In a game that should've been an Aisin blowout but ended up close
until the game's final 3 minutes, the Aisin Sea Horses held off
Toyota's late charge and hung on for the 93-79 victory in Game 5 of
the best-of-5 JBL ls in Tokyo on Wednesday, winning their first
JBL championship since 2004 and giving them bragging rights as the
first ever champions of the newly formed Japan Basketball League.
Aisin led the Alvark by as many as 15 points at one point in the 2nd
quarter and again in the 4th quarter, but Toyota came back on clutch
shooting by G Yusuke Okada who hit a number of 3-pointers off the
bench. At one point in the 4th quarter Toyota fought back and closed
the gap to within 1 point, but with the always dominant C
J.R. Sakuragi (206-C-76, agency:
Paris Global Sports, college:
UCLA) leading the way, Aisin was able to hold off the rally and
win the game and the JBL title.
Final statistics were not available at this time, but they will be
posted as soon as they become available.
Notes: This title marks J.R. (Henderson) Sakuragi's 3rd JBL
championship since he arrived in Japan during the 2001-02 season as
a mid-season replacement player for Aisin.
Player of the Year:
Shinsuke Kashiwagi (183-G-81) of Aishin Sea Horses Guard of the Year:
Shinsuke Kashiwagi of Aisin Seahorses Forward of the Year:
Charles O'Bannon (198-G/F-75) of Toyota Alvark Center of the Year:
Marquis Estill (206-F-81) of OSG Phoenix Newcomer of the Year:
Kosuke Takeuchi (205-C/F-85) of Aishin Sea Horses Most Improved Player of the Year:
Takuya Sato (197-C/F-83) of MItsubishi Diamond Dolphins Import Player of the Year:
Marquis Estill of OSG Phoenix Domestic Player of the Year:
Shinsuke Kashiwagi of Aisin Seahorses Co-Defensive Players of the Year:
Ace Custis of Panasonic Trians &
Cliff Hawkins of OSG Phoenix Coach of the Year:
Kimikazu Suzuki of Aisin Seahorses
Kashiwagi named MVP of JBL regular season
Shinsuke Kashiwagi
PG href="http://www.asia-basket.com/player.asp?Cntry=JPN&PlayerID=19093">
Shinsuke Kashiwagi (183-G-81) of the Aisin Sea Horses has been named the
MVP of the JBL for the 2007-08 regular season. This is the first time that
the JBL has named a regular season MVP as they have always named an 'MVP'
after the JBL Finals, confusing many as to what the 'MVP' was actually
for-the regular season or the playoffs or both. The 5-11 Kashiwagi led Aisin
to a 26-9 record and a no. 1 seed in the playoffs, which start tomorrow with
Aisin taking on 4th seed Mitsubishi in the best-of-3 1st round matchup.
Along with naming the MVP of the regular season, the JBL also named their
'Best 5' for the 2007-08 regular season. Named to the best 5 team were:
PG Kei Igarashi (HItachi Sun Rockers)
SG Takehiko Orimo (Rera Kamuy Hokkaido)
F Joji Takeuchi (Hitachi Sun Rockers)
F Kosuke Takeuchi (Aisin Sea Horses)
C Marquis Estill (OSG Phoenix)
Notes: With the OSG Phoenix leaving the JBL for the bj-league this
off-season and the Tochigi Brex moving up from the JBL 2 to the JBL, expect
many players to switch teams this off-season. The most highly anticipated
player transfer will be that of SG Takuya Kawamura of OSG. Kawamura, a
rising star and a member of the Japanese national team, will likely leave
OSG and stay in the JBL in order to stay on the national team (as players
from the bj-league are inelgible for national team duty since the league is
not sanctioned by the Japan Basketball Assiociation).
