Ray Parks shines for Osaka, other Pinoys steady as new Japan B. League season kicks off
MANILA, Philippines – The first weekend of the 60-game Japan B. League regular season is now in the books and Filipino Asian Quota imports wasted no time making an impact for their respective teams.
Among the eight Filipino players seeing action in the Land of the Rising Sun, it was Ray Parks who shone the brightest as he made his debut for his new B1 squad Osaka Evessa.
After dropping 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in Osaka’s 88-73 loss to the Shiga Lakes last Saturday, October 5, Parks went off for a team-high 23 points on Sunday, October 6, in their 86-79 bounce-back win against the same opponents.
Parks knocked down four treys en route to his 23-point explosion, together with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in over 29 minutes of playing time.
Like Parks, Kiefer Ravena, Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, and Matthew Wright debuted for their new B1 ball clubs over the weekend.
Making his comeback in Division 1 after winning a B2 title with his former team Shiga last season, Ravena got off to a 2-0 start with the Yokohama B-Corsairs following a weekend sweep of the Sendai 89ers.
Ravena tallied 6 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist for Yokohama in their 72-68 win on Saturday, before putting up 12 markers on 5-of-8 shooting, 1 board, and 3 dimes in a narrow 77-75 escape on Sunday.
Sotto, for his part, was held to only 3 points on 1-of-4 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the Koshigaya Alphas’ 75-57 loss to the Alvark Tokyo on Saturday.
The 7-foot-3 big man delivered a better scoring performance on Sunday with 9 points on 3-of-7 field goal clip, along with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block, but Koshigaya bowed to Tokyo anew, 91-72.
Coming off a knee injury last season, Edu hardly looked like he missed a beat as he came up with a pair of efficient performances for the Nagasaki Velca.
Edu produced 6 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in over 27 minutes of action to help Nagasaki take down the Sunrockers Shibuya, 76-68, last Friday, October 4.
Edu then scored 8 points on a near-perfect 4-of-5 clip from the field the following day, to go with 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in a 58-53 loss to Shibuya.
Meanwhile, Wright posted an all-around line of 5 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals in the Kawasaki Brave Thunders’ 81-73 rout of the Akita Northern Happinets on Saturday.
However, Wright was limited to just 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting the next day as Kawasaki couldn’t complete the weekend sweep of Akita, suffering an 89-68 beating.
Still in B1, Dwight Ramos averaged double-digit scoring over the weekend, but his Levanga Hokkaido absorbed back-to-back beatdowns at the hands of the Shimane Susanoo Magic.
Ramos racked up 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in an 87-56 setback on Saturday, before sizzling for 18 markers, 5 boards, and 2 blocks in a 75-63 Sunday loss.
Over in the league’s second division, Roosevelt Adams and Geo Chiu also provided quality minutes for the Yamagata Wyverns and the Ehime Orange Vikings, respectively.
Adams poured in 6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in Yamagata’s 83-78 loss to the Veltex Shizuoka on Saturday.
He followed it up with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 steal in another 80-66 loss the next day.
Meanwhile, Chiu had 4 points on 2-of-3 shooting and 3 rebounds for Ehime in their 85-70 defeat to the Fukushima Firebonds on Saturday.
Chiu then recorded 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block to help Ehime get back at Fukushima on Sunday with a 92-77 thrashing. – Rappler.com