Tokyo Apache (東京アパッチ) was a Japanese

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club, based in the city of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Kantō Region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

. They played in the

bj league The was a professional basketball league in Japan that began in November 2005 as a six-team league. The league was operated as a competitor to the established Japan Super League which was run by the Japan Basketball Association, the official go ...

, the top-level Japanese professional League. Their home games were played at the

Yoyogi National Gymnasium Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its suspension roof design. It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and d ...

II, located at

Shibuya, Tokyo Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1, ...

History

Early years (2004–2010)

The club was founded in June 2004, but their first season in the

, was the 2005–2006 season. The team made the playoffs in the inaugural season topping the Niigata Albirex in the 3rd place game. On June 1, 2010 the organization was acquired by a subsidiary of Evolution Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based investment management advisor. Conor Neu has been named the Apache's General Manager, while office manager, Daijiro Kusakabe, will continue to face the league for the team.

Earthquake and tsunami disaster relief effort

After the Great Tohoku quake and subsequent

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

on March 11, 2011, the Tokyo Apache suspended the remainder of its 2010–2011 season. Tokyo Apache organization and staff then joined forces with Evolution Capital Management and owner Michael Lerch in funding relief projects and organizations. The combined group, which will also include former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

star and former Tokyo Apache head coach

Joe Bryant Joseph Washington Bryant (born October 19, 1954), nicknamed "Jellybean", is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Ass ...

as well as baseball legend

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (196 ...

, will contribute over 1 million US dollars to such projects and, as the situation stabilizes, aim to participate in programs that will help the people that have been devastated by this disaster.

2011–2012 season

As of June 7, 2011, the team announced that it will be suspending operations for the 2011–2012 season. The suspension is due to an inability to secure business partners and sponsors in the timeframe imposed by the bj-league. The Tokyo Apache management noted that the business climate for securing commitments from both current and new business partners and sponsors deteriorated significantly in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. Although the decision to suspend the 2011–2012 season is unfortunate, the Tokyo Apache is committed to continuing its current relief efforts for the benefit of those that were devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. As of November 2011, the team was definitely dissolved.

Honors

** Runners-up (2) : 2007/2008, 2008/2009

Notable players

Kohei Aoki Kohei Aoki (born December 13, 1980), nicknamed Cohey, is a Japanese former professional basketball player who last played for Rizing Fukuoka of the bj League in Japan. He played college basketball for Senshu University is a private univers ...

Mike Chappell Michael Lawrence Chappell (born January 21, 1978) is a retired American professional basketball player born in Southfield, Michigan. College career After being recruited heavily by the top universities in America, Mike Chappell attended college ...

* Kendall Dartez * Nick Davis * John Humphrey * Reina Itakura *

Robert Swift Robert Christen Swift (born December 3, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Spanish club Círculo Gijón Baloncesto y Conocimiento of the LEB Plata league. He played in the National Basketball Association fo ...

Jeremy Tyler Jeremy Miles Tyler (born June 21, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). Tyler was drafted with the 39th pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Charlotte Bobcats b ...

Coaches

Motofumi Aoki is the former head coach of the Takamatsu Five Arrows in the Japanese Bj League. Head coaching record , - , style="text-align:left;", Takamatsu Five Arrows , style="text-align:left;", 2006-07 , 40, , 25, , 15, , , , style="text-align:cent ...

Bob Hill Robert W. Hill''The Sporting News: 1992-93 Official NBA Register''. St. Louis, Missouri: The Sporting News Publishing Co. 1992. (born November 24, 1948) is an American basketball coach. Hill grew up in Mount Sterling, Ohio, moving to Worthingto ...

External links

Tokyo Apache Official Web site Tokyo Apache Official Web site

References

Basketball.org – Tokyo Apache Acquisition Defunct basketball teams in Japan Basketball teams established in 2004 Basketball teams disestablished in 2011 2004 establishments in Japan 2011 disestablishments in Japan {{Asia-basketball-team-stub