What do the Iwate Big Bulls and Kyoto Hannaryz have in common besides being first-place teams?
Long-serving head coaches Dai Oketani of the Big Bulls and Honoo Hamaguchi of the Hannaryz both worked on former Arizona State men's basketball coach Rob Evans' staff before the bj-league's inception in 2005. Hamaguchi worked under Evans for the 2003-04 season; Oketani was on staff from 1999-2003.
Eastern Conference-leading Iwate rides a 14-game winning streak into this weekend's games and has a league-best 15-1 record; Kyoto sits atop the Western Conference with a 14-2 mark.