Toru Onzuka believes his team can “surprise the world” at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A deep run by the Japanese women’s basketball team would — on paper — be a surprise. The team is ninth in the world rankings — the same place it finished at the most recent World Cup — and will play in the toughest group in the tournament.
This team, however, is taking something into the Olympics no Japanese basketball team has before: the confidence and experience that comes with stunning the world once already.