B3 League Round 31: Kanazawa still unable to win any game

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

Bottom-ranked Kanazawa (0-28) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 77-60 loss to fourth ranked Iwate (20-10) in Ishikawa on Sunday evening. Iwate outrebounded Kanazawa 43-22 including a 29-15 advantage in defensive rebounds. American Kyle Richardson (200-91, college: Portland St.) fired a double-double by scoring 41 points (!!!) and 13 rebounds (on 14-of-16 shooting from the field) for the winners. Guard Keisuke Takabatake (183-90) chipped in 8 points and 4 assists. point guard Yugo Okuda (176-99) produced 10 points and 6 assists for lost side. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Iwate have a solid series of four victories in a row. They moved-up to third place. Kanazawa at the other side still closes the standings. Iwate are looking forward to face Aisin AW (#8) in Aichi in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Kanazawa will have a break next round.
Important game to mention about took place in Aichi. Twelfth ranked Yamaguchi (10-20) saved a 3-point victory on the road edging 13th ranked Toyoda (6-22) 94-91 in the game for the twelfth place. Worth to mention a great performance of American forward Robert Sampson (203-92, college: Georgia Tech) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 20 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks. Yuki Ide contributed with 20 points and 4 assists (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) for the winners. American power forward Jalen Billups (200-92, college: NKU, agency: BIG) answered with a double-double by scoring 41 points (!!!), 13 rebounds and 8 assists for Toyoda. Both coaches tested many bench players in such tough game. Newly promoted Yamaguchi maintains twelfth place with 10-20 record. Toyoda lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the thirteenth position with 22 games lost. Yamaguchi will play against higher ranked Tokyo HT (#9) at home in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Toyoda will play against Kagoshima (#4) having rather not much hope for a victory.
We should mention about the upset which took place in Aichi, where 6th ranked Okayama (16-8) lost to ninth ranked Aisin AW (14-12) in a road game 91-99 on Sunday. The game was dominated by American players. It was a great evening for Jordan Faison who led his team to a victory scoring 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. At the losing side Chris Olivier responded with a double-double by scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds. Okayama's coach rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. Aisin AW moved-up to eighth place. Loser Okayama keeps the sixth position with eight games lost. Aisin AW will meet higher ranked Iwate (#3) on the road in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Okayama will play against Shinagawa and hope to secure a win.

In the last game of round 31 Yokohama EX defeated Gifu in Tokyo 81-68.

Aisin AW - Okayama 99-91

We should mention about the upset which took place in Aichi, where 6th ranked Okayama (16-8) lost to ninth ranked Aisin AW (14-12) in a road game 91-99 on Sunday. The game was dominated by American players. It was a great evening for forward Jordan Faison (201-94, college: CPP) who led his team to a victory scoring 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Marcus Dove (206-85, college: OK State) helped adding 17 points and 9 rebounds. At the losing side forward Chris Olivier (202-92, college: OK State, agency: Octagon Europe) responded with a double-double by scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds and forward Jeffrey Parmer (203-85, college: FAU) produced a double-double by scoring 16 points and 11 rebounds. Four Aisin AW and five Okayama players scored in double figures. Okayama's coach rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. Aisin AW moved-up to eighth place. Loser Okayama keeps the sixth position with eight games lost. Aisin AW will meet higher ranked Iwate (#3) on the road in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Okayama will play against Shinagawa and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Okayama: C.Olivier 20+10reb, J.Parmer 16+11reb+2ast, W.Kouki 12+1reb, M.Higuchi 12+3reb+2ast, M.Yusuke 10+1reb+2ast, C.Maduabum 10+2reb
Aisin AW: S.Sora 24+2reb+1ast, F.Shunsuke 22+2reb+1ast, J.Faison 21+8reb+5ast, M.Dove 17+9reb+3ast, N.Spikes 7+7reb, N.Ishikawa 5+1reb+3ast

