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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Contrasting debuts for rookies Edu, Abarrientos; B.League vets Parks, Thirdy off to good start

Contrasting debuts for rookies Edu, Abarrientos; B.League vets Parks, Thirdy off to good start

Published Oct 8, 2023 02:07 am

At A Glance

  • It was a tale of two contrasting debuts for Filipino rookies in the Japan B.League as RJ Abarrientos listed his first win with the Shinshu Brave Warriors while AJ Edu started off his first foray to the professional scene on the wrong foot after a Toyama Grouses loss on Saturday, Oct. 7.
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It was a tale of two contrasting debuts for Filipino rookies in the Japan B.League as RJ Abarrientos listed his first win with the Shinshu Brave Warriors while AJ Edu started off his first foray to the professional scene on the wrong foot after a Toyama Grouses loss on Saturday, Oct. 7.

Toyama .jpg
AJ Edu make his professional debut with the Toyama Grouses. (B.League photo)

Abarrientos, who transferred to the B.League after a splendid one-year stint in the Korean Basketball League, was decent in his first game finishing with six points and two rebounds in still limited action in Shinshu’s 84-79 victory over the Ibaraki Robots.

It was world import Stanton Kidd, however, who did most of the damage for the Brave Warriors with 21 points and eight rebounds. Fellow Filipino Matt Aquino was not fielded in the winning start to the season for Shinshu.

Edu, who was coming off a strong showing for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA World Cup, showed off his wares in the Grouses 93-73 loss to Osaka Evessa. The 6-foot-10 big man had solid 10 points, three rebounds and a block in his debut but it was not enough to lift his team to a victory.

Angelo Caloiaro led Osaka with 25pts and nine rebounds.

Carl Tamayo and the Ryukyu Golden Kings also repeated to Saga Ballooners with a pulsating 80-79 overtime win. A tough defensive stand from former PBA Best Import Allen Durham and a made free throw in the final second lifted his team to a 2-0 record in the standings.

After a career start to his second season, Tamayo cooled down in the second game with five points although he had 10 boards.

Also emerging as winners in their first games in the new B.League season were veterans Ray Parks Jr. and Thirdy Ravena.

Ravena provided solid contributions to Ryusei Sasaki as the San-En Neophoenix grounded Kawasaki Brave Thunders, 86-75. The four-year B.League veteran finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists as Sasaki led the way with 23.

Parks, for his part, helped the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins in its 79-70 win over Sunrockers Shibuya. He provided ample support to Tim Soares’ 26 points, putting up 10 points and five rebounds.

Dwight Ramos of Levanga Hokkaido and Matthew Wright of Kyoto Hannaryz were not as fortunate. The two struggled offensively as their respective teams suffered losses in their opening game.

Wright could only muster four points and four rebounds as Kyoto bowed to Yokoham B-Corsairs, 81-67, while Ramos only had five points, four rebounds and two assists in Hokkaido’s 69-69 defeat to Akita Northern Happinets.

Kai Sotto, meanwhile, didn’t see action in Hiroshima Dragonflies’ 74-65 loss to Fighting Eagles Nagoya due to a lumbar disc hernia.

Over at the Division 2 action, Kiefer Ravena exploded for 21 points to lead Shiga Lakes to a Shiga Lakes’ 100-86 win over the Kumamoto Volters.

Robert Bolick also made a good account of himself in his debut, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. His team, Fukushima Firebonds, however, fell to the Yamagata Wyverns of Roosevelt Adams who hardly made his presence felt after only playing for a minute.

Greg Slaughter, meanwhile, only had three points and a rebound to show for the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka in their 77-70 loss to the Ehime Orange Vikings.

Related Tags

RJ Abarrientos AJ Edu Ray Parks Jr Japan B.League
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