The expansion Yokohama B-Corsairs, one of the bj-league's biggest surprises this season, are the hottest team entering the postseason. With nine straight wins, Yokohama has found its stride at the best time as the hunt for a title begins.
Power forward Justin Burrell, arguably the league's most consistent player in 2011-12, is the seventh-year circuit's regular-season MVP. He joins an elite fraternity that includes Osaka's Lynn Washington (twice, 2005-06, 2007-08) and David Palmer (2006-07), Ryukyu's Jeff Newton (2008-09) and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa's Wendell White (2009-10) and Jeffrey Parmer (2010-11). But in the league's first three seasons a separate playoff MVP award was not issued.
B-Corsairs coach Reggie Geary was selected Coach of the Year. He is the league's second ex-NBA player to be picked for the award. Fellow American John Neumann, a high-scoring forward in his days at Ole Miss before turning pro, guided the Rizing Fukuoka to the Final Four in 2007-08 as an expansion team, and became the league's first foreign coach to earn top honors.