SCHEDULE
B1 ROUND 4 Game 1: October 22, 2022
NAGOYA DIAMOND DOLPHINS 107 - 83 LEVANGA HOKKAIDO
📊 BOXSCORE
B1 ROUND 4 Game 2: October 23, 2022
NAGOYA DIAMOND DOLPHINS 112 - 77 LEVANGA HOKKAIDO
📊 BOXSCORE
(Dwight Ramos: DR) Definitely learning experience. It was a tough game for us there. One of the top teams and we definitely take away a lot from a loss like this.
(DR) Kind of the same way they play the same type of defense. It's a little adjustment they have. They just press a lot and they try to speed the game up. So we just break the press to take early shots. That's kind of what they wanted and kind of fell into that trap today. So that's why the game was blown open.
(DR) I think just coming in, we have to be more confident in ourselves. We look at the game and we see NAGOYA the playoff team last year, you got to come in with the mindset that we can still win while we're playing, I think with that confidence that you get a better showing on the court, more confident with yourself, and then just contribute and work with the team a lot better.
(DR) You can kind of see during the press there would be some turnovers that if we were in practice it wouldn't happen. But of course it's different in the game and I think most of that stuff with mental turnovers. Our players are not bad, they're good players. So the mistakes we are making is sort of just confidence, experience, lack of experience. So it's good for us. It's going to keep getting better from here.
(DR) I wouldn't say I was focusing it on the off season, but I just worked on trying to get in better shape coming in. It's also different defense than I played last year. Last year it was mostly zone in Toyama, but here pretty much all man to man. So I take pride in my defense and I'm not sure how it happened, but it just happens. I try and get my deflections hands on the ball, try to disrupt offense a little bit. We'll see it's still early in the year.
(DR) Wouldn't say anything missing. I would just say, as you can see, sometimes in the games we're kind of lost, not knowing what to do and I think that just comes with practice, playing more and just trying to get closer and gel together as a unit.
(DR) For me, really, I just have to get in the gym to work harder at my jump shot. A lot of times start missing and it gets in my head. But I know with a lot of hard work. Even if I miss, it won't really affect me. So I just know I got to work harder in that.
(Ray Parks Jr.: RP) It's definitely a huge momentum boost for sure to win back to back games against a tough team like HOKKAIDO. Just a 24 hours turnaround and it's definitely tough on our bodies and with the way we play, we definitely go hard and we really push ourselves on defense. That's what we pride ourselves on. So as much as possible we try to keep fresh legs. And like I said, it was a huge win for us today and it's a huge morale booster for us moving on to the next game.
(RP) We definitely enjoy playing with one another and it is a talented group. I feel like with the system, most of the people on the players on the team knows the system already but it's more about refreshers and getting back into the rhythm of things and to add such a special talent like Maurice (Ndour), it only makes us better. So I feel like going into this year, everybody's more comfortable with the role that we need to do in order to succeed.
(RP) For me, I just want to be more consistent on defense, for sure, and at the same time just try to get my teammates involved. Great opportunities for them. I feel like the way our system works anyway is that the ball will find you, they'll find the correct shot, and it's just about being patient and trusting one another. I know I had a rough game yesterday, and that's a game that I definitely want to forget. That's why, coming into today, I wanted to be more aggressive, and I think the coaching staff for allowing me to start and really pushing me to be aggressive today. So I'm thankful for that, and I'm glad that it did work out.
(RP) Against Matthew, Matthew Wright is such a great shooter, a great play guy off the court too to be honest. Actually, I bumped into him on our way back from Yokohama at the train station, and I guess I headed back to Kyoto. And it feels good to just be able to see a familiar face, a familiar friend. And on Wednesday against KYOTO, for sure, we're going to try to battle it out. We're going to give it our best. At the end of the day, we're still brothers.
(RP) Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for considering us as a play on the title team. We definitely do believe ourselves, too, but it's good to hear that you all see that in us, too. Now it's about proving it's. I feel like moving forward, we just have to continue to trust the system and continue to stay healthy.
