Aishin Wins JBL 2008 (Photo:JBL) Season 2007-08 List of Players List of Imports Japanese Abroad JBL Standings 1. Aishin 26-9 2. Toyota 21-14 3. OSG 20-15 4. Panasonic 18-17 5. Mitsubishi 18-17 6. Hitachi S. 16-19 7. Toshiba 13-22 8. Hokkaido 8-27

JBL Pro Superleague Stats Leaders Points Per Game Estill OSG 24.88 Williams HOK 24.69 O'Bannon TOY 24.17 Hawkins OSG 23.50 Klette PAN 20.97 Rebounds Per Game Estill OSG 16.03 Custis PAN 12.49 Cornell HIT 12.06 Newton HOK 10.97 Smith TOS 10.71 Assists Per Game Hawkins OSG 7.53 Campbell TOY 6.17 Custis PAN 4.60 Sakurai HOK 4.06 Kashiwakura MIT 4.03 Steals Per Game Hawkins OSG 2.29 Honeycutt MIT 2.26 Kashiwagi AIS 2.21 Custis PAN 2.09 O'Bannon TOY 1.57

Aishin Seas Horses Roster 2007-08
Suzuki	Maye	Sakuragi	Kashiwagi	Takeuchi	Sako

	Maye James	201 (6'7'')	G	81
32	Sakuragi J.R.	206 (6'9'')	C	76
3	Kashiwagi Shinsuke	183 (6'0'')	G	81
1	Takeuchi Kosuke	205 (6'9'')	C/F	85
2	Sako Kenichi	179 (5'11'')	G	70
22	Amino Tomoo	195 (6'5'')	F/G	80
34	Setoyama Kyosuke	187 (6'2'')	G	82
10	Naya Koji	190 (6'3'')	G	73
0	Komiya Kunio	188 (6'2'')	G	75
11	Yamaguchi Kentaro	191 (6'3'')	F	76
43	Takatsuji Kanetaka	194 (6'5'')	F	73

   All Star Games 2007-08

   Aisin takes the JBL title
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.

1st Team All-JBL
Kashiwagi	Bangura	O'Bannon	Estill	Takeuchi

1st Team All-JBL
Shinsuke Kashiwagi of Aisin Seahorses
Alpha Bangura (197-F/G-80, college: St.John's), Aisin Seahorses
Kosuke Takeuchi of Aisin Seahorses
Charles O'Bannon of Toyota Alvark
Marquis Estill, OSG Phoenix

2nd Team All-JBL
Cliff Hawkins, OSG Phoenix
Takehiko Orimo (190-G-70) of Rera Kamuy Hokkaido
Michael Takahashi (198-F-74) ofToyota Alvark
Jawad Williams (204-F-83, college: N.Carolina) of Rera Kamuy Hokkaido
Ace Custis (202-F-74, college: Virginia Tech) of Panasonic Trians

All-Domestic Players Team
Kei Igarashi (180-G-80) of Hitachi Sunrockers
Takehiko Orimo of Rera Kamuy Hokkaido
Joji Takeuchi (205-C-85) of Hitachi Sunrockers
J.R. Henderson-Sakuragi (206-C-76, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: UCLA) of Aisin Seahorses
Kosuke Takeuchi of Aisin Seahorses
Takuya Kawamura (191-G-86) of OSG Phoenix

All-Imports Team
Cliff Hawkins of OSG Phoenix
Alpha Bangura of Aisin Seahorses
Ace Custis of Panasonic Trians
Charles O'Bannon of Toyota Alvark
Marquis Estill of OSG Phoenix

All-Defensive Team
Kei Igarashi of Hitachi Sunrockers
Shinsuke Kashiwagi (183-G-81) of Aisin Seahorses
Ace Custis of Panasonic Trians
Kosuke Takeuchi of Aisin Seahorses
Marquis Estill of OSG Phoenix

All-Newcomers Team
Kosuke Takeuchi of Aisin Seahorses
Joji Takeuchi of Hitachi Sunrockers
Yusuke Okada (185-G-84) of Toyota Alvark
Shohei Kikuchi (190-F/G-85) of Toshiba Bravethunders
Akihito Inoue (198-F-84) of OSG Phoenix
Takumi Ishizaki (188-G-84) of Toshiba Bravethunders

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

PG href="https://basketball.asia-basket.com/player/Shinsuke-Kashiwagi/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).