National Basketball Development League (Japan)

Last updated April 26, 2019

The National Basketball Development League (NBDL) was a professional basketball league based in Japan. It was a second-tier league below the National Basketball League and was formed in 2013 as the successor of JBL2, the second division of the former Japan Basketball League.^[1] After three seasons the league merged with the National Basketball League and its rival the bj-league to form the B.League.^[2]

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.

The National Basketball League (NBL) was a professional basketball league in Japan run by the Japan Basketball Association (JBA). The first NBL season started in Autumn 2013, replacing the JBA's previous top-flight league, the Japan Basketball League. Below the NBL was the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), which was the successor to the former JBL 2 division.

The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affiliated Japan Basketball Association and the independently operated bj league. The merger had been mandated by FIBA as a condition to Japan having its membership resumed following suspension in November 2014.

History

In 2012 the Japan Basketball Association announced that it was rebranding the Japan Basketball League to the National Basketball League, to commence in the 2013-14 season. At the same time, it was announced that the second division of the JBL would be called the National Basketball Development League. The league commenced in October 2013 with eight of the twelve teams that competed in JBL2 the previous season and Tokyo Excellence, a newly formed team. The other four teams that made up the 12-team JBL2 league did not join the NBDL, with Daytrick Tsukuba and the Hyogo Storks earning promotion to the NBL while the Hitachi Cable Bulldogs (ja ) joined a Kanto corporate league. The Ishikawa Blue Sparks (ja ) sought entry into the NBDL but were denied due to not satisfying the league's capital requirements; the club subsequently announced it would fold at the close of the final JBL2 season.^[3] Three of the NBDL's teams, the Excellence, Toyota Tsusho Fighting Eagles and Renova Kagoshima received associate membership to the NBL, which granted them the possibility of future promotion to the top league. The Fighting Eagles (30-2) finished on top of the standings in the first season of the league, but were defeated by second-placed Tokyo Excellence (29-3) in the championship match.^[4]

The Japan Basketball Association is the governing body of basketball in Japan. Formed in 1930, it is based in Tokyo. The JBA is a member of FIBA and FIBA Asia.

Tokyo Excellence is a Japanese professional basketball club that will compete in the third division of Japan's B.League. Prior to the B.League's establishment, the club played in the National Basketball Development League, winning the championship in all three years of the league's existence. The team's home arena is the Itabashi Azusawa Gymnasium in Itabashi, Tokyo. The team also plays some home matches at the Izumi Citizen's Gymnasium in Tama, Tokyo.

The Cyberdyne Ibaraki Robots is a professional basketball team that competes in the second division of the Japanese B.League.

A team from Miyazaki Prefecture was to join the NBDL for the 2014-15 season to provide an even number of teams in the league, but withdrew in November 2013.^[5] TGI D-Rise, the development club of the NBL's Link Tochigi Brex, relocated to Yamagata Prefecture before the start of the season and was renamed as the Passlab Yamagata Wyverns.^[6]^[7] The Tokyo-based Kuroda Electric Bullet Spirits (ja ) withdrew to compete in the Kanto corporate league and transferred their NBDL membership to the newly-formed Earth Friends Tokyo Z. The result of the changes was that the second season of the league was again contested by nine teams. The Fighting Eagles again finished the regular season in first place with a 30-2 win-loss record, but fell to the Aisin AW Areions in the semi-final. Second-placed Excellence defeated the Areions in the final to claim their second consecutive championship.^[8]

Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Miyazaki.

Link Tochigi Brex is a Japanese professional basketball team based in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. After winning the JBL 2 in 2008, the team currently plays in the National Basketball League.

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of Japan. Its capital is Yamagata.

During the 2015 off-season the merger of the three professional leagues and formation of the B.League was announced, with the NBDL teams placed in the second and third divisions of the new competition.^[2] The final season of the NBDL saw the Tokyo Hachioji Trains join as an expansion club, taking the league to ten teams.^[9] The Fighting Eagles finished on top of the regular season standings for a third consecutive year with a 32-4 record. However, the third-placed Excellence again prevailed in the playoffs, defeating the second-placed Otsuka Alphas in the semi-final before overcoming the Fighting Eagles 89-70 in the final.^[10]

Format

The teams competing in the NBDL were grouped in a single standings table. In the first season, teams played four matches against each other team in the league for a 32-game season, with the four highest-placed teams advancing to the semi-finals. With the addition of a tenth team in 2015, the season increased to 36 games.^[11]

