Niigata Albirex BB

The Niigata Albirex BB (新潟アルビレックスBB (Nīgata Aubirekkusu BB)) is a professional basketball team based in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Japan that compete in the third division of the Japanese B.League.

Niigata Albirex BB
Leagues	B.League
Founded	1954 (1954)
Arena	City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka
Location	Nagaoka, Niigata
Team colors	Orange and Blue
Main sponsor	Sanko Seika
Championships	2
Website	www.albirex.com
Home Away

Outline

The club was founded in 1954 as the company team of Daiwa Securities, a Tokyo-based securities brokerage. In 1991, it joined the Japan Basketball League. In 2000, the company club was dissolved after NSG purchased it, and the club was moved before the 2000–2001 season to Niigata and renamed Albirex.

In 2004, it joined the bj league along with five other clubs.

Team name transition

• 1954: The Daiwa Securities basketball club
• 1994: The Daiwa Securities Hotblizzards
• 2000: Niigata Albirex
• 2006: Niigata Albirex basketball

Roster

Niigata Albirex BB roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age G 2 Oluwadamilola Yuta Joseph Mosaku 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 22 – (2001-12-05)5 December 2001 G 3 Reon Shibuta 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 26 – (1998-08-22)22 August 1998 G 5 Daichi Tomioka 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) 29 – (1995-02-08)8 February 1995 G 10 Tensho Sugimoto 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 26 – (1998-07-20)20 July 1998 G 14 Keigo Kimura 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 23 – (2000-11-08)8 November 2000 G 17 Shun Watanuki 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 36 – (1987-11-02)2 November 1987 F 25 Rosco Allen 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 31 – (1993-05-05)5 May 1993 F 32 Yuichi Ikeda 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 41 – (1983-07-13)13 July 1983 G 34 Zen Endo 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 25 – (1998-11-05)5 November 1998 F 65 Shogo Tamaki 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 28 – (1996-08-30)30 August 1996	Head coach Casey Owens Assistant coach(es) Takamitsu Fujiwara Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster

Notable players

• Dokun Akingbade
• Zach Andrews
• Wayne Arnold
• David Benoit
• Jared Berggren
• Suleiman Braimoh
• Paul Butorac
• Russell Carter
• Clint Chapman
• Kofi Cockburn
• Bennet Davis
• Mark Davis
• Nick Davis
• Nick DeWitz
• Ronald Draper
• Austin Dufault
• Davante Gardner
• Lamont Hamilton
• Reggie Hamilton
• Makoto Hasegawa
• Ben Handlogten
• Charles Hinkle
• Chris Holm
• Kei Igarashi
• Issa Konare
• George Leach
• Tyrone Levett
• Erron Maxey
• Eric McArthur
• Ryosuke Mizumachi
• Tod Murphy
• Chris Oliver
• Ryan Reid
• Kazuhiro Shoji
• Andre Smith
• Greg Stolt
• Patrick Sullivan
• Michael Takahashi
• Akitomo Takeno
• Antoni Wyche

Coaches

• Osamu Kuraishi
• Matt Garrison
• Fujitaka Hiraoka
• Kazuo Nakamura
• Kazuhiro Shoji
• Shogo Fukuda

Honors

• Japan Basketball League Div.2
  • Champions (2) : 2000/2001, 2001/2002
• bj league
  • Runners-up (1) : 2005/2006
• Asia Professional Basketball Invitation Tournament
  • 4th Place (1) : 2006

Season-by-season records

Cheering on the team to victory.

Year	League	Division	Regular Season			Semifinal		Final		Finish
			Win	Lose	Place	Win	Lose	Win	Lose
2000	JBL	2	12	2	2nd	1	0	1	0	Champions
2001/2002	JBL		14	0	1st	2	0	2	1	Champions
2002/2003	JBL Super League		2	9	6th	---				6th
2003/2004			9	19	8th	---				8th
2004/2005			8	20	7th	---				7th
Season	League		Regular Season					Finish		Average Crowd
			Win	Lose	Win%	GB	Place
2005/2006	bj league		29	11	.725	2.0	2nd	Runners-up		-
2006/2007			25	15	.625	4.0	2nd	4th		3,008
2007/2008			26	18	.591	3.0	East 3rd	6th		3,259
2008/2009			24	28	.462	12.0	East 4th			-

Key:

• Win%: Winning percentage
• GB: Games behind

Arenas

• City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka
• Niigata City Higashi General Sports Center
• Region Plaza Joetsu

Practice facilities

• Nakanoshima Gymnasium

External links

• Official web site (in Japanese)