In the waning seconds of the first of Japan’s two games against New Zealand in the Mitsui Fudosan Cup, which the team used as a warmup for the 2024 Olympics, Asami Yoshida gave the crowd a thrill with a behind-the-back pass to Evelyn Mawuli, who hit a jumper to finish off a 125-57 rout on Wednesday night. In the second game, on Saturday, Yoshida drove in and then fired a pinpoint pass to Yuki Miyazawa, who drained a buzzer-beating corner 3-pointer in a 92-50 victory.
With her uncanny court vision and passing ability, the veteran floor general has a game as colorful as her hair, which is platinum blonde these days but has also been dyed blue and pink this year.
She is back in the national team program for the first time in almost four years — after coming out of retirement for the second time — to provide veteran leadership and playmaking ability off the bench for Akatsuki Japan at the Paris Olympics, which begins later this month.
Yoshida will be chasing her first Olympic medal while trying to help Japan, which earned silver at the Tokyo Games, capture its first gold.
She was used sparingly in the two games against New Zealand. She also did not play much in two contests against Australia in Hokkaido in late June — though she had six assists in just over eight minutes on the floor in Game 2 of that series. Yoshida’s presence, however, was felt as she zipped the ball across the court to put her teammates in position to score. The 36-year-old is getting back up to speed after so much time away.
“I’m still not in good enough shape, and I still make weak passes and some poor decisions," she said Saturday. "I’m getting back on track in those areas. I’m not playing 100% like myself yet, so I need to keep practicing.”
Yoshida, one of the best players Japan has ever produced, has been a national team stalwart since her debut with the senior team in 2005. She is preparing for what is almost certainly her last Olympics. She was on the Japan squad that narrowly missed earning a spot at the London Games in 2012. Yoshida was the team captain at the 2016 Rio Games and averaged 11.2 points and a tournament-high 8.7 assists to help fuel Japan’s run to the quarterfinals.
As the star point guard for the powerhouse JX-ENEOS Sunflowers, her former club team, Yoshida was the WJBL Rookie of the Year in 2006-07, the regular-season MVP in 2011-12 and a five-time playoff MVP in addition to leading the league in assists four times.
She retired in March 2019 but returned later that year with an eye on playing at the 2020 Tokyo Games. She played in the Olympic qualifiers but retired again months after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed due to COVID-19. She became an assistant coach at Tokyo Healthcare University under Toru Onzuka, the current women’s national team coach, in 2021 before being drawn back to the court.
Yoshida announced her intention to return in April 2023 and joined the Aisin Wings in the WJBL. She returned to the national team and competed in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and made the final roster for Paris.
“I didn’t play in the Tokyo Olympics, so I don’t feel any particular pressure,” she said. “We have a lot of players who did play in Tokyo, and the pressure on them is immeasurable. So I want to support them as much as I can.”
Yoshida’s brief appearances against New Zealand put her eye-catching skills on display. She hit teammates with crisp, accurate passes and mixed in a few that looked good on the highlight reels, including on Wednesday, when she dribbled to the 3-point line and rifled a one-handed dime deep into the paint for Miyazawa, who scored on the play.
Yoshida is always in control with the ball in her hands and plays as if she is a step ahead of the defense, and her teammates stay on their toes because the ball can come at any time and from any angle.
“They always score when I pass them the ball,” she said. “That helps a lot.”
Her skills fit well with the run-and-gun style Japan will play at the Olympics.
She will play alongside Saori Miyazaki, a more offensive-minded guard who can get to the basket, and Rui Machida, a former WNBA player who is a skilled passer.
“We play differently, so I think it will be difficult for the opposing guards,” Yoshida said.
Even though Japan is returning nine players from the squad that played at the 2020 Tokyo Games, Yoshida adds a wealth of experience and is one of the team leaders.
“Her voice is the loudest during practice, and she is the one who fires up the team the most,” Japan captain Saki Hayashi said. “During games, she understands the flow of the game better than anyone.”
Japan played its final warmup game on home soil on Saturday and will play a pair of games in Europe before the Olympic tournament begins in Lille, France.
As she prepares for the Games, Yoshida is also playing for the male college players who aided Japan's preparations and for the players who did not make the Olympic roster, former teammates whose numbers she wrote on the side of her shoes for the games against New Zealand.
“It’s because of them we were able to win the Olympic Qualifying Tournament,” she said. “I want to work hard to win a gold medal with them in mind.”
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