Head coach Bill Cartwright returned the Osaka Evessa to respectability after a remarkable plunge in the season's first four months.

The Evessa, who were 5-19 before Cartwright showed up in Osaka in January, had fallen to heights never experienced before in the three-time bj-league champion's proud history. But in the season's final 28 games, Osaka transformed into a playoff-caliber team no foe could take lightly.

Cartwright's numbers: 17 wins and 11 losses and a positive jolt of interest in the team here and abroad, including an Associated Press feature in April that was featured in prominent media outlets spanning the globe.