What do the Iwate Big Bulls and Kyoto Hannaryz have in common besides being first-place teams?
Long-serving head coaches Dai Oketani of the Big Bulls and Honoo Hamaguchi of the Hannaryz both worked on former Arizona State men¡¯s basketball coach Rob Evans¡¯ staff before the bj-league¡¯s inception in 2005. Hamaguchi worked under Evans for the 2003-04 season; Oketani was on staff from 1999-2003.
Eastern Conference-leading Iwate rides a 14-game winning streak into this weekend¡¯s games and has a league-best 15-1 record; Kyoto sits atop the Western Conference with a 14-2 mark.
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