 Combined with many player absences from the team, Team Nippon struggled to win medals at the Asian Championships since its silver medal in 1997.At the 2008 event in their home country (Tokushima), the team finished at the 8th position and missed qualification for both the Beijing Olympic Tournament and qualification to the 2010 FIBA World Championship.At the 2009 FIBA Asia tournament the team sank to No.