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Mind-boggling nonsense

6/30/2012

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By limiting imports to two per quarter per team in 2012-13 for the first and third quarters, the bj-league is guaranteeing that the level of play and the flow of the game will be bordering on ridiculous. And also giving fans a great reason to have less interest in the game, and less reason to shell out cash to watch it.

Why should a coach have to run the show for the second and fourth quarters and, possibly, OT, with a different vital rule in place than the other 20 minutes of every contest?

At every possible point in time this much is certain: The bj-league finds ways (and not in a good way) to defy logic.

(This, after all, is a league that has never stopped expanding in a country with economic prosperity and 130 million people but a men's basketball national team that hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 1976, and the only way it can expect to do so in the next 20 years -- based on the incompetent leadership (zero flexibility, zero vision, zero common sense) at the highest levels of the Japan Basketball Association -- is to win the bid to host the 2020 Summer Games, which would give Japan automatic participation rights.)

But back to the bj-league ... No other pro league anywhere would consider this a sensible way of doing things.

The use of a synthetic sport court, too, puts this league at sub-standard levels compared to other pro leagues around the world. Everyone else plays on wood.

Nobody forced the bj-league to reduce its import quota to two per game for half the game. But that's what it has done.

Instead of having the number at three for the entire game, or two, this new, lame policy will dictate numbers that make no sense whatsoever
.

"Japanese basketball is still in the stone age," someone told me recently. And he's right.

The JBL is just as stuck in its ways, what with no national draft (which dumbs down the process of new players making the jump to a paid gig after college), a one-import rule and a rigid structure that does little to attract new fans.

In essence, the JBL remains an old-boy network. Secret deals are made behind closed doors, and the rich companies have all the advantages without having to compete for talent in a legitimate way.

Or as one former coach in Japan stated a few years ago, describing the mind-set and inner workings of the Japan Basketball League:"The JBL is a gang."

He hit the nail on the head.

.
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Analysis completed

6/18/2012

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Here are my selections for the top players in the 2011-12 season; of course the list could be expanded.

What are your thoughts?

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/sp20120616eo.html
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The potential is there

6/11/2012

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The Japan Basketball Association's leadership crisis -- which trickles down to the bj-league and the JBA's puppet (the JBL) -- is showing at the present time the exact opposite of what Japan soccer is exhibiting in its policies, mind-set and by what maters most, results.

Australia coach Holger Osieck, speaking before the Australia-Japan match on Tuesday summed up the impressive growth of Japanese soccer this way in a Kyodo News article:

“The new generation is a free generation, an open-minded generation. They are not afraid anymore, whereas a number of years ago people were reserved and frightened of foreigners but that has changed drastically.”

“Their different mind-set reflects in the performance on the field. They are a different generation of players playing in the top teams in Europe and I think that is the significant difference.”

“It’s a great potential in this team, I have to admit. I mean, look at the quality.”

The JBL's one-import rule benefits nobody. The bj-league new two-import rule for the first and third quarters is, an almost decent concept for an inrasquad scrimmage, and nothing else.

Actual fear of foreigners isn't what I believe is happening here, but actual fear of progress.


Putting as many Japanese players and coaches in the best possible position to challenge for quality jobs in the European leagues, the NBA Development League and the NBA should be the top priority, which the Japanese Football Association has figured out.
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The opposite of legitimate...

6/10/2012

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The bj-league's daily operations are rarely professonal. This succinct entry will focus on two of them.

As a league observer states:

"The bj-league 'tryout' tomorrow is another farce, just like the 'drug test.' There will be guys there tomorrow who've already agreed to terms with teams but are just going through the 'procedure.' We've already seen with (Takumi) Ishizaki and (Narito) Namizato that the tryout/draft is BS."

So, again, I must ask: When will be the league decide it will actually act in a professional manner? When will real leaders be put in positions to make necessary changes?
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Progress?

