The Iwate Big Bulls have been the Eastern Conference's top team this season, winning all eight of their games in October.

Ceter Dillion Sneed, a major offseason acquisition, is the team's leading scorer at 18.6 points per game and is shooting at a 62.5 percent clip from the field.

The East Tennesse State product is The Japan Times' Offensive Player of the month for October.

His October output included a 33-point outburst on 12-for-15 shooting last Saturday against the Gunma Crane Thunders.

Last season, Sneed helped the Ryukyu Golden Kings win their second championship.

Other October offensive standouts included:

*John "Helicopter" Humprey of the Saitama Broncos. He's averaging a league-high 25.3 ppg.

*Jonathan Jones of the Tokyo Cinq Reves. He's No. 2 in scoring at 22.0.

*Kevin Galloway of the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix. He's No. 8 in scoring (19.8) and the league's top passer (7.1 assists).

*Anthony McHenry of Ryukyu. He's fifth in scoring (20.5) and shooting 80.6 percent from the free-throw line.

*Yosuke Saito of the Shinshu Brave Warriors. He's shooting 57.1 percent (12-for-21) on 3s.

*Pape Faye Mour of the Yokohama B-Corsairs. He's 21-for-28 from the field to date, shooting 75 percent in four October games.

Defensive accolade: Shimane's Michael Parker and Iwate's Masato Tsukino, a talented newcomer to the Tohoku squad, are the co-leaders in steals, both averaging 2.8 per contest.

They are The Japan Times' Defensive Players of the Month.

Other noteworthy defenders are:

*Iwate's Lawrence Blackledge. The forward's averaging a league-best 4.0 blocks per game.

*Oita HeatDevils forward Wendell White. The former MVP is the top rebounder at 13.2 per contest, including 69 defensive boards.

*Ryukyu's Jeff Newton. The five-time champion is the defensive anchor of the 6-0, Western Conference-leading squad.