By Ed Odeven

Tom Hovasse, the silver medal-winning coach of the Japan women’s basketball team at the Tokyo Olympics in August, spoke to JAPAN Forward a few weeks ago for the latest episode of JF’s Sports Talk podcast after one job ended and a new challenge began.

Hovasse left the women’s head coaching post after running the show from 2017 until the end of the Olympics and took over as the new bench boss of the Japan men’s national team.

There will be similarities in coaching both teams, according to Hovasse, who provided detailed, thoughtful answers during a conversation just under 30 minutes. Relying on speed and NBA-style play-calling are elements of Hovasse’s coaching playoff, he pointed out in the interview.