31-11 record last season, four games better than Tochigi’s 27-15.

Japan Basketball League
Link Tochigi Brex vs. Hitachi SunRockers. Sep 17, 7:15pm; Sep 18, 4pm. ¥2,000-¥5,000. Yoyogi National Gymnasium. Tel: 03-5468-5015.

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May 12, 2011 | No Comments | 648 views