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Cartwright is the second former NBA head coach to be put in charge of a team in Japan’s professional league. Bob Hill, who coached Cartwright in 1986-87, guided the now-defunct Tokyo Apache during the 2010-11 campaign. Cartwright says he’ll be with Osaka until the end of the season and then decide what he’ll do next. “You never know,” Cartwright said. “If you had told me in January that I would be over here I would have said you are crazy. I am a basketball coach, I know that, so I’ll be coaching somewhere.” Toronto Globe and Mail

Coaching, Bob Hill, Japan, Bill Cartwright 

With 12 games in the books since Bill Cartwright took over as the Osaka Evessa’s new head coach, his message at the gym, wherever practices and games are held, has been simple and constant. Cartwright preaches “defense, defense, defense,” Evessa big man Rick Rickert told Hoop Scoop in a recent telephone interview. The Evessa are very much a work in progress, but at 6-6 (entering this weekend) since Cartwright became the second former NBA head coach to lead a bj-league team — ex-Tokyo Apache bench boss Bob Hill was the first — there are some positive signs to build off. After all, the Evessa were in complete disarray throughout most of their first 24 games (19 defeats). Japan Times

Coaching, Japan, Bill Cartwright 

Cartwright, whose lone pro head coaching job with the Chicago Bulls ended in 2003, repeatedly tells the players “we need to have more of a defensive-first approach,” Rickert said, relaying his mentor’s message. “That’s how we are going to win games.” Inconsistent defense has been one problem during the team’s rocky season. “Some games we play good defense, and some games we don’t,” admitted Rickert. Japan Times

Coaching, Japan, Bill Cartwright 

The Japan Basketball Association said Wednesday it has decided to appoint former NBA coach Herb Brown in an advisory role to help revive the fortunes of the women’s national team. Japan’s women failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and last year’s London Games. The 76-year-old Brown is a former head coach of the Detroit Pistons (1976-78) and the brother of 72-year-old Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, the current Southern Methodist University sideline supervisor Japan Times

Coaching, Japan, Herb Brown 

Former NBA player and coach Bill Cartwright has been hired as coach of the Osaka Evessa in Japan's professional basketball league. Cartwright coached the Chicago Bulls from 2001-03. Osaka announced Tuesday he would guide the team for the rest of the 2013 season. Houston Chronicle

Coaching, Japan, Bill Cartwright 

Geary had a brief NBA career, that first season with the Cavaliers, followed by one more with the San Antonio Spurs. After playing in the CBA and Europe, the former University of Arizona defensive stopper found his niche in coaching. The 2011-12 bj-league Coach of the Year, Geary will serve as the Eastern Conference's assistant coach on Sunday at Ariake Colosseum. Tokyo Cinq Reves coach Motofumi Aoki was named the East's bench boss last month. On Sunday, the bj-league's seventh annual All-Star Game, is slated to tip off at 5:10 p.m. Japan Times

Coaching, Japan, Reggie Geary 

Hunter has spent at least $300,000 in union money "exploring potential investments for the Union and its members," including but not limited to real estate projects, an energy drink company and a mixed martial arts fighting league in Japan. Regarding one such exploration, Hunter wrote in a 2008 email, "I have spent a lot of money on consultants and have nothing to show for it." CBSSports.com

Billy Hunter, NBPA, Japan 

How does it feel to be part of Basketball Without Borders? Vladimir Radmanovic: Well, it’s a good feeling to be part of something like this. Every chance I get to participate in things like this, Basketball Without Borders, it’s a good thing. Helping young players develop their game and their skill set, it’s a win-win. What is it like working with Dikembe Mutombo? He has been all over the place and is very well-recognized as an NBA ambassador. I’ve been with him on a couple trips and it’s always a good experience. NBA.com

Atlanta Hawks, Japan, Dikembe Mutombo, Vladimir Radmanovic 

Former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo is doing his bit to help basketball continue to grow internationally. Appointed as the NBA's global ambassador in 2009, Mutombo is in Japan to conduct basketball clinics with the Basketball Without Borders program. The four-day camp in Japan is attended by the top 50 young basketball players from 18 Asian countries. Samuel Dalembert of the Houston Rockets, Vladimir Radmanovic of the Atlanta Hawks, Corey Brewer of the Denver Nuggets and former NBA player Yuta Tabuse of Japan also are taking part in the clinics. "We bring our knowledge of the game and pass it on to young people," Mutombo said. "I am proud to say that there are now about 200 or 250 young men who took part in Basketball Without Borders who are now playing in American high schools and colleges." ESPN.com

