| Yokohama B-Corsairs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Leagues | B.League | ||
| Founded | 2010; 16 years ago (2010) | ||
| History | bj league(2010–2016) | ||
| Arena | Yokohama International Swimming Pool | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Location | Yokohama,Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan | ||
| Team colors | Navy blue | ||
| Main sponsor | Weins Group | ||
| President | Eisuke Shirai | ||
| Team manager | Ken Takeda | ||
| Head coach | Lassi Tuovi | ||
| Ownership | Yokohama Sports Entertainment Co., Ltd. | ||
| Championships | 1 (2012–13bj league) | ||
| Retired numbers | 2 (3,13) | ||
| Website | b-corsairs | ||
TheYokohama B-Corsairs (横浜ビー・コルセアーズ,Yokohama Bii Koruse'a-zu) are aJapanese professionalbasketball team that compete in the first division of theB.League. Following the team's establishment in 2010, they participated in the Eastern Conference of thebj league for five seasons and in 2013 became the first team based in theKanto region of Japan to win the league's championship.[1]
The B-Corsairs entered the league in the 2011–2012 season as one of four expansion teams, seeing the league grow from 16 to 20 teams. In their first season they finished in second place in the Eastern Conference,[2] led by league MVPJustin Burrell. Former NBA playerReggie Geary won the coach of the year award.[2] In the playoff series they finished third overall,[1] losing the Eastern Conference Final to theHamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix but defeating theKyoto Hannaryz in the playoff for third.
The following season the B-Corsairs won the 2012–13 bj-league title, defeatingRizing Fukuoka in the championship game.[1] After again finishing second in the Eastern Conference, they overcame conference leaderNiigata Albirex BB in the Eastern Conference Final, withDraelon Burns scoring in the final second of the game.[3] With the victory, Geary became the first foreign-born coach to win a title in the bj-league.[1] Team captainMasayuki Kabaya was named playoff MVP.
The club's initial success came at a financial cost. In the off-season following their championship success, it was reported that the club was in financial difficulty and the ownership changed.[4] Geary left the club to join theChiba Jets and the B-Corsairs' import players also signed with other clubs within Japan.[4] Geary's assistantMichael Katsuhisa became head coach[4] andTaketo Aoki retired as a player to become an assistant coach.[5] Import playersWayne Marshall,Marquise Gray andOmar Reed joined the club.[4] The 2013–14 season started reasonably well for the club, which was in playoff contention with a 16–17 record,[6] but it slumped at the end of the year and finished with a 24–28 record, missing out on the playoffs for the first time.[7]
Katsuhisa remained as head coach for the 2014–15 season and the team was again led by Kabaya and Marshall.Dzaflo Larkai,Carl Hall andWarren Niles were added as import players.Kenji Yamada was named captain although Kabaya remained with the team. The club struggled throughout the season however, with Marshall missing a quarter of the season due to injury.[7] They finished to 10th place in the Eastern Conference with an 18–34 win–loss record.[5]
At the end of the 2014–15 season Katsuhisa left the club and Aoki became the head coach.[5] Marshall left the club and was replaced byJordan Henriquez.Cory Johnson andEmanuel Willis were also added to the roster, although Willis was released six games into the 2015–16 season.[8] Yamada continued in the role of team captain for the second season.[9]Satoshi Hisayama, who had been at the club since its beginning in 2011 but was released at the end of the 2014–15 season, returned to the club at the end of October to replace Willis.[10] Small forwardRyoichi Ishitani, who had been with the B-Corsairs training squad since the 2014–15 season, including a previous stint on the main squad between November 2014 and February 2015, was signed to a full contract and added to the main squad in February 2016.[11] After recording a 16–14 win–loss record in the first four months of the season,[12] the team slumped to manage just two wins in its next twenty games.[13] The team finished the season in 10th place in the Eastern Conference for the second consecutive year.[14] At the end of the season the club announced that it would not renew the contracts of Hall and Johnson.[15]
