Matt Garrison did not set forth to reinvent the wheel when he was hired as the Niigata Albirex BB head coach for the 2011-12 season. So after replacing longtime bench boss Masaya Hirose, who was at the helm for 11 seasons in the team's JBL and bj-league eras, Garrison opted to keep things straightforward.

The Montana native has stressed fundamentals and challenged his players to thrive as a group instead of as individuals.

These aren't secrets to opponents.