Chronicling a league that's never stopped expanding - yet - has created countless opportunities for interesting interviews with a colorful cast of characters.
Oct. 17, 2014 update
After joining the NBL's Wakayama Trians for the 2013-14 campaign, former bj-league star Michael Parker looks back on his six seasons in the upstart circuit, including a ton of games on SportCourt.
“Wood is what basketball was made for, not slippery plastic,” he stated bluntly.
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Here are a few of the most memorable, interesting, articulate quotes, long and short, in bj-league history.
Ryukyu Golden Kings guard Shigeyuki Kinjo in a 2009 interview responding to my question.
If you were to attend a bj-league game as a fan, which players would you most want to see?
"Cohey Aoki (an offseason acquisition by the Oska Evessa) and Michael Gardener (now with the Akita Northern Happinets)," Kinjo said. "Even though they are short, they can finish their shots with big men guarding them. So I want to see those kind of small guys shooting the ball against the big guys or making layups."
Ex-Osaka Evessa coach Kensaku Tennichi after his team won its third title in a row in May 2008: "I'm so happy. I'm proud of my players. I simply think our team is pretty good. I'm tired right now . . . but overall it was a good season."
Ex-Apache coach Joe Bryant, looking at the numbers after stars Nick Davis and John Humphrey failed to attempt any foul shots in the final against the Evessa in May 2008:
"That's just impossible. We play the same style (as Osaka). I'm not going to blame the game on that, but we play the same style."
This reporter's notes and Bryant's insight follow:
Osaka was 21-for-27 from the free-throw line. Tokyo made 10-of-12 fouls shots, but neither Humphrey nor Davis attempted a shot.
"It was a great game until you get to the free-throw line," Bryant said.
Both Apache players are known for their aggressive, attack-the-basket style of play and routinely take numerous free throws per game (they combined for 406 during the regular season).
Former Tokyo Apache coach Bob Hill: "As long as the JBA resists the two leagues coming together, it hurts the development of the Japanese players on the national team and eliminates the development of other players who might be great additions to the national team.
"Bringing the two leagues together and developing the country's talent would benefit a lot of people. So, in conclusion I think Japan is sabotaging itself in the world of basketball. And the bj-league and the way it's set up is benefiting the Japanese players and their development far more than the JBL."
Hill weighs in on what makes Cohey Aoki a special player.
"I've had the privilege of coaching some awfully greater shooters, (future Hall of Famer) Ray Allen and (all-time great) Reggie Miller are two of them," said Tokyo's new coach, Bob Hill, reflecting on his days in the NBA during a Sunday news conference. "I don't know if they could play four games in a row and shoot as well as Cohey did. Obviously it's the NBA and it's the bj-league, but that's where they play, and Cohey goes 6-for-9 (from the field) today.
"His percentage is just incredible every day, and he plays very, very good team defense, so he, too, has to be given credit."
Former Sendai 89ers coach Bob Pierce, the former bench boss of the Akita Northern Happinets and Shiga Lakestars, offering his thoughts on the state of the game in 2011: "One of the problems I always see when people discus the two leagues from the JBL and/or JBA (the nation's basketball governing body) perspective is that they totally ignore the import players, as if they don't exist. They only compare Japanese players to Japanese players. Yes, most of the Japanese players in the JBL are better than most of the Japanese players in the bj-league. Of course that argument is beginning to change with Ishizaki now playing in the bj-league. But the vast majority of Japanese players that we are talking about are not NBA-level players, nor are they NCAA Div. I level players. Almost all are NCAA Div. II, and more realistically, NAIA level players. Again, a handful have NCAA Div. I potential, but most in either league are at a very low level compared to players in the US.
