Japan’s men’s national basketball team hasn’t been able to carry out any team activities since February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus has also caused the cancellation of the second window of Asia Cup qualifying.
Despite that, the Japan Basketball Association and Julio Lamas have decided to proceed with a training camp in order to renew the bonds within the squad.
“Our training camp kicked off today and it’ll be a very important training camp for us,” Lamas, the Akatsuki Five head coach, said after the team’s first practice on Thursday. “We haven’t held any training camps or games since February, which wouldn’t have been the case under the normal circumstances. But we’ve finally been able to hold this training camp and we’re looking to get our connections with each other back and hopefully, we’ll develop our team from here.”