Takatoshi "Big Bashi" Ishibashi served as the Shinshu Brave Warriors' capable assistant coach during the team's inaugural season under Motofumi Aoki, the 2006-07 bj-league Coach of the Year.

And as expected, the Brave Warriors had an up-and-down 2011-12 season — 18 victories and 34 defeats, to be precise — as they experienced the normal growing pains of a brand new team.

But the Nagano Prefecture-based club has emerged as one of the league's better teams this season, with new coach Ishibashi putting his own stamp on the team after Aoki left to lead the Tokyo Cinq Reves.