Gabriel Segura ||

The road to victory is fraught with hardship and failure, as Thirdy Ravena struggles to gain a foothold in the 20-21 Season of B League.

While beginning strong with a hard-fought away win against hosting team Shimane Susanoo Magic with a score of 83-82, the surge was swept away after just a day after as the Magic held the fort with a score of 74-81. The slump continued versus Osaka Evessa at the NeoPhoenix home ground, resulting in a close 84-85 due to a late-game play by Osaka’s Takuya Hashimoto. The most recent game against Alvark Tokyo ended with a decisive loss for San-En, 94-76. 

However, these losses have not stopped Ravena from consistently putting out solid performances. In his debut game, he scored 13 points, not far off from leading scorer Stevan Jelovac with 22 points. He scored 13 and 18 points in the second and third games respectively, but the fourth game unfortunately saw a drop-off in performance as the high-flyer laid low, seeing 4 points and making only 1 out of 8 attempts. 

Despite these losses, Filipino fans were largely not disappointed with Ravena’s performance. 

In an interview after his debut game, Thirdy thanked his Filipino supporters:

“Definitely, I’m very thankful to all the supporters who watched.”

He admitted areas of improvement, singling out his “conditioning”, but added he had enjoyed a “great game.” He stated his commitment and drive, saying “I’m here to do whatever it takes to help the team win and if I have to drive, I have to rebound and if I have to shoot, I’ll do it. I’ll do my best.”

Among his highlights are an impressive layup in the 4^th quarter of his first game, bringing the lead of San-En up to 8 points. 

In his second game, Ravena made an early game contribution, weaving through the Shimane defenses and banking a 2-point shot.

The third game saw back-to-back 3-pointers as Ravena blazed through the early game.