Japan hype, people are willing to suck Japanese dick just to make Gilas look bad, everything about Japan now is well hype not just its national basketball team, basketball league, but also its boxing
Which people? Them content creators and comments section warriors of
peysbuk? Can't blame them, Japan earned it.
Does it make Japan better? Of course not, but given the parity of FIBA basketball with how World Cup results influence Olympic spots, it's really a by-product of their professional culture than it is their actual level. They beat Venezuela (which had to go through Argentina and the Bahamas in WC qualifying), Finland (who placed 2nd in their qualifying group with Germany and Slovenia), and Cape Verde (who knocked out perennial Olympians Nigeria in WC qualifying)... without Hachimura.
If it's a talent thing, let's go back to the old Continental Cup system where a single tournament every 2 years tells if an Asian country is good enough to get blown out in the Olympics/World Cup where it's assumed all the best players will play. In the grand scheme of things, Olympic berths now are rewards for countries who were consistent in the previous FIBA Calendar by making the World Cup on their own merit and performing well in it:
Germany: 10-2 in WC qualifying and 1st in their group, won the World Cup
Serbia: 6-4 in WC qualifying (lost to Belgium and Greece) managed to get 2nd in their group behind Latvia, World Cup runners up without Jokic
Canada: 11-1 in WC qualifying, World Cup Bronze medalists (only lost to Brazil and Serbia)
USA: 9-3 in WC qualifying with G-League players, the second best FIBA Americas team in the World Cup using young NBA players.
Australia: it was going to be either them or New Zealand despite both playing in FIBA Asia, but Australia made it out of their group
South Sudan: 11-1 in WC qualifying, didn't make it of their group but had a better W-L than Egypt in the World Cup
France: Olympic hosts, 10-2 in qualifying but didn't make it out of their World Cup group
Japan: WC co-hosts but still went 7-5 grouped with Australia and China, even lost to Iran in qualifying... but made it out of their WC group.
As for the 4 OQT winners Spain, Greece, Brazil, and Puerto Rico... all of them actually qualified for the World Cup last year, didn't have to go through OQT pre-qualifying like Croatia, Bahamas, or Bahrain, and had no excuses for not having their best players unavailable because of qualifying windows coinciding with whatever pro league season on-going.
Where does Gilas fit in all of this? For a team that's just been formed last Feb, they've made quite a few changes knowing they insist of keeping this group together for the next 4 years. Japan's Olympic team actually looks like a team that will still be together in 4 years. Same with China. I get the win-now scenario... but that will only get them to the FIBA Asia Cup and maybe another SEA Games Gold, but the next World Cup? the next Olympics? Is it too much to ask for the younger players except Kai to get bigger roles? It's probably a PBA thing where anyone under 24 is treated like a child.