Storming the lane: Yokohama's Draelon Burns drives on Akita's Kazuhiro Shoji in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series on Thursday night at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium. Yokohama won the series 2-1. KAZ NAGATSUKAYOKOHAMA — Self-assurance has been a recurring theme for the Yokohama B-Corsairs throughout their inaugural season.They fought the two-time defending champion Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix to a season-opening loss in overtime back in October, and came back the next day and earned a series split.They hovered around the .500 mark for several weeks before finding their stride, getting a big boost from key acquisition Draelon Burns and closing the regular season with 22 wins in their last 30 games to post a 31-21 record and earn the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed for the bj-league playoffs.And, after outlasting the Akita Northern Happinets on Friday night, they have advanced to next weekend's Final Four at Ariake Colosseum.It's a stunning accomplishment for a first-year franchise in the 19-team league.Now they await the winner of the Hamamatsu-Niigata Albirex BB series, which was scheduled to begin on Saturday."I am confident in my team, and we are preparing to give ourselves a fighting chance at winning a championship," Yokohama coach Reggie Geary said recently."Obviously, we are very happy," Geary said in a crammed press room. "This is a historic day for the B-Corsairs organization."Akita defeated Yokohama 82-69 in Game 2 of the high-stakes series before a rowdy crowd of 2,120 at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium to force a mini-game tiebreaker: two 5-minute periods after a 20-minute intermission. The mini-game ended this way: Yokohama 18, Akita 15.In Game 2, the Happinets, playing fierce and focused, were led by 22-year-old shooting guard Shigehiro Taguchi's 20-point outburst, four 3s and 8-for-14 shooting from the field. Akita star Ricky Woods had 18 points and nine rebounds as Yokohama's 10-game winning streak ended.Power forward Justin Burrell, the 2011-12 MVP as a rookie, paced the B-Corsairs with 21 points and 17 rebounds.Like he had done a week earlier after a two-point loss to the Sendai 89ers in the series opener, the Northern Happinets' wily bench boss, Kazuo Nakamura, got his players to bounce back in a must-win rematch the next day.(Akita blitzed Sendai, using an 18-0 run to start the second game and force the tiebreaker.)Against Yokohama, Akita led 18-16 after one quarter, and held a one-point edge at halftime. The hot-shooting Happinets erupted for 28 third-quarter points, running disciplined sets and moving the offense with precision. Despite trimming the deficit to single digits on a couple occasions late, the hosts fell short.Burrell, the team's go-to player all season, wouldn't let it happen again. He scored the team's first nine points of the mini-game. In a signature moment highlighting the team's trust in its top scorer, center Chas McFarland's lob to his frontcourt mate earned Burrell a trip to the foul line, and he calmly sank two free throws to make it 9-5."From day one, when we started practice, I knew JB was an excellent player," McFarland said, citing what he had learned about Burrell's college career at St. John's. "He's really led by example and worked hard every day in practice."More important, McFarland noted, "he doesn't let (success) go to his head."But as always, the rapid-fire Happinets still had a shot. A Woods layup cut it to 9-7, but B-Corsairs captain Masayuki Kabaya's runner pushed the lead back to four, and moments later Burrell completed a layup-and-one to give Yokohama a 15-9.Happinets forward Lionel Green's 3-pointer pulled them within 15-12 before Kenji Yamada and Burns sank free throws down the stretch for the hosts, the latter's two foul shots coming after gunner Kyle Swanston's 3-ball pulled Akita within one in the closing seconds.Burns' free throws represented the final points of the series, with Green's 3 off the mark at the buzzer.Yokohama secured the mini-game win at the charity stripe, taking 15 free throws (making 10, including Burrell's 6-for-9) to Akita's zero."Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in for us," Burrell said, describing his team's somewhat tense demeanor in Game 2. "But you have just got to keep doing the other things — defense. . ."This included Burns' 4-for-13 shooting, Burrell's 7-for-16, Marcus Simmons' 1-for-6 and Kenji Yamada's 2-for-6."I'm so proud of this group of players. They fought through adversity," added Burrell, with McFarland, Kabaya and Kenji Yamada sitting beside him in the interview area.Lumping Game 2 and the mini-game together, Burrell described it as "the most physical and exhausting game we've played all year."Before the mini-game, Geary kept his message simple as his team returned to the court to face the pesky Happinets, who were 0-4 against the B-Corsairs in the regular season.He penciled in the names of Burns, Kabaya and Yamada in the backcourt and Burrell and McFarland for the mini-game lineup, sticking with the starting five that has worked so effectively during the team's improbable run to the Final Four."I just relied on these guys to get the job done," Geary said.It worked. And Yokohama's season resumes next weekend with a golden opportunity for the team to establish a greater fan base throughout Kanagawa Prefecture."Japanese fans are very loyal and supportive, and once the people of Yokohama and Japan become more exposed to the sport, it will only grow," Geary said."Our very first road game we had a traveling party of one fan. In the final regular-season games of the year that were on the road, we had a traveling party of 40 vociferous fans. . . . We still have some work to go to get more fans, but the future is bright."
