After reaching a basic agreement for the 2009-10 season, Bobby Nash is set to return to the Shiga Lakestars basketball team in Japan’s bj-league for the 2009-10 season.
He plans to join up with the team in late Aug. and the official contract will be signed after he passes a medical exam. He is the first non-Japanese player to be announced for the Lakestars’ 2009-10 season roster. So welcome back Bobby!!
Bobby, who is 24 years old and 198 cm tall, hails from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, my alma mater. His famous dad, Bob Nash, a former star player at UH, is currently the head coach there.
So far, most of last season’s Japanese players are returning as well, including Fujiwara Takamichi who was team captain and local boy Ogawa Shinya from Nagahama.
See the 2009-10 team roster so far here:
http://www.lakestars.net/team/roster.php
Head coach Robert Pierce is of course returning to coach the Lakestars. He will have a new Assistant Coach in Ishibashi Takatoshi, former head coach (and player) of the Toyama Grouses which ended up in last place last season. Coach Pierce sent me an email in early July 2009 to thank me for my online photos of the Lakestars. He can look forward to more photos (and dedicated Lakestars Web page in English) from me during the upcoming season.
The Lakestars cheerleaders are also set for 2009-10. They held an audition in May-June and selected the girls for the new cheerleading squad. A few girls from last season have remained. Otherwise, they are all new.
Also, the Kyoto Hannaryz will be a new expansion team for 2009-10. Kyoto’s team will make it even more exciting since the team will be a natural rival for both neighboring prefectures Shiga and Osaka.
The Lakestars game schedule for 2009-10 has already been set. The Lakes will open the season in Kyoto by playing against the Hannaryz on Oct. 3-4, 2009. Those of us in Shiga can easily see games in Kyoto. The Hannaryz will be the Lakestars most frequent opponent with eight matches during season. And for the first time, a pair of games will be played in Hikone on Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
See the game schedule in English here:
https://photoguide.jp/txt/Shiga_Lakestars
