A few numbers from the weekend after 16 teams played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

-Shiga's Yu Okada drained 7 of 10 3-pointers in his team's two victories over Fukuoka.

-Saitama's Kenny Satterfield notched a triple-double (14 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) on Sunday in a loss to Shinshu.

-Osaka held Shimane to 63 or less points in both games to record two victories.

-Poise beyond his years: 19-year-old Makoto Sawaguchi of Iwate made 10 of 12 free throws in Saturday's game against Saitama.

-Getting the job done: guard Kensuke Tanaka had five points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals for Chiba in a 15-point win over Takamatsu on Saturday.

-Led by Lynn Washington's 8-for-10 effort at the foul line, Osaka made 19 of 24 in its 62-59 victory over Shimane.

-Three Oita players had five or more assists on Saturday against Miyazaki, led by Naoto Takushi's six.

-Reggie Okosa made five steals in Ryukyu's four-point win over visiting Kyoto on Saturday.

-Akita forward Kazuhiro Shoji, a smooth-shooting southpaw, is 15-for-29 from 3-point range through Sunday, including 9-for-13 over the weekend against Sendai. 

-Iwate made 29 of 49 2-point shots in Sunday's win over Saitama.

-Osaka made 20 of 21 free throws on Sunday, including Lynn Washington's 11-for-12. Shimane, on the other hand, was 9-for-21.

-Fan's perspective: From an email received today: "Apache ownership group....that's an oxymoron. What they did was screw the largest, most populous city in Japan out of a basketball team. It's strange that Sendai, the small city compared to Tokyo, which was devastated by the quake/tsunami, has its team up and running, and Tokyo still has nothing and they were not really directly affected by the quake/tsunami. Somebody missed Management 101 class."

On Friday, at the team's practice gym, Haleo Dome, Sendai 89ers coach Bob Pierce addressed the media a day before his team's first home game of the 2011-12 season. The Sendai 89ers-Akita Northern Happinets game will be televised by BS Fuji. Tipoff is 4:10 p.m.

His opening remarks were: "Well, for one thing, it's about time we had a home game. Three weeks into the season, it's about time we played at home in front of our fans. We are really excited. I think you can tell by the energy as the guys are shooting around and talking, they're ready to play. They are really looking forward to playing at home.

"So much has happened in Sendai since we last played at home here ... the players, the fans, the boosters, I think everybody wants to see basketball back in action, and I think we're going to come out and play really, really hard.

"We've gotten off to a great start at 3-1, so we are ready to continue that here at home."

Both squads have new looks in 2011-12, what with Sendai hiring Pierce to replace longtime coach Honoo Hamaguchi (now the Kyoto Hannaryz bench boss) and Kazuo Nakamura returning to his hometown to guide the Happinets after two title-winning seasons with the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix. Pierce led Akita last season.

"It's a very different team with a new coach," Pierce said of Akita, "and new foreign players, but it's been fun for me personally watching the games. I really like (Kazuhiro) Shoji and (Yuki) Kikuchi and (Ryosuke) Mizumachi. These are guys that I spent an entire year with, so while I cheer for them individually and hope they do well, when it comes time to play the game we are trying to win.

"So obviously when you go against your former players you have mixed emotions but (Akita is) a very entertaining team with a new style with (point guard Michael) Gardener pushing the ball. They shoot lots and lots of 3-point shots (156 in four games). It's just a very different way to play basketball..."

Pierce called the two-game series a "unique challenge," adding, "our goal is to be No. 1 in Tohoku, and we have to beat Akita to do that."

Asked by a reporter to talk about the 89ers' catch phrase of this season, as the team and region rebuild after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and devastating tsunami, Pierce responded by saying, "I think the main thing is that Sendai's back. I think the whole thing is we've returned as a strong power in the Eastern Conference. That's what we want to show the fans.

"People, some of the American players, after the earthquake asked me, 'Is it safe to live there in Sendai?' The outside world thinks the whole city was wiped out..."

But that's not the case.

"We are alive, we're here, we're back," Pierce declared. "Sendai's back. That's what we want to show the fans and the world."

The new Lakestars coach passed on this insight yesterday.

"I think that the bj-league is a very good league, and every weekend will be a tough challenge for us.
It should make for a very exciting and interesting year."

There's a ratio of 100:1 for articles on the bj-league that appear in The Japan Times vs. the Daily Yomiuri.

