MANILA – Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena of Shiga Lakestars is set to debut in Japan’s B.League this weekend.
He faces younger brother Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III of San-En NeoPhoenix.
Kiefer is thankful for the opportunity to play as an Asian Quota Player for the Lakestars. He hopes to help give Shiga more success in the upcoming season and become a better player in the process.
“Just excited here, hoping to bring a lot of pride, intensity, and heart to the team and hopefully get a championship for Shiga,” Kiefer said during an introductory press conference.
He added: “I’m excited to see where I am as a player, and improve even more. We have an Olympic coach and I’m excited to learn from each and every one of my teammates, the management, our staff.”
The Iloilo City native is also excited that his first game in the league is against his younger brother Thirdy who is entering his second year as reinforcement with the NeoPhoenix.
“This is a great honor for my family, but when game time comes it’s (going to be) difficult because we can’t treat each other as brothers. We have to play against one another just like any other team on any other opponent,” said Kiefer.
“As brothers, we know we bring out the best in one another. I hope we can do that… Definitely, I’ll be doing my best for my team to come out on top,” he added.
Thirdy, for his part, said that while he is also excited to battle Kiefer, his focus is on helping the NeoPhoenix had a winning start this year after a lackluster campaign in the 2020-2021 season.
“Definitely, very excited playing against my brother,” Thirdy said. “But my focus is on my team. We still have a lot to work on.”
The Lakestars and NeoPhoenix will face each other twice this weekend at Ukaruchan Arena in Shiga with first on Oct. 2 at 4:35 p.m. and second at 1:35 p.m. on Oct. 3./PN
