Aisin Sea Horses center/forward Kosuke Takeuchi is the Japan Basketball League's 2008-09 regular-season MVP, it was announced on Thursday.
It is the first MVP honor for Takeuchi.
Takeuchi helped the Sea Horses take the top spot with a 24-11 record in the regular season. The 24-year-old was second in scoring (18.3 per game) and rebounds (10.4), while he led the league in blocked shots (1.8). He finished in the top 10 in three more major categories.
The JBL also revealed that Takeuchi, his twin brother Joji Takeuchi of the Hitachi Sunrockers, Link Tochigi Brex scoring leader Takuya Kawamura (20.4 ppg), ex-NBA player and Brex point guard Yuta Tabuse, who led the JBL in assists (5.6) and steals (2.2), and Panasonic Trians center Fumihiko Aono were named to the all-league team.
The JBL playoffs tip off on Saturday. The Sea Horses will meet the Toyota Alvark and the Sunrockers face the Trians in best-of-three first-round series.