Japan are out of the running for the 2023 FIBA World Cup championship, as they finished third in Group D — behind Germany and Australia. However, Japan main man and Phoenix Suns forward Yuta Watanabe shows that Aka-tsuki Faibu is not going to just take their foot off the pedal just because they failed to make it past the first round.

“Still got two more games that we must win to get a ticket to Paris Olympic. Let’s keep fighting Japan,” Yuta Watanabe posted on X (formerly Twitter) following his impressive effort, albeit in a loss to Josh Giddey and the Australians on Tuesday in Okinawa.

Despite crashing out of title contention in the World Cup, there is still a lot to play for Japan. After all, an Olympic spot in the 2024 Paris Games is reserved for the top-finishing Asian team in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. So far, Japan are leading in that department, thanks to their stunning upset victory over Finland last Sunday. The Japanese took down Finland to the tune of a 98-88 score, despite Watanabe playing poorly, scoring just four points on 1-for-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 from the free-throw line. He did bounce back strongly right away, as Watanabe scored 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and shot 7-for-13 from the field in the loss to Australia.

Watanabe's role on Team Japan is much larger than the one he's going to have with the Suns in the coming 2023-24 NBA season, so he's certainly relishing the opportunity to play big minutes while representing his country in the biggest international basketball tournament.