The Tochigi Brex 栃木ブレックス
Tochigi has a team in the JBL2 which is like the AAA of Japans pro basketball league the JBL. The Tochigi Brex split time between the cities of Utsunomiya, and Oyama.
Here in Utsunomiya they play at the City Gym which is a 3 minute walk from our apartment, so we went over yesterday to watch a game. We had court side seats which was nice. The Brex are actually pretty decent(relatively speaking) and are currently in 3rd place in thier league. They easily handled the Ibaraki/Hitachi team they played 109-78.
The Brex currently have 3 American players, 1 of which had 10 years NBA experience(quite a while ago as he is now 38), who along with another had recently been playing in Europe. There is another Japanese American who has only played pro in Japan, but he played his college ball at Nevada-Reno. It was nice to see some hoops, and while the crowd wasn't that large for this game its my understanding that they usually do have some pretty large crowds both here and at Oyama.
For PR they come around after the game and shake hands with the fans and it was kind of funny because several of the guys actually recognized us and our friends because we hang out at the Iceman bar, which is also one of the places they frequent and have "team gatherings".
Since the Gym is close and we like hoops, I'm sure we will attend a few more of their games. It is our understanding they are trying to build the team up and get there fan base better established for a push to acquire a slot in the top level JBL. Anyhow, enjoy the pics and here are some links.
http://www.tochigibrex.com/index.html
http://www.blogger.com/http//www.tochigibrex.com/player/index.html/index.html
http://www.jbl.or.jp/jbl2/
Here in Utsunomiya they play at the City Gym which is a 3 minute walk from our apartment, so we went over yesterday to watch a game. We had court side seats which was nice. The Brex are actually pretty decent(relatively speaking) and are currently in 3rd place in thier league. They easily handled the Ibaraki/Hitachi team they played 109-78.
The Brex currently have 3 American players, 1 of which had 10 years NBA experience(quite a while ago as he is now 38), who along with another had recently been playing in Europe. There is another Japanese American who has only played pro in Japan, but he played his college ball at Nevada-Reno. It was nice to see some hoops, and while the crowd wasn't that large for this game its my understanding that they usually do have some pretty large crowds both here and at Oyama.
For PR they come around after the game and shake hands with the fans and it was kind of funny because several of the guys actually recognized us and our friends because we hang out at the Iceman bar, which is also one of the places they frequent and have "team gatherings".
Since the Gym is close and we like hoops, I'm sure we will attend a few more of their games. It is our understanding they are trying to build the team up and get there fan base better established for a push to acquire a slot in the top level JBL. Anyhow, enjoy the pics and here are some links.
http://www.tochigibrex.com/index.html
http://www.blogger.com/http//www.tochigibrex.com/player/index.html/index.html
http://www.jbl.or.jp/jbl2/
5 comments:
The Brex? Sounds like Bricks which is not a good name for a basketball team.
Hi Heather + Kevin,
My name is Neil, and I'll be soon moving to Utsunomiya for 6 months training for my company, Stanley Electric (April to Sept). It would be great to already know some people if I need some help, although if you peruse my blog, I've lived two years in Japan teaching English a couple of years back.
I actually live in Hilliard, OH, and my company is located in London, OH, so not too far away from where you were.
I'd appreciate it if you could write me back.
Thanks in advance, and look forward to meeting you.
pallaver@hotmail.com
-neil
Yeah T28, someone caught that and we actually call them the Bricks. They were the Pacers before, they probably should have stuck with that. :) kevin
Neil, I sent you an email, kevin
Hi Heather,
Great reading your blog. I also live in Utsunomiya so it's great to read your entries! Look forward to reading more in the future.
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