Yuichi Ikeda excelled as a 3-point shooter in December, having the type of month that most specialized shooters can only dream about.
Ikeda made 26 of 46 3-pointers (56.5 percent) to help the Niigata Albirex BB win four straight games to end the year and go 6-2 overall in December. His 3-point shooting played a major role in the Albirex's recent success. Niigata has climbed into second place in the Eastern Conference standings under first-year coach and former Albirex player Matt Garrison, who won the 3-Point Contest during the league's first two All-Star Games, in Okinawa and Niigata Prefecture in January and December 2007, respectively.
What's more, the 28-year-old Ikeda leads the bj-league in 3-point shooting accuracy at 50.5 percent. Akita's Kazuhiro Shoji is No. 2 at 50 percent. With Ikeda, who dons jersey No. 32, draining long-range shots with regularity, it opens the floor for the team's other primary scorers, including Nile Murry (15.0 points per game) and Erron Maxey (14.2). Ikeda is third on the team in scoring at 11.7 ppg.
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