Ever since they were in college, the careers of Kiefer Ravena and Ray Parks have been intertwined as both are second-generation basketball players who are in the same batch.
Ravena though has the advantage over Parks in terms of head-to-head matchup in the pros as he has come out on top in their two encounters in the Philippines Basketball Association.
The two Filipino superstars will rekindle their years-long rivalry in another country as they are calendared to face each other in back-to-back games this time in Japan.
And their respective teams have momentum on their side heading to their clash at Park Arena Komaki.
Nagoya opened its campaign this season with three straight losses by an average margin of 5.3 points as they missed the services of Parks and former Indiana Pacer Shayne Whittington. They have since swept their next three assignments in runaway fashion as they won by an average of 20 points to move to the middle pack in the standings with a 3-3 record.
Photo from Nagoya Diamond Dolphins
Meanwhile, Shiga has won its last four games. They are currently tied with defending champion Chiba and Hiroshima at the top of the B. League with 5-1 win-loss records.
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The formula for success for both squads appears to be taken from the same page: an Asian reinforcement who impacts different facets of the game, imports who deliver big on the offensive and rebounding end, and a solid local crew who contribute consistent numbers.
Parks was far from peak form when he made his debut for his new ballclub. In his first two games in Japan, the ex-Texas Legend and former ASEAN Basketball League MVP saw limited action and normed just 1.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.
Against Toyama, the real Bobby Ray finally stood up and stood out. He dropped 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc and grabbed five boards in their win last Saturday.
(C) B.League
For an encore on Sunday, Parks was even sharper as he led all Nagoya scorers with 17 points. He also posted six rebounds, four steals, and two assists as he displayed his all-around prowess. Parks’s numbers these past two games are built on an average of just 20.7 minutes of play, lower than all the other Filipino imports except Juan Gomez De Liaño.
Ravena, on the other hand, has shown that he influences the Lakestars offensive flow not just by his scoring as he also averages 5.5 assists per outing, tied for ninth among all players in the B. League. He is eighth among the league leaders in steals with his average of 1.8 per game.
(C) B.League
Ravena’s offensive output in the last two games has dipped after scoring in double digits in his first four games, but he still is averaging in double figures with 11.2 points. He is the fourth leading scorer for the Lakestars. Their three other imports, Ovie Soko (20.2 points), Novar Gadson (15.8 points), and Sean O’Mara (15.3 points), are carrying the bulk of the scoring load for the squad. Shiga is the only team in the entire league which has all three of its non-Asian imports averaging over 15 points per showing.
For Nagoya, 6-foot-9 center Scott Eatherton, who is putting up 18 points per outing, and former Boston Celtic Cody Clarke, who chips in 16.2 points, have compensated for the absence of Whittington on the offensive end. The 6-foot-11 Whittington has only played one game for the Diamond Dolphins.
A large part of Nagoya’s recovery from their early slump has been the backcourt play of their two main guards, B. League all-star point guard Takumi Saito and 6-foot-2 Yutaro Suda, the former sixth man of 2-time B. League champion Alvark Tokyo. The 5-foot-8 Saito is the fifth-highest scoring Asian in the league with 15.2 points per game. He is also dishing out 5.5 assists per game. Suda is hitting at least two triples per game and is dropping 9.8 points. Two key reserves, point guard Tatsuya Ito and 6-foot-1 shooter Yusuke Karino, average at least 5 points each for the Diamond Dolphins.
Shiga has 5-foot-11 playmaker Teppei Kashiwagura to backstop Ravena in handling the guard chores. Kashiwagura is scoring 9.0 points a game and is sixth in the league in assists with an average of 6.2. The Lakestars have not gotten a lot of contribution from their guard rotation outside of Kashiwagura and Ravena.
The Lakestars, though, have versatile 6-foot-5 small forward Shotaro Hayashi to shadow Parks at the wings. Hayashi, who previously played for Niigata, is norming 6.5 points and close to three boards per game.
Nagoya’s captain Tenketsu Harimoto, a 6-foot-6 veteran who was part of the Japan national team, is another key component of the rotation of the Diamond Dolphins. Harimoto has scored in double figures in three of the team’s six games and is averaging 7.8 points a game. His stellar play at power forward allows Clarke to slide to the three-spot and create mismatches for Nagoya.
The Diamond Dolphins have the edge in depth over the Lakestars who have the more explosive imports.
The Nagoya versus Shiga match-up will also be a battle of wits and tactics as both squads are helmed by highly decorated coaches.
Nagoya mentor Shawn Dennis is a former National Basketball League-Australia Coach of the Year, while Shiga’s Luis Guil Torres is the assistant coach of the Spanish national team.
Fans will be treated to a dogfight as two top-caliber, high-quality ballclubs try to further solidify their positions in the team standings.
