It's All Happinets: Downer up for B.League promotion

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You would think more than 25 years of coaching experience, including being an assistant at four NBL clubs as well as the Australian Boomers would prepare you to launch your professional head coaching career.

But for Mick Downer, nothing could have prepared him for the circumstances that led to him moving into the lead chair at the Akita Northern Happinets in the Japanese B. League.

The former Perth Wildcats, Cairns Taipans, Brisbane Bullets and Adelaide 36ers deputy was promoted to head coach of Akita - a team featuring several former NBL stars such as Keanu Pinder and Yanni Wetzell - just before the New Year after the club's poor start to the season led to beloved longtime mentor Kenzo Maeda stepping down from the role.

A loss to a top-four team on Christmas Eve was the final straw for Maeda with Akita sitting on the bottom of the ladder and with almost three seasons of being his assistant coach, Downer was the perfect man to step up.

"Kenzo met with the club president after the game and they agreed for him to step down. It had probably been lingering for the past month or so," Downer told basketball.com.au.

"My family was visiting for Christmas and after the game, while they were waiting, Kenzo wanted to chat quietly. He told me he was done and that I'd be meeting with the president back at the hotel.

"He is like a brother to me, amazing human. A widower, lost his wife to cancer three years ago, is raising four boys on his own while coaching a B League team, enough said.

"With Kenzo's blessing, and after a two hour meeting in the lobby of a hotel in the early hours of Christmas morning I verbally accepted the role to take over the team for the rest of the season. Kenzo has been at the club for 11 seasons as an assistant coach then head coach, he is absolutely loved by the fans, community and the locker room.

"To say this was emotional, and difficult is an understatement. His parting words to the team was inspiring, heart felt and gut wrenching."

Downer's coaching journey has taken him all over the world, most notably being part of the Boomers Olympic campaign in Brazil in 2016, but also having head coaching roles in the NZNBL as well as in state leagues, on top of more than two decades in the NBL.

An apprenticeship the Brisbane product believed had served him well for this moment.

"I have been coaching both as an assistant and head coach for over 25 years now. I think being an assistant to several different coaches in the NBL and B League has been a great apprenticeship," he said.

"Across that time while head coach in NBL1, and NZ I've had the opportunity to take learnings from my assistant experiences and implement my own philosophy and style.

"But nothing can prepare you for taking over a pro team in a foreign country from a beloved head coach when your team is missing key players and you're in last place.

"Supporting our people first and foremost has been the priority, some guys have shared a decade-long journey with Kenzo. Of course some of the systems and game style will change, especially once we get a few practices together on court, but right now the priority has been to support and connect all our people, and provide a simple and clear transition of a few steps and timelines of how we are approaching the rest of the season."

While Akita may still be languishing at the bottom of the ladder with a 5-25 record, Downer still had a positive outlook on what's coming for the club for the rest of the season.

"After four games we have already improved significantly at the offensive end, however the defence is still a battle for us," he said.

"We are currently in a All Star Break and guys are away for a week. On return we have a couple weeks of practice leading into the next stretch of games. Improving our on court and off court communication as a group, is a real focus area for us. Shifting more from a teaching to a competing practice environment, as well as a greater focus on our style than the opponents are the main focus area's for the the next month.

"We have to develop winning habits at practice, by first having a winning mindset. We have to improve the knowledge of our own defensive system, value effort plays and scout execution.

"I'm excited and honoured at this opportunity but it is by no means an easy task, being myself and supporting others through a clear direction are my goals.

"I can't control the future, just going to immerse myself in this challenge and do my best for the club and out of respect for Kenzo."