The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BENNET Davis continues to remain afloat on a basketball circuit on the other side of the globe as he works his way back to the NBA D-League and ultimately a shot in the NBA. Davis has spent the last month as a member of Niigata Albirex in the BJ League in Japan. In 10 games, Davis has averaged 6.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 35 per cent from the field and 77 per cent from the free throw line. In his latest outing this week, Davis posted 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a win over the Oita H Devils. His previous highs were an 11-point outing against the Sendai 89ers and a 14-rebound total against the Iwate Big Bulls. The 10-team league is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. It had its inaugural All-Star game in 2006. One of its major sponsors is Spalding. The BJ League in Japan operates on the American sports franchise system. Below the BJ there is the Japan Basketball League, composed of company and otherwise-affiliated clubs, with promotion and relegation between its two divisions. Prior to Japan, Davis' journey included three months in Finland as a member of KTP Basket, Kotka of Finland Korisliiga. In 13 games, he averaged 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Korisliiga is the top league of basketball in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In the current format, each team plays all other teams twice in the regular season, both at home and away. The top eight teams continue to the playoffs. Davis made the move to Finland after successfully recovering from a leg injury he sustained in the D- League last season. He was waived by the Utah Flash after he suffered a stress fracture in his right leg and was sidelined for approximately two months. Davis, 26, started in eight of the nine games that he played with the Flash. He held season averages of 8.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Davis, after spending several months playing in Hungary, returned to the D-League's Utah Flash for his third season with the subsidiary of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz. In October of 2010, he signed with MJUS-Fortress Kormend of Hungary in the Division A League and made an immediate impact with the club. However, after almost three months, he chose to return to his former D-League club. In his initial season with the Flash, Davis started just 14 games and averaged 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. In his sophomore campaign, he doubled productivity in both areas with averages of 13.7 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 41 per cent from the field. He was then invited to a D-League prospect training camp where his play led to his selection as the 41st pick of the Draft by the Flash. Davis briefly flirted with an NBA contract when he was called up by the New Jersey Nets prior to the 2009-10 season. He appeared in a single preseason game, totalled a single rebound in just four minutes of action against the New York Knicks and was waived on October 22. His most notable D-League achievement came when he was named to the NBA D-League's Select team which competed against some of the league's best rookies and young talent at the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League.