The Shinshu Brave Warriors have excelled this season under the steady leadership of head coach Michael Katsuhisa.
The Brave Warriors (43-11 through Sunday) are poised to finish atop the B. League second division's Central Division standings. Furthermore, the Nagano Prefecture-based team owns the third-best winning percentage among the 36 teams in the first and second divisions. Only the top flight's Chiba Jets Funabashi (45-8) and Tochigi Brex (43-10) have higher winning percentages.
In Katsuhisa's first season at the helm, Shinshu has already surpassed by a large margin its victory total from a season ago (25-35 overall record), when Ryutaro Onodera patrolled the sideline.