Fukushima Firebonds

The Fukushima Firebonds (福島ファイヤーボンズ (Fukushima Faiyābonzu)) is a professional basketball team based in Kōriyama, Fukushima that plays in the bj league, the top-tier professional basketball league of Japan. The team entered the league as an expansion team in the 2014–15 season.[1]

Fukushima Firebonds
LeaguesB.League
Founded2013
History2014–present
ArenaKoriyama General Gymnasium
(capacity: 7,056)
LocationFukushima Prefecture
Team colorsFuchsia
    
Main sponsorNiraku Pachinko
PresidentEiji Miyata
Head coachTomohiro Moriyama
OwnershipShikigaku Co., Ltd.
Championships0
Websitehttps://firebonds.jp/

In July 2015, it was announced that the team will compete in the second division of the B.League, a new league in Japan set to begin play in 2016–17.[2]

History

In May 2013 Fukushima Prefecture was announced as the successful bidder for an expansion franchise to enter the 2014-15 season of the bj-league. The league management included the region's recovery from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the long-term feasibility of the bidding company, Fukushima Sports Entertainment, as reasons for the successful bid.[3]

In June 2014, the team announced Hiroki Fujita as the inaugural head coach.[4]

As an expansion team, the Firebonds received the first pick in the 2014-15 rookie draft, selecting forward Shota Kanno, a Fukushima Prefecture native. Takumi Masuko was selected in the second round.[4] In July 2014 the team signed American players James Hughes and Nick Thompson as their two foreign players.[5]

2014-15 season

The team commenced play in the bj-league in October 2014 and had their first regular-season win in a match against the Aomori Wat's on 5 October 2015.[6] The team finished the season with a 21-31 record,[7] securing a playoff berth in the second-last game of the regular season.[8] They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs 0-2 by the Iwate Big Bulls.[9]

2015-16 season

During the off-season, the team renewed the contract of Fujita as head coach [10] and signed Le'Bryan Nash, Joseph Taylor and Stephan Van Treese as import players.[11] Masaya Karimata was named team captain and Kenya Tomori was named vice-captain.[12]

Current roster
Fukushima Firebonds roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.Name
SF 1 Shaheed Davis
SG 2 Shinnosuke Tokugawa
PG 5 Kenya Tomori
PG 8 Shinya Murakami
PG 9 Yuji Kanbara
SG 10 Hiroaki Kikuchi
C 15 Tshilidzi Nephawe
SF 18 Toshifumi Kawamitsu
SF 21 Shota Kanno
SG 24 Dai Suzuki
F/C 25 Staphon Blair
PF 32 Shuhei Muto
PG 33 Kiichi Kikuyama
Head coach

Tomohiro Moriyama

Assistant coach(es)

Kimitoshi Sano

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: 2019

Notable players

Coaches

Results by year

Bj-League
SeasonRegular SeasonHead CoachNotes
WinsLossesWin %Placing
2014-15[7]2131.4047th (East)Hiroki FujitaEliminated in first round of playoffs[9]

Arenas
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gollark: Here's a "helpful" illustration.
gollark: Consider the scenario: there are two boxes before you. One of the boxes (let us call it "A") is transparent and contains £10000, which you can see. The other box ("B") is opaque. It contains £1000000 if and only if the entity running this weird scenario predicted (beforehand) that you'll take box B and not box A. Historically, it has been right the vast majority of the time about this. Your options are to take both boxes, or just to take B. What do?!
gollark: Anyway, while I exist, Newcomb's paradox is a fun if not particularly related problem in decision theory.

References
  1. Odeven, Ed (2 October 2014). "Key questions entering 10th season". Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  2. Nagatsuka, Kaz (29 August 2015). "JPBL finalizes division placements for 2016-17". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  3. "2014-2015新規参入チーム決定" [Decision Concerning 2014-15 Expansion Team] (in Japanese). 27 May 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  4. Odeven, Ed (6 June 2014). "Fukushima Firebonds draft forwards Kanno, Masuko". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  5. Odeven, Ed (31 July 2014). "Gunma hires longtime NBA assistant Parker as new coach". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  6. Odeven, Ed (11 October 2014). "Shiga outplays Gunma in first bj-league contest for ex-NBA coach Parker, center Ely". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  7. Odeven, Ed (30 April 2015). "Sixteen teams ready to battle for title in expanded playoffs". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  8. Odeven, Ed (25 April 2015). "Fukushima earns playoff berth as first-year franchise". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  9. Odeven, Ed (5 May 2015). "Fukushima makes great progress in first season". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  10. "Firebonds renew Fujita's contract". The Japan Times. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  11. "【ニュース】福島ファイヤーボンズ　選手契約締結のお知らせ" [[News] Fukushima Firebonds Contracted Players] (in Japanese). 1 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  12. "【ニュース】2015-2016シーズン　キャプテン・副キャプテン決定のお知らせ" [[News] 2015-16 Season Captain and Vice-Captain Announced] (in Japanese). 20 August 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
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