Time after time, championship teams make in-game adjustments better than your run-of-the-mill opponent.
Basketball fans were reminded of that fact on Wednesday night at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2, where the Ryukyu Golden Kings soared to brilliant heights after a slow start en route to a 75-70 triumph over the Tokyo Apache.
It was the teams' first meeting since the 2008-09 bj-league title game, a game Ryukyu won 89-82 on May 17 when Joe Bryant, then in his fourth season at the helm, coached the Apache. Bryant has left the team, a new ownership group is in place and the Apache fell to 5-12 after their fifth straight loss.