"Players in the bj-league, from Joho to Cohey to Hatano have shown remarkable improvement during their time in the bj-league. Playing with and against so many foreign players has had a major impact on their improved level of play. That this growth and improvement is ignored by those outside the league is very sad. How good could Kawamura or the Takeuchi twins be now if they had played in the bj-league instead of the JBL? Imagine if every weekend Joji and Kosuke were matched up with Jeff Newton, Lynn Washington, Mike Bell, Jeffrey Parmer, Brian Harper, Michael Parker, etc. The JBL now has only one player 6'll or taller (Aono at Panasonic) while the bj-league has ten or more. Not to mention all the guys 6'10. Most of the JBL imports are 6'7 to 6'9. Talented players, sure, but not at all what you see when you look at the NBA or the top teams in the Euroleague. The bj-league gives players a taste of what to expect if they were to play in a higher league. No mater what position you play you are going to have the opportunity to match up with a very talented, athletic player. And possibly a former NBA player now that we have three. And if you beat your man, how about having a player like Jeral Davis waiting there to swat your shot into the second row?
"Basketball is still a minor sport in Japan, and the only growth in the last six years is the bj-league BECAUSE of the imports. So to ignore them and treat them like they don't exist or don't matter is foolish. The JBL has the best Japanese players, but is stagnant and hasn't produced any growth at all. The bj-league is growing, but lacks the best Japanese players to move beyond it's second rate image.
"Any proposal that doesn't provide for spreading around the best Japanese players to ALL teams is going to have problems or fail altogether. (Something like each JBL team protects three Japanese players, and all the rest are distributed throughout the rest of the teams in a draft. And all new players must be drafted, etc.) And I personally think that if the number of imports is reduced it will keep the leagues in a perpetual minor sport niche. For now and the forseeable future, most Japanese players are only NAIA level athletes and players. If you go below 4 imports (3 on the court) fans are going to wise up and only the hard core basketball fans will follow the league. The casual fan will just choose to watch real professional basketball in the NBA.
"The only way to produce an NBA level player is to have NBA level players playing in your league at multiple positions. The first real Japanese NBA player will probably be a guard, so you need to have as many high level point guards and shooting guards playing in the league, so the Japanese players can test themselves every time they step on the court. I think the JBL has one guard this season. So how do you test yourself every night if you're a guard? But the bj-league has lots of guards. And that's why Joho and Cohey and so many others keep getting better and better.
"Sorry to say, but the JBA has a complete UNSUCCESS rate with so many teams having folded over the last 15 years. ... The JBA probably needs to get out of the business of running a league because they don't do it very well."
Former Osaka Evessa and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix star Billy Knight gave his thoughts on top Japanese players in a 2010 interview: “Yu Okada is the best shooter and one of best players. He led Japanese guys in scoring. Cohey Aoki from Tokyo is good and plays very under control and at his pace. Masashi Joho plays like Manu Ginobili from Spurs. These are, in my opinion, the best Japanese guys in the league.”
Pierce in 2010 summarizes why Joho was an important part of the Lakestars, a clutch player in crunch time: "For us, I think we'd give the ball to Joho. I like the fact that he really wants to take those kind of shots. Many (most) players don't want that pressure. I think Joho dreams of taking those shots, and lives for those moments. Plus he can create his shot off the dribble, can shoot from deep, and practices shooting off balance shots, which last second shots often become."
My question, followed by Hill's answer.
Cohey Aoki has had a knack for hitting big shots in the fourth quarter time after time throughout his bj-league career. Do you feel comfortable in him having this role in 2010-11?
"Absolutely. When you can control the situation, he should be the first option, but we have others that can shoot, too. He will absolutely be a part of that group."
Isaac Sojourner provided a classic rant to a Daily Yomiuri column that was completely false.
Here's his response and the 2011 article in full:
In response to Wednesday's Daily Yomiuri column, featuring comments from JBA official Hideaki Usui, former JBL2 and bj-league player Isaac Sojourner offered his insights on Japanese hoops and why the status quo is a major problem.
"The JBA official in my opinion is totally off his rocker," Sojourner said. "There are more foreigners on any, and all bj-league rosters and the (roughly) 20 NBA D-League players currently playing for the teams all over the league. (NBA vets like) Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and David Benoit and others like Jeff Newton, Lynn Washington as well as countless others throughout the years, who have experience from many years played back home at great high schools, prep schools, junior colleges, big-name universities and big-time pro leagues as well. Which right there blows the doors off any and all of these universities here and any other (Japanese) school for that matter.