Kanazawa - Iwate 60-77

Bottom-ranked Kanazawa (0-28) tried to put together a comeback for its first victory of the season, but they fell short in the 77-60 loss to fourth ranked Iwate (20-10) in Ishikawa on Sunday evening. Iwate outrebounded Kanazawa 43-22 including a 29-15 advantage in defensive rebounds. American Kyle Richardson (200-91, college: Portland St.) fired a double-double by scoring 41 points (!!!) and 13 rebounds (on 14-of-16 shooting from the field) for the winners. Guard Keisuke Takabatake (183-90) chipped in 8 points and 4 assists. Point guard Yugo Okuda (176-99) produced 10 points and 6 assists and Serbian forward Dusan Vicentic (204-97, college: WVWC) added 13 points respectively for lost side. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Iwate have a solid series of four victories in a row. They moved-up to third place. Kanazawa at the other side still closes the standings. Iwate are looking forward to face Aisin AW (#8) in Aichi in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Kanazawa will have a break next round.
Top scorers:
Kanazawa: D.Vicentic 13+2reb, O.Yugo 10+3reb+6ast, S.Kotaro 8+1ast, B.Aoki 7+6reb+1ast, Y.Kota 6+3reb, B.Jonathan 4+1reb
Iwate: K.Richardson 41+13reb+1ast, K.Takabatake 8+1reb+4ast, R.Ito 4+4reb, M.Jr Eric 4+6reb, A.Osawa 4+3reb+3ast, J.Taniguchi 4+3reb+4ast

Gifu - Yokohama EX 68-81

We cannot really consider it an upset in the game between close teams when 10th ranked Gifu (11-19) was defeated at home by eleventh ranked Yokohama EX (11-19) 81-68 on Sunday. Yokohama EX made 20-of-26 free shots (76.9 percent) during the game. Strangely Gifu outrebounded Yokohama EX 51-31 including a 25-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. It was a great evening for American Isaac Copeland (206-95, college: Nebraska) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 27 points and 12 rebounds (on 10-of-13 shooting from the field). Canadian forward Mamadou Gueye (201-93, college: Alberta) helped adding 15 points and 5 rebounds. Yokohama EX's coach used a ten-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. At the losing side American center Jayce Johnson (213-97, college: Marquette) responded with a double-double by scoring 29 points and 24 rebounds and the other American import forward Alex Floresca (203-96, college: San Diego) scored 8 points and 12 rebounds. Yokohama EX moved-up to tenth place, which they share with defeated Gifu. Yokohama EX will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Gifu will play against the league's second-placed Chiba (#2) having rather not much hope for a victory.
Top scorers:
Gifu: J.Johnson 29+24reb+1ast, K.Morito 10+4reb+1ast, A.Floresca 8+12reb+2ast, A.Ryoya 7+2reb+4ast, T.Masahiro 6+2reb+2ast, S.Norio 3+1reb+1ast
Yokohama EX: I.Copeland 27+12reb, M.Gueye 15+5reb, E.Ross 8+6reb+2ast, A.Hayate 7+2reb+2ast, T.Yutaka 7+2ast, H.Higuchi 7+2reb

Toyoda - Yamaguchi 91-94

Important game to mention about took place in Aichi. Twelfth ranked Yamaguchi (10-20) saved a 3-point victory on the road edging 13th ranked Toyoda (6-22) 94-91 in the game for the twelfth place. Worth to mention a great performance of American forward Robert Sampson (203-92, college: Georgia Tech) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 20 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks. Point guard Yuki Ide (178-96) contributed with 20 points and 4 assists (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) for the winners. Sampson is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. American power forward Jalen Billups (200-92, college: NKU, agency: BIG) answered with a double-double by scoring 41 points (!!!), 13 rebounds and 8 assists and the other American import center Joe Wolfinger (214-85, college: Citadel) added 16 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists in the effort for Toyoda. Five Yamaguchi and four Toyoda players scored in double figures. Both coaches tested many bench players in such tough game. Newly promoted Yamaguchi maintains twelfth place with 10-20 record. Toyoda lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the thirteenth position with 22 games lost. Yamaguchi will play against higher ranked Tokyo HT (#9) at home in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Toyoda will play against Kagoshima (#4) having rather not much hope for a victory.
Top scorers:
Toyoda: J.Billups 41+13reb+8ast, J.Wolfinger 16+12reb+5ast, E.Sumihiro 12+2reb+3ast, R.Yanagiuchi 11+5reb+4ast, H.Hiroki 5+1reb+1ast, H.Kenya 4+3ast
Yamaguchi: Y.Ide 20+2reb+4ast, R.Sampson 20+16reb+1ast, R.Yamaguchi 13+3reb+2ast, A.Yamada 12+1ast, N.Evans 10+3reb+2ast, N.Shin 6+1reb



Tags : KYLE RICHARDSON, IWATE BIG BULLS, JAPANESE BASKETBALL