Japan saw its best chance of a win at the basketball World Cup slip away on Tuesday, letting an underwhelming Czech Republic team grind out a 13-point victory.
Outplayed in all facets of the game in Shanghai, Japan could neither slow the Europeans nor put up enough points, particularly in the turnover-plagued second half of the 89-76 loss.
(Rui Hachimura #8 of Japan in action against Pavel Pumprla of Czech Republic.)[Getty/Kyodo]
"Our offense today is okay, but on defense we need to improve to have a chance to win games in the World Cup," said Japan coach Julio Lamas.
"We competed against the Czech Republic today but our defense is not good enough to win, 89 points is a lot of points for us to have a chance to win."
Despite finishing with an admirable stat line, Washington Wizards draftee Rui Hachimura struggled for long stretches.
He finished with 21 points on 8-for-12 from the floor, but Lamas needs to take some of the blame for asking too much of his ascendant star.
The Argentine coach early in the game put Hachimura in too many isolation sets -- not yet one of the 21-year-old's strengths, and not what his team needed when it was desperate for offensive production.
In the post-game press conference, however, Hachimura was not focused on his offensive output, rather pointing to his team's struggles on the glass.
"I think rebounds (was a problem), we gave up 19 offensive rebounds or whatever, we have got to improve our rebounding and our defense," he said.
(Yuta Watanabe)
"As players, we have to show more results, show Japan basketball to the world and the fans."
The other two members of Japan's "Big Three," Yuta Watanabe and Nick Fazekas, scored 15 and 12, respectively.
Fazekas grabbed 10 much-needed rebounds but defensively he was again lacking, with his immobility on rotations a major concern. He also had four of Japan's 14 turnovers.
With 15 points, Czech star Tomas Satoransky was kept fairly quiet, but the Chicago Bulls guard still dished seven assists. Small forward Jaromir Bohacik did much of the damage, scoring 22 points.
Swingman Blake Schilb also contributed 22 points, his coming on just 11 shots. He was deadly from behind the arc, missing just one of his seven attempts.
Lamas put the athletic Yudai Baba in the starting lineup at shooting guard, replacing national team stalwart Makoto Hiejima who had an anonymous first game, and the change looked positive early thanks to Baba's dynamism.
After an ominous start in which the Czech Republic dominated the boards, Japan worked its way into the game thanks to a couple of timely pick-and-roll baskets from Daiki Tanaka and some broken play contributions from Watanabe.
With Hachimura on the bench, Japan struggled to score at the start of the second period, and their inability to get stops at the other end let the Czechs build a 10-point lead.
A late flurry, including a 3-point basket by Fazekas, a Watanabe leaner and a Hiejima buzzer-beating layup, helped Japan close the half down just five.
After the break, however, world No. 48 Japan failed to put together a run that would allow them to get within touching distance of their world No. 24-ranked opposition.
The Czechs managed the game down the stretch, keeping the deficit at double figures throughout the final stanza before closing it out.
Japan will face tournament favorites the United States in their last group game on Thursday.