"How, then can the Japanese players in this league -- the bj-league -- not have the upper hand when they have countless hours spent trying to hold their own against our league's best, year after year, practice after practice, game to game? They can't!" Sojourner compared the issue of weight training in the two leagues as being a fundamental difference, too.
"Let's take the weight issue. Japanese players in this league, if they want to make it through the year, have to lift weights to get stronger and faster in order just to survive; remember, because the average Japanese player in the bj-league on any given night, if not all nights, has to play a foreign player at his position," Sojourner said. "I have personally seen many Japanese players getting better because of the conditions of this league, so to say it can't hold its own weight is utter nonsense.
"If the JBL was so much better, then why can't they make a better showing at the Asian Games? Remember only JBL players could play for the team up until just recently. Most of these players in the JBL were handed just about anything they have ever gotten throughout their basketball lives and they know it.
"If they went to a big school, which all, if not, most of them did -- and please keep in mind that I went to a university here, Hamamatsu -- so I have seen the cheating and the placing of big-named teams in the exact spots they want them in -- then right there, they have not earned much, if this type of thing in fact goes on -- and trust me, folks . . . it does go on -- and therefore don't in my book, have neither the experience needed nor the will to actually win games, because of the fact that they have been handed so much throughout their careers.
"Not saying that some of these players are not in fact good players, some are in fact pretty good talents. I just believe that they would have a difficult time playing in the bj-league under our rules." Usui's declaration that the bj-league is in its developmental stage missed the point about why the league has had a profound impact on Japanese basketball.
"A sad thing about that is, they actually would fair better if their league (the JBL) was in fact closer to our model than theirs," Sojourner said. "So for this JBA official to state the bj-league is in its developmental stage and he wonders if teams like those can really compete in the same arena, to me is just a really bad joke. Of course they could compete.
"You don't think that they could, then why not have a playoff at the end of the year to actually prove who indeed is the best from the two leagues? That should solve the issue right then and there, right?" Sojourner's passionate argument against the JBA's narrow-minded leadership continued with a number of valid points. He continued by critiquing Wednesday's Hard Drives column by John Gibson.
"He went on to say that the 'bj-league, whose Japanese players ostensibly were unable to make it onto JBL rosters, is seen as inferior,' " Sojourner said. "Here again, how can that be? They just didn't make it past your tryout, so they went elsewhere and did make it on a squad and are now really competing for a spot on a team, which is what all 'players' should aspire to do in their careers . . . compete! "No, the fact of the matter boils down to this for me, the two leagues making one big league is not a bad idea at all -- for the overall good of basketball in Japan -- but in order for the Japanese players to get something out of themselves so that they can compete on the world stage every four years is simple. My thinking is that the bj-league model far outweighs the JBL model, so for the merger to be meaningful do something like 50 games -- for now if you want all those teams (36 were stated in the latest rejected proposal) fine -- but they all must keep the players they want to keep and put the other players into some sort of draft, where the weaker teams by record from the previous year get the first picks of the leftover players or totally new players that said team(s) scouted.
"Keep the home-and-away model from the bj-league but keep the home venues to one place. (If) you want to have other games in other venues in the prefectures of every team, save that for the preseason games." Here is his concluding argument: "Lastly, I would try and have maybe no more than four foreigners to a team overall, and that way you could play with the notion of say, teams can only have two to three players from overseas on the court at one time, forcing the current Japanese ballers to up their own games. I could go on and on about things the two should do vs. what they have done/are doing currently.
"However, overall the two leagues need to take a good hard look at any and all good points about the two leagues and make it one for the benefit of the current talent in this country and to foster new and meaningful impact players in the future.
"The key is experience here, the more meaningful games you play due to a high level in talent from year to year, the more your league will benefit." A current bj-league player dished out his insight on related topics but requested anonymity.
"I think the thoughts spoken about the inferiority of the bj-league, is a sad case of speaking on something without knowing the facts," the player said. "Traditionally speaking, the JBL was top dog in Japan, but times have changed. The game has changed.