Those are the facts.

And yet there are PR directors around the league who fail to recognize that any publicity is good publicity for a league that's starving to gain greater popularity, more sponsors and fans and, of course, more money.

Reporters and columnists have a job to do, and it often involves commentary that isn't glowing or praising everything about everybody. This is pro sports, not a flower show.

Emails have been sent to me complaining of "destructive criticism" and similar things by a certain PR director who'll remain nameless today.

But when his team appears in 10 or 20 other stories that were very positive about his team's players, did he ever issue a thank you? No.

Other PR directors have stooped so low as to ask the league office to underline passages in a story they claim contained lies by a then-fired coach. I spoke to the coach. What he said was what I reported. All of it was true.

This league is now in its seventh season, but there remain certain elements at play here -- childish acts, immaturity, a refusal by some to treat the media as professionals -- that are destroying any momentum the league makes by adding new teams to new markets.

Instead of finding ways to get more media involved in the sport's coverage, this league often tears down those who do the most to raise its profile. And that's a true disgrace.

For instance, read this:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/sp20110206eo.html

On this rainy morning in South Tokyo, three thoughts are swirling through my head:


1. It's great for the bj-league whenever Osaka and Ryukyu square off, as they will today in the first truly meaningful rivalry series of the season.

Between them, Evessa star Lynn Washington and Golden Kings franchise player Jeff Newton, or both, have appeared in all six bj-league title games, three as teammates of Osaka when the powerhouse won titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

When Newton left Osaka and headed for the Ryukyu islands, he helped transformed the second-year team into a title contender in 2008, and a natural rivalry formed between the two teams. It's been terrific to follow.

Players on both teams have kept this rivalry interesting, fresh and highly competitive since then, too. Now, with five-time All-Star Cohey Aoki on Washington's side and Narito Namizato on Newton's, new pieces have been added to both team's championship aspirations.

2. Michael Katsuhisa and Geoffrey Katsuhisa will be on the sidelines as assistant coaches for the first time today on opposite teams, as Michael's Yokohama B-Corsairs and Geoffrey's Chiba Jets -- two expansion teams -- square off. Both guys know their Xs and Os and provide fast, thorough, accurate translations for head coaches Reggie Geary and Eric Gardow, respectively.

In the future, their sibling rivalry could grow into something bigger if both young men become bench bosses in this league. Stay tuned.

3. Iwate Big Bulls coach Vlasios Vlaikidis leads his team into action this weekend against the Akita Northern Happinets. The games will be only the third and fourth in Iwate team history, and coming off a bye week Vlaikidis noted “we need games.”

He said earlier this week that after eight games he’d start to be able to make measured analysis of his players and the team as a whole.

Yes, it takes time to know if a brand new team is progressing along the path its leader has mapped out.

Every story has a deadline, and Wednesday's Hoop Scoop was published before I received the following comments from former NBA player David Benoit, who also played in the JBL and bj-league. He also coached the Saitama Broncos and Kyoto Hannaryz before moving on to Qatar, where he's the coach for the Al Sadd Sports Club.

Here's how Benoit views the current impasse between the players association and the owners/David Stern alliance:

"Well, I would like for them to play, but I'm not in the middle of this one," Benoit wrote in an email. "Thank God. This is the end of the NBA as we know it. Things are changing fast all around the world. I think the money or dollar will be worthless soon. America is not the same place I left in 2002. I hope I can watch the NBA soon, because it beats watching the news in horror every hour."

Friday's weekly notebook in The Japan Times will highlight a number of topics as the league gets ready for 18 games this weekend.

Among the items planned are a look at Yokohama coach Reggie Geary's thoughts on his team after winning two of its first four games. Also, included will be an examination of the way Saitama forward John Flowers has started his pro career, especially on the defensive end.
"We just have to realize that night in and night out in this league, it’s very competitive and that you have to come out with a focused effort,” Geary said, describing his team’s outlook as an expansion team.

In addition, look for insight on Ryukyu guard Narito Namizato's role with the team and the challenges he'll face this season.

Here is Wednesday's Hoop Scoop column, taking a look at the current NBA lockout and the views of current Yokohama B-Corsairs coach Reggie Geary, who played for Cleveland and San Antonio, and former Kyoto Hannaryz guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a longtime NBA player.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/sp20111019eo.html