With four new teams joining the bj-league over the past two seasons, it has become a greater challenger to select Hoop Scoop's Top 20 players. But it's a worthwhile — and necessary — challenge. One that will become greater next June, following the first season with 20 teams, including four more new clubs.
Here's the truth: The league office continues to do things the easy (and lazy) way, picking only a Best Five team and not recognizing a greater representation of its players for postseason accolades. And that's a darn shame because the competition has gotten tougher and the players have had to adjust their game as new coaches (Euroleague legend Zeljko Pavlicevic of the Shimane Susanoo Magic and longtime NBA coach Bob Hill of the Tokyo Apache, for instance) have matched wits with established Japanese coaches, including Ryukyu's Dai Oketani and Fukuoka's Tadaharu Ogawa and an assorted cast of ever-changing bench bosses.
As the league grows, there's greater opportunities to identify stars and role players who excel in different ways to help their teams. This includes the no-brainer addition of an all-defensive team, too.