"The bj-league has been able to attract more former NBA players and coaches than the JBL has to my knowledge," the source added, without citing mentors with NBA ties, such as Tokyo's Bob Hill, the first former NBA head coach in bj-league history, along with former NBA players-turned coaches who have previously worked in the bj-league: Jawann Oldham (Oita), Joe Bryant (Tokyo), David Benoit (Saitama, Kyoto), John Neumann (Fukuoka, Takamatsu) and Brian Rowsom (Oita); and a current bench boss who played in the NBA, Bob Nash (Saitama); and Akita's Bob Pierce, who has worked as an Asia-based scout for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"The bj-league has shown that a professional basketball model can be successful in Japan. Teams like Akita, Ryukyu, as well as Sendai, have been able to attract die-hard fans to support their club on a consistent basis.
"The bj-league has grown drastically since my first year in Sendai. The local players have gotten much better, and the level of imports has improved. The JBL seems to be going the other direction; it has remained status quo," he concluded. "Public perception needs to change, in order for basketball in Japan to continue to grow."
John Neumann, who averaged 40.1 points per game for Ole Miss one season, has been a globe-trotting coach for a few decades now, including stops in Japan with the Rizing Fukuoka (led the team for its first two seasons) and the Takamatsu Five Arrows (taking over a team without even a full squad until a few games into the season in 2009-10). He was named the Coach of the Year for guiding the Rizing to the playoffs in their fist season.
"It is a great honor to receive this award," Neumann said. "It has been a great thrill coaching this team when everyone thought we would give up. Through our faith in each other and playing team basketball, we have been able to overcome many things this year."
Rugged forward Dameion Baker on the long, ridiculous saga he endured after suffering an Achilles injury in the 2008 final, only to be denied full payment for his medial bills by the former Apache ownership. He was uninsured, another major mistake made by the Apache.
"I don't have $7,000 to pay for rehab for my leg," Baker told me. "I have a house, I have a daughter at home. During the summer I work to take care of my family."
"I'm in a really bad situation and I've been trying my hardest to talk to them. They keep turning a blind eye to me and acting like I don't exist," he said.
Over the past week, he has continued to wait patiently for a resolution, but sees no quick end to this issue, I wrote in a Hoop Scoop column.
"I'm at the point where I need to try everything and anything," he said.
"It's sad that I need to go through this after being with the team for four years . . . and then me being such an important player on the team.
"I would think they would hold anything in consideration.
"They really don't care."
Ryukyu Golden Kings guard Shigeyuki Kinjo in a 2009 interview responding to my question.
If you were to attend a bj-league game as a fan, which players would you most want to see?
"Cohey Aoki (an offseason acquisition by the Oska Evessa) and Michael Gardener (now with the Akita Northern Happinets)," Kinjo said. "Even though they are short, they can finish their shots with big men guarding them. So I want to see those kind of small guys shooting the ball against the big guys or making layups."
Ex-Osaka Evessa coach Kensaku Tennichi after his team won its third title in a row in May 2008: "I'm so happy. I'm proud of my players. I simply think our team is pretty good. I'm tired right now . . . but overall it was a good season."
Ex-Apache coach Joe Bryant, looking at the numbers after stars Nick Davis and John Humphrey failed to attempt any foul shots in the final against the Evessa in May 2008:
"That's just impossible. We play the same style (as Osaka). I'm not going to blame the game on that, but we play the same style."
This reporter's notes and Bryant's insight follow:
Osaka was 21-for-27 from the free-throw line. Tokyo made 10-of-12 fouls shots, but neither Humphrey nor Davis attempted a shot.
"It was a great game until you get to the free-throw line," Bryant said.
Both Apache players are known for their aggressive, attack-the-basket style of play and routinely take numerous free throws per game (they combined for 406 during the regular season).
Former Tokyo Apache coach Bob Hill: "As long as the JBA resists the two leagues coming together, it hurts the development of the Japanese players on the national team and eliminates the development of other players who might be great additions to the national team.
"Bringing the two leagues together and developing the country's talent would benefit a lot of people. So, in conclusion I think Japan is sabotaging itself in the world of basketball. And the bj-league and the way it's set up is benefiting the Japanese players and their development far more than the JBL."
Hill weighs in on what makes Cohey Aoki a special player.
