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.
Showing posts with label addition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label addition. Show all posts
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.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Miyazaki improves roster with addition of Mims
It's the time of the season for teams to add reinforcements as they begin jockeying for playoff positions.Exhibit A: The Miyazaki Shining Suns signed high-scoring forward O'Neal "Trey" Mims earlier this week. The 208-cm veteran averaged a team-high 19.3 points in 20 games for the Sendai 89ers before he was released last week due to undisclosed reasons.Mims gives Miyazaki (10-12) a potent scoring weapon as the club fights to stay in the thick of things in the playoff race. He's a capable defender and a solid all-around player.Look for other teams to make similar moves in the coming weeks.Former Oita and Sendai forward Mike Bell is reportedly looking to join a bj-league club, probably Osaka, in the coming days, a source told The Japan Times.Mims, meanwhile, welcomes the change of scenery."I feel blessed to be part of the team," the Angelo State product said in a statement posted on Miyazaki's website, "and I'm very excited to contribute to the team in any way I can. Please continue to support us and I will do anything necessary to take this team to the playoffs."After leading scorer Reggie Okosa's departure from the team last week, the Ryukyu Golden Kings are expected to add another player to fill his roster spot."Okosa's replacement? He is a returnee," a source said, fueling speculation about several talented imports who've suited up for bj-league teams in recent years."You know I am a little bitter. (Center) Chris Ayer is the perfect role player for the Kings. Besides Jeff's performance in the Western finals (in 2009, a 50-point game against Osaka), Chris was the X-factor in winning the championship and they didn't bring him back," he added, referring to Jeff Newton's iconic game, the single greatest individual accomplishment in league history."Obviously, coach Dai (Oketani) liked him or he wouldn't have brought him from Oita," he continued, citing that Oketani, the former Oita bench boss, and Ayer worked together for the HeatDevils."(Ryukyu president/general manager Tatsuro) Kimura didn't like him and that's why they didn't resign him. Not only did they not sign him, Kimura put bad info about him through the league so nobody else would sign him. The guy is working his ass off in the D-League (NBA Development League) and he reminds me of the Kyoto players, quiet and blue collar."Ayer has played 11 games for the D-League's Reno Bighorns this season. He's averaging 8.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks through Wednesday.Tyler update: NBA rookie forward/center Jeremy Tyler is driving a Ferrari, the San Francisco Chronicle has reported. And photos of Tyler's new luxurious ride are circulating on the Internet.The former Tokyo Apache player made history on Christmas Day by stepping on the floor against the Los Angeles Clippers. He is the first former bj-league player to be drafted by an NBA club. The Charlotte Bobcats made him the 39th overall selection and traded him to the Golden State Warriors for $2 million on draft day in June.Through three games, Tyler has seen limited playing time logging a minute per game in two games (he didn't play in the other contest), but he's in the world's best league and this is where he's always dreams of playing, he's said on numerous occasions.Quotable: "We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and unfortunately we won in the first half and lost in the second." — Yokohama coach Reggie Geary, reflecting on his team's performance on Wednesday after an 80-79 defeat to Toyama.Upcoming schedule: In an abbreviated slate during the New Year's holidays, Miyazaki plays host to Oita on Monday and Tuesday, while Ryukyu takes on visiting Fukuoka. Niigata renews its rivalry with Hamamatsu on Tuesday and Wednesday. There's a full slate of games on tap next weekend.Closing commentary: The Saitama Broncos have never been talked about as one of the league's up-and-coming teams, as a championship contender or as a well-run organization. Entering the 2012 portion of their schedule, the Broncos will have this distinction: the worst record among this season's non-expansion Eastern Conference teams.The first-season Chiba Jets are 10-12, followed by a pair of expansion teams, Yokohama B-Corsairs and Shinshu Brave Warriors (both at 9-13). The Broncos are 7-15, and the Iwate Big Bulls, who also entered the circuit this fall, are 7-17."What does it mean when the bottom five teams in the East are the four expansion teams plus Saitama?" one hoop observer wondered.It points to a shaky foundation in the Saitama front office, it says here, and lousy leadership. And it's a reminder that teams with a knack for winning get the proper support from the front office, investing in stability and making roster upgrades year after year.The Broncos, now 100-188 since the bj-league began in 2005, do not have those chief traits.Do you have a story idea about the bj-league? Send an email to edward.odeven@japantimes.co.jp
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