Really interesting find,BGF
Don't know what to read into it.
.

Excellent though distressing find. The one year he finally had a guaranteed contract for next year,Yuta decides this.
Wonder if getting married and being so far from home and families sparked this?
Because Japan pro basketball is way below his level.
Maybe tired of the NBA lifestyle.

wishing Yuta nothing but the best!  

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

Appears Yuta is close to signing with a team...

https://basketnews.com/news-207436-yuta-watanabe-close-to-joining-chiba-jets.html

Lets get this straight, I just invested in 25 seconds of Googling and note that he is closing in on 30 and has a wonderful bride in Japan.... This move makes sense.

Last edited by russianthistle (6/13/2024 4:15 pm)

It looks like Yuta has officially signed a contract with Japan's Chiba Jets, reported to exceed $5M and is the largest in B-League history.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/07/watanabe-signs-with-japans-chiba-jets.html

Have not seen any updates on his injury status for the Olympics, but apparently he is working very hard to rehab his torn calf muscle and still hoping to play (as far as I know).

So happy he was able to overcome his injury so he could make his Olympics debut. Had a great first half but a relatively quiet second half. Like DMV said, Japan didn't have much of a chance against Germany but still a good showing from them.

The Dude wrote:

What a pro career Yuta has had, and feels like he's got another 5-10 years in THE League  ahead of him
Everything we saw at GW, versatile, length, intelligence, and the 100% hustle gene

Keep it up  Yuta rock on

Yuta left the NBA and is playing professionally in Japan next year...

Yuta played 40+ mins with 8 boards and 5 points but man did his teammates screw up to blow this one. Hachimura got himself tossed in the 4th and then up 4 with 10 seconds to go, the last thing you do is foul the guy making a wild three, which is exactly what Japan did. France eeks it out in OT, but this was a game Japan blew.
https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/results/basketball/men/gpb-000300--

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

Yuta played 40+ mins with 8 boards and 5 points but man did his teammates screw up to blow this one. Hachimura got himself tossed in the 4th and then up 4 with 10 seconds to go, the last thing you do is foul the guy making a wild three, which is exactly what Japan did. France eeks it out in OT, but this was a game Japan blew.
https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/results/basketball/men/gpb-000300--

GWAA, I believe you left out the part regarding how horrible a call that was which allowed France to tie the game.  The only contact that the Japanese defender made was a hand check to the offensive player's side and that was well before the player began his motion to take the shot.  So, either you let a hand check go which is done all of the time, or you call a foul before the shot.  The shooter was not close to being touched as he released the ball meaning the foul had zero impact on the shot. Just a blatant "home cooking" call for the French which was really a shame given how well Japan played against a much more heavily favored team. 

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

That foul always gets called in international games, and really no need to get that close to the shooter when up 4. The wild chucking of threes in the OT didn´t help Japan, either. Japan deserved to win, but earned the loss.

Sorry but no, that foul does not always get called.  Fully agree that the defender had no business being so close with a 4 point lead.  And agree that Japan fell behind in OT and then got desperate with the ill advised 3's.  But the reality is the defender touched the shooter for a split second before the shot was attempted.  This literally had no effect on the shot.  It was a bitter pill for Japan to swallow.