"I've had the privilege of coaching some awfully greater shooters, (future Hall of Famer) Ray Allen and (all-time great) Reggie Miller are two of them," said Tokyo's new coach, Bob Hill, reflecting on his days in the NBA during a Sunday news conference. "I don't know if they could play four games in a row and shoot as well as Cohey did. Obviously it's the NBA and it's the bj-league, but that's where they play, and Cohey goes 6-for-9 (from the field) today.
"His percentage is just incredible every day, and he plays very, very good team defense, so he, too, has to be given credit."
Former Sendai 89ers coach Bob Pierce, the former bench boss of the Akita Northern Happinets and Shiga Lakestars, offering his thoughts on the state of the game in 2011: "One of the problems I always see when people discus the two leagues from the JBL and/or JBA (the nation's basketball governing body) perspective is that they totally ignore the import players, as if they don't exist. They only compare Japanese players to Japanese players. Yes, most of the Japanese players in the JBL are better than most of the Japanese players in the bj-league. Of course that argument is beginning to change with Ishizaki now playing in the bj-league. But the vast majority of Japanese players that we are talking about are not NBA-level players, nor are they NCAA Div. I level players. Almost all are NCAA Div. II, and more realistically, NAIA level players. Again, a handful have NCAA Div. I potential, but most in either league are at a very low level compared to players in the US.
"Players in the bj-league, from Joho to Cohey to Hatano have shown remarkable improvement during their time in the bj-league. Playing with and against so many foreign players has had a major impact on their improved level of play. That this growth and improvement is ignored by those outside the league is very sad. How good could Kawamura or the Takeuchi twins be now if they had played in the bj-league instead of the JBL? Imagine if every weekend Joji and Kosuke were matched up with Jeff Newton, Lynn Washington, Mike Bell, Jeffrey Parmer, Brian Harper, Michael Parker, etc. The JBL now has only one player 6'll or taller (Aono at Panasonic) while the bj-league has ten or more. Not to mention all the guys 6'10. Most of the JBL imports are 6'7 to 6'9. Talented players, sure, but not at all what you see when you look at the NBA or the top teams in the Euroleague. The bj-league gives players a taste of what to expect if they were to play in a higher league. No mater what position you play you are going to have the opportunity to match up with a very talented, athletic player. And possibly a former NBA player now that we have three. And if you beat your man, how about having a player like Jeral Davis waiting there to swat your shot into the second row?
"Basketball is still a minor sport in Japan, and the only growth in the last six years is the bj-league BECAUSE of the imports. So to ignore them and treat them like they don't exist or don't matter is foolish. The JBL has the best Japanese players, but is stagnant and hasn't produced any growth at all. The bj-league is growing, but lacks the best Japanese players to move beyond it's second rate image.
"Any proposal that doesn't provide for spreading around the best Japanese players to ALL teams is going to have problems or fail altogether. (Something like each JBL team protects three Japanese players, and all the rest are distributed throughout the rest of the teams in a draft. And all new players must be drafted, etc.) And I personally think that if the number of imports is reduced it will keep the leagues in a perpetual minor sport niche. For now and the forseeable future, most Japanese players are only NAIA level athletes and players. If you go below 4 imports (3 on the court) fans are going to wise up and only the hard core basketball fans will follow the league. The casual fan will just choose to watch real professional basketball in the NBA.
"The only way to produce an NBA level player is to have NBA level players playing in your league at multiple positions. The first real Japanese NBA player will probably be a guard, so you need to have as many high level point guards and shooting guards playing in the league, so the Japanese players can test themselves every time they step on the court. I think the JBL has one guard this season. So how do you test yourself every night if you're a guard? But the bj-league has lots of guards. And that's why Joho and Cohey and so many others keep getting better and better.
"Sorry to say, but the JBA has a complete UNSUCCESS rate with so many teams having folded over the last 15 years. ... The JBA probably needs to get out of the business of running a league because they don't do it very well."
