It’s not just Juan Gomez de Liaño heading to the B.League.
Javi Gomez de Liaño will join his younger brother in Japan, as he signed with B.League Division 1 team Ibaraki Robots.
Ibarak competed in B2 over the past few years, and compiled a 41-16 record last season. It finished in second place overall, with a recent promotion to B1.
The 22-year-old UP Fighting Maroon’s decision to play in Japan came about when Juan signed with B2 team Earthfriends Tokyo Z a couple of weeks ago.
“When I got back home from the Clark bubble of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, Juan got a contract with Earthfriends Tokyo.
“That kind of paved the way for me because they knew that me and Juan’s situation, puwede na sa Japan. Since even if we are dual citizens, we played for the national team. As soon as Juan signed that, there were a couple of teams that messaged me,” Javi told Tiebreaker Times, as both he and Juan hold Philippine and Spanish passports.
It also helped that Robots general manager Daisuke Nishimura has been searching for a big shooting guard. According to the GM, their backcourt “is a little thin”.
Photo from FIBA Asia Cup
Javi played three games for Gilas during the Qualifiers. He averaged 10.7 points on 65-percent shooting from the field, along with 3.0 boards per game.
Also helping out in the negotiations was Espiritu Manotoc Basketball Management’s Marvin Espiritu.
As the B.League is a pro league, Gomez de Liaño has forgone his final year in UP.
During his fourth year with the Fighting Maroons, Gomez de Liaño normed 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. He was a pivotal piece of the program that won silver in UAAP Season 81 and bronze a season after.
With the Richard Glesman-mentored team reloading for its first foray in B1 that includes the signing of the likes of Daichi Taniguchi, Takanobu Nishikawa, Eric Jacobsen, and Asahi Tajima, Gomez de Liaño plans to focus on strengthening his defense before he heads to Ibaraki.
“My goal in Japan is to show the world that Philippine basketball has excelled over the years. Hopefully, I become an inspiration to the youth. As for myself, I want to showcase my talent because ever since, I felt that I was built for the international stages,” said the 6-foot-5 winger, who will wear jersey no. 22 for Ibaraki.
“Now, I get to play more comfortably at my position. And, of course, I still need to work on my defense. I’ll focus on that for the next two months before the season begins.”
The other imports of the team are Chehales Tapscott and Marc Trasolini.
Gomez de Liaño also plans on staying in Japan for the whole year, dedicating himself to the Robots.
“I’m the type of guy that is 100-percent committed to my teams. I think that I’m going to stay in Japan for one year for the season. I want to fully commit myself to them for giving me this opportunity to play — I want to show them that they made the right choice in signing me.”
The Gomez de Liaño brothers are just two Filipinos going to play in Japan. Thirdy Ravena is with San-En, while older brother Kiefer is signed with Shiga.
