This article first appeared on SportsLook, JAPAN Forward's dedicated sports website.
The Koshigaya Alphas (14-3) have the best overall record among the combined 38 teams in the B.League's first and second divisions through games of Sunday, November 27.
In the pandemic-shortened 2021-22 campaign, the Alphas went 25-23, but management's ambitious goals for this season revolved around a push to earn promotion from B2 to the top flight.
The Saitama Prefecture-based team's success this season has been fueled by a pair of seven-game winning streaks.
Koshigaya lost its season-opening match (72-62 to the Nishinomiya Storks on October 1), then rattled off seven consecutive victories.
After an 85-80 defeat to Altiri Chiba on October 26, seven more wins followed for Alphas bench boss JR Sakuragi's team before the streak ended with an 82-71 setback to the host Aomori Wat's on Sunday.
Indeed, in any sport, 14 victories in a 17-game stretch raises a team's profile and expectations for success as a season marches on.
In the B.League, teams play 60 regular-season games. Therefore, the Alphas' overwhelming success so far represents almost 30% of their full schedule.
So what has defined the B2-leading Alphas' season to date?
Exceptional rebounding (38.6 per game, No. 1 in the 14-team second division) and a dominant defense.
How dominant?
Koshigaya has held opponents to under 80 points in all but three games this season.
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Author: Ed Odeven
Follow Ed on JAPAN Forward's [Japan Sports Notebook] here on Sundays, in [Odds and Evens] here during the week, and Twitter ＠ed_odeven, and find him on JAPAN Forward’s dedicated sports website, SportsLook.
