Yuta Watanabe and Japan have secured their first non-automatic Olympic bid since 1976 after defeating Cape Verde 80-71 today.
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パリ行くぞーーーーーーーーー！！！ pic.twitter.com/4qTZOnqVNz
— Yuta Watanabe 渡邊 雄太 (@wacchi1013) September 2, 2023
Watanabe, who signed with the Suns as a free agent this offseason, played all 40 minutes in today’s game, scoring five points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
OKINAWA, ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?! 🔥#FIBAWC x #WinForJapan 🇯🇵 | #AkatsukiJapan pic.twitter.com/XDWsEzIBPI
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) September 2, 2023
He was obviously very emotional after the game. The Paris 2024 Olympics will be Japan’s second straight appearance in the Olympics after they had an automatic bid for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Japan is Olympics bound! 🇯🇵
An emotional Yuta Watanabe celebrates after getting the W at the #FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/4W8gF3FTLd
— NBA (@NBA) September 2, 2023
Overall, Watanabe averaged 14.8 points and 6.2 rebounds across Japan’s five games in the FIBA World Cup, despite suffering an ankle injury in warmup games for the tournament. Japan finished the tournament 3-2 with victories over Cape Verde, Venezuela and Finland and losses to Australia and Germany.
In 5 FIBA games for Japan, Yuta Watanabe averaged 14.8 PPG and 6.2 RPG while shooting 59% on 2s. Only shot 26% from 3, but played through injury and helped Japan earn their first non-automatic Olympic bid since 1976!pic.twitter.com/fIrTDUcJKr
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) September 2, 2023
Helping Japan earn an Olympic bid is huge for Watanabe heading into the upcoming season with the Suns.
Watanabe, Eric Gordon (Bahamas), Deandre Ayton (Bahamas) and Chimezie Metu (Nigeria) have all built up extreme confidence this offseason after being key contributors for their respective national teams.
Suns’ Yuta Watanabe With Another Big Performance in Win vs Venezuela
Now, Watanabe will look to get fully healthy for the Suns upcoming season and rightfully celebrate a big accomplishment for his home country.
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Brendan Mau is a Phoenix Suns insider and college sports reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