6/9/2012

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The Iwate Big Bulls went 12-14 under head coach Shinji Tomiyama, who took over as bench boss when the team was 7-19 in January (when Vlasios Vlaikidis stepped down), and they won their final five games of the season. They were one of the most improved teams in the bj-league over the final several weeks of the 2011-12 campaign.

Now they are back to square one as a team, completely rebuilding for their second season. This approach seems pointless, many proven winners will point out.

Did the 31-year-old Tomiyama want to remain the head coach?

Did the team even offer him an opportunity to run the team for a full season?

Those are the key questions.

And this: Did GM Motofumi Iguchi exhibit any trace of patience when looking ahead to the 2012-13 season and realizing his team needs time to build a championship contender? Or does he, like so many other front-office personnel in this league, have the false impression that winning is only a one-year project?

My thought: Whatever progress the Big Bulls made under Tomiyama has been lost. The team will start all over again in the fall.

A league insider, however, offered a different perspective on Saturday evening:

"He (Iguchi) went up there to rescue that situation. Iwate was a disaster. No organization. No ticket sales. No promotion. American players fending for themselves. Players showing up to practice without shoes. Bad contracts. Basically the outside world's image of a bj-league team.
 
"Iguchi had to set up rules for player conduct. Stopped all the free ticket handouts and started actually trying to sell tickets. Got rid of some players whose contracts were unnecessary. Trying to establish a professional framework. That's why he's looking for a new coach."


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Real coaching won't be possible

6/8/2012

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Under commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi's watch, the bj-league has grown more farcical in the past few years.

For the league to regain much-needed respectability, someone else should become the commissioner. Who? I don't know, but the man in charge, and those in key positions of power at the league office are not getting the job done.

And now, for 2012-13, a failed experiment before it even happens, they'll be forcing coaches to handle two separate game plans each game. How so? The first and third quarters next season will limit imports to two-on-the-court per team at once, and three are OK'd for the second and fourth quarters.

No coach in his right mind would ask for this option.

Furthermore, if the coaches in this league actual had a collective voice, they'd vote it down in a heartbeat.

If the league wants to develop Japanese who can become increasingly productive and competitive against imports and, possibly, in the future to play overseas, this is the wrong approach. Japanese basketball remains at a level much lower than most of the world's leagues, and so Japanese needed greater, consistent exposure to competition against as many imports as possible.

This creates an uneven, unnatural, illogical approach to the game.

It's a bad idea during any brainstorming session. It's a horrible idea in practice.


Games will be worse, not better. And that's the fault of those in charge.
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Bad moves

6/8/2012

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Now it's official: Shifting the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix to the Western Conference, as first reported in The Japan Times months ago, is, I think, an incredibly lousy idea while only expansion to the Eastern Conference (Chiba, Yokohama, Shinshu and Iwate in 2010-11 and Tokyo and Gunma next season) takes place. And ... while the West has been the better conference.

If the league had real stability, this wouldn't be such a wacky concept. If the league's alleged leaders actually exhibited leadership and common sense, the present makeup of the league would be dramatically different.

The Eastern Conference's competitiveness is there, sure, but real quality teams are the exception. There are too many teams just starting out, and that also includes Akita, with just two years in the books.

This move also destroys the past four seasons' of rivalries that the Phoenix had created with their Eastern foes.

More food for thought:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/sp20120215eo.html


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Downright asinine

6/6/2012

1 Comment

 
So the Osaka Evessa decided that Ryan Blackwell's tenure with the team must end after two playoff appearances and 67 wins in 102 regular-season games. A winning percentage of 65.68 wasn't a good enough reason to retain him for a third season.

It's too early to call Blackwell one of the greatest coaches in bj-league history, but he had attained a high level of success since taking over as head coach following his retirement as an active (smart, star) player in 2010.

