NO CHAIRS TO THROW?

Back to old-fashioned values: Japan’s women’s basketball coach, Fumikazu Nakagawa, in a touch that would have made Bob Knight proud, confessed to giving one of his players, Chikako Murakami, a tap on the head with a clipboard to get her attention during Wednesday’s 108-93 loss to the United States.

“I believe she is our toughest player and there was a big difference in the play in the last game and the play today,” Nakagawa said through an interpreter.

“I think if Murakami had played better, we could have had a better game. Her movement wasn’t fast enough.”

Murakami missed six of her seven shots and scored four points.