TOKYO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - It may come as a surprise to some, but Japan are not downbeat about their chances of getting a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games after being swept 3-0 in a friendly series on home soil by Australia. The defeats hurt last year's FIBA Asia Women's Championship winners, yet also served a purpose.

The saying that goes "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger" applies in this case. The setbacks reminded the Far East side of how tough it will be to reach the podium and how much work is needed before the start of the Olympics.

The Opals were aggressive and made the most of the towering center Liz Cambage's presence under the boards. The Japanese players, like veteran center Yuka Mamiya, struggled against Australia's size. Mamiya is 1.85m in height while Cambage is 2.03m tall.

We thought we knew they are much bigger than us, but it was a little bit beyond our imagination. - Mamiya

"We tried hard to make them miss shots," Mamiya said to FIBA.com. "They just simply made the second attempt by rebounding the ball."

So how do Japan, undersized against many teams in international basketball, combat the problem?

"I believe that we need to play against their height as one coordinated team," said Mamiya, who also accepts that she must have a more versatile approach in her own game against teams from outside of Japan.

"There is always something to learn from the experience, like finding out the play and skill that I use in Japan is not really at full strength against the world class size," she said.

"It is important for us to find a way to overcome the height of the opponent as a team. We must make the most out of the time we have before the Olympics."

Japan will not lose sight of the fact that at last year's FIBA Asia Women's Championship, they had no equals.

From an individual standpoint, Mamiya knows she can be more influential by not being burdened by Japan's offensive schemes. The team will run plays, yet the players need to be allowed to improvise.

"It took away my concentration to attack the rim," she said of the set plays. "We need to run and attack the rim more by pushing the ball (up the floor) and in one-on-one situations, if there are any chances to score. And, we have to look at our three-point shooting percentage. That is surely something we need to improve."

Japan and FIBA Oceania Women's Championship winners Australia will meet at the Rio Games in Group A on 11 August. That clash promises to be different. Both teams will have important players that did not feature in the friendly series.

Utsumi's team will get two-time FIBA Asia Women's Championship MVP Ramu Tokashiki back. She is currently in the WNBA, playing for the Seattle Storm.

"We were missing our teammate [Tokashiki], but they were also without WNBA players (Erin Phillips and Penny Taylor)," Mamiya said, before stressing again that the three games were not a wasted exercise for the Japanese.

"We have learned something. 'Challenge for the medal' is our target and we need to make sure we go for it as a team."

Japan head coach Tomohide Utsumi, meanwhile, does not believe that alarm bells should be ringing after the defeats to Australia, including the 80-41 loss in the opening clash of the series.

"It was the first game since we, as a team, had started practicing," he said. "For that reason, it was a little bit late to start to play our basketball against their height. But we were getting our basketball after a couple games. Compared to the first two games, we had a good start in the third game as the players worked harder by setting the tempo of the game."

Utsumi said that the opportunity to face the No. 2 team in the FIBA World Ranking Women held a lot of value.

"Playing against Australia showed us what should be done to challenge the opponent's height. It did point out for us the need to play with speed and a precise game to win," he explained.

Our players are building up physically, mentally, and skill wise. We will do our best for three more months before the Olympics. - Utsumi

After the series had ended, Utsumi spoke to his players about the need to remain hungry and not to lose sight of the team's aims.

"Step by step we build the team by playing games, that leads us up to our target," he said.

FIBA