Piece by piece, Kyoto Hannaryz coach Honoo Hamaguchi has cobbled together an impressive resume. He is the bj-league's only bench boss to be in charge of a team on opening day in all nine seasons.
Through Sunday, Hamaguchi's overall regular-season record is 252-154, winning games at a 62 percent clip. The Hannaryz (33-17) are vying for a third straight trip to the Final Four, but have this weekend off before closing out the season on April 26 and 27 against the host Aomori Wat's. They have already locked up the No. 2 seed for the Western Conference playoffs, thus earning a bye into the conference semifinals.
The fact that Kyoto has won six straight games and nine of its last 10 shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone who has been following Hamaguchi’s career. His teams are always competitive, and he’s still chasing his first championship in the fledgling circuit.
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