Who are the teams intensely competing for Japan's B.League title this year?
TOKYO (Japan) - Japan’s B.League tipped off it's fourth season on Friday, October 2. Who are the teams competing for the title this season?
TOKYO (Japan) - Japan’s B.League tipped off it's fourth season on Friday, October 2. Opening day saw two of the best teams in the league play against each other in two-time champions Alvark Tokyo and Kawasaki Brave Thunders. The remaining 18 teams all saw action in the following two games days on Saturday and Sunday.
There will be 20 teams across two conferences playing in Division 1 of the B.League this season as opposed to 18 teams across three conferences last year. Two teams were promoted from Division 2 this past season while no teams were relegated from Division 1, as a result of the cancellation of the previous season due to the COVID-19 situation.
Not only will the B.League be featuring the top stars of Japan basketball, they will also be shining the spotlight on stars from all around the world as well as some of the most promising prospects in Asia.
We're already one weekend through the new season, but it's never too late to take a quick look at how the teams are looking this year!
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Eastern Conference |
Western Conference |
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Levanga Hokkaido |
Shinshu Brave Warriors |
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Akita Northern Happinets |
San-En NeoPhoenix |
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Utsunomiya Brex |
Mikawa SeaHorses |
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Chiba Jets |
Nagoya Diamond Dolphins |
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Alvark Tokyo |
Shiga Lakestars |
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Sun Rockers Shibuya |
Kyoto Hannaryz |
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Kawasaki Brave Thunders |
Osaka Evessa |
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Yokohama B-Corsairs |
Shimane Susanooo Magic |
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Niigata Albirex BB |
Hiroshima Dragonflies |
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Toyama Grouses |
Ryukyu Golden Kings |
Eastern Conference
Levanga Hokkaido (Previous Season : 13-27) [/unordered]It’s a new era for Levanga Hokkaido, now that legend Takehiko Orimo has retired. National team veteran Ryota Sakurai is still here, but Hokkaido will need a lot more to start building up from last season where they finished last place in their conference.
26-year-old Takuya Nakayama has been appointed team captain for the Happinets this season after averaging 6.7 points and 3.6 assists per game last season. Still, the key for Akita’s success will be former Finals MVP, Takatoshi Furukawa, who averaged 8.7 points last season.
The Brex won B.League’s inaugural season title back in 2017 and have continued to be perennial contenders. The team is littered with national team stars including former league MVP Makoto Hiejima, former NBA player Yuta Tabuse, veteran Kosuke Takeuchi and recent national team debutant Ryan Rossiter. Combine that with defensive stud Yusuke Endo and rising star Kai Toews and you can understand why experts always have the Brex pegged as one of the favorites year in and out.
The Jets have come painfully close to winning their first ever B.League title in the recent years, with two consecutive trips to the Finals. Both trips however, ended in heartbreaking loses to rivals Alvark Tokyo. Nonetheless, this is a team that finished with a B-League all-time best 52-8 record in 2018-2019 and features league superstar Yuki Togashi. The floor general and team captain has been a member of the B.League Best 5 in all four previous seasons, capped with an MVP year in 2019. He averaged 14.4 points and 6.5 assists last season for the Jets. Chiba will also be featuring Sebastian Saiz, a member of the Spanish national team, as one of their foreign players this year.
Alvark Tokyo are currently the top class of the B.League with back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 on their resume. They looked like heavy favorites to complete the three-peat last season, holding on to the league’s best record before action was suspended. Defense is Alvark’s strength and each player has bought into coach Luka Pavicevic’s system from reigning MVP Daiki Tanaka to everyone else including Seiya Ando and Alex Kirk, among others. Aside from being B.League’s best, Alvark are also among Asia’s best as well as they are the defending FIBA Asia Champions Cup winners after two straight years of reaching the Finals. It’s only fair to call them the team to beat this season.
Shibuya were on pace towards their best season yet in the B.League, thanks to the improved play of national team prospect Leo Vendrame. The 26-year-old guard average double-digit scoring in yet another season while also putting up career-highs in steals and assists. Ryan Kelly will also return this season as the Sun Rockers’ foreign player which should open up the floor for sharpshooter Kosuke Ishii (46.3 percent from three-point range) who joined the team last season.
The Brave Thunders are another team that experience great success in each B.League season. The 2017 finalists have never finished a season with less than 40 wins, aside from last season where they were on pace to accomplish nonetheless. Kawasaki are as loaded as ever this season, highlighted by their one-two punch of national team members Ryusei Shinoyama and Nick Fazekas. Yuma Fujii is coming off a breakout year after winning both the Sixth Man of the Year award and the Defensive Player of the Year award with averages of 12.1 points, 4.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per contest. Naoto Tsuji, Yuto Otsuka, and Naoya Kumagae could easily be featured starters on nearly any other team in the B.League, and they are all here on the Brave Thunders’ roster.
