The men's basketball team will start its Asian Games tournament in Japan on Thursday, the first official action for Korea at the continental competition with the team pursuing its first gold in 12 years. Coached by Nikolajs Mazurs, Korea will play Saudi Arabia for its first Group A game of the men's hoops tournament of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The tipoff is 4 p.m. at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya. The game comes nine days before the opening ceremony of the Asian Games. Preliminary games for team sports such as basketball, football and volleyball are typically held in the days before the opening ceremony. Korea will next play Indonesia at 4 p.m. on Friday and then the host country Japan at 7 p.m. on Sunday — all at the same Nagoya venue. A dozen nations have been divided into three groups of four. The top two teams from each group, plus the two best third-place teams, will progress to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals are set for next Wednesday, followed by the semifinals on Sept. 18. Both the bronze medal game and the gold medal game will be Sept. 20, the day after the ope