Kiefer Ravena will figure in a much-anticipated match-up on Saturday when the 2021-22 B.League resumes.
Shiga (West, 6-3) heads to the Funabashi Arena to face Chiba (East, 6-3) in a game that tips off at 2:05PM (Manila time).
Just who is the captain of the Jets? It’s none other than the league’s highest-paid player in Yuki Togashi.
Togashi, a 5-foot-6 point guard who was the 2018-19 B.League MVP, reportedly earns ¥100-million (P44,204,289.85) per year.
So far in the season, Togashi is averaging 15.8 points on 34.8-percent shooting from deep and 5.9 assists per game. In contrast, Ravena is norming 11.2 points on 32.4-percent shooting from three-point country and 4.8 assists.
And this game is one of the marquee games of the league this early. It will prove whether Ravena can lockdown the Japanese league’s best point guard.
This weekend will also be big for the Gomez de Liano household as Javi will make his Ibaraki debut while Juan returns from injury.
At 2:05PM, Javi and the Robots (East, 1-8) look to snap their skid as they face Osaka (West, 3-6) at the Ookini Arena Maishima. Javi had just received his letter of clearance that cleared him to play.
Juan and Tokyo Z (East, 0-8), on the other hand, look to finally break into the win column. They face Fukushima (East, 4-4) at the Tamura City General Gymnasium. Juan said that he has fully recovered from the quad injury he sustained three weeks ago.
With the Gomez de Liaño brothers back, all nine Filipino players will be playing on the same weekend for the first time.
Kiefer’s brother Thirdy and San-En (West, 3-6) take on Shibuya (6-3, East) at the Aoyama Gakuin Memorial Hall at 6:05PM.
Ray Parks and Nagoya (West, 5-4) squares off against Gunma (East, 3-6) at the Ota City Athletic Park Citizen’s Gymnasium at 2:05 PM.
Matthew Aquino looks to finally make his B.League debut as well at 3:05 PM. The streaking Shinshu (West, 5-4) goes up against Akita (East, 4-5) at White Ring.
Kobe Paras and Niigata (East, 2-7) look to snap their six-game slide when they face Ryukyu (West, 7-2) at the City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka at 4:05 PM.
An hour later, Dwight Ramos and Toyama (West, 1-8) look to add to the streak they built in the Emperor’s Cup when it tackles Kawasaki (East, 6-3) at the Kawasaki City Todoroki Arena.
Ramos’ TMG stablemate Kemark Carino and Aomori (East, 1-7) visits Koshigaya (East, 5-3) at 4:00 PM.