Yokohama continued to struggled getting out of the bottom of the table last season, but there were promising signs moving forward. Aki Chambers shined in his first season with the team, averaging 10.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He’s going to need much more help, which may come in the form of recently picked up foreign player Robert Carter who has experience playing in the B.League in the previous season.
Niigata took a huge drop from being a top 3 team in 2018-2019 to a 31.7 percent win record last year. 40-year-old national team vet Kei Igarashi is still serviceable and 36-year-old Kimitake Sato was a nice off-season pick up, but Niigata will need more youth to get back to being above the .500 win rate mark.
Toyama are trending the right direction after two woeful first season in the B.League. Though they seemed headed to miss the playoffs last season, there are plenty of young players lined up to improve this year. 29-year-old Naoki Uto should still be the star of the team after averaging 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game last season. He’ll be supported by two youngsters in 2020 Newcomer of the Year Satoru Maeta (11.5 points per game on 39.9 percent three-point shooting) and 2019 Newcomer of the Year Yuta Okada who spent the past two seasons with SeaHorses Mikawa.
Western Conference
Shinshu Brave Warriors (Previous Season : 40-7, Promoted from Division 2) [/unordered]The Shinshu Brave Warriors have finally made their way to the top division of the B.League and they are really aiming to make quite the splash. The new kids on the block were among one of the two teams to exercise the new Asian Player Quota for B.League teams, locking up Korean youth national team standout Jae Min Yang for the upcoming season. Things might be a bit rocky in the beginning, but there will be plenty of eyes on Shinshu especially from Japan’s regional neighbors.
For a team that finished last season with an abysmal, they kept their spirits high. That’s because NeoPhoenix had signed on young rising star Yuki Kawamura as a special designated player last year and the teenager proved his worth by having a spectacular season for a small sized young point guard. There’s similar hopeful vibes for this coming season, as NeoPhoenix were able to recruit Thirdy Ravena to join their ranks. The athletic Filipino guard will be filling in the team's Asian Player Quota this season and will hopefully bring a fresh energetic vibe to the club who can only be on it’s way up from here on out.
The SeaHorses have gone from a Finals appearance in the inaugural season to Regular season to champ to recently missing out the postseason altogether. There will be plenty of star power on the team in Kosuke Kanamaru, Takuya Kawamura, Devantae Gardner, as well as promising youngster Ko Kumagai, but they’re going to have to prove on the court that they are as good as they seem on paper this season.
After two straight postseason appearances, the Diamond Dolphins dipped back into the lower half of the standings last season. With relatively young key players in Shuto Ando (26), Tenketsu Harimoto (28), and Takumi Saito (25), they should rise back towards the upper half of the table this year.
The youth movement of the Lakestars has proven to be effective as they finished with a winning record for the first time. Kevin Hareyama should be able to step up as the team’s key player along with a solid group of foreign players from Jordan Hamilton to Australia’s Angus Brandt.
Kyoto have had decent seasons in the past, but not been able to show that they can crack into being among the top teams in the B.League. 34-year-old national team veteran Keijuro Matsui had an inspirational comeback season last year, averaging 12.0 points on 47.2 percent three-point shooting in his first season with Kyoto. They are going to need that (and more) to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Osaka’s dreams of making it to the playoffs were cut short as the previous season was cancelled. Nonetheless, they had one of the best records in the conference and it seems like they might be able to improve even more on that this year. With interesting previously foreign-based rookies in Eliet Donley and Taiga Jack Komamizu set to make their debuts, Osaka might just be one of the most intriguing teams to watch this season.
The Magic returned to Division 1 one year after being relegated last year and they have the chance once again this year to remain among Japan’s top clubs. It will be a tall task after losing some of the top talents in the roster, but the opportunity is theirs to lose.
Do not underestimate the Dragonflies and evaluate them as just the recently promoted team. Off-season pickup Ryo Tawatari is ready to contribute immediately along with incoming rookie, Enomoto Shinsaku (Isaiah Murphy). They might not instantly be contenders, but they also won’t roll over and take an easy defeat.
Ryukyu are - ahem - the Kings of the West, coming into each and every season and title contenders. The highly talented backcourt combo of Narito Namizato and Ryuichi Kishimoto will always spell trouble for opposing teams, but that doesn’t mean the Golden Kings do not have depth.
FIBA