Showing posts with label Yokohama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yokohama. Show all posts
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Surging Yokohama continues amazing season, advances to Final Four
Storming the lane: Yokohama's Draelon Burns drives on Akita's Kazuhiro Shoji in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series on Thursday night at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium. Yokohama won the series 2-1. KAZ NAGATSUKAYOKOHAMA — Self-assurance has been a recurring theme for the Yokohama B-Corsairs throughout their inaugural season.They fought the two-time defending champion Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix to a season-opening loss in overtime back in October, and came back the next day and earned a series split.They hovered around the .500 mark for several weeks before finding their stride, getting a big boost from key acquisition Draelon Burns and closing the regular season with 22 wins in their last 30 games to post a 31-21 record and earn the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed for the bj-league playoffs.And, after outlasting the Akita Northern Happinets on Friday night, they have advanced to next weekend's Final Four at Ariake Colosseum.It's a stunning accomplishment for a first-year franchise in the 19-team league.Now they await the winner of the Hamamatsu-Niigata Albirex BB series, which was scheduled to begin on Saturday."I am confident in my team, and we are preparing to give ourselves a fighting chance at winning a championship," Yokohama coach Reggie Geary said recently."Obviously, we are very happy," Geary said in a crammed press room. "This is a historic day for the B-Corsairs organization."Akita defeated Yokohama 82-69 in Game 2 of the high-stakes series before a rowdy crowd of 2,120 at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium to force a mini-game tiebreaker: two 5-minute periods after a 20-minute intermission. The mini-game ended this way: Yokohama 18, Akita 15.In Game 2, the Happinets, playing fierce and focused, were led by 22-year-old shooting guard Shigehiro Taguchi's 20-point outburst, four 3s and 8-for-14 shooting from the field. Akita star Ricky Woods had 18 points and nine rebounds as Yokohama's 10-game winning streak ended.Power forward Justin Burrell, the 2011-12 MVP as a rookie, paced the B-Corsairs with 21 points and 17 rebounds.Like he had done a week earlier after a two-point loss to the Sendai 89ers in the series opener, the Northern Happinets' wily bench boss, Kazuo Nakamura, got his players to bounce back in a must-win rematch the next day.(Akita blitzed Sendai, using an 18-0 run to start the second game and force the tiebreaker.)Against Yokohama, Akita led 18-16 after one quarter, and held a one-point edge at halftime. The hot-shooting Happinets erupted for 28 third-quarter points, running disciplined sets and moving the offense with precision. Despite trimming the deficit to single digits on a couple occasions late, the hosts fell short.Burrell, the team's go-to player all season, wouldn't let it happen again. He scored the team's first nine points of the mini-game. In a signature moment highlighting the team's trust in its top scorer, center Chas McFarland's lob to his frontcourt mate earned Burrell a trip to the foul line, and he calmly sank two free throws to make it 9-5."From day one, when we started practice, I knew JB was an excellent player," McFarland said, citing what he had learned about Burrell's college career at St. John's. "He's really led by example and worked hard every day in practice."More important, McFarland noted, "he doesn't let (success) go to his head."But as always, the rapid-fire Happinets still had a shot. A Woods layup cut it to 9-7, but B-Corsairs captain Masayuki Kabaya's runner pushed the lead back to four, and moments later Burrell completed a layup-and-one to give Yokohama a 15-9.Happinets forward Lionel Green's 3-pointer pulled them within 15-12 before Kenji Yamada and Burns sank free throws down the stretch for the hosts, the latter's two foul shots coming after gunner Kyle Swanston's 3-ball pulled Akita within one in the closing seconds.Burns' free throws represented the final points of the series, with Green's 3 off the mark at the buzzer.Yokohama secured the mini-game win at the charity stripe, taking 15 free throws (making 10, including Burrell's 6-for-9) to Akita's zero."Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in for us," Burrell said, describing his team's somewhat tense demeanor in Game 2. "But you have just got to keep doing the other things — defense. . ."This included Burns' 4-for-13 shooting, Burrell's 7-for-16, Marcus Simmons' 1-for-6 and Kenji Yamada's 2-for-6."I'm so proud of this group of players. They fought through adversity," added Burrell, with McFarland, Kabaya and Kenji Yamada sitting beside him in the interview area.Lumping Game 2 and the mini-game together, Burrell described it as "the most physical and exhausting game we've played all year."Before the mini-game, Geary kept his message simple as his team returned to the court to face the pesky Happinets, who were 0-4 against the B-Corsairs in the regular season.He penciled in the names of Burns, Kabaya and Yamada in the backcourt and Burrell and McFarland for the mini-game lineup, sticking with the starting five that has worked so effectively during the team's improbable run to the Final Four."I just relied on these guys to get the job done," Geary said.It worked. And Yokohama's season resumes next weekend with a golden opportunity for the team to establish a greater fan base throughout Kanagawa Prefecture."Japanese fans are very loyal and supportive, and once the people of Yokohama and Japan become more exposed to the sport, it will only grow," Geary said."Our very first road game we had a traveling party of one fan. In the final regular-season games of the year that were on the road, we had a traveling party of 40 vociferous fans. . . . We still have some work to go to get more fans, but the future is bright."
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Addition of Burns has made difference for Yokohama
The Yokohama B-Corsairs were a solid, hard-working team before guard Draelon Burns arrived in the port city and donned the team's colorful uniform for the first time.
