With 20 games in the books and 17 victories to date, the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix are on pace to have the finest season in bj-league history. The Ryukyu Golden Kings went 41-11 in the 2008-09 season en route to the team's first championship.
Phoenix coach Kazuo Nakamura credits his team's discipline and unselfish play as keys to its sensational start, including a league-high 87.0 points per game.
During a wide-ranging phone interview on Wednesday evening, he admitted he wasn't aware that the team had only been whistled for three technical fouls so far this season. But he did say this statistic is indicative of the team's heady performance during its second season in the bj-league.