| Fukushima Firebonds | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| [REDACTED] | |||
| 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 | Enrique Zúñiga | ||
| Ownership | Shikigaku Co., Ltd. | ||
| Championships | 0 | ||
| Website | https://firebonds.jp/ | ||
| |||
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.
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.
In June 2014, the team announced Hiroki Fujita as the inaugural head coach.
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. In July 2014 the team signed American players James Hughes and Nick Thompson as their two foreign players.
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. The team finished the season with a 21-31 record, securing a playoff berth in the second-last game of the regular season. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs 0-2 by the Iwate Big Bulls.
2015-16 season
During the off-season, the team renewed the contract of Fujita as head coach and signed Le'Bryan Nash, Joseph Taylor and Stephan Van Treese as import players. Masaya Karimata was named team captain and Kenya Tomori was named vice-captain.
Current roster
| Fukushima Firebonds roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: March 27, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[REDACTED]](https://abc.global.ssl.fastly.net/File:Fukushima_Firebonds_logo.png){kind=link}
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 | 21 | 31 | .404 | 7th (East) | Hiroki Fujita | Eliminated in first round of playoffs |
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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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" [ 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" [ 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.