After 11 seasons at the helm, Masaya Hirose's tenure as Niigata Albirex BB coach has ended.

The team announced Wednesday it will not renew his contract for another season. And so after 201 regular-season wins and 173 losses, including the team's existence in the JBL before the bj-league held its first game in 2005, the Albirex are in the rare position of needing to make a coaching decision in the offseason.

Hirose, 44, guided the Albirex to six consecutive bj-league playoff appearances, including a runnerup position in 2006. The team never won a championship under Hirose and never returned to the title game.