Heartbroken Japan: 'We have just started' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The Olympic hosts, Japan, lost their third straight game on Sunday, this time to Argentina. While their National Team is no basketball juggernaut, Japan did expect to steal at least one game.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Facundo Campazzo Points 17 Accuracy 5-11 Rebounds 7 Assists 11

"We just started, we're still a young team. Now we need to have more experiences like this, more games like these as a team. It sucks because we lost three times on our home court. We did everything we could do, we just got to get better," Rui Hachimura, the leader for Japan, said after the game.

Japan's head coach Julio Lamas talked about the lack of experience for his team but was happy with its progress: "We got back to -6 but in those moments the experience of them playing this kind of games, without a tomorrow, and their three-point shots, that opened the game for Argentina. I think we are better than two years ago. This is so important, our players are better, and our team is better. Our defense is better, our rebounding is a little better. I checked the advanced stats to know this. This group was tougher than the one in the World Cup. We had zero experience back then. Now we have it, not as Argentina and Spain, but we have it now."

Facundo Campazzo led Argentina with 17 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds. After the game, he talked about handling the pressure associated with playing in a do-or-die matchup: "We know how to play with pressure because this jersey means pressure. It means responsibility. It's our job to turn that pressure into energy on the floor."

The leading scorer for Argentina, Luis Scola, was not only happy about his team advancing to the quarter-finals, but also about their improved play: "The most important thing for us besides the qualification is that we have been playing better every day. We can see a trend. A trend that we need to encourage, to promote, and we need to keep it up. We have to get a little bit better for the next game, and who knows? I like our odds. If we continue to get better every day and play hard, then we are going to have a chance."

Japan have been eliminated from the Olympic Basketball Tournament, while Argentina will find out their matchup in the quarter-finals later today.

Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.