Teams and standings by year

Team	City, Prefecture	Final standings by year						2016 B.League Division ^[2]
		2013-14 Season		2014-15 Season		2015-16 Season
		Regular season	Playoffs	Regular season	Playoffs	Regular season	Playoffs
Aisin AW Areions Anjo	Anjō, Aichi	3rd (20-12)	Fourth-place	4th (16-16)	Runners-up	7th (16-20)	-	Division 3
Earth Friends Tokyo Z	Ōta, Tokyo	-		3rd (25-7)	Fourth-place	5th (22-14)	-	Division 2
Kuroda Electric Bullet Spirits	Tokyo	8th (8-24)	-	Withdrawn from professional basketball
Otsuka Corporation Alphas	Tokyo	7th (11-21)	-	5th (16-16)	-	2nd (26-10)	Third-place	Division 3
Passlab Yamagata Wyverns	Yamagata, Yamagata	-		7th (10-22)	-	4th (23-13)	Fourth-place	Division 2
Renova Kagoshima	Kagoshima, Kagoshima	6th (11-21)	-	8th (5-27)	-	9th (6-30)	-	Division 2
TGI D-Rise	Tochigi, Tochigi	4th (17-15)	Third-place	Relocated to Yamagata
Tokio Marine Nichido Big Blue	Nerima, Tokyo	9th (6-26)	-	9th (4-28)	-	8th (8-28)	-	Division 3
Tokyo Excellence	Itabashi, Tokyo	2nd (29-3)	Champions	2nd (27-5)	Champions	3rd (25-11)	Champions	Division 2
Tokyo Hachioji Trains	Hachiōji, Tokyo	-				6th (17-19)	-	Division 3
Toyoda Gosei Scorpions	Kiyosu, Aichi	5th (12-20)	-	6th (11-21)	-	10th (5-31)	-	Division 3
Toyota Tsusho Fighting Eagles Nagoya	Nagoya, Aichi	1st	Runners-up	1st (30-2)	Third-place	1st (32-4)	Runners-up	Division 2

Related Research Articles

The Japan Basketball League (JBL) was a professional basketball league in Japan. It made up the top-tier of basketball in Japan alongside the bj league, Japan's other basketball competition, with no promotion and relegation between bj and the JBL.

Adam Gibson is an Australian professional basketball player for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League (NBL). He has twice played on NBL championship teams, in 2007 with the Brisbane Bullets, and in 2009 with the South Dragons. Gibson was a member of the Australian national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, helping the Boomers to a seventh-place finish with a 3–3 record.

The bj league was a professional basketball league in Japan that began in November 2005 as a six-team league. The league was operated as a competitor to the established Japan Super League which was run by the Japan Basketball Association, the official governing body of basketball in Japan. Over the next ten years the league saw continual expansion, with at least one new team joining every season, reaching 24 teams divided into two conferences in its final season in 2015–16. Turkish Airlines was the major sponsor of the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.

The Ehime Orange Vikings are a professional basketball team based in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, that will compete in the second division of the B.League, a new league that will commence in September 2016. The team was founded in 2005 as the Oita HeatDevils, one of the founding members of the bj league. The team was based in Ōita city, Ōita Prefecture until 2015, at which time the club relocated to Matsuyama for the 2015-16 season of the bj league and changed its name to the Oita Ehime HeatDevils.

National Basketball League of Canada professional basketball league in Canada

The National Basketball League of Canada is a Canadian professional men's basketball league. The NBL was founded in 2011, when three teams formerly of the Premier Basketball League joined with four new franchises to form the NBL's "Original Seven". By 2017, the league had grown to ten teams, with six located in the Atlantic provinces and four in Ontario. The current champions are the London Lightning, having defeated the Halifax Hurricanes 4–3 in the 2018 NBL Finals. The league's season begins in November and ends in April of the following year.

Chukwudiebere "Chu" Maduabum, sometimes credited as "Chuk", "Chuck", or "Chu Chu", is a Nigerian professional basketball player. He was drafted 56th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA draft before his rights were traded to the Denver Nuggets.

The 2014 J.League Division 2 season was the 43rd season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 16th season since the establishment of J2 League. The season commenced on 2 March and ended on 23 November. Post-season promotion and relegation playoffs will be played until 7 December.

The 2015 Nagoya Grampus season is Nagoya Grampus' 23rd season in the J.League Division 1 and 33rd overall in the Japanese top flight. It is Akira Nishino's second season as manager.

The Nishinomiya Storks (西宮ストークス) are a professional basketball team based in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan that competes in the Japanese B.League.

Amritpal Singh is an Indian professional basketball player who last played for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Isaac Butts IV is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for SeaHorses Mikawa of the B.League.

The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J2 League season is the 45th season of second-tier club football in Japan and the 18th season since the establishment of J2 League.

