Tag: team japan

Husker helps Japan to win over Finland

A Nebraska men’s basketball player helped his team to a group-stage victory in the FIBA World Cup.

A Nebraska men’s basketball player helped his team to a group-stage victory in the FIBA World Cup. On Sunday morning, Guard Keisei Tominaga scored 17 points in helping Team Japan to a 98-88 victory over Finland.

Japan is now 1-1 in the group stage and will play Australia on Tuesday with a chance to advance to the next round. Both teams are 1-1 in group play and behind Germany who stands at 2-0 in the group.

Tominaga is the second member of his family to play in this tournament. His father, Hiroyuki, played for Japan at the 1998 tournament in Greece.

The Cornhusker is also the fourth Nebraska men’s basketball player to participate in the FIBA World Cup. He joins Tai Webster, Jorge Brian Diaz and Bill Johnson.

Johnson won a gold medal with Team USA in 1954.

Tominaga helps Team Japan to victory over Angola

A Nebraska men’s basketball player helped lead his team to an international victory on Tuesday morning.

A Nebraska men’s basketball player helped lead his team to an international victory on Tuesday morning. Keisei Tominaga and Team Japan defeated Angola 76-65 in the SoftBank Cup.

Tominaga scored 20 points off of 6/14 from the three-point line in 21 minutes of play. In 32 games for Nebraska last season, Tominaga averaged 13.1 points per game, shooting 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 86% from the free throw line.

During the summer of 2021, Tominaga represented his native Japan in 3×3 Basketball in the Tokyo Olympics. As the youngest player in the tournament, he finished third in scoring, averaging 6.9 points per game.

Tominaga was recently named to the final roster for Team Japan as they prepare for the FIBA World Cup. They will face Australia, Finland, and Germany in the group stage.

Team Japan will now prepare to take on Team France on Thursday.

Husker named to final roster for FIBA World Cup

A Nebraska men’s basketball player was named to his country’s final roster for the FIBA World Cup.

A Nebraska men’s basketball player was named to his country’s final roster for the FIBA World Cup. On Monday, senior Keisei Tominaga was named to Team Japan’s final 12-man roster.

Team Japan is preparing for the upcoming FIBA World Cup, beginning on August 25th. They will face Australia, Finland, and Germany in the group stage.

In 32 games for Nebraska last season, Tominaga averaged 13.1 points per game, shooting 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 86% from the free throw line. He was only one of six players in Division I to shoot 50/40/85 while averaging double figures during the 2022-23 season.

During the summer of 2021, Tominaga represented his native Japan in 3×3 Basketball in the Tokyo Olympics. As the youngest player in the tournament, he finished third in scoring, averaging 6.9 points per game.

It will mark the third straight World Cup that has featured a Husker basketball player, as Tai Webster (New Zealand) competed in 2014 and 2019.

This WBC image of Shohei Ohtani pitching vs. Mike Trout would be the coolest movie poster

Ohtani vs. Trout: Coming this March to a theatre near you.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic would always come down to Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, wouldn’t it?

In a matchup baseball fans had only previously dreamed of, Ohtani struck out Trout with two outs and no one on to win the WBC title for his native Japan. It was an epic moment Trout implied was only the beginning between the pair. (By the way: Yes, from any angle, Ohtani is so hard to get a hit against.)

Not that this glorious superstar battle needed any more hype, but a fan on Twitter (Kara Fagan/@karafagan) captured a ridiculously cool still frame of Ohtani vs. Trout. If you didn’t have the context, you’d think it was a movie poster for an incredible WBC final:

Can’t you see it now? A trailer with a deep voice telling us to be prepared for a dramatic baseball battle for the ages.

“Ohtani. Trout. The baseball world better be ready for these two worlds to COLLIDE.”

Okay, yeah. Where do I buy these tickets, and how?

Nets’ Yuta Watanabe perfectly described the love Japanese fans have for Shohei Ohtani

Saying Ohtani is a king in Japan would probably be an understatement.

Shohei Ohtani is the unquestioned king of the baseball world.

What other reasonable conclusion could there be after the mega-star led Japan to the 2023 World Baseball Classic title? He even struck out fellow mega-star and his Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout to reach the top of the WBC summit!

If anyone deserved $1 billion for being the face of baseball, it’d be Ohtani.

