Japanese JBL / BJ-League 2011-2012 Season

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The JBL hopes to have a stellar season after its halted 2010-2011 season due to the March 11 quake. While the BJ-League opens the year with an unprecedented 20 Team League.

The BJ-League is set to welcome the four new expansion teams on their first season of play. The Shinshu Brave Warriors, Chiba Jets, Iwate Big Bulls and Yokohama B-Corsairs are all set to take action.

Shinshu Brave Warriors



Chiba Jets



Iwate Big Bulls



Yokohama B-Corsairs

While the three BJ-League teams, Tokyo Apache, Saitama Broncos and the Sendai 89ers who cut their 2010-2011 season short, have confirmed their return.

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Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix head coach Kazuo Nakamura, after piloting the franchise to two consecutive championships, has accepted the coaching helm with the Northern Akita Happinets.

Nakamura will fill in the void left by former Akita head coach Bob Pierce.

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The Niigata Albirex have announced that they will not renew the contract of head coach Masaya Hirose. Hirose has been the coach of Niigata for eleven years; including when Niigata were still in the JBL.

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Eastern Conference

Iwate Big Bulls
Akita Northern Happinets
Sendai 89ERS
Niigata Albirex BB
Toyama Grouses
Shinshu Brave Warriors
Saitama Broncos
Chiba Jets
Tokyo Apache
Yokohama B-Corsairs
Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix


Western Conference

Shiga Lakestars
Kyoto Hannaryz
Osaka Evessa
Shimane Susano Magic
Takamatsu Five Arrows
Rising Fukuoka
Oita Heat Devils
Miyazaki Shining Suns
Ryukyu Golden Kings

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Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix has promoted assistant coach Ryuji Kawai as the new head coach.

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Link Tochigi Brex guards Masaharu Kataoka and Narito Namizato have signed up for training with the Emerald City Basketball Academy (Seattle, WA) with both being free agents.

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Draft Day is on June 16, 2011.

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Kyoto Hannaryz will not renew the contract of head coach Kazuto Aono and Assistant Coach Daniel Stafford.

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Draft Day is on June 16, 2011.

Is this college draft or import draft?

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Is this college draft or import draft?

Its the college draft. Currently, the BJ-League are accepting applicants from Colleges and Universities as there will be pre-draft camps for applicants in Niigata and Tokyo.

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Saitama Bronco's (BJ-League) star Kazuya Hatano has been reportedly being fielded offers from JBL Teams like the Toyota Alvark and Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins as Hatano is a free agent this off-season.

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The Shiga Lakestars have announced that former Melbourne Tigers head coach Alan Westover will be the new head coach for the 2011-2012 Season.

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TOKYO APACHE ANNOUNCES SUSPENSION OF THE 2011-2012 BASKETBALL SEASON

Tokyo, Japan (June 7, 2011) – The management of the Tokyo Apache basketball team (“Tokyo Apache”) hereby announces that it will be suspending operations for the upcoming 2011-2012 bj-league basketball season. The suspension is due to an inability to secure business partners and sponsors in the timeframe imposed by the bj-league. The Tokyo Apache management noted that the business climate for securing commitments from both current and new business partners and sponsors deteriorated significantly in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011.

“This is a very unfortunate decision for our organization” said Apache team President Chris Hetherington. “We have worked tirelessly in pursuing all avenues to salvage the 2011-2012 basketball season but were just not able to do so in the required time-line.”

The Tokyo Apache is working closely with the bj-league and its staff to mitigate the effect of this decision. Although the decision to suspend the 2011-2012 season is unfortunate, the Tokyo Apache is committed to continuing its current relief efforts for the benefit of those that were devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011.

The Tokyo Apache management would like to sincerely thank all of its peers, fans and supporters and apologize for any inconvenience this decision may have caused.

The Los Angeles based owners of the team have slashed operational funding to the point where it cannot sustain the franchise. Which is LA have seen both local and US based sponsors and partners pull out from the team.

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Local star players like Cohey Aoki, Jumpei Nakama and Kensuke Tanaka along with the rest of the local players for the Tokyo Apache are now all Free Agents.

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Okinawa Rykukyu Golden Kings have announced that head coach Dai Oketani have agreed on a one year contract extension to coach the team for the BJ-League 2011-2012 season.

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The BJ-League have officially announced that it will withdraw from the Annual All-Japan Tournament due to the tourney's restriction of each team fielding only one foreigner on the team. The BJ-League allows five imports on which three can be fielded all at once.

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The Toyama Grouses have fired Head coach Kazuaki Shimoji and is reported to be screening new candidates.

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Sam Murakami, the agent of Shimane Susanoo Magic's Takumi Ishizaki; revealed that his client is exploring the possibility of playing in European Domestic Leagues like Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Germany and France.

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According to sources, two groups have confirmed interest on purchasing the Tokyo Apache and will meet with BJ-League Commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi next week, on Monday.

The first group is headed by American Businessman Todd Wiley who is currently residing on the Kanto region. The second group is lead by Dan Weiss, a former NBA Director of Business in Japan.

Representatives from the Tokyo Apache's parent company and franchise operator, Evolution Capital Management which is based in Los Angeles California, were not available for comments.

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Sam Murakami, the agent of Shimane Susanoo Magic's Takumi Ishizaki; revealed that his client is exploring the possibility of playing in European Domestic Leagues like Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Germany and France.

Maybe Portugese Division II (no disrespect to rik ), other than that I find it hard to believe.