Former Osaka Evessa and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix star Billy Knight gave his thoughts on top Japanese players in a 2010 interview: “Yu Okada is the best shooter and one of best players. He led Japanese guys in scoring. Cohey Aoki from Tokyo is good and plays very under control and at his pace. Masashi Joho plays like Manu Ginobili from Spurs. These are, in my opinion, the best Japanese guys in the league.”
Pierce in 2010 summarizes why Joho was an important part of the Lakestars, a clutch player in crunch time: "For us, I think we'd give the ball to Joho. I like the fact that he really wants to take those kind of shots. Many (most) players don't want that pressure. I think Joho dreams of taking those shots, and lives for those moments. Plus he can create his shot off the dribble, can shoot from deep, and practices shooting off balance shots, which last second shots often become."
My question, followed by Hill's answer.
Cohey Aoki has had a knack for hitting big shots in the fourth quarter time after time throughout his bj-league career. Do you feel comfortable in him having this role in 2010-11?
"Absolutely. When you can control the situation, he should be the first option, but we have others that can shoot, too. He will absolutely be a part of that group."
Isaac Sojourner provided a classic rant to a Daily Yomiuri column that was completely false.
Here's his response and the 2011 article in full:
In response to Wednesday's Daily Yomiuri column, featuring comments from JBA official Hideaki Usui, former JBL2 and bj-league player Isaac Sojourner offered his insights on Japanese hoops and why the status quo is a major problem.
"The JBA official in my opinion is totally off his rocker," Sojourner said. "There are more foreigners on any, and all bj-league rosters and the (roughly) 20 NBA D-League players currently playing for the teams all over the league. (NBA vets like) Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and David Benoit and others like Jeff Newton, Lynn Washington as well as countless others throughout the years, who have experience from many years played back home at great high schools, prep schools, junior colleges, big-name universities and big-time pro leagues as well. Which right there blows the doors off any and all of these universities here and any other (Japanese) school for that matter.
"How, then can the Japanese players in this league -- the bj-league -- not have the upper hand when they have countless hours spent trying to hold their own against our league's best, year after year, practice after practice, game to game? They can't!" Sojourner compared the issue of weight training in the two leagues as being a fundamental difference, too.
"Let's take the weight issue. Japanese players in this league, if they want to make it through the year, have to lift weights to get stronger and faster in order just to survive; remember, because the average Japanese player in the bj-league on any given night, if not all nights, has to play a foreign player at his position," Sojourner said. "I have personally seen many Japanese players getting better because of the conditions of this league, so to say it can't hold its own weight is utter nonsense.
"If the JBL was so much better, then why can't they make a better showing at the Asian Games? Remember only JBL players could play for the team up until just recently. Most of these players in the JBL were handed just about anything they have ever gotten throughout their basketball lives and they know it.
"If they went to a big school, which all, if not, most of them did -- and please keep in mind that I went to a university here, Hamamatsu -- so I have seen the cheating and the placing of big-named teams in the exact spots they want them in -- then right there, they have not earned much, if this type of thing in fact goes on -- and trust me, folks . . . it does go on -- and therefore don't in my book, have neither the experience needed nor the will to actually win games, because of the fact that they have been handed so much throughout their careers.
"Not saying that some of these players are not in fact good players, some are in fact pretty good talents. I just believe that they would have a difficult time playing in the bj-league under our rules." Usui's declaration that the bj-league is in its developmental stage missed the point about why the league has had a profound impact on Japanese basketball.
"A sad thing about that is, they actually would fair better if their league (the JBL) was in fact closer to our model than theirs," Sojourner said. "So for this JBA official to state the bj-league is in its developmental stage and he wonders if teams like those can really compete in the same arena, to me is just a really bad joke. Of course they could compete.
"You don't think that they could, then why not have a playoff at the end of the year to actually prove who indeed is the best from the two leagues? That should solve the issue right then and there, right?" Sojourner's passionate argument against the JBA's narrow-minded leadership continued with a number of valid points. He continued by critiquing Wednesday's Hard Drives column by John Gibson.