But if you think Ohtani is beyond popular stateside, he’s unquestionably royalty in his native Japan. After Ohtani helped close out the WBC title, the Brooklyn Nets’ Yuta Watanabe summed up how beloved the baseball titan is in Japan.

And honestly: It’s very easy to believe him.

If Ohtani is “like God” in Japan after winning the WBC, what happens when he wins a World Series? Because following some intriguing postgame comments from Trout on Tuesday, it certainly seems like that reality will also be possible very soon.

Mike Trout’s ‘He won Round 1’ quote about Shohei Ohtani had MLB fans pondering free agency

The next WBC isn’t until 2026. What does Trout know?

In the aftermath of an epic World Baseball Classic final, it can be hard to process all the pieces of the aftermath.

The star of the show was undoubtedly Shohei Ohtani, who not only delivered a rousing speech to his Japan teammates but also struck out his Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout to beat the USA and win the WBC title. The latter happening has MLB fans buzzing about the possibilities of the near future.

After the game, Trout was asked about his climactic matchup with Ohtani on the mound. The superstar kept it concise and seemed to interestingly tease what might be in store for both:

Ohtani won Round 1? Does Trout know the next World Baseball Classic won’t be until 2026? Because that’s … a ways off. No, no, this comment seems to be a lot more about Ohtani’s future, who is set to be a free agent in 2024.

At least, that’s how MLB fans read into Trout’s telling quote.

Mexico manager Benji Gil had classiest reaction about ‘everyone winning’ after agonizing loss to Japan

Anyone who loved baseball was a winner Monday night.

After a hard-fought battle in the World Baseball Classic semifinals, Mexico suffered a heartbreaking 6-5 loss to Japan.

Even with Randy Arozarena making an incredible play — leading to a hilarious meme — Japan and walk-off hero Munetaka Murakami ended up clinching a spot in Tuesday’s final. (That Japan-USA matchup will now give us the Tungsten Arm O’Doyle Classic.)

As Mexico fans tried to process the loss in the aftermath, manager Benji Gil kept his reflection on the defeat short and sweet. Did he wish his team came out on top? Of course. Who wouldn’t? But the bigger picture was more important.

Such an instant classic battle was great for the game of baseball and everyone who loves it:

What a classy and entirely truthful response. You know Gil especially meant it, given that his team was the one who fell short. It’s been a fantastic World Baseball Classic. Japan and Mexico gave the baseball world another top-notch episode.

Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout playing in WBC Final had MLB fans referencing the same hilarious Angels meme

Whose Tungsten Arm O’Doyle curse is stronger?

For years with the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout have dazzled as two of MLB’s brighter stars.

And yet, despite their combined individual brilliance, the Angels have often found a way to lose in some of the most comical ways. Baseball fans have pointed this irony out before, dubbing it the ole “Tungsten Arm O’Doyle” — named for two faces of the sport making never-before-seen history, but their team loses anyway.

With Ohtani and Trout on the same team, they’ve usually fallen in line together here. But now, after Ohtani’s Team Japan outlasted Team Mexico in an instant classic, he’ll square off against Mike Trout’s Team USA in the World Baseball Classic Final on Tuesday.

Oh, and Ohtani might pitch against Trout …

And you know what that means: something finally has to give with the Tungsten Arm O’Doyle meme.

Someone between Ohtani and Trout on the same field will actually get to win a championship after playing absurdly well. It’s kind of mind-blowing, and the reality had baseball fans all making the same reference.

Japan’s Roki Sasaki might be the best pitcher in the world. But when will he arrive in MLB?

It could be a long time.

If you were to ask the average MLB fan to name the best pitcher in baseball, odds are you’ll hear names like Jacob deGrom, Shohei Ohtani, Sandy Alcantara and Justin Verlander. But the correct answer may very well be a pitcher who doesn’t even play in Major League Baseball.

Japan’s Roki Sasaki is a 21-year-old phenom who plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball. And on Monday, he will make his first start on U.S. soil — in a soldout loanDepot Park — when he takes on Mexico in the World Baseball Classic semifinal.

While this will be his first appearance in a big-league stadium, it almost definitely won’t be his last. His arrival to Major League Baseball is inevitable, but the wait may be longer than most big-league fans and teams would prefer.