The catalyst: Yokohama B-Corsairs guard Draelon Burns helped the expansion team string together nine straight wins to end the regular season. DOMINIKA FITZGERALDBut by signing Burns, the first-year franchise transformed itself into a very good basketball team.Yokohama went 14-14 in its first 28 games. Since then, with Burns appearing in the final 24 games, the B-Corsairs are the league's most improved — and hottest — team, going 17-7 in that span, including nine straight wins to close out the regular season.The B-Corsairs (31-21), who finished the regular season in second place in the 10-team Eastern Conference, will make their playoff debut on Thursday. The visiting Akita Northern Happinets, who eliminated the Sendai 89ers on Sunday in a wild first-round series, will meet Burns and his teammates in the Thursday-Friday series. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m. at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium.If necessary, a mini-tiebreaker game will be played after Game 2 to determine which team will advance to the Final Four."I would say he's probably been the key player," Sendai coach Bob Pierce said of Burns, analyzing Yokohama's great run to end the season."He's an outstanding 3-point shooter who usually does his best at the end of the game, and I would say the reason they are now in second place . . . because they've totally changed their team by having him come in. That was the one ingredient they were lacking."Burns, a 194-cm DePaul product, averaged 12.8 points in those 24 games, including starts in the final 18 contests. He dished out 64 assists against 38 turnovers and made 31 steals.He also sank 38 3-pointers and shot 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. Burns scored 28 points on April 8 and a season-high 29 on March 25. What's more, he made an eye-popping 55.4 percent of his 2-point attempts (72-for-130)."Draelon Burns has been our only addition this season," said Yokohama bench boss Reggie Geary, the bj-league's 2011-12 Coach of the Year. "I think we've very proud that we kept our nucleus together for the most part almost the entire season. We didn't change around a lot, we invested in our guys and (were) rewarded for that."Draelon's experience, first and foremost, has been a nice addition to our team. His ability to stretch the floor and make plays ... he just makes the game easier for our team to a degree, and that's something we've needed and was nice to get from him."The B-Corsairs didn't instantly thrive with Burns in the rotation. They went 5-5 over his first 10 games with the team, but really learned how to utilize his talents within the flow of the game. In addition, the B-Corsairs held foes to a league-low 72.8 points, while scoring a modest 75.8.Burns, a 26-year-old Milwaukee native, has played professionally in Israel, Iceland and Germany. In college, his scoring average increased from 3.4 points as a freshman to 11.6, 11.6 and 17.6 over the next three seasons. His 17.6 points as a senior in 2007-08 placed him fourth overall in the ultra-talented Big East Conference.Regular-season MVP Justin Burrell, a tough-as-nails power forward, averaged 18.7 points per game and B-Corsairs captain Masayuki Kabaya contributed 10.9 as Yokohama developed a balanced attack on offense.Kabaya has "a real sense for scoring," Pierce said.Burrell praised Kabaya for his all-around abilities and the way he's set the tone for the team since training camp."(Kabaya) leads by example," Burrell said. "He's definitely a vocal leader. . . . He's a tremendous player. He has one of the best fadeaway jumpers I've seen with my own eyes. Now I ran across some big-time players in the Big East, I've played summer leagues and things like that with a lot of pros, but his fadeaway jumper is one of the most deadly I've seen."Akita lost all four meetings with Yokohama this season by single digits: 72-69 on Jan. 28 and 79-72 on Jan. 29 at Yokohama International Swimming Pool; and 80-78 on April 7 and 92-89 on April 8 in Akita. But Happinets coach Kazuo Nakamura has had great success in the bj-league, leading the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix to three Final Fours and back-to-back championships in 2009-10 and 2010-11 before he took over as Akita coach days after the Phoenix's second championship, a move first reported by The Japan Times.After closing out the regular season with four straight wins over the 89ers, Geary looked back on that challenge — facing a team with two 213-cm big men in Rashaad Singleton and Filip Toncinic — as ideal preparation for the playoffs."Just the physicality of it, they are a good defensive team and they've shown that throughout the season," Geary said. "Size-wise, they are on par with Okinawa (Ryukyu Golden Kings) to a degree, so it's good for our guys to see them.
