The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with personalities in the bj-league. The league's fifth season began in October. Head coach David Benoit of the expansion Kyoto Hannaryz is the subject of this week's profile.

Coach's background: After wrapping up his collegiate career with two seasons at the University of Alabama, Benoit, played a season in Spain before joining the Utah Jazz as a free agent in 1991 and played in 492 NBA games and 57 playoff contests over eight seasons. He also played in Israel and China and for the Saitama Broncos before becoming the bj-league team's head coach in 2007.

Team update: The Hannaryz enter Christmas weekend with a 5-13 record (nine losses by single digits), tied with the Tokyo Apache for the league's worst mark. . . . Injuries have hampered the team's play as of late. Ex-NBA guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf is sidelined with a left calf injury for a month, and center Reda Rhalimi, out of the lineup for an estimated four-to-six weeks with a stress fracture on his left ankle, has gone home to his native Morocco for treatment.