"He went on to say that the 'bj-league, whose Japanese players ostensibly were unable to make it onto JBL rosters, is seen as inferior,' " Sojourner said. "Here again, how can that be? They just didn't make it past your tryout, so they went elsewhere and did make it on a squad and are now really competing for a spot on a team, which is what all 'players' should aspire to do in their careers . . . compete! "No, the fact of the matter boils down to this for me, the two leagues making one big league is not a bad idea at all -- for the overall good of basketball in Japan -- but in order for the Japanese players to get something out of themselves so that they can compete on the world stage every four years is simple. My thinking is that the bj-league model far outweighs the JBL model, so for the merger to be meaningful do something like 50 games -- for now if you want all those teams (36 were stated in the latest rejected proposal) fine -- but they all must keep the players they want to keep and put the other players into some sort of draft, where the weaker teams by record from the previous year get the first picks of the leftover players or totally new players that said team(s) scouted.
"Keep the home-and-away model from the bj-league but keep the home venues to one place. (If) you want to have other games in other venues in the prefectures of every team, save that for the preseason games." Here is his concluding argument: "Lastly, I would try and have maybe no more than four foreigners to a team overall, and that way you could play with the notion of say, teams can only have two to three players from overseas on the court at one time, forcing the current Japanese ballers to up their own games. I could go on and on about things the two should do vs. what they have done/are doing currently.
"However, overall the two leagues need to take a good hard look at any and all good points about the two leagues and make it one for the benefit of the current talent in this country and to foster new and meaningful impact players in the future.
"The key is experience here, the more meaningful games you play due to a high level in talent from year to year, the more your league will benefit." A current bj-league player dished out his insight on related topics but requested anonymity.
"I think the thoughts spoken about the inferiority of the bj-league, is a sad case of speaking on something without knowing the facts," the player said. "Traditionally speaking, the JBL was top dog in Japan, but times have changed. The game has changed.
"The bj-league has been able to attract more former NBA players and coaches than the JBL has to my knowledge," the source added, without citing mentors with NBA ties, such as Tokyo's Bob Hill, the first former NBA head coach in bj-league history, along with former NBA players-turned coaches who have previously worked in the bj-league: Jawann Oldham (Oita), Joe Bryant (Tokyo), David Benoit (Saitama, Kyoto), John Neumann (Fukuoka, Takamatsu) and Brian Rowsom (Oita); and a current bench boss who played in the NBA, Bob Nash (Saitama); and Akita's Bob Pierce, who has worked as an Asia-based scout for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"The bj-league has shown that a professional basketball model can be successful in Japan. Teams like Akita, Ryukyu, as well as Sendai, have been able to attract die-hard fans to support their club on a consistent basis.
"The bj-league has grown drastically since my first year in Sendai. The local players have gotten much better, and the level of imports has improved. The JBL seems to be going the other direction; it has remained status quo," he concluded. "Public perception needs to change, in order for basketball in Japan to continue to grow."
John Neumann, who averaged 40.1 points per game for Ole Miss one season, has been a globe-trotting coach for a few decades now, including stops in Japan with the Rizing Fukuoka (led the team for its first two seasons) and the Takamatsu Five Arrows (taking over a team without even a full squad until a few games into the season in 2009-10). He was named the Coach of the Year for guiding the Rizing to the playoffs in their fist season.
"It is a great honor to receive this award," Neumann said. "It has been a great thrill coaching this team when everyone thought we would give up. Through our faith in each other and playing team basketball, we have been able to overcome many things this year."
Rugged forward Dameion Baker on the long, ridiculous saga he endured after suffering an Achilles injury in the 2008 final, only to be denied full payment for his medial bills by the former Apache ownership. He was uninsured, another major mistake made by the Apache.
"I don't have $7,000 to pay for rehab for my leg," Baker told me. "I have a house, I have a daughter at home. During the summer I work to take care of my family."
"I'm in a really bad situation and I've been trying my hardest to talk to them. They keep turning a blind eye to me and acting like I don't exist," he said.
Over the past week, he has continued to wait patiently for a resolution, but sees no quick end to this issue, I wrote in a Hoop Scoop column.
"I'm at the point where I need to try everything and anything," he said.
"It's sad that I need to go through this after being with the team for four years . . . and then me being such an important player on the team.
"I would think they would hold anything in consideration.
"They really don't care."