The catalyst: Yokohama B-Corsairs guard Draelon Burns helped the expansion team string together nine straight wins to end the regular season. DOMINIKA FITZGERALDBut by signing Burns, the first-year franchise transformed itself into a very good basketball team.Yokohama went 14-14 in its first 28 games. Since then, with Burns appearing in the final 24 games, the B-Corsairs are the league's most improved — and hottest — team, going 17-7 in that span, including nine straight wins to close out the regular season.The B-Corsairs (31-21), who finished the regular season in second place in the 10-team Eastern Conference, will make their playoff debut on Thursday. The visiting Akita Northern Happinets, who eliminated the Sendai 89ers on Sunday in a wild first-round series, will meet Burns and his teammates in the Thursday-Friday series. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m. at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium.If necessary, a mini-tiebreaker game will be played after Game 2 to determine which team will advance to the Final Four."I would say he's probably been the key player," Sendai coach Bob Pierce said of Burns, analyzing Yokohama's great run to end the season."He's an outstanding 3-point shooter who usually does his best at the end of the game, and I would say the reason they are now in second place . . . because they've totally changed their team by having him come in. That was the one ingredient they were lacking."Burns, a 194-cm DePaul product, averaged 12.8 points in those 24 games, including starts in the final 18 contests. He dished out 64 assists against 38 turnovers and made 31 steals.He also sank 38 3-pointers and shot 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. Burns scored 28 points on April 8 and a season-high 29 on March 25. What's more, he made an eye-popping 55.4 percent of his 2-point attempts (72-for-130)."Draelon Burns has been our only addition this season," said Yokohama bench boss Reggie Geary, the bj-league's 2011-12 Coach of the Year. "I think we've very proud that we kept our nucleus together for the most part almost the entire season. We didn't change around a lot, we invested in our guys and (were) rewarded for that."Draelon's experience, first and foremost, has been a nice addition to our team. His ability to stretch the floor and make plays ... he just makes the game easier for our team to a degree, and that's something we've needed and was nice to get from him."The B-Corsairs didn't instantly thrive with Burns in the rotation. They went 5-5 over his first 10 games with the team, but really learned how to utilize his talents within the flow of the game. In addition, the B-Corsairs held foes to a league-low 72.8 points, while scoring a modest 75.8.Burns, a 26-year-old Milwaukee native, has played professionally in Israel, Iceland and Germany. In college, his scoring average increased from 3.4 points as a freshman to 11.6, 11.6 and 17.6 over the next three seasons. His 17.6 points as a senior in 2007-08 placed him fourth overall in the ultra-talented Big East Conference.Regular-season MVP Justin Burrell, a tough-as-nails power forward, averaged 18.7 points per game and B-Corsairs captain Masayuki Kabaya contributed 10.9 as Yokohama developed a balanced attack on offense.Kabaya has "a real sense for scoring," Pierce said.Burrell praised Kabaya for his all-around abilities and the way he's set the tone for the team since training camp."(Kabaya) leads by example," Burrell said. "He's definitely a vocal leader. . . . He's a tremendous player. He has one of the best fadeaway jumpers I've seen with my own eyes. Now I ran across some big-time players in the Big East, I've played summer leagues and things like that with a lot of pros, but his fadeaway jumper is one of the most deadly I've seen."Akita lost all four meetings with Yokohama this season by single digits: 72-69 on Jan. 28 and 79-72 on Jan. 29 at Yokohama International Swimming Pool; and 80-78 on April 7 and 92-89 on April 8 in Akita. But Happinets coach Kazuo Nakamura has had great success in the bj-league, leading the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix to three Final Fours and back-to-back championships in 2009-10 and 2010-11 before he took over as Akita coach days after the Phoenix's second championship, a move first reported by The Japan Times.After closing out the regular season with four straight wins over the 89ers, Geary looked back on that challenge — facing a team with two 213-cm big men in Rashaad Singleton and Filip Toncinic — as ideal preparation for the playoffs."Just the physicality of it, they are a good defensive team and they've shown that throughout the season," Geary said. "Size-wise, they are on par with Okinawa (Ryukyu Golden Kings) to a degree, so it's good for our guys to see them.Saturday, May 5, 2012
Banner day for Yokohama: Burrell MVP, Geary top coach
The expansion Yokohama B-Corsairs, one of the bj-league's biggest surprises this season, are the hottest team entering the postseason. With nine straight wins, Yokohama has found its stride at the best time as the hunt for a title begins.
Mr. Consistency: Yokohama B-Corsairs forward Justin Burrell led his team to a second-place finish in the bj-league's Eastern Conference as a first-year franchise. DOMINIKA FITZGERALDPower forward Justin Burrell, arguably the league's most consistent player in 2011-12, is the seventh-year circuit's regular-season MVP. He joins an elite fraternity that includes Osaka's Lynn Washington (twice, 2005-06, 2007-08) and David Palmer (2006-07), Ryukyu's Jeff Newton (2008-09) and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa's Wendell White (2009-10) and Jeffrey Parmer (2010-11). But in the league's first three seasons a separate playoff MVP award was not issued.B-Corsairs coach Reggie Geary was selected Coach of the Year. He is the league's second ex-NBA player to be picked for the award. Fellow American John Neumann, a high-scoring forward in his days at Ole Miss before turning pro, guided the Rizing Fukuoka to the Final Four in 2007-08 as an expansion team, and became the league's first foreign coach to earn top honors.Akita Northern Happinets sideline supervisor Kazuo Nakamura picked up the award in each