Like high tide or low tide, as the season enters its stretch run, teams will rise and fall, and playoff aspirations will be realized or go unfulfilled.

Take the Yokohama B-Corsairs, for instance. The first-year club, led by coach Reggie Geary, is in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 20-20 record entering this weekend's competition.

The B-Corsairs currently sit just three wins behind the second-place Akita Northern Happinets (23-17), and below the third-place Toyama Grouses (21-17), Niigata Albirex BB (22-18) and Sendai 89ers (19-19). The Hamamatsu Higashikawa Phoenix, guided by first-year coach Ryuji Kawai, who's in the running for the best coach award, are atop the standings at 27-13.