The Osaka Evessa went through three head coaches — Zoran Kreckovic, Takao Furuya and Bill Cartwright — last season before handing the reins to Shunsuke Todo for the 2013-14 campaign.

Last weekend, the revamped roster was put to the test for the first time under Todo, and Osaka came away with two home victories — 87-78 in its season opener against the expansion Bambitious Nara, its new Kansai rival, and 96-78 in the rematch.

In an interview with The Japan Times, Todo described his first weekend in charge this way: "I am relieved to win two games over a quality team with a good coach (Koto Toyama) like Nara. I am happy to see our players played hard and shared the ball."