For a historical comparison, read this:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-7962518

The only reason team officials didn't want to bring Blackwell back, he told me in an exclusive interview, had everything to do with his friendship with Lynn Washington, the now-departed two-time MVP with three championship rings who was exonerated of drug charges in a case that stunned the league, starting in mid-March when he was arrested. (A team spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment.)

You'd think that the team owed its fans, the media and Blackwell himself a proper news release, with his won-loss record and accomplishments cited, as well as a quotation from the team's top brass, including ownership about Blackwell's time with the team -- you know public acknowledgement of the success the team had, a genuine thank you. That would have put this awkward changing of the guard in its proper context. Instead, the team did the bare minimum. No surprise, though. In the bj-league, this is often the M.O. And also: What have you done for my lately?

Here's the press release in Japanese:
http://www.evessa.com/news/detail.php?id=2747
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Namizato's NBA dreams

6/5/2012

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Narito Namizato starred for the Ryukyu Golden Kings this season and was one of the top newcomers in the league and one of the most exciting young players.

Can the speedy, talented, 172-cm guard reach the NBA?

Here's Saitama Broncos coach Natalie Nakase's opinion.

"In regards to Namizato, I believe it will be very difficult for him to make the NBA. He will have many obstacles to overcome with his size and many people who will not agree with his dream. I believe he has to get stronger physically, smarter defensively, and develop a very consistent outside shot, especially the NBA 3-point range. On the other hand, his will to work and win could change all of that.


"I only know Namizato from facing him at the All-Star Game (in Saitama), and I asked him what is his goal for next season. He said the NBA without hesitation. With that said, I support young players who go after there dreams, especially when all odds are against you. If he truly wants the NBA, he will sacrifice everything right now and focus 100 percent on improving his game and performing well at tryouts or camps. Be open to every coach, trainer, and mentor who is willing to help. 
 
"From working with a player like (former Tokyo Apache) Cohey (Aoki) last season, proved to me that size didn't matter. Cohey was incredibly smart and always followed the game plan to a T. With his size, he knew how to disguise it on the defensive end and was always in the right spots.  Offensively, Cohey was at most times, our go-to (guy) in close games.  So that explains how effective he was for us. Cohey also was the hardest worker on the team, getting there an hour early every practice and staying after to work on his shot or FTs. The reason I mentioned Cohey (167 cm), is because he's proof that size doesn't matter." 

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He'll coach a fourth team

6/4/2012

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Motofumi Aoki, a veteran sideline supervisor, will become the first coach in bj-league history to be hired by four franchises, probably for the 2012-13 season.

He has led the Takamatsu Five Arrows, defunct Tokyo Apache and Shinshu Brave Warriors since 2006, winning Coach of the Year accolades in the Five Arrows' inaugural season.

A bit more background on Aoki-san from an April 1, 2007 article:
What is your favorite NBA team and why?

The Minnesota Timberwolves are my favorite team because the (previous) head coach of the team, Dwane Casey, is my friend.

(Timberwolves Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale fired Casey on Jan. 23 after he posted a 53-69 record as the team's coach.)

Casey was the coach of the Japanese Enterprises team, and he was coaching a women's team in Japan.

Dwane Casey was a Seattle SuperSonics assistant coach and he really liked Japan.

Casey's team gave my team a clinic 10 years ago.

(While living in Japan for five years, Casey also coached with legendary Pete Newell on the Japan national team.)

Have you and Casey stayed friends for a long time?

I believe that Casey is my teacher as a basketball coach, and because I cannot speak English so much I cannot make contact using the phone, but still I believe he's my friend and also a teacher.

Casey remembers me, I believe.

Who is your favorite NBA player now?

Kobe Bryant, because he can score a lot, 50 points in every game. A player who can score is a very attractive player.

Full story:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/sk20070401i1.html
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    Ed Odeven

    I'm a sports writer, columnist and editor for The Japan Times.
    This site is an extension of my work covering the bj-league. News, commentary, notes, quotes and anecdotes about the bj-league.

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