Japanese JBL / BJ-League 2011-2012 Season

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The Aishin SeaHorses will enter the 2012 JBL Playoffs as the top seeded team.

JBL 2012 Playoff Bracket

Aishin SeaHorses vs. Panasonic Trians

Hitachi SunRockerz vs. Toyota Alvark

I expect Aishin to win the series against Panasonic. JR Sakuragi and his squad will face a team lead by bigman Fumihiko Aono alongside the fiery trio of Kenta Hirose, Hiroyuki Kinoshita and Kosuke Kanamaru.

Meanwhile, the Hitachi - Toyota series will pit Joji Takeuchi vs. Kosuke Takeuchi.

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JBL 2012 Playoff Bracket

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I am still proud of Levanga Hokkaido. We finished as the fifth team overall in the JBL 2011-2012 regular season. Exceeded expectations as the bottom dwellers. We were just behind two games after the Panasonic Trians. We did better than Link Tochigi Brex. Until the 2012-2013 JBL Season.

Levanga Hokkaido

2011-2012

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For Link Tochigi Brex, this was an utter disaster. They finished 6th overall in the regular season. Considering their core of Yuta Tabuse, Takuya Kawamura, Ken Takeda, Daiji Yamada, Shunsuke Ito, Tomoo Amino, Sean Hinkley and their imports, they were strong contenders prior to the season.

We saw a team still looking for an identity on the court. Maybe next season, the team can do better.

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BJ-League Weekend Games

March 30 - March 31, 2012

Chiba Jets vs. Iwate Big Bulls

March 31 - April 1, 2012

Toyama Grouses vs. Shimane Susanoo Magic

Shinshu Brave Warriors vs. Takamatsu Five Arrows

Saitama Broncos vs. Sendai 89ers

Kyoto Hannaryz vs. Okinawa-Ryukyu Golden Kings

Oita HeatDevils vs. Shiga Lakestars

Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix vs. Akita Northern Happinets

Rizing Fukuoka vs. Niigata Albirex

Osaka Evessa vs. Miyazaki Shining Suns


-Shimane has two winnable games and it is against Toyama.

-Perhaps the most interesting series is the Hamamatsu - Akita games where two eastern conference giants collide.

- Osaka is in an acid test wherein they are without Lynn Washington due to alleged drug trafficking and center Wayne Marshall will be missing four weeks due to injury.

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The Aishin SeaHorses are primed for a title run in the 2012 season. Last season, Aishin ended the season as the top team prior to the cancellation of the league due to the March 11 disaster. At the start of the season, many players felt that they could have won the championship had the season pushed on and the playoffs rolled around. Fast forward a year later, Aishin finds themselves as the top seed.

In their lost to the Toyota Alvark in the Emperor's Cup, they had been playing at a high level with a score to settle.

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A big part of Panasonic's success for this season is rookie sensation Kosuke Kanamaru. He entered the league being the hotshot from Meiji and since then, he had shown flashes of a potential top JBL player. During the regular season, Kanamaru averaged 15.7 points per game, but his January totals topped 19.4 points per game.

Kanamaru has been drawing comparisons to the best guard in the league, Takuya Kawamura, though Kanamaru was modest enough to brush aside the comparisons and admits that he looked up to Kawamura and Takehiko Orimo when he was growing up. His dream is to play in the Olympics someday and in the World Cup.

We will see on how he performs against the veteran squad that are the Aishin SeaHorses. But Kanamaru does not need to score on his own, he has Charles O'Bannon, Fumihiko Aono, Kenta Hirose and Hiroyuki Kinoshita to play with.

They are underdogs as well. Girls love him too.

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There has been a championship for Toyota Alvark in the offseason when Kosuke Takeuchi joined them. With Kosuke's addition, Toyota were catapulted into the contenders' echelon. But the road to the JBL championship lies through the playoffs. To start, Kosuke and his Toyota Alvark will clash in another fate meeting with his twin brother, Joji Takeuchi and the Hitachi SunRockerz.

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Osaka Evessa star Lynn Washington have been cleared of drug charges. It is unclear at the moment if Washington will return to with the team.

At the moment, Washington is ruled out for Osaka's weekend games.

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The Hitachi SunRockerz are preparing for their bout with the Toyota Alvark. The team believes that they can beat Toyota. Joji Takeuchi has plenty of support from imports Jamar Smith and Christian Maraker. In the perimeter, gunners like Taiji Sakai, Daisuke Kobayashi, Fumio Nishimura alongside their veterans make Hitachi a dangerous foe.

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The Shimane Susanoo Magic dropping their first game against the Toyama Grouses 72-61. The series clincher is later tonight and Shimane is hoping to split the series.

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Shimane Susanoo Magic did bounced back with a 75-70 win against the Toyama Grouses. Michael Parker exploded with 31 points while bigman Jeral Davis with 15 points and 20 rebounds.

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JBL Awards 2012

Most Valuable Player:
JR Sakuragi (Aishin SeaHorses)

All JBL Team:
JR Sakuragi (Aishin SeaHorses)
Joji Takeuchi (Hitachi SunRockerz)
Takuya Kawamura (Link Tochigi Brex)
Takehiko Orimo (Levanga Hokkaido)
Shinsuke Kashiwagi (Aishin SeaHorses)

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The Saitama Broncos and BJ-League may have seen the last of Kenny Satterfield. The former NBA point guard has been released and now back in the United States. It has been a miserable season for him. Conflicted clashes with Dean Murray and his erratic minutes of ups and downs under Nathalie Nakase was an indicator that trouble was brewing.

Satterfield too had troubles this season that is not team related and more in line with distractions off the court.

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The JBL Semi-Finals Weekend will wick off today.

Toyota Alvark vs. Hitachi SunRockerz

Aishin SeaHorses vs. Panasonic Trians.