Jets Soar or Corsairs Conquer: Catch the Thrilling Action of the 100th Emperor’s Cup All Japan Basketball Championship Round 2 – Chiba Jets vs Yokohama B-Corsairs

The second day of the second round of the Emperor’s Cup held in Hiroshima. Yokohama BC, playing against Chiba J, took the lead in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and entered the 4th quarter with a 1-point lead, but the point gap widened as they allowed Chiba J to go on a 10-0 run early, which they lost by 12 points. They did not advance to the third round. The scoring leader was #23 King with 19 points. #21 Coetzer recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

#8 Gary Clark
#15 Kiefer Ravenna
#21Mike Coetzer
#23 Open King
#30 Koya Sudo

#8 Gary Clark 9 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
#21 Mike Coetzer 10 points 10 rebounds 6 assists 1 steal
#23 King Kai 19 points 5 assists 1 assist 1 block
#30 Koya Sudo 10 points

Chiba J 28-22 Yokohama BC

They allowed Chiba J to take the lead, but they found their rhythm through their tenacious defense and managed to turn the game around with consecutive points from #21 Cotzer, #8 Clark, and #23 King. From then on, the battle became tight, with repeated changes of command. Conceding consecutive goals in the final stages of the game, the team fell behind by 9 points, but with consecutive points from #24 Matsuzaki and #14 Ohba, as well as a goal from #21 Coetzer, they closed the point gap and ended the game. first quarter with a 6-point difference.

Chiba J 40-36 Yokohama BC (Chiba J 12-14 Yokohama BC)

Early on, #21 Coetzer hit a 2-point shot. Although he tried to hit a 3-point shot with his quick passes, he couldn’t make it and continued to struggle. However, they kept a rhythm by keeping Chiba J’s points low with their defense, and in the first 4 minutes, #30 Sudo hit a 3-point shot and #9 Sugiura also hit a 2-point shot to get things going. With 3 minutes left, #30 Sudo and #21 Coetzer scored to make a comeback. From then on, they allowed Chiba J to take the lead, but #8 Clark’s dunk prevented the point gap from widening and the first half ended with a 4-point difference.

Chiba J 60-59 Yokohama BC (Chiba J 20-23 Yokohama BC)

They lost a point due to a foul early in the game, but #24 Matsuzaki made a 3-point shot. From that point on, Chiba J #2 Togashi allowed 13 points and almost let them go, but scores from #30 Sudo, #9 Sugiura, #23 King and #24 Matsuzaki made the game close with less than a minute to go, #30 Sudo made a 2-point shot, closing the gap to 1 point in the 4th quarter.

It was a good battle. Chiba J played better in the 4th quarter, so we lost. However, I am happy that everyone played well during the two days of the Emperor’s Cup. We gained a lot of experience and gained a lot of information, so we will take a closer look at how we play from now on, how we grow from now on, and how the other teams play. First of all, we need to get some rest, and next week will be a big week with Damien (#4 Inglis) and Dan (#7 Nanner) participating in team training. This will be the first time we will train with the full team, but we will train hard and prepare for the opening match against Sendai.

If we lose, it will be the end of the Emperor’s Cup and our opponent will be Chiba J. It was a really tough match, but there were many moments where all the players did what they had to do from the first quarter. However, even though we played well as a team, we couldn’t win in the end, which left us with some problems. As a point guard, I was responsible for not being able to control the game in the 4th quarter and lead to the win. We have thought about this in depth, and even though there are some players who have not yet come together in the two weeks leading up to the season, we will all work together as one team to enter the season in good shape and achieve our goal of winning the championship in the regular season. I want to work hard to achieve this goal. Thank you again for your enthusiastic support.

It was a very close game. They managed to hold out well until the 3rd quarter, but they lost their aggression in the 4th quarter. From now on we will have to be able to fight aggressively until the end. Overall I think the team is going in the right direction and everyone is trying to do their part. I think this team can still learn and grow. The opening regatta is coming, so from now on we will work even harder, fix what we can, teach Damien (#4 Inglis) a lot of things and work as a team to do our best.

Against a team that had a great roster, when I was able to finish off my usual cuts and open threes, I was more aware than usual of giving up and my percentage went down. As the foreign players were putting their bodies in line during the rebounds, I think it would have been nice if the outside players could have been involved in the rebounds and held the ball for a longer period of time. It was a nice experience to be able to play well against Chiba J, who has a roster of great players, even though we didn’t have the original rotation of 9 players, but from here on we have to think about what we can do to come out victorious instead of ending up in a close game. We will work as a team during the week until the opening day.
In preparation for the start of the season, Damien (#4 Inglis) will also participate in trials, and Dan-san (#7 Nanner) will also return. Once again, we will work as a team to gradually improve the problems encountered in the preseason matches and the Emperor’s Cup, become a better team, and ensure that we win the first two matches.