The 2016 Nagoya Grampus season was Nagoya Grampus' 24th season in the J.League Division 1 and 34th overall in the Japanese top flight. Takafumi Ogura managed the team until 23 August, when he was replaced with Boško Gjurovski. Nagoya Grampus finished the season in 16th place, being relegated to J2 League for the first time in their history, whilst being knocked out of the Emperor's Cup at the Second Round stage by Nagano Parceiro and the failing to progress from their J.League Cup group.

The 2017 Nagoya Grampus season is Nagoya Grampus' 1st season in the J2 League following their relegation at the end of the 2016 season.

Ryuji Watanabe is the Head coach of the Toyotsu Fighting Eagles Nagoya in the Japanese B.League.

The 2019 Meiji Yasuda J2 League season will be the 48th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 21st season since the establishment of J2 League.

The 2019 Nagoya Grampus season is Nagoya Grampus' 2nd season back in the J1 League following their relegation at the end of the 2016 season, their 26th J1 League season and 36th overall in the Japanese top flight. They will also take part in the Emperor's Cup and the J. League Cup.

References

↑ Perpetual problems plague Japan Basketball Association
1 2 3 Nagatsuka, Kaz (29 August 2015). "JPBL finalizes division placements for 2016-17". The Japan Times. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
↑ "今季で活動中止　石川ブルースパークス" [Ishikawa Blue Sparks to fold at season's end]. Hokkoku Shimbun (in Japanese). 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
↑ "Tokyo Excellence triumph in NBDL championship game". Japan Times. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
↑ "NBDL2014-2015シーズン　参入辞退チームのご報告" [Report of withdrawal from NBDL 2014-2015 season] (in Japanese). 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
↑ Odeven, Ed (16 May 2016). "Kanazawa to coach NBDL's Yamagata team". Japan Times. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
↑ "TGI・Dライズ　フランチャイズ移転のご報告" [Report of TGI D-Rise Franchise Relocation] (in Japanese). 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
↑ "NBDL 2014-2015 PLAYOFFS最終結果・アウォード表彰受賞者のお知らせ" [Notification of final results of NBDL 2014-2015 playoffs and award recipients] (in Japanese). National Basketball Development League of Japan. 22 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
↑ "2015-2016シーズンNBDL新規参入チームのご報告" [2015-2016 Season NBDL Expansion team Announcement] (in Japanese). 24 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
↑ "東京ＥＸ、３連覇で最後のＮＢＤＬ王者！ＭＶＰに飛田" [Tokyo Excellence three-peat to be final NBDL champions! Tobita MVP]. Hochi Shimbun (in Japanese). 27 March 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
↑ "2015-2016 レギュラーシーズン試合開始時間のお知らせ" [Notification of 2015-2016 Regular Season Game Starting Times] (in Japanese). 3 August 2015. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2016.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Perpetual problems plague Japan Basketball Association

[division-2] 1 2 3 Nagatsuka, Kaz (29 August 2015). "JPBL finalizes division placements for 2016-17". The Japan Times. Retrieved 16 September 2015.

[3] "今季で活動中止　石川ブルースパークス" [Ishikawa Blue Sparks to fold at season's end]. Hokkoku Shimbun (in Japanese). 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[14final-4] "Tokyo Excellence triumph in NBDL championship game". Japan Times. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[5] "NBDL2014-2015シーズン　参入辞退チームのご報告" [Report of withdrawal from NBDL 2014-2015 season] (in Japanese). 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[6] Odeven, Ed (16 May 2016). "Kanazawa to coach NBDL's Yamagata team". Japan Times. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[7] "TGI・Dライズ　フランチャイズ移転のご報告" [Report of TGI D-Rise Franchise Relocation] (in Japanese). 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[8] "NBDL 2014-2015 PLAYOFFS最終結果・アウォード表彰受賞者のお知らせ" [Notification of final results of NBDL 2014-2015 playoffs and award recipients] (in Japanese). National Basketball Development League of Japan. 22 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[9] "2015-2016シーズンNBDL新規参入チームのご報告" [2015-2016 Season NBDL Expansion team Announcement] (in Japanese). 24 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2016.

[16final-10] "東京ＥＸ、３連覇で最後のＮＢＤＬ王者！ＭＶＰに飛田" [Tokyo Excellence three-peat to be final NBDL champions! Tobita MVP]. Hochi Shimbun (in Japanese). 27 March 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.

[11] "2015-2016 レギュラーシーズン試合開始時間のお知らせ" [Notification of 2015-2016 Regular Season Game Starting Times] (in Japanese). 3 August 2015. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2016.