of the past two seasons when he led the Phoenix to a pair of titles.Burrell, affectionately called "JB" by his teammates, started all 52 games for the B-Corsairs (31-21, second-best record in the Eastern Conference) and scored in double figures 51 times. He averaged 18.7 points, ninth-best total in the 19-team circuit, and 9.8 rebounds.The 208-cm rookie, who starred for St. John's in New York City, has been a powerful inside presence for the B-Corsairs and the team's primary option on offense (361-for-693 from 2-point range, only 15 3-point attempts)."It is an honor to be named MVP of the bj-league," Burrell said in a statement released by the team. "I am so happy to bring this award to a great up-and-coming franchise like the B-Corsairs."This award is attributed to the great teammates that I play with," the 24-year-old added. "Last but not least, I would like to thank the owner and management and everyone that works our games."Burrell, also named the league's April MVP, was selected to the Best Five team, which was announced on Wednesday. Also chosen were Hamamatsu center Atsuya Ota, a Japan national team center, Rizing Fukuoka swingman Kevin Palmer, Hamamatsu point guard Jermaine Dixon and Toyama Grouses shooting guard Masashi Joho.By all accounts, Burrell, the Big East's Sixth Man of the Year as a college senior, is a team-first, unselfish player whose nonstop hustling approach to the game earned his teammates' respect from day one. A polished low-post player with an array of scoring moves, Burrell has raised his stocked and will likely play in a higher-level league in the future.St. John's coach Steve Lavin, who mentored Burrell for his last season in a Johnnies uniform, is also impressed with how he's played in Japan.On Twitter, Lavin dished out the following insight: "Justin putting up big numbers, providing leadership and deserving of the Japan bj-league MVP recognition. NBA next!"Geary, 38, has talked about the impact longtime University of Arizona coach Lute Olson had on his career. Playing at Arizona from 1992-96, Geary was known first and foremost for his defense, an on-court stopper who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs for one season apiece before plying his craft for teams in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association, Israel, Portugal, France and Ukraine.Since retiring as a player, Geary has served two stints on the Arizona men's basketball staff and been a head coach for the NBA Development League's Anaheim Arsenal. This season, the B-Corsairs had the league's stingiest defense, holding foes to 72.8 points per game."I would like to thank commissioner (Toshimitsu) Kawachi and the bj-league for this honor and recognition in being named the 2011-12 Coach of the Year," Geary said. "The support I have received from our president, (Kazuo) Hirota, our GM (Naoki) Ogawa, the city of Yokohama and the proud boosters of the B-Corsairs organization has been tremendous."Their support all year has pushed the team and me to do our very best and keep fighting all season."He added: "I want to thank all the B-Corsairs players, my staff and my family for their hard work and trust in what we're trying to accomplish here collectively, none of this would've been possible (without them)."Before shifting his focus to the playoffs, Geary summed up what Wednesday's league honors mean to the upstart franchise, calling it "a great day for the B-Corsairs organization."
Mr. Consistency: Yokohama B-Corsairs forward Justin Burrell led his team to a second-place finish in the bj-league's Eastern Conference as a first-year franchise. DOMINIKA FITZGERALDPower forward Justin Burrell, arguably the league's most consistent player in 2011-12, is the seventh-year circuit's regular-season MVP. He joins an elite fraternity that includes Osaka's Lynn Washington (twice, 2005-06, 2007-08) and David Palmer (2006-07), Ryukyu's Jeff Newton (2008-09) and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa's Wendell White (2009-10) and Jeffrey Parmer (2010-11). But in the league's first three seasons a separate playoff MVP award was not issued.B-Corsairs coach Reggie Geary was selected Coach of the Year. He is the league's second ex-NBA player to be picked for the award. Fellow American John Neumann, a high-scoring forward in his days at Ole Miss before turning pro, guided the Rizing Fukuoka to the Final Four in 2007-08 as an expansion team, and became the league's first foreign coach to earn top honors.Akita Northern Happinets sideline supervisor Kazuo Nakamura picked up the award in each of the past two seasons when he led the Phoenix to a pair of titles.Burrell, affectionately called "JB" by his teammates, started all 52 games for the B-Corsairs (31-21, second-best record in the Eastern Conference) and scored in double figures 51 times. He averaged 18.7 points, ninth-best total in the 19-team circuit, and 9.8 rebounds.The 208-cm rookie, who starred for St. John's in New York City, has been a powerful inside presence for the B-Corsairs and the team's primary option on offense (361-for-693 from 2-point range, only 15 3-point attempts)."It is an honor to be named MVP of the bj-league," Burrell said in a statement released by the team. "I am so happy to bring this award to a great up-and-coming franchise like the B-Corsairs."This award is attributed to the great teammates that I play with," the 24-year-old added. "Last but not least, I would like to thank the owner and management and everyone that works our games."Burrell, also named the league's April MVP, was selected to the Best Five team, which was announced on Wednesday. Also chosen were Hamamatsu center Atsuya Ota, a Japan national team center, Rizing Fukuoka swingman Kevin Palmer, Hamamatsu point guard Jermaine Dixon and Toyama Grouses shooting guard Masashi Joho.By all accounts, Burrell, the Big East's Sixth Man of the Year as a college senior, is a team-first, unselfish player whose nonstop hustling approach to the game earned his teammates' respect from day one. A polished low-post player with an array of scoring moves, Burrell has raised his stocked and will likely play in a higher-level league in the future.St. John's coach Steve Lavin, who mentored Burrell for his last season in a