“Ryukyu Golden Kings Achieve Long-Awaited Championship with Heroic Performance from Ryuichi Kishimoto”

Revenge for last year’s final defeat “I’m so happy to finally reach here”

The Ryukyu Golden Kings defeated the Chiba Jets in the B League Final with two consecutive wins, achieving their long-cherished desire to become number one in Japan for the first time. Ryuichi Kishimoto, a native Okinawan player who has been with the team for 11 years and is the face of the Ryukyus, won the fierce double-overtime battle 96-93 in the first round, scoring 6 goals and 5 assists in a playing time of 34 minutes and 59 seconds. Recorded 4 rebounds. In addition, in the second game, which won the championship with 88-73, Coe Flippin, who plays the same playmaker, showed the best play of the season, and the playing time remained at 13 minutes, but the pronoun deep three was decided. He performed well with 6 goals and 3 assists.

Ryukyu has won the bj league four times, but after the birth of the B league, Ryukyu has been one step away from winning the title, and Kishimoto has experienced it all. Therefore, the first words at the press conference after winning were the words, “I’m very happy to finally reach here.” And Kishimoto said, “Make Okinawa more energetic! ]and we are particular about giving shape to the thoughts of all the people who have been involved in the team, such as the players who have been enrolled so far, and the staff who have been involved in the team. ing. That is why the following words appear.

“All sorts of people have put in their best efforts to fight this day. Thanks to that feeling of gratitude, I think it was a very meaningful win for us and for Okinawa. As an athlete, it is meaningful that the children of Okinawa can feel closer to us that if we work hard to do what we believe in, we may be able to reach it.

For Kishimoto, the title of the league championship will be after 2016, the final year of the bj league. Talk about the difference between then and now. “When I won the championship in the bj league, I had the feeling that I should be able to keep up with the core players. I’m glad that I was able to do this in a different sense.There were many seniors, and Shige-san (Shigeyuki Kinjo), Jeff (Newton), and Mack (Anthony McHenry) saw this kind of scenery. I wonder if it’s a feeling, and it feels like I’ve finally arrived here.”

The three people Kishimoto mentioned are the ones who have played a central role since the early days of the Ryukyus, and have become the foundation of the Ryukyus team culture of hard work and dedicated and tenacious defense by all members of the team. From that achievement, Newton and Kinjo will be permanently retired from the team, and McHenry, who played an active part in the Shinshu Brave Warriors this season, is also expected to join this ranks.

“Rather, it’s a consciousness that continues to follow their backs.”

In addition to these three, Kishimoto says what he wants to convey to former teammates such as Morihisa Yamauchi (Sanen Neophoenix) who is also from Okinawa. “Rather than wanting to convey what I’m feeling right now, I want to be able to sit on my knees in the same place and share this feeling if possible. I think it would be great if I could say, “The time I spent up until now is irreplaceable, and it’s because of that that I’m here now.”

From the outside, I feel that Kishimoto, who led the team to the B-League champions as the face and leader of the team, has at least stood on par with his predecessors. However, he says, “Rather, I’m still chasing their backs.” “Jef, Mack, Shige-san, I could go on and on about names, but I can feel a little bit about how everyone (who has led Ryukyu so far) went into the match with this kind of feeling and achieved victory with this kind of feeling. I think we were able to

Having a player like Kishimoto who works hard to carry on the heritage left by his predecessors will allow Ryukyu to build on its strength as