From September 2016, the B-Corsairs will compete in the Central Conference of the First Division of theB.League, a new three-division competition formed from the merger of the bj-league and theNational Basketball League.[16][17] During the off-season, Hisayama, who had been with the club since their foundation, announced his retirement as a player,[18] and joined theShimane Susanoo Magic as a coach under Katsuhisa. Yamada was named as team captain for his third year.[19] Off-season signings included free agentsJeff Parmer (previously withShiga)[20] andFaye Pape Mour (previously withNiigata),[21] as well as AmericanJason Washburn, who was previously playing in the Kosovo league in Europe.[22]
| League | Season | Regular season | Playoffs | Head coach | Ref | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | % | GB | Finish | |||||
| bj-league | 2011–12 | 52 | 31 | 21 | .596 | 6.0 | 2nd East Conf. | Third | Reggie Geary | [23] |
| 2012–13 | 52 | 35 | 17 | .673 | 1.0 | 2nd East Conf. | Champions | [24] | ||
| 2013–14 | 52 | 24 | 28 | .462 | 18.0 | 7th East Conf. | Did not qualify | Michael Katsuhisa | [25] | |
| 2014–15 | 52 | 18 | 34 | .346 | 23.0 | 10th East Conf. | Did not qualify | [26] | ||
| 2015–16 | 52 | 19 | 33 | .365 | 20.0 | 10th East Conf. | Did not qualify | Taketo Aoki | [14] | |
| B.League | 2016–17 | 60 | 16 | 44 | .267 | 33 | 6th East Conf. | Did not qualify | Satoru Furuta | |
| 2017–18 | 60 | 18 | 42 | .300 | 30 | 6th East Conf. | Did not qualify | Shota Shakuno | ||
| 2018–19 | 60 | 14 | 46 | .233 | 38 | 6th East Conf. | Did not qualify | Thomas Wisman | ||
| 2019–20 | 41 | 11 | 30 | .268 | 20.5 | 5th East Conf. | Did not qualify | |||
| 2020–21 | 59 | 19 | 40 | .322 | 29.5 | 8th East Conf. | Did not qualify | Kyle Milling | ||
| 2021–22 | 57 | 22 | 35 | .375 | 19 | 8th East Conf. | Did not qualify | Taketo Aoki | ||
| 2022–23 | 60 | 33 | 27 | .550 | 7 | 2nd Central Conf. | Semifinals | |||
| 2023–24 | 60 | 24 | 36 | .400 | 22 | 6th Central Conf. | Did not qualify | |||
| 2024–25 | 56 | 23 | 33 | .411 | 22 | 7th Central Conf. | Did not qualify | Lassi Tuovi | ||
| Yokohama B-Corsairs roster | |
|---|---|
| Players | Coaches |
| |
Justin BurrellPaul ButoracRobert CarterJordan Henriquez
Masashi HosoyaCory JohnsonTakuya Kawamura
Dzaflo LarkaiKhyle MarshallWill McDonaldChas McFarlandAlexis MinatoyaMarcus Simmons
Hasheem ThabeetJason WashburnKenji Yamada
Patrik AudaYuki Kawamura| Years active | Name | Record (W–L) | Win % | Playoff record (W–L) | Playoff Win % | Playoff Appearances | Conference Titles | League Titles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–13 | Reggie Geary | 66–38 | .635 | 5–1 | .833 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Named Coach of the year in 2011–12[2] |
| 2013–15 | Michael Katsuhisa | 42–62 | .404 | 0–0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | Assistant coach in 2011–12 and 2012–13 |
| 2015–16 | Taketo Aoki | 19–33 | .365 | 0-0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | Played for B-Corsairs in 2011–12 and 2012–13 Assistant Coach in 2013–14 and 2014–15 |
| 2017 | Satoru Furuta | 4–15 | .211 | Fired | |||||
| 2017–18 | Shota Shakuno | 15–39 | .277 | ||||||
| 2018–20 | Thomas Wisman | 22–70 | .239 | Fired | |||||
| 2020 | Shogo Fukuda | 3–2 | .600 | ||||||
| 2020–21 | Kyle Milling | 19–40 | .322 | ||||||
| 2021–24 | Taketo Aoki | 79–98 | .446 | 2–2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2024– | Lassi Tuovi |
The team practices at theTakigashira Kaikan inIsogo, Yokohama.