Johnnies uniform, is also impressed with how he's played in Japan.On Twitter, Lavin dished out the following insight: "Justin putting up big numbers, providing leadership and deserving of the Japan bj-league MVP recognition. NBA next!"Geary, 38, has talked about the impact longtime University of Arizona coach Lute Olson had on his career. Playing at Arizona from 1992-96, Geary was known first and foremost for his defense, an on-court stopper who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs for one season apiece before plying his craft for teams in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association, Israel, Portugal, France and Ukraine.Since retiring as a player, Geary has served two stints on the Arizona men's basketball staff and been a head coach for the NBA Development League's Anaheim Arsenal. This season, the B-Corsairs had the league's stingiest defense, holding foes to 72.8 points per game."I would like to thank commissioner (Toshimitsu) Kawachi and the bj-league for this honor and recognition in being named the 2011-12 Coach of the Year," Geary said. "The support I have received from our president, (Kazuo) Hirota, our GM (Naoki) Ogawa, the city of Yokohama and the proud boosters of the B-Corsairs organization has been tremendous."Their support all year has pushed the team and me to do our very best and keep fighting all season."He added: "I want to thank all the B-Corsairs players, my staff and my family for their hard work and trust in what we're trying to accomplish here collectively, none of this would've been possible (without them)."Before shifting his focus to the playoffs, Geary summed up what Wednesday's league honors mean to the upstart franchise, calling it "a great day for the B-Corsairs organization."Saturday, January 7, 2012
McFarland, Yokohama edge Saitama
Chas McFarland made a pair of free throws with 3 seconds remaining as the Yokohama B-Corsairs edged the Saitama Broncos 87-85 on Friday night in the bj-league.McFarland, a Wake Forest product, and Justin Burrell had 20 points apiece for the expansion B-Corsairs (10-13). Masayuki Kabaya scored 14, Marcus Simmons added 12, while ex-Tokyo Apache guard Minoru Kimura and Kenji Yamada handed out seven and five assists, respectively, at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium.John "Helicopter" Humphrey led the Broncos (7-16) with 28 points and Jayme Miller had 14. Kenny Satterfield had 13 points and 11 assists. Humphrey and Satterfield each made five steals.Saitama used a 23-6 spurt to tie it at 43-43 late in the second quarter. Yokohama, which held a 50-27 rebounding edge, led 48-45 at halftime.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Yokohama fires manager Kimura
Yokohama — Yokohama F. Marinos said Friday they have fired manager Kazushi Kimura following the club's loss in the Emperor's Cup semifinals to second-division team Kyoto Sanga.Kimura, 53, will be replaced by 50-year-old coach Yasuhiro Higuchi.Kimura, who greeted players at the clubhouse Friday morning after Marinos' 4-2 extra-time defeat to Sanga the previous day, was given notice of his termination by team president Akira Kaetsu after the match."I wanted to win this title for the players," Kimura said. "I am sorry that I wasn't able to provide the leadership to achieve that result."
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Grouses escape Yokohama with slim victory
YOKOHAMA — The Justin Burrell Show didn't have a happy ending for the Yokohama B-Corsairs on Wednesday afternoon.
Hard earned win: Grouses coach Kazuaki Shimoji speaks at a news conference after his team's 80-79 win over the B-Corsairs on Wednesday in Yokohama. ED ODEVENDespite the rookie forward's career- and franchise-best 40-point performance, the Toyama Grouses emerged victorious, 80-79, after Larry Turner's free throw with no time remaining gave the visitors the win.Toyama held the B-Corsairs (9-12) to 33 second-half points after yielding 28 in the opening quarter at Yokohama International Swimming Pool in the first regular-season meeting between the bj-league clubs. And veteran guard Masashi Joho, a key player on Osaka Evessa, Tokyo Apache and Shiga Lakestars playoff teams in years past, served notice that he's still one of the league's best game-changing forces, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter."Obviously, you never want a game decided by the referee's call, but we are smart enough to realize that the game didn't come down to that play," B-Corsairs coach Reggie Geary told reporters moments later.At the end of a high-energy game, Toyama got the ball back with 20.3 seconds remaining. Pape Mour Faye was whistled for a foul on Turner, who had the ball for a final shot, as time expired. The B-Corsairs looked stunned by the call; the Grouses were excited and then jumping for joy after Turner sank his game-winning shot.The B-Corsairs, who shot 1-for-10 from 3-point range, had six fourth-quarter turnovers and 20 overall, a statistic that was a key factor in ending the team's two-game winning streak.Burrell, who was 14-for-16 at the foul line, and had 10 rebounds and eight turnovers, admitted as much after the game."As a person that's supposed to finish games and be one of the leaders on our team, unfortunately I turned the ball over way too much," said Burrell. "I made a lot of unforced turnovers. . . . I made a lot of passes that if I would've just made one pass and the team made another pass, it would've been a simpler play."Burrell leads the B-Corsairs in scoring (19.0 points per game) and his performance against Toyama (9-10) was a reminder that the first-year franchise expects big things from the 207-cm performer."Obviously, one of the disappointing things is we wasted his 40-point effort today," Geary said. "There's no question and there's no secret on our team that JB and some others are the focal point of the offense. We know how capable he is, and we are very happy with how he is maturing and developing. We just feel with this additional responsibility, as you can see by this press conference today, he is taking it upon himself to take care of the basketball and things of that nature. We are very happy with how he's progressing along."Grouses coach Kazuaki Shimoji, whose team