Preseason action begins in earnest this holiday weekend with four games on Saturday and two more on tap for Monday.
Saturday's Iwate Big Bulls-Niigata Albirex BB exhibition contest will be the first game of Matt Garrison's tenure as the new Niigata coach.
Iwate's Vlasios Vlaikidis will also get to deploy his charges on their home court for the first time against a foe. It'll be the first game in the expansion Big Bulls history, and only three weeks before their regular-season opener against the Sendai 89ers at home.