"We still have more games than this one, more important ones," Pavlicevic told reporters after Thursday's practice in Hiroshima. "We have to beat Angola. We can afford a loss against Germany"

After opening their tournament against Germany on Saturday, the hosts Japan play Africans champions Angola on Sunday.

"If we lose this first game, nothing happens to us. But we have to be ready for the next game. If we lose by 10 or 15 points, it could be a good game for us. It's a chance for us to enter the competition slowly and feel the ambient of the tournament."

Pavlicevic said his team is fully aware that Germany is not just Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki.

"Everybody knows he's one of the best players in the world. But Germany is not only Nowitzki. We'd be making a mistake to think it's only Nowitzki. All of them are high level players. Not all of them are at the level of Nowitzki. But they're all very good, " the Croatian said.

He also reiterated that his team's goal is advancing past the first round.

"We know that Japanese basketball is not at the world level. We all know it's a difficult task. Passing through to the final 16 would be a big success. It's not a big chance, but it's a chance."

Japan's later games are against Panama, New Zealand and Spain.