TOKYO (AFP) - Japan painted a giant picture of Yuta Tabuse as the 173-centimeter (5-foot-9) point guard made a brief but brilliant debut as the first Japanese to play in the US National Basketball Association (NBA).
"Stunning debut" screamed a headline in the usually staid daily Asahi, while other media already began comparing him to his compatriot Ichiro Suzuki who has set a hitting record after just four years in US Major League Baseball.
Tabuse scored seven points including a breath-taking three-pointer after he was sent on with 10 minutes to go, contributing to the Phoenix Suns' 112-82 home win over the Atlanta Hawks in their season-opener on Wednesday.
"I know there are many aspects I have to learn as I go on," the 24-year-old Yokohama native told Japanese reporters in the Arizona state capital. "I still have to train very hard."
Japanese fans jumped for joy when Tabuse made the Suns' 12-member roster this week. With a frustrating disadvantage in size and power, Japan has not made the men's Olympic basketball competition since the 1976 Montreal Games.
"I still made many mistakes but I gained confidence by playing in a match," Tabuse said, wearing the Suns' number-one jersey. "I want to go on with confidence on this stage."
But he may find himself warming the bench most of the time as a reserve for point guards Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa.
"He is an Ichiro (Suzuki) in basketball," the Jiji Press news agency quoted a spectator at the Suns' home stadium as saying.
With his versatile batting skills, the Seattle Mariner outfielder broke the previous annual record of 257 hits, set by George Sisler in 1920, before finishing the season with 262 hits last month.
Suzuki and Hideki Matsui of the New Yankees are considered the most successful among some 20 Japanese who have signed up with premier US baseball clubs.
"Before 2001 when Ichiro went to the United States, it was seen as difficult for (Japanese) position players to become successful over there because of physical size," the Kyodo news agency commented.
"There might have been few fans who imagined that a Japanese would get a chance in the world of basketball dominated by players who stand two meters tall."
Tabuse, admired for his dazzling dribbles and no-look passes, is the second shortest player in the NBA after Denver Nuggets point guard Earl Boykins, 165cm (5ft5).
Former Japanese national team center Yasutaka Okayama, who stands 230cm (7ft8), would have been Japan's first NBA player if he did not reject a draft offer from the Golden State Warrirors in 1981.
It was long before China's Yao Ming, 226cm (7ft6), joined the Houston Rockets as a groundbreaking first choice in the 2002 NBA draft.
Tabuse played with Brigham Young University in Hawaii for three years before returning home to join Toyota Alvark of Japan's Super League in 2002.
He was waived after training camp last year by the Denver Nuggets and then played for a minor-league club, the Long Beach Jam, before signing a one-year contract with the Suns in September.

11/04/2004 - 17:22 GMT - AFP