has climbed into fifth place in the 10-team Eastern Conference, said strong third-quarter defense "fueled the team's offense."At halftime, Shimoji said, the Toyama players were reminded they needed to "play more physical" in the second half. He also pointed to his team's improved defense in the second half, which led to 11 Yokohama turnovers.The Grouses faced a 54-40 deficit after Burrell's jam with just over 7 minutes left in the third quarter. But Toyama mounted a comeback to pull within 57-53 late in the quarter.The visitors' game-changing 13-3 run included a big catch-and-shoot 3-pointer by Joho, who was 0-for-7 from the field in the opening half, and a Devin Searcy layup on a give-and-go from Joho that prompted Geary to call a timeout. Then Searcy, who had 11 points and six rebounds, scored again inside to make it 57-53 less than a minute after the break in the action. Only a Faye free throw was added to the scoring total during the remainder of the quarter. That made it 58-53, Yokohama.In an exciting, back-and-forth fourth quarter, Joho was the most effective player on the floor. He was 4-for-6 from the field and 5-for-5 at the foul line. Teammates got him the ball and he made his shots, weaving through traffic with bursts of speed and getting the ref's attention along the way."We know he's one of the better players in the league," Geary said of Joho. "He's dangerous because he's dangerous from the 3-(point range), from mid-range (and) he can get all the way to the rim, and on top of that he's very aggressive."When the team gets into the bonus very early in a quarter, now he's even more dangerous because now he's really in attack mode. Every time you foul him, he goes to the line. So he just ups his game and that's a nod to him."The teams exchanged leads several times in the fourth quarter, with Burrell carrying the B-Corsairs and scoring 11 points in that span, including 7-for-8 at the line.Toyama led 77-74 after Searcy's basket with 1:48 to play. Burrell cut it to a single point by hitting two free throws, and former Tokyo guard Minoru Kimura put the hosts ahead 78-77 on a nifty reverse layup with 1:03 to play. Toyama's Takeshi Mito, who had 17 points, sank two free throws as the Grouses retook the lead, 79-78, with 37 seconds remaining.Burrell made the first of two shots with 21.4 seconds left. That made it 79-79. Then Toyama called a timeout to draw up its final possession. Joho inbounded the ball and the offense worked its plan slowly and methodically before the last-second foul was called.Center Chas McFarland finished with 13 points for Yokohama. Ira Brown had 12 points and seven boards for the Grouses, who had five double-digit scorers."In the second half we got a little down," Geary said. "Our energy level dropped for whatever reason and we started hanging our heads. But in terms of confidence, we were confident enough to get a nice lead in the first half."In the first quarter, Toyama led 4-2 after a Brian Harper (13 points) baseline jump shot. But Yokohama stormed back, using a 12-2 spurt to pull ahead 14-6.The B-Corsairs played an excellent first quarter, getting good looks on offense and repeated trips to the free-throw line (10-for-12 overall). They also relentlessly pursued each rebound, setting the tone for the team's performance in other facets of the game; by quarter's end they held a 16-5 edge in rebounds, with Simmons (14 points and three steals before fouling out) collecting five rebounds to lead the effort.In particular, Burrell, a first-year pro out of St. John's University in New York City, picked his spots wisely and attacked the basket. He had 18 first-quarter points on 7-for-9 shooting, including vicious driving slam dunk (he finished with four dunks), layups and spot-up jumpers. He outscored the entire Grouses squad by one point in the period.Defensively, Geary's charges were aggressive and tenacious, and the Grouses trailed 28-17 entering the second quarter. Joho, Toyama's leading scorer, was 0-for-5 from the field in the first stanza.Yokohama led 46-32 at the break, getting 24 first-half points from Burrell to carry the offense.Elsewhere Wednesday, the host Iwate Big Bulls defeated the Saitama Broncos 85-81.Thomas Kennedy paced the expansion Big Bulls (7-16) with 28 points, Shawn Malloy had 23 points and 11 rebounds and ex-Saitama player Gordon Klaiber had 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Yoshiaki Yamamoto added eight points and six assists.The Broncos (6-15) dropped their sixth straight game and fell into last place.Kenny Satterfield led Saitama with 24 points and John "Helicopter" Humphrey had 23.
Hard earned win: Grouses coach Kazuaki Shimoji speaks at a news conference after his team's 80-79 win over the B-Corsairs on Wednesday in Yokohama. ED ODEVENDespite the rookie forward's career- and franchise-best 40-point performance, the Toyama Grouses emerged victorious, 80-79, after Larry Turner's free throw with no time remaining gave the visitors the win.Toyama held the B-Corsairs (9-12) to 33 second-half points after yielding 28 in the opening quarter at Yokohama International Swimming Pool in the first regular-season meeting between the bj-league clubs. And veteran guard Masashi Joho, a key player on Osaka Evessa, Tokyo Apache and Shiga Lakestars playoff teams in years past, served notice that he's still one of the league's best game-changing forces, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter."Obviously, you never want a game decided by the referee's call, but we are smart enough to realize that the game didn't come down to that play," B-Corsairs coach Reggie Geary told reporters moments later.At the end of a high-energy game, Toyama got the ball back with 20.3 seconds remaining. Pape Mour Faye was whistled for a foul on Turner, who had the ball for a final shot, as time expired. The B-Corsairs looked stunned by the call; the Grouses were excited and then jumping for joy after Turner sank his game-winning shot.The B-Corsairs, who shot 1-for-10 from 3-point range, had six fourth-quarter turnovers and 20 overall, a statistic that was a key factor in ending the team's two-game winning streak.Burrell, who was 14-for-16 at the foul line, and had 10 rebounds and eight turnovers, admitted as