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Japan’s Rising Basketball Era: The Promise and Pressure Behind Tominaga Hiroki’s Struggles at the Paris Olympics

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The Japanese national basketball team excited Japanese fans at the Paris Olympics. Although they ended up with three straight losses, the fact that they fought on equal terms with the powerhouses suggested that Japanese basketball had entered a new era. On the other hand, the 23-year-old who was expected to be “Japan’s best shooter” on that stage was unable to show his true potential. What was behind this? 《Read Part 2 of 2 / Part 1》

In the first part, the reasons given for Tominaga Hiroki not being used were “changes in the roles of each position” and “defensive match-up issues.”

However, I believe the main reasons are as follows:

The third reason is lack of confidence.

“You can’t use a player who has lost confidence.”

Head coach Tom Hovasse places special emphasis on the mental aspects of players competing in international tournaments. He mentions this frequently in his book “Creating a Super Team!” (Nikkei BP), which he published before the tournament. He also cites mental aspects as the reason why Yudai Nishida had little playing time in last year’s World Cup.

“At the start of the World Cup, Nishida began to feel uneasy about carrying the ball and building up the play. As a result, he lost confidence and we only gave him a short opportunity to play during the actual tournament.”

Or, in other places, they use harsher language like this: READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

“The pressure at the world championships far exceeds that of training. We can’t use players who have lost confidence.”

The biggest reason for this is probably because Head Coach Horvath judged Tominaga to have lost his confidence. This was also the feeling of many people who had seen Tominaga play before the tournament.

Please take a look at the changes in Tominaga’s average number of 3-point shots and success rate per game before the tournament. The average changes are shown below for the two consecutive games against Australia in late June, the two consecutive games against South Korea in early July, and the two games against Germany and Serbia during the European tour just before the tournament.

– Against Australia: 3.5 successful attempts out of 6.5 (53.8%)
Against South Korea: 0.5 out of 2.5 shots were successful (20%)
– European tour: 0.5 out of 5.5 successful (9%)

On the other hand, the average score per game in last year’s World Cup was2.4 out of 6.4 were successful (37.5%)was.

[Next page]How will Head Coach Hovasse tactics as a “gambler”?

2024-08-07 20:02:44
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SPORTS

Rafael Nadal Announces Retirement: A Tribute to His Legendary Career and Impact on Tennis

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14 mins ago

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October 10, 2024

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The 38-year-old tennis icon has been injured during the final stages of his career, but played doubles with compatriot Carlos Alcaraz during last summer’s Olympics in Paris.

Now the career ends – but the plan is that this will only happen after the Davis Cup finals, which take place between November 19 and 24 in Málaga. Spain is there in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands.

In a video on X, Nadal says the following about the decision:

In life, everything has a beginning and an end.

– The truth is that there have been some difficult years, especially the last two. I don’t feel like I’ve been able to play without restrictions.

– It is obviously a difficult decision, which took me time to arrive at. But in life everything has a beginning and an end, and I feel this is the right time to end a career that has been long and so much more successful than I could have ever imagined.

Rafael Nadal has long, along with players like Swiss Roger Federer and Serbian Novak Djokovic, dominated tennis. The Spaniard has a total of 92 ATP titles to his credit.

Two of tennis’ giants in the 21st century: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Photo: Lionel Cironneau/AP

– I feel so lucky for all the things I have been able to experience, he states.

The 38-year-old missed almost all of 2023 due to hip problems. This year, the Spaniard has only been in one of four grand slam tournaments, and then (in the French Championships) it was an exit in the first round.

So Nadal’s plan is to complete his career in just over a month, in Spain in particular.

– I am very much looking forward to my last tournament being the Davis Cup, and to being able to represent my country, he says. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

– It feels like the circle is closing, because one of my first big moments as a professional tennis player was the Davis Cup final in Seville in 2004 (where a teenage Nadal defeated the American Andy Roddick).

An 18-year-old Rafael Nadal celebrates the Davis Cup title, in December 2004. Photo: Jasper Juinen/AP

Facts.Rafael Nadal

Born: 3 June 1986 (age 38), in Manacor.

Became a professional: 2001.

Grand slam-facit: 14 titles in the French Championships (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022), four titles in the US Open (2010, 2013, 2017, 2018). 9), two titles at Wimbledon (2008, 2010) and two titles at the Australian Open (2009, 2010).

Total ATP titles: 92, of which 63 on gravel.

Current: Announced on Thursday that he is ending his career.

(TT).

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