Ed Odeven - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Ed Odeven

Meta

Website

https://edodevenreporting.wordpress.com/

Twitter

Ed Odeven

Ed Odeven covers primarily basketball for The Japan Times. He reported on a wide range of sports from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Summer Games for this newspaper. A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Odeven is a graduate of Arizona State University. He previously worked for the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff, Ariz., reporting on high school, collegiate, professional and Olympic sports (Flagstaff is a major international Olympic training site due to its high elevation) and writing a weekly column. His articles have appeared in Venezuela Online News, The Gleaner (Jamaica), the Monitor (Uganda), The Moscow Times, Swimming World Magazine and numerous other publications.

MORE SPORTS

Feb 5, 2008

Giants cap improbable run with Super Bowl win

GLENDALE, Ariz. There's no perfect Super Bowl champion in 2008. Instead, there's a champion that took a page out of the previously unbeaten New England Patriots' book of achievements.

Japan Times

BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH

Feb 1, 2008

Sendai's DeWitz, Kusaka capture monthly honors

This is a good thing: The Sendai 89ers have a tendency to pass the ball to Nick DeWitz, and he makes his teammates want to keep doing this.

BASKETBALL

Jan 30, 2008

Joho, Blackwell receive accolades

Shooting guard Masashi Joho provided the late-game heroics for the Tokyo Apache on Sunday, scoring the game-tying layup on his team's final possession of the fourth quarter to force overtime. He then scored 11 more points (nine on 3-pointers) in OT, finishing with a season-high 22 points as the Apache...

BASKETBALL

Jan 28, 2008

Joho catches fire in overtime to lead Apache to thrilling win

Masashi Joho wanted the ball and he wanted the spotlight.

BASKETBALL

Jan 28, 2008

Evessa halt rare losing streak

The Osaka Evessa ended a rare two-game losing streak on Sunday, edging the host Oita HeatDevils 73-70 in a duel between two Western Conference rivals. Matt Lottich scored a team-high 23 points for the Evessa, who improved to 17-5. Teammate Mikey Marshall scored 22 points against his former club, while...

Japan Times

BASKETBALL

Jan 27, 2008

Ito excels as point guard with Portland

When University of Portland (Ore.) point guard Taishi Ito was asked to take on a leadership role as a freshman, he handled the role admirably.

BASKETBALL

Jan 27, 2008

Davis lifts Apache over Rizing

The big fellow carried a big work load on Saturday night at Ariake Colosseum. Tokyo Apache center Nick Davis had 22 points and pulled down 21 rebounds in an 87-82 victory over the Rizing Fukuoka. John "Helicopter" Humphrey scored a 23 points and Masashi Joho added 10 points to lead the Apache, who improved...

BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...

Jan 26, 2008

Planells confident expansion Golden Kings will blossom with time

SENDAI — Hernando Planells, the head coach of the expansion Ryukyu Golden Kings, sat down after his team's 87-78 loss to the Sendai 89ers on Sunday and spoke at length about his players, the challenges of building a team from scratch and his overall impressions of the bj-league.

BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Jan 25, 2008

Sendai hopes to keep roll going

SENDAI — The Sendai 89ers have racked up 16 victories in their first 20 games. It's an impressive start, but the team faces a string of contests against the Western Conference heavyweights in the weeks to come.

BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP

Jan 25, 2008

Time for JBA to stop ignoring bj-league, act in best interests of game in Japan

SENDAI — Ninety minutes after Sunday's Sendai 89ers-Ryukyu Golden Kings game, a slew of players were still visiting with fans or conducting interviews.

BASKETBALL

Jan 23, 2008

Grouses cut leading scorer Agbai

The Toyama Grouses have released center Uka Agbai, the bj-league announced on Tuesday. Agbai did not play in the Grouses' road games against the Osaka Evessa last weekend. In the Grouses' first 20 games this season, the former Boston College player averaged a team-best 18 points and 8.9 rebounds per...

BASKETBALL

Jan 21, 2008

Grouses hand Evessa rare defeat

The Toyama Grouses earned their third victory of the season, handing the Osaka Evessa an 84-74 defeat on Sunday in the bj-league. The host Grouses outscored the visitors 24-9 in the fourth quarter. Shooting guard Robby Joyner scored 29 points, power forward Jamar Brown added 19 and Takanori Goya 17 for...

BASKETBALL

Jan 21, 2008

DeWitz puts on dazzling display for parents in 89ers triumph

SENDAI — Mike and Mary DeWitz traveled thousands of kilometers from their Arizona home to watch their son play basketball over the weekend.

BASKETBALL

Jan 20, 2008

Ellis leads HeatDevils over Broncos

After missing the past four games, power forward Andy Ellis, the bj-league's leading scorer, made a dramatic return to the Oita HeatDevils lineup on Saturday, scoring 26 points in his team's 80-68 win over the host Saitama Broncos. Oita (9-10) also got 21 points from Chris Ayer and 11 points and eight...

Japan Times

BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP

Jan 20, 2008

Nakanishi making most of second career

Tokyo Apache forward Shoji Nakanishi owned one of the bj-league's most obscure names as the calendar flipped from 2007 to 2008.

BASKETBALL

Jan 19, 2008

Golden Kings sign forward Gibson

The Ryukyu Golden Kings, who have started their inaugural season with four wins in 18 games, have signed journeyman forward Herb Gibson, the team announced on Thursday. Gibson, a former University of Michigan player, is eligible to make his debut against the Sendai 89ers on Saturday in Tohoku. Gibson,...

BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Jan 18, 2008

Apache winning with balanced scoring

With 2 1/2 months of games already in the books, there are some new faces among the bj-league leaders.

BASKETBALL

Jan 17, 2008

Japan shoots for Olympic berth

The Japan women's basketball team is one of 12 nations that will vie for a spot in the 2008 Summer Olympics at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women from June 9 to June 15 in Madrid. Japan, coached by Tomohide Utsumi, was placed in Group A, along with Latvia and Senegal. Group B is comprised...

BASKETBALL

Jan 16, 2008

Blackwell earns weekly award

Sendai 89ers guard/forward Ryan Blackwell, who helped his team earn a two-game sweep over the Rizing Fukuoka last weekend, is the Circle K Sunkus Player of the Week, the bj-league announced on Tuesday. Blackwell, averaging 17.8 points per game in 18 starts, maximized his productivity in the home series,...

BASKETBALL

Jan 15, 2008

Sakuragi muscles Aisin past Toyota in final

Aisin Sea Horses center J.R. Sakuragi attempted 24 field-goals in the All-Japan Basketball Championship title game.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Festival overcomes a nuclear accident and COVID

Festival overcomes a nuclear accident and COVID

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports