Observing the dismal results of their men's national team in the ongoing FIBA World Cup qualifiers, former Olympic basketball players and coaches are deepening their worries.

The Japan Basketball Improvement Conference, which consists of former Olympic players and coaches and ex-Japan Basketball Association officials, insists that the JBA needs to have more basketball-related people involved in developing the national squad.

The Akatsuki Five men's squad is dead last (among four nations) in Group B in the first round of the Asian qualifiers with an 0-4 record to date, putting its chance of competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in peril.