Despite a disastrous start this season, the Shimane Susanoo Magic won't challenge the Takamatsu Five Arrows' league record of 50 losses.

Shimane has made a dramatic turnaround in recent weeks, winning eight of its past 11 games.

The Susanoo Magic (11-21 through Sunday) now sit in seventh place in the 10-team Western Conference. That hardly seemed possible in October, November or most of December, though.

Shimane opened the season with 11 straight losses, and the Magic won their first game on Nov. 9, an 83-63 series-closing victory over host Fukushima. Coach Reggie Hanson was relieved of his duties afterward.

Since then, his former assistant, Tomohiro Moriyama, has guided the team's rise in the standings.

It wasn't an overnight success story.

"As a group, we never got too down on ourselves even though we lost 11 in a row and replaced Coach Hanson and three Americans (James Padgett, Edward Morris and Brandon Hassell)," veteran guard Joe Chapman told The Japan Times. "We just continued to get better and build on our chemistry. . . "

The Magic lost their next five games, dropping their record to a headache-inducing 1-15. Noticeable improvement has taken time to be visible.

An 88-83 road triumph on Nov. 30 against Niigata ended the slide and marked the official start of the team's rise.

"I believe losing those games early was the best way to find out who we were as men and basketball players," said Chapman, who played for Nara last season.

"Well, honestly, it takes time to rebuild a team," he added. "They won 11 games last year (and) only three players (Edward Yamamoto, Tatsuhiro Yokoo and Yasuhiko Hikino) stayed from the previous year, so we all had to adjust to each other's games and that takes time.

"To build a team like you want, chemistry doesn't happen over night."

Credit Moriyama, a 31-year-old Fukuoka native, for steering the team in the right direction.

"He is a player's coach," said Chapman, who leads the Magic in scoring (16.6 points per game). "He lets players gives suggestions and allows us to play to our strengths as basketball players."

Forward Wesley Witherspoon is Shimane's newest roster addition. The University of Memphis product has appeared in the past six games, contributing 8.3 ppg. He filled the roster spot vacated by Padgett, who saw action in 23 games.

"Wesley's just gotten here, so we're all getting adjusted to the way he plays," Chapman said of the 206-cm, 25-year-old. "He brings a new dimension to our team with his length and youth.

"He also can stretch the floor for us and bring the ball up, so that helps the team."

First-year Shimane imports Bingo Merriex (9.9 points and 9.0 rebounds a game) and Isiah Brown (10.0 ppg) have also made solid contributions.

Merriex, a Texas Christian University alum, has brought energy and an inside presence to the low post for the Susanoo Magic.

"You know exactly what you are going to get out of him every practice and every game," Chapman said. "He will hustle and grab as many rebounds as possible to try to win."

Yamamoto, who's been a key backcourt player since the team's inception in 2010, is averaging 12.3 ppg and has dished out a team-best 118 assists.

"He's been consistent all year with his shot and that's been huge for us," Chapman said of Yamamoto, who has drained 54 3-pointers with 42.9 percent accuracy from beyond the arc. "When he plays well, we often win those games."

Yokoo checks in with an 8.5 ppg average entering this weekend's games.

Meanwhile, Chapman, a Marquette University alum, recognizes that his floor presence is an important piece of the puzzle for the Susanoo Magic. Chapman has been a vocal leader in previous stops during his pro career, including in five other nations and during Nara's inaugural campaign in 2013-14. He's also earned MVP honors and been a part of championship-winning clubs in the British Basketball League, which brings him credibility on and off the court here.

"My leadership is important because we are fighting for a playoff spot and now every series matters," Chapman said. "I try to lead by example and by voice, but all of that takes time and patience.

"I'm happy with our progress so far, but not satisfied."

Nearing a milestone: Iwate coach Dai Oketani, now in his third season with the Big Bulls, is on the verge of becoming the first bench boss in league history to amass 300 victories in the upstart circuit.

Oketani has coached in the league since the first season, taking over as Oita's head coach midway through 2005-06 campaign, when the HeatDevils fired then-coach Jawann Oldham after a 4-12 start.

In the years that followed, Oketani has also coached Ryukyu (two championships) and supervised Iwate's rise to perennial Eastern Conference power. The Big Bulls are 26-6 through Sunday.

Oketani has a 299-151 record as a head coach. He's No. 1 on the league's all-time career wins list.

Remembering Dean Smith: Former Tar Heel Justin Watts, who now plays for Takamatsu, reflected on the former University of North Carolina coaching legend in an interview with The Japan Times this week.

Smith died at age 83 on Saturday.

"I didn't have a chance to play for Coach Smith, but he would come to practices often," Watts, who attended UNC from 2008-12, told The Japan Times. He would give his insight on things he saw from the sideline."

What message did Smith convey to the program and to the players that suited up for UNC in the years after his retirement in 1997?

"I would say that we were always told no one is bigger than the game, but you could argue that he was," said Watts, who is averaging 13.9 points in 32 games for the Five Arrows. "The things he did for basketball and the UNC program made him a legend.

"What he did off the court, being a father figure to African-American players and being a voice in the community is what every coach should strive to accomplish."

Upcoming schedule: The Saturday-Sunday docket features Sendai vs. Aomori, Niigata vs. Iwate, Toyama vs. Gunma, Shinshu vs. Fukushima, Hamamatsu vs. Shimane, Shiga vs. Takamatsu, Kyoto vs. Fukuoka, Osaka vs. Nara and Ryukyu vs. Oita.

League accolades: Oita big man Todd O'Brien, who played college ball at Bucknell and St. Joseph's before transferring to UAB as a grad student, had 25 points, 21 rebounds and four assists on Sunday as the HeatDevils completed a sweep over Nara.

The 213-cm center was vital in Oita's series-opening victory, too. He scored 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds and doled out three assists.

O'Brien is the Lawson/Ponta Weekly MVP, the league announced on Tuesday.

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