B. League All-Star Weekend highlights resurgence of Japan

MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on my Mind) - It was not very long ago when Japanese basketball was at its lowest. Japan missed the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA Asia Championship 2013 and were banned from international competition a year later. They had two opposing professional basketball leagues that had no semblance of synergy, and this set-up aided in needlessly diffusing the talent available at the highest level in the country.

That was then, though. Things have changed in a big way, and Japanese hoops is on the rise anew. They finished among the top four in the FIBA Asia Championship 2015, played quality basketball in the FIBA OQT 2016 and finally united their two professional leagues into one — the all-new B. League, which just had their first ever All-Star Weekend.

And, wow, what a weekend it was. It was packed with activity, it drew throngs of fans and, perhaps most importantly, it was really entertaining. I mean, athletes soared, shooters punctured the hoops and highlights galore were uploaded on social media. The Yoyogi National Gymnasium was rocked with Japanese hoop nuts nearly 10,000-strong standing, yelling and leaping off their seats.

It was the kind of atmosphere that was unthinkable a couple of years ago, but this inaugural All-Star Weekend underscores one thing close observers of Asian basketball have known for months — aggressive and swift changes have transformed Japanese basketball for the better and have legitimized their resurgence.

The Japanese national teams had banner years in 2015 and 2016, and they started 2017 the best way possible with this awesome All-Star Weekend. The event was organized and promoted efficiently, and it delivered in spades.

Local Japanese guards were speedy as hell and sharp from the perimeter. Athletic imports and bigs launched themselves for acrobatic plays. Oh, and former national team coach Tom Wisman steered the B. Black side over B. White for a lopsided 117-95 result.

Not surprisingly, two of the quickest playmakers in Asia led the way for the Blacks. Former NBA player Yuta Tabuse teamed up with former NBA D-League point guard Yuki Togashi spearheaded their team's ball-handling and ball movement, combining for 12 of their squad's 31 assists.

That performance actually helped Togashi, who plays for the Chiba Jets, become the first ever B. League All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. Aside from 6 dimes, the Montrose Christian High School alum recorded 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block and, get this, his first ever in-game slam dunk at the pro level!

"That was the first dunk in my life," Togashi said. "It felt really good."'

Imports Justin Burrell and Diante Garrett actually led B. Black in scoring with 18 and 27 points respectively, but none seized the fans' imagination as much as Togashi, who was just running circles around everybody. In many ways, Togashi is the embodiment of Japanese hoops - fluid, fast, and exciting - and the All-Star Game just made us yearn to see him in a Team Hayabusa kit this year.

"I’m really happy about it," Togashi said to media after being named MVP. "But I couldn’t have done it without the help of my teammates."

This superb performance came at the heels of Togashi's leading the Chiba Jets to an unexpected title run in the 2017 Emperor's Cup, and it has been a stellar run for him since then.

National team mainstay Makoto Hiejima also impressed for B. Black with 15 points, while former youth team star Seiya Ando added 10.

As for the losing team, former national team sniper Kosuke Kanamaru drained 4 triples for 14 points, while Joji Takeuchi of the Tokyo Alvark had 8 points.

The All-Star Game, of course, was not the sole attraction. The three-point shootout went well, too, with Shigehiro Taguchi of the Akita Northern Happinets emerging as the victor. The 1.84m shooting guard, who just missed the cut for Japan's FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 roster, needed 22 points to defeat Kanamaru in the contest's final round, and that's just what he did. It came down to his final shot, and Taguchi nailed the "money ball" to beat Kanamaru.

Naturalized player Ira Demon Brown, meanwhile, added more sheen to the proceedings by winning the Slam Dunk Contest. Brown, who played for Team Hayabusa in the FIBA Asia Challenge, received 55% of fans' votes with his repertoire of highlight-reel-worthy jams. He is expected to be in the mix when Japan forms their national pool for the FIBA Asia Cup later this year.

"It’s an honor to win the very first dunk contest," Brown said. "I really appreciate the fans’ support."

When the stands were emptied, the shouts faded and the lights switched off, all the B. League fans went home feeling something because because they witnessed amazing. It was more than just an All-Star Weekend. It was Japanese basketball flying high once again.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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