One night after its crushing victory over Qatar in the second round of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, the Akatsuki Five have no intention of lowering their guard even for a bit.
The Japan men's national team, which cruised past the Middle Eastern nation 85-47, returned to the court quickly on Saturday. It held a practice to prepare for its upcoming game against Kazakhstan at Toyama City Gymnasium.
Japan defeated Kazakhstan 85-70 in Almaty in September's previous window, thanks in part to the participation of stars Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe, who are not with the team now.