Japan, Dikembe Mutombo, Yuta Tabuse 

The NBA's Basketball without Borders camps will go to Tokyo and Moscow for the first time. South Africa also will host a camp for the 10th time, the league and FIBA announced Wednesday. ESPN.com

Russia, Japan, Owners, Moscow, Tokyo 

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. Japan Times

Coaching, Japan, Reggie Geary 

Former Indiana player Lynn Washington was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana into Japan from the United States. The 33-year-old forward with the Osaka Evessa was arrested for allegedly violating Japan’s Cannabis Control Law, prompting the bj-league to issue a statement Wednesday saying all its players must comply with drug tests by noon Friday. “We will release everything in full,” league commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi said in a statement on the league’s official Website. “We will work hard to restore everyone’s trust.” Washington Times

Law, Japan, Lynn Washington 

Two decades later, Nakase is the first female head coach in Japan's men's pro basketball history. She was named the Saitama Broncos sideline supervisor after Dean Murray was relieved of his coaching duties on Nov. 24. Now she wants to begin taking Japanese lessons in order to become an effective communicator on and off the court. "Eight of the players speak Japanese only, and I don't speak Japanese at all," the 31-year-old admitted during a Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan meeting on Monday. Despite having a translator available during games, "I instantly want to talk to one of the players immediately, making a switch or something in the game." When she replaced Murray, Nakase, a native of Huntington Beach, California, experienced a night that many first-time parents can relate to. "There wasn't any sleep," Nakase said, describing her life-changing job opportunity. "The first person I called was my dad and I'm like, 'Dad, guess what's happening?' And he was just as shocked as I was. And I'm like, 'What do you think.' His best advice to me was, 'Natalie, just don't be afraid to fail.' " Japan Times

Coaching, Bob Hill, Japan, Natalie Nakase 

Saitama point guard Darin Satoshi Maki, who played for the now-defunct Apache last season, introduced Nakase to Hill while she was visiting Maki and his wife, a longtime friend, in Tokyo before the 2010-11 season began. Nakase then joined Hill's Apache staff. "As soon as I met Bob, I learned all these different tactics in terms of vocabulary to basketball," she said. "He would use different words that I had never even heard of in practice, and that's when I was like, wow; the NBA is a whole new level that I had no idea of in terms of vocabulary, drills, preparation. And when I saw how much work had to be done in order to achieve at the top level that just intrigued me 100 percent." Japan Times

Coaching, Bob Hill, Japan, Natalie Nakase 

Nakase has an open mind about returning to the Broncos next season if she's offered a contact extension. But her ultimate goal is to reach the sport's pinnacle: to coach in the NBA. "It doesn't necessarily mean head coach, "she said, "but just being a part of a program in the NBA and reaching a level where it's the highest level in your sport, I think, that is definitely a goal of mine." Japan Times

Coaching, Bob Hill, Japan, Natalie Nakase 

Terry said Thursday he was preparing to listen to pitches from Chinese teams to play there if the NBA season was canceled, at least partly because his brother already is playing in that part of the world. "I'm very glad,'' Terry said about not being tied to an international team. "I'm not going to lie to you. There was a point when they said the season would be canceled when I started fishing around to see if it was a possibility. "And my brother actually just went to Japan two weeks ago. So that in itself - OK, got some family over there - might be something to look at.'' Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, China, Japan, Jason Terry 

Or as Abdul-Rauf, who played for the Kyoto Hannaryz the past two seasons told me, "Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of David Stern or 'big business.' I believe there are exploitation issues on both sides. But no worries, the goal of the NBA is to make money so there's too much on the table for them not to have a season, and I think many will agree with that at least." Japan Times

David Stern, Lockout, Japan, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 

Former NBA center Lance Allred has agreed to contractual terms to play for the Kyoto Hannaryz this season, the bj-league team announced on Monday. The Japan Times first reported on Aug. 5 that Allred would suit up for Kyoto, under new coach Honoo Hamaguchi, this season. Japan Times

Japan, Lance Allred 

Alex Kennedy: Kevin Palmer has signed a one-year deal with the Japanese club Fukuoka Rizing, according to sources. Palmer's deal includes a NBA out. Twitter

Lockout, Japan, Kevin Palmer 

Former NBA guard Reggie Geary, known for his feisty defense as a collegiate and pro player, has been named the first coach in Yokohama B-Corsairs history. The bj-league team made the announcement on Wednesday. The B-Corsairs, an expansion team, will play their inaugural season in 2011-12. Yokohama's regular-season opener is Oct. 8 against the two-time defending champion Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix. Japan Times

Coaching, Japan, Reggie Geary