The top four teams in the B.League's Western Conference have all enjoyed remarkable success at their home arenas this season, with the first-place Hiroshima Dragonflies (23-5) holding the top overall record at home (12-1).
A quick calculation: The West's best squads have a combined 51-8 record at home, winning those games at a 86.4% clip.
The Eastern Conference's best two teams have had similar results while playing in front of their home fans. The Chiba Jets, winners of a league-best 10 straight games, are 24-4, including 14-2 at home.
How about the Alvark Tokyo? They are 22-6, with victories in 13 of their 15 home matches.
Success at home, of course, is an important component of any team's recipe for building a championship-caliber club.
The Dragonflies, who are named after the Miyajima Tonbo dragonfly, earned promotion from the B.League second division (aka B2) after the 2019-20 season. They went 9-46 in their first season in B1, then made a coaching change. Former Yokohama B-Corsairs bench boss Kyle Milling, an American, was appointed the team's new coach.
Milling helped the Dragonflies establish a new identity last season.
As a result, Hiroshima made big strides toward its goal of becoming a title contender, finishing with a 29-28 record in 2021-22.
Great Run for the Hiroshima Dragonflies
The Dragonflies have won 11 of their last 12 games, including seven in a row.
They closed out December 2022 with three straight victories, followed by away wins over the Sendai 89ers on January 1 and 2 (92-66, 84-72) and back-to-back home triumphs over the San-en NeoPhoenix on January 6 and 7 (93-81, 84-74).
Kerry Blackshear Jr paced the hosts with 21 points and 15 rebounds in the weekend opener against the NeoPhoenix. Nick Mayo and Naoto Tsuji added 20 and 17 points, respectively.
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After the series-opening victory over San-en, Blackshear commented on what he felt was the key to victory: "We were able to build a relationship of trust through communication from our daily practice."
The 208-cm Blackshear played at Virginia Tech (2015-19) and the University of Florida (2019-20) before beginning his pro career with the Israeli Premier League's Hapoel Gilboa Galil. Blackshear averaged 14.8 points and 7.9 rebounds as a rookie in 2020-21, then contributed 13.2 and 6.4 for Turkey's Galatasaray last season.
In the rematch, Dwayne Evans paced the Dragonflies with 26 points, Blackshear poured in 20 and Mayo finished with 14
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