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The best basketball at Tokyo Top 30 Showcase
Tokyo Top 30 Showcase with Tokyo Samurai! Once again, I went to the Culttz Kawasaki sports complex in Kanagawa Prefecture. There were so many players, coaches, and talent scouts. I was lucky enough to photograph it. It was a day of the best basketball.
Coach Kris Thiesen was the man behind the event, and he put on a great day. He explained to me that the players were all between fifteen and twenty-four. The older ones were there trying to get contracts with Japanese B-League teams. But everyone was there to get on the radar of talent scouts, now or in the future.
There was also another purpose. In the summer, Tokyo Samurai will play in the United States. So, Tokyo Top 30 Showcase was a great chance for everyone to get noticed. It was the perfect place to fight for a spot for players wanting to get onto teams.
I had a great day. The photography was good, but the lighting could have been slightly better. If the gym had been slightly brighter, we would have got more keepers. During my time there, I took about 4500 photos. Of those, I got about 1500 that were pretty good or better. It was a case of what could have been.
Shooting basketball sometimes makes me want a full-frame camera like Canon, Nikon, and Sony. They have better lowlight abilities, for sure. I don’t know if that will happen as I am committed to Fujifilm. Still, I would like something better suited to indoor sports.
Anyway, the basketball games were great. I saw a lot of good players that day. People like Kain Roberts and Damiloka Mosaku. They had excellent skills and could motivate others. Where will they be in a few years? For young guys, they were amazing. It’ll be exciting watching them and the others as they get older.
Basketball is a sport that transcends barriers. Language is not a problem. As Kris explained, the coaching is in English, but some of the kids don’t speak the language. It’s not a problem. Others are bilingual, so there is always someone around to translate. Anyway, it is all about skills. If you have those, there is a place on the court.
I mightn’t know many of the kids in these photos by name, but I’m sure we’ll see them in a B-League team someday. Some of their past members have even played in the Japanese Olympic team. Their future is looking bright. They will be playing their best basketball.
What camera gear did I use for the Samurai’s best basketball?
Camera body:
Fujifilm X-T3
Fujifilm Lenses:
- XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
- XF 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS
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If you have any questions or comments for me, please leave those below.
External related websites:
- Tokyo Samurai (official website)
2 thoughts on “The best basketball at Tokyo Top 30 Showcase”
I was one of the referees for this event. It was great. The players were talented and respectful. The coaching was great and the event was very well organized. Would like to see more pictures. Can you send me some with the referees in the shot. I also heard there are some videos of the games. Any possibility of getting the link?
Sorry, but all the photos for this event have been deleted. As for the videos, I had nothing to do with them.