Sports

[JAPAN SPORTS NOTEBOOK] Chiba Jets Adapting to New Coach John Patrick's Style of Play

With more than one-fourth of the season complete, the Chiba Jets are thriving under Patrick's leadership, relying on high-energy play and tenacious defense.

Published

1 year ago

December 11, 2022

Ed Odeven

Chiba Jets guard/forward Takuma Sato defends Akita Northern Happinets player Takatoshi Furukawa on December 4 at Funabashi Arena. (B.LEAGUE)

This article first appeared on SportsLook, JAPAN Forward's dedicated sports website.

Changing coaches or managers creates an adjustment period for professional sports teams in all sports, including the Chiba Jets, one of the B.League's perennial powerhouses.

Sixteen games out of 60 (more than 25%) to open Japan's 2022-23 pro basketball season is a pretty big sample size to analyze new head coach John Patrick's impact on the Jets.

By all visible signs, the Jets (13-3, tied for the best record in the 24-team league with the Ryukyu Golden Kings through Sunday, December 4) remain a title contender.

Defense is the foundation of the team's success, a building block of Patrick's overall coaching approach.

And with about 1 minute remaining and his team leading the Akita Northern Happinets 75-67 on Sunday, December 4 at Funabashi Arena, Patrick, a former Stanford University guard (1987-91) stood on the sidelines and enthusiastically encouraged his players to "D-up, D-up!"

It's an abbreviated reminder to play defense, to give a strong effort in limiting the other team's scoring opportunities.

Patrick's plea didn't change the course of the game. But it sent a strong reminder from the sideline that he's paying attention to every detail during every game.

Read the full story on SportsLook.

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.