Japan coach Tom Hovasse on the foul on Strazel’s triple: “It didn’t look like a foul to me”
Photo FIBA.
Coach Tom Hovasse, commenting on the foul on Strazel for the winning 4-point play in the Japan-France game.
Japan lost to France in overtime at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The game seemed to be going the Japanese way, as they were up +4 with seconds left in the game. However, a spectacular triple and foul by Matthew Strazel sent the game into overtime, where the French prevailed. These are the words of coach Tom Hovasse, coach of Japan, on the foul whistled on Strazel’s 4-point play, released to BasketNews.
Tom Hovasse’s words: “It didn’t look like a foul, but it was from behind and I didn’t see if there was contact. It looked to me like our point guard was trying to stay away from him. But that’s what happened. The call was made, the free throw was made and we went to overtime. It was not their first option. It was a risky play. We stopped what they wanted to do. Our point guard had a good finish and maybe it was a little close. But Strazel made a great shot”.