Kiefer Ravena is determined to lead Shiga Lakes to its first playoff stint in the Japanese B. League.
The 28-year-old Ravena, who was tapped as captain recently, said he wants to lead the Lakes to the post-season after finishing 20th out of 22 teams in which they won only 14 out of 57 matches.
He added that they have a lot of new players, but they are sticking to their goal of winning as many games as they can to earn a ticket to the next round.
“We have a new team with a lot of familiar faces. But at the same time, you know, a different goal, a new goal to win as much games as we can play well in front of our home crowd, play consistently in a very, very high level of basketball and hopefully make it to the playoffs,” Ravena, who bagged a fresh three-year deal, said.
Since joining the B. League in its first season in 2016, Shiga never made it into the top eight.
Its best record so far was during the 2017-2018 season where it tallied a 24-36
win-loss record.
In his first season with the Lakes, Ravena averaged 13.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 steals in 27 through 56 games.
Under the guidance of head coach Luis Guil Torres, who is fresh from helping Spain win the 2022 FIBA Eurobasket trophy, and former Utah Jazz forward Erik McCree as well as journeymen Novar Godson and Shan O’Mara, Ravena hopes history will be made this time.
“It’s always nice to be part of history, you know. Making our mark in this league as an upcoming team. And yeah, I know, it’s a challenge for each and every one of us,” Ravena said.
“So, we were hoping to be part of history this coming season.”