Head coach Tom Horvath of Japan’s men’s basketball team attended a press conference to continue his role[Photo]= Basketball King
Basketball information site
On November 5th, the Japan Basketball Association (JBA) held a press conference to announce the contract extension of head coach (HC) Tom Horvath of the Japan Men’s Basketball National Team (ranked 21st in FIBA rankings). The coach who led the Japanese national team to the Paris 2024 Olympics talked about his reasons for deciding to continue playing and his enthusiasm.
Horvath, who is currently 57 years old and is originally from the United States, has a long career as a coach in the Japanese women’s basketball world, and contributed to winning a silver medal as the head coach of the Japanese women’s national team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. From 2021, he became the HC of the Japan men’s national team, and strengthened the team with a high-paced game centered on 3-point shooting.He made great strides, winning the gold star from European teams at the FIBA World Cup 2023, and has been on his own for 48 years. For the first time in his career, he has qualified for the Olympics. Although they did not reach their goal of reaching the top eight at this summer’s Paris Olympics, they did a great job of cornering the powerful French team. His continued role was announced by the JBA on October 25th.
Head coach Horvath, who appeared at the press conference in a suit, said, “I hadn’t thought about basketball for about a month,” and revealed that he had been refreshing himself in the United States after the Olympics, and that before deciding to continue playing, “I talked with my family, and… I talked to the players (of the Japanese national team) about it. I think the support from the JBA was really good. I heard the message that this team can do a lot more, and I thought, “Maybe I should give it a try.” It took a while. I was confused. But I feel refreshed and I have to fall seven times and stand up eight times. That’s the mindset I have,” said the audience. He looked back on the circumstances leading up to his decision to continue playing the role, with some laughs.
This term is aimed at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, which will take place four years from now. When asked about the team’s goals, Horvath said, “We want to win and get better.We want to win this month’s game (Asia Cup 2025 Qualifying Window 2) as well.Two years ago, we lost to Iran and Australia in the Asia Cup.FIBA World We came first in Asia in Cup 2023, so we want to win (in Asia Cup 2025).” He also looked ahead to the World Cup and Olympics, saying, “My goal for the Paris Olympics was to be in the top 8. But I couldn’t make it. (In the long term) I want to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics and be in the top 8.The strength of the team is at an absolute level. I want to improve. That doesn’t change,” he said, expressing his thoughts about the “one win” he missed out on at the Olympics.
The Japan men’s national team is scheduled to hold a last-minute training camp from November 11th in anticipation of the Asian Cup 2025 Qualifying Window 2. The 23 members have already been announced. Head coach Horvath mentioned that the presence of Olympic members will help build the team at this training camp, but also commented, “I would like to bring in younger members, players who haven’t participated in training camp that often.” “I like Nishida (Yudai/Seahorse Mikawa), but I know how he plays basketball. I want to see a different player like Nakamura (Takuto/Hiroshima Dragonflies). I want to see a player I haven’t called up before.” While naming specific names, he also explained that one of the purposes was to discover players.
“It’s another new challenge until Los Angeles. I’m looking forward to it,” Horvath said at the beginning of the press conference. The first team under the “new system” will be the Asian Cup 2025 Qualifying Window 2 match against the Mongolian national team (108th place), which will be held at Nikkan Arena Tochigi on October 21st.
