The Tokyo Excellence, who are in their first season in the National Basketball Development League (formerly the JBL2), have posted a splendid 29-3 record to date. The club is aiming to win the championship in the four-team playoffs this weekend.
¡°It¡¯s unbelievable, because we are a first-year (NBDL) organization,¡± said Olson, whose Excellence finished second in the regular season behind the Toyota Tsusho Fighting Eagles (30-2). ¡°And in Tokyo, it¡¯s hard to have a professional team and be successful because of fans, money, sponsors. So we did a great job, putting them together quickly.¡±
The Excellence are not a completely unknown club in Japan basketball circles. The club first competed in the All-Japan Championships, also known as the Emperor¡¯s Cup, in 2002. (In addition, Bob Pierce, who has coached in both the JBL and bj-league, was the team¡¯s first bench boss from 2002-05.)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.