MANILA – Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III has nothing but good words as he saw his maiden stint as reinforcement for the San-En NeoPhoenix in Japan’s B.League comes to an end.
In an Instagram post, the Iloilo City-native guard expressed his gratitude to the NeoPhoenix for taking care of him the past seven months in Japan.
“Season’s officially over. Wish I was able to play more games, but such is life,” Ravena wrote after the NeoPhoenix ended their campaign with an 80-75 loss to Shinshu Brave Warriors on Wednesday night.
“Thank you to the @neophoenix_official family and boosters for accepting this young and clueless kid from the Philippines with open arms! It was an experience I’ll never forget!” he added.
Ravena joined NeoPhoenix in their 18 matches and submitted an average of 9.1 points on 36-percent field goal shooting to go along with 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 22.8 minutes.
Ravena’s stint with the team was marked with several twists and turns when his arrival in Japan was delayed by visa issues. He then tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after playing for 10 games with San-En.
The Ilonggo managed to return from his bout with COVID-19 but was sidelined for several games after sustaining a fracture on his right index finger.
Despite seeing limited action, Ravena was voted to the B.League All-Stars and was tapped to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest but begged off due to injury.
After returning from a finger injury, Ravena was a struggle for the NeoPhoenix in his last matches, before being held out for the rest of the tournament due to a sore left knee./PN
