Blog Archives

In a nutshell...

9/23/2012

Reading The New York Times today, I came across the following quotation that summarizes what is a major problem in the bj-league, which is built for one thing: constant change. And those who are leading the teams and the league have not figured out a way to demand stability.

The quote is in regard to the NFL, but it's talking about ownership

From a letter to the editor, one astute observer pointed out this about the owners: "The inability to comprehend what success is and what it takes to achieve it and maintain it."

Without this recognition and necessary changes in the leadership structure and team and league operations, more and more fans will give up and lose interest in the league, as many I've known for several years have done, including diehard fans of the three-time champion Osaka Evessa, the league's first dynasty.

0 Comments

Reader reaction

9/14/2012

0 Comments

Well, I must admit it's nice to get feedback from readers, whether it's comments that support a story's theme or the views expressed in a column, or perhaps criticism and/or different perspectives. All are good. All keep the conversations going and the debates flowing.

On Friday, one reader submitted an email reaction to the lead item in this week's notebook (No. 217 in a project that began in the fall of 2006).

Here's the notebook:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/sk20120914n1.html

Here's the reader's reaction to what Tim Greene, a quality referee with NBA exhibition game experience under his belt (as a replacement ref during the 2009 referee lockout) who sees the big picture and advocates real professionalism in the bj-league, said in the article:

"(This is) why nothing ever gets better in Japanese basketball."

***
My view: Seeing the big picture and embracing those with experience at basketball's highest levels ought to be priority No.1 for the bj-league. Annual officiating camps with NBA personnel ought to be requirements for all bj-league refs. Having big man's camps with a few current or former NBA centers should be mandatory for all Japanese forwards and centers each offseason, and the same should be required of the league's Japanese guards. Think big. Provide tough challenges. Don't settle for mediocrity, which is a major characteristic of the bj-league in all facets of the game.

In short, the "Japanese way" may not be the best way to grow the sport here, as evidenced by decades of failure in international competition.

0 Comments

Commentary: The coming season

9/3/2012

1 Comment

I'm an optimist by nature, and always try to see the glass as half full. But I have little confidence that those running the bj-league know what they are doing. Nor do I believe that they are guiding the league in the right direction.

The 2012-13 season, for example, will feature a wacky rule that requires teams to use two imports in the first and third quarters. Forget about logic and having the normal flow of the game determine which five players a coach puts on the floor. Nope, not in the bj-league. Forget about real coaching; that won't be allowed based on this momentum-suffocating requirement.

A mathematical formula will require teams to have a maximum 2/5ths of their lineup consist of imports for half a game and for the second and fourth quarters that number can be three imports per team, or 3/5ths of their on-court performers.

Does that make sense to you? I doubt it.

Is half the game more important than the other half? No.

But that's the message the league office has forced teams to abide by.

With nonstop expansion (six teams in 2005-06 to 21 for the 2012-13 campaign) for nearly a decade now in a country that lags behind nearly the entire the world in terms of quality basketball players, there is no realist who'll tell you there are enough good Japanese players to suddenly make a greater impact for half the game throughout the season. (This is doing the Japanese pros a disservice, in fact; as the only way Japanese will continue to get better is by facing the best possible competition as often as possible. And that better competition happens to be the imports in the league.)

Quality of play is not the reason for change, of course. It's a cost-cutting measure. (Many teams will now pay the salary of four imports instead of five. The investment on more foreign players, though, is the right one, one that would help the league continue to get better quality Japanese players and better overall competition, day in and day out.)

But is the financial savings going to put more fans in the stands?

Is that going to give the league more revenue?

Is that going to create a much-needed rise in national media coverage?

I hate to say I told you so, but the answers are: No, no, no.

Don't expect the bj-league to have better games this season. Each game will be a game within a game, when three Japanese are required on the floor for each team 50 percent of the time, and the other 50 percent when only two must be there.

Professional athletes need to earn playing time by being, well, good enough to play whenever a coach puts them into the game, and puts them into the game without an absurd pre-determined quota.

By the way, this new rule, an extension of the lousy second-quarter only quota in place for the past two seasons, will also reduce the statistics of many players. Players want to win, they also want to dominate stat categories.

More than a few players will be turned off by the above rule and take their game to another country, knowing they won't post the "big stats" that may get them attention for a shot to play in a big-time league or, you never know, earn a tryout for an NBA team.

Comissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi's league has made a terrible mistake by instituting this rule. That's obvious.

1 Comment

Challenge, improve, grow the sport

9/1/2012

0 Comments

Japanese soccer players, left and right, have left the comforts of home to play in European pro leagues, especially in Germany.

Good idea. Good results, too, as seen by Shinji Kagawa's rise to stardom. He now plays for Manchester United. Takumi Ishizaki is the best Japanese basketball player overseas these days. He plays in Germany (BV Chemnitz 99). The competition is better there, and he benefits from the experience every day.

It's time for more of his basketball-playing compatriots to do the same thing to help them improve as players and be the springboard for the next generation of Japanese basketball, showing that the challenge is well worth it. That the risk of failure is an important step.

Scoring maestro Takuya Kawamura, for example, fits this description perfectly. He can continue to thrive in the JBL or be a force for change by playing far away from home and succeeding. He's young enough (still only 26) to stumble and grow and excel after making necessary adjustments to his game.

0 Comments

In a nutshell...

Reader reaction

Commentary: The coming season

Challenge, improve, grow the sport

Ed Odeven

Archives

Categories