Yudai Baba is participating in the FIBA World Cup for the second time in his career. About the upcoming tournament, he spoke with Basketball Sphere.
Four years ago, Yudai Baba played for Japan at the Mundobasket in China. In a conversation with Basketball Sphere, Baba revealed to us who made him fall in love with basketball, what is his unfulfilled wish, what experience he brings from the G League and what he remembers from 2006 when Japan also hosted the World Cup.
Experience from the FIBA World Cup 2019
Yudai Baba played for Japan at the World Cup four years ago. Although his national team lost all three games in the group stage, he left more than a good impression.
“It was an incredible experience when I made my debut at the World Cup. Before that, I played in the G League in United States, and then I came to such a tournament. I have to say, I was a little surprised. All my life I wished to find myself in such a situation and to play against the best.
Then when you go out on the floor against those players, you realize how good they really are. In this way, we also understood where we are at that moment. That experience helped me a lot in my career.”
Opponents in group E
Japan will play in one of the most demanding groups at the upcoming Mundobasket. Their opponents will be Australia, Germany and Finland.
“It is true, we are in a very difficult group (laughs). Again, I must say that these are not unknown national teams. We have already played against Germany, I had the opportunity to play in Australia a few years ago, and I also have experience against Finland.
We know the national teams we will play with and we will do everything we can to achieve win, regardless of the name of the rival. We work seriously on all basketball elements together with our coach in order to improve our game.
Basketball is quite a popular sport in Japan. It is clear that everyone has high expectations. Of course, the arrival of foreign players and coaches had a positive impact on development. It is up to us to try to justify it and to give the maximum against every opponent.”
Basketball father – Luka Pavicevic
During his time in Tokyo, Baba was led from the bench by Montenegrin coach Luka Pavicevic. He gave him freedom in the game and provided a huge amount of attention, which resulted with a call to play for the national team.
Baba did not forget that and has only words of praise for coach Pavicevic.
“Luka Pavicevic is my basketball father, and that’s how he behaved all the time I played under his leadership. He taught me many things. When he came to Tokyo, I was 21 years old. He is the most responsible for my progress, because I played for the national team. He helped me in every way.
Also, Pavicevic is incredibly passionate and pays so much attention to details. He taught me to think about details while playing and is incredibly dedicated to his work. In addition, he treats every player like a child, which then helped us all become a better team.“
G League
In addition to the domestic league where he played for two seasons and won two trophies, Yudai Baba decided to go to the G League, where he was a member of the Texas Legends, an affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. On two occasions, the Japanese international also played for Melbourne United.
“That experience came in handy. It’s hard to play against the best if you’re not in their company. It’s nice to be there and at the same time represent your country. The intensity of the game is different there, and I can say that I managed to improve my basketball skills.
The NBA is something incredible and every player’s dream is to get there. I want to be an NBA player and play in the best league in the world. It inspires and motivates me at the same time.”
Sports family and the influence of Japanese culture
Yudai Baba comes from a sports family. He saw the main role model in his father and sister, whose main preoccupation was basketball. Considering the fact that Japanese culture is known all over the world, from this whole story, he acquired a winning mentality from an early age.
“The reason I started playing basketball is my father. He was a coach, and my older sister also played basketball. I was five years old when I fell in love with this sport. The whole family is into basketball, but I can’t say that I had a role model growing up from the NBA or someone like that. I simply didn’t watch it then, I just followed what my father and sister were doing.
I can say that it also influenced me throughout my development. I remember when I was a boy that I had this habit… if I started something, I didn’t want anyone’s help, I wanted to finish what I started myself. I think that it later had a positive effect on my career when I matured, in that certain psychological aspect. Mentality is something you are simply born with. It’s hard to explain.”
Faded memories
The World Cup was played in Japan in 2006, when Spain triumphed for the first time in its history. At the time, Baba was only a nine-year-old boy.
“Honestly, that was quite a long time ago when I think about it. I was nine years old then and I can’t say that I remember the best. I can say that the World Cup opened many doors for basketball players from Japan, but also contributed to the development of basketball in Japan. A few of them went to the NBA right after that.” – Baba concluded conversation with Basketball Sphere.