The Saitama Broncos find themselves in a familiar place as the season heads into its stretch run — near the bottom of the pack. And they will miss the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season.
But since All-Star John "Helicopter" Humphrey's return after missing 11 off 12 games due to a back injury (he had a one-game return on Dec. 1, scored 24 points, and was sidelined the next seven games), Saitama is playing its best stretch of basketball since the bj-league's inception in the fall of 2005.
Saitama has won eight of its past 11 games. Before this positive development, first-year coach Tracy Williams' club had dropped seven straight games, including the first five with Humphrey back in action.