Fukushima Firebonds
| Fukushima Firebonds | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Leagues | B.League | ||
| Founded | 2013 | ||
| History | 2014–present | ||
| Arena | Koriyama General Gymnasium (capacity: 7,056) | ||
| Location | Fukushima Prefecture | ||
| Team colors | Fuchsia | ||
| Main sponsor | Niraku Pachinko | ||
| President | Eiji Miyata | ||
| Head coach | Ryan Marchand | ||
| Ownership | Shikigaku Co., Ltd. | ||
| Championships | 0 | ||
| Website | https://firebonds.jp/ | ||
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The Fukushima Firebonds (福島ファイヤーボンズ, Fukushima Faiyābonzu) are a professional basketball team that compete in the second division of the Japanese B.League.[1]
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.[2]
In June 2014, the team announced Hiroki Fujita as the inaugural head coach.[3]
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.[3] In July 2014 the team signed American players James Hughes and Nick Thompson as their two foreign players.[4]
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.[5] The team finished the season with a 21–31 record,[6] securing a playoff berth in the second-last game of the regular season.[7] They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs 0–2 by the Iwate Big Bulls.[8]
2015–16 season
During the off-season, the team renewed the contract of Fujita as head coach [9] and signed Le'Bryan Nash, Joseph Taylor and Stephan Van Treese as import players.[10] Masaya Karimata was named team captain and Kenya Tomori was named vice-captain.[11]
Current roster
| Fukushima Firebonds roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Takahiro Kurihara
Updated: March 27, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable players
- Solomon Alabi
- Deon Jones
- Cedric Bozeman
- Shaheed Davis
- Verdell Jones
- Bingo Merriex
- Le'Bryan Nash
- Tshilidzi Nephawe
- Evan Ravenel
- Nigel Spikes
Coaches
Results by year
Bj-League
| Season | Regular season | Head coach | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | Losses | Win % | Placing | |||
| 2014–15[6] | 21 | 31 | .404 | 7th (East) | Hiroki Fujita | Eliminated in first round of playoffs[8] |
| 2015–16 | 30 | 22 | .577 | 6th (East) | Eliminated in first round of playoffs | |
B2 League
| Season | Regular season | Head coach | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | Losses | Win % | Placing | |||
| 2016–17 | 30 | 30 | .500 | 3rd (East) | Tomohiro Moriyama | |
| 2017–18 | 38 | 22 | .633 | 2nd (East) | ||
| 2018–19 | 27 | 33 | .450 | 4th (East) | ||
| 2019–20 | 16 | 31 | .340 | 5th (East) | ||
| 2020–21 | 27 | 31 | .466 | 6th (East) | ||
| 2021–22 | 34 | 18 | .654 | 3rd (East) | Eliminated in first round of playoffs | |
| 2022–23 | 28 | 32 | .467 | 4th (East) | Sano Kintoshi | Eliminated in first round of playoffs |
| 2023–24 | 24 | 36 | .400 | 5th (East) | Eric Weissling Takahiro Kurihara (from December) |
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| 2024–25 | 15 | 45 | .250 | 7th (East) | Takahiro Kurihara | |
Arenas
- Koriyama General Gymnasium
- Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena
- Iwaki General Gymnasium
- Tamura City General Gymnasium
- Aizu General Gymnasium
- Shirakawa City Central Gymnasium
- Inawashiro Town General Gymnasium
References
- ^ B.League. "Bリーグ". Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b Odeven, Ed (6 June 2014). "Fukushima Firebonds draft forwards Kanno, Masuko". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ Odeven, Ed (31 July 2014). "Gunma hires longtime NBA assistant Parker as new coach". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Odeven, Ed (30 April 2015). "Sixteen teams ready to battle for title in expanded playoffs". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ Odeven, Ed (25 April 2015). "Fukushima earns playoff berth as first-year franchise". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ a b Odeven, Ed (5 May 2015). "Fukushima makes great progress in first season". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ "Firebonds renew Fujita's contract". The Japan Times. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ "【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.
- ^ "【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.