much after the game."As a person that's supposed to finish games and be one of the leaders on our team, unfortunately I turned the ball over way too much," said Burrell. "I made a lot of unforced turnovers. . . . I made a lot of passes that if I would've just made one pass and the team made another pass, it would've been a simpler play."Burrell leads the B-Corsairs in scoring (19.0 points per game) and his performance against Toyama (9-10) was a reminder that the first-year franchise expects big things from the 207-cm performer."Obviously, one of the disappointing things is we wasted his 40-point effort today," Geary said. "There's no question and there's no secret on our team that JB and some others are the focal point of the offense. We know how capable he is, and we are very happy with how he is maturing and developing. We just feel with this additional responsibility, as you can see by this press conference today, he is taking it upon himself to take care of the basketball and things of that nature. We are very happy with how he's progressing along."Grouses coach Kazuaki Shimoji, whose team has climbed into fifth place in the 10-team Eastern Conference, said strong third-quarter defense "fueled the team's offense."At halftime, Shimoji said, the Toyama players were reminded they needed to "play more physical" in the second half. He also pointed to his team's improved defense in the second half, which led to 11 Yokohama turnovers.The Grouses faced a 54-40 deficit after Burrell's jam with just over 7 minutes left in the third quarter. But Toyama mounted a comeback to pull within 57-53 late in the quarter.The visitors' game-changing 13-3 run included a big catch-and-shoot 3-pointer by Joho, who was 0-for-7 from the field in the opening half, and a Devin Searcy layup on a give-and-go from Joho that prompted Geary to call a timeout. Then Searcy, who had 11 points and six rebounds, scored again inside to make it 57-53 less than a minute after the break in the action. Only a Faye free throw was added to the scoring total during the remainder of the quarter. That made it 58-53, Yokohama.In an exciting, back-and-forth fourth quarter, Joho was the most effective player on the floor. He was 4-for-6 from the field and 5-for-5 at the foul line. Teammates got him the ball and he made his shots, weaving through traffic with bursts of speed and getting the ref's attention along the way."We know he's one of the better players in the league," Geary said of Joho. "He's dangerous because he's dangerous from the 3-(point range), from mid-range (and) he can get all the way to the rim, and on top of that he's very aggressive."When the team gets into the bonus very early in a quarter, now he's even more dangerous because now he's really in attack mode. Every time you foul him, he goes to the line. So he just ups his game and that's a nod to him."The teams exchanged leads several times in the fourth quarter, with Burrell carrying the B-Corsairs and scoring 11 points in that span, including 7-for-8 at the line.Toyama led 77-74 after Searcy's basket with 1:48 to play. Burrell cut it to a single point by hitting two free throws, and former Tokyo guard Minoru Kimura put the hosts ahead 78-77 on a nifty reverse layup with 1:03 to play. Toyama's Takeshi Mito, who had 17 points, sank two free throws as the Grouses retook the lead, 79-78, with 37 seconds remaining.Burrell made the first of two shots with 21.4 seconds left. That made it 79-79. Then Toyama called a timeout to draw up its final possession. Joho inbounded the ball and the offense worked its plan slowly and methodically before the last-second foul was called.Center Chas McFarland finished with 13 points for Yokohama. Ira Brown had 12 points and seven boards for the Grouses, who had five double-digit scorers."In the second half we got a little down," Geary said. "Our energy level dropped for whatever reason and we started hanging our heads. But in terms of confidence, we were confident enough to get a nice lead in the first half."In the first quarter, Toyama led 4-2 after a Brian Harper (13 points) baseline jump shot. But Yokohama stormed back, using a 12-2 spurt to pull ahead 14-6.The B-Corsairs played an excellent first quarter, getting good looks on offense and repeated trips to the free-throw line (10-for-12 overall). They also relentlessly pursued each rebound, setting the tone for the team's performance in other facets of the game; by quarter's end they held a 16-5 edge in rebounds, with Simmons (14 points and three steals before fouling out) collecting five rebounds to lead the effort.In particular, Burrell, a first-year pro out of St. John's University in New York City, picked his spots wisely and attacked the basket. He had 18 first-quarter points on 7-for-9 shooting, including vicious driving slam dunk (he finished with four dunks), layups and spot-up jumpers. He outscored the entire Grouses squad by one point in the period.Defensively, Geary's charges were aggressive and tenacious, and the Grouses trailed 28-17 entering the second quarter. Joho, Toyama's leading scorer, was 0-for-5 from the field in the first stanza.Yokohama led 46-32 at the break, getting 24 first-half points from Burrell to carry the offense.Elsewhere Wednesday, the host Iwate Big Bulls defeated the Saitama Broncos 85-81.Thomas Kennedy paced the expansion Big Bulls (7-16) with 28 points, Shawn Malloy had 23 points and 11 rebounds and ex-Saitama player Gordon Klaiber had 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Yoshiaki Yamamoto added eight points and six assists.The Broncos (6-15) dropped their sixth straight game and fell into last place.Kenny Satterfield led Saitama with 24 points and John "Helicopter" Humphrey had 23.Thursday, May 19, 2011
Yokohama triathlon rescheduled
The Yokohama race of the triathlon world championship series that had been postponed in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will be held Sept. 18 and 19, the Japan Triathlon Union announced Monday.Yokohama was originally scheduled for May 14 and 15 before the ITU decided to postpone the event last month in light of the nuclear power plant crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.
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