Hope 81 presents: Special Interview with Meiji Coach Tsuka-chan!

Hope 81 recently caught up with Kiyohiko Tsukamoto a.k.a. Tsuka-chan, head coach of the Men’s Basketball program at Meiji University (Tokyo, Japan). In a fall tournament game against cross-town rival Waseda University — and with his team up by 30 late in the game -- Tsuka-chan was pushing his players up and down the floor, all the way to the final buzzer... this guy is one tough coach! Tsuka-chan is perhaps the most famous voice of basketball in Japan these days, having spent the past several years as a color commentator for NBA games. His knowledge comes from nearly 40 years of local and international experience, as a basketball player, broadcaster, coach and more. It's not often we receive this kind of opportunity to connect with such a legend in the Japanese sporting world, so we want to send a big thanks to Tsuka-chan for helping us out and taking the time for the interview. We actually caught him for the interview just before the start of his team's practice, so his players kept checking on us...anxious to get practice started. So we know he's got his players excited about practice, which is always a good thing! During the interview (available in Japanese only for now) Tsuka-chan enlightens us on a wide range of topics concerning: Japanese basketball camps and clinics, the future of Japan's two pro leagues (BJ & JBL), and some great advice for young aspiring Japanese players on the rise. He also talks a bit at the end about our Hope 81/Rising Suns player development program, and gives a progress report on his star player at Meiji/national team member, Kosuke Kanamaru. Learning from a leader in the basketball player development circuit, now we'll continue working to promote more positive growth, visibility and exposure for Japanese basketball with our Rising Suns team. Could we see Meiji University players join our Waseda alumni on the Rising Suns team @ QUAI 54 someday? We welcome all players to tryout, so come on...bring your ...

Channel: Vimeo Video Length: 13m 7s Date Found: Wed, May 18 2011 8:30 PM Category: Home Video Date Produced: Sun, Mar 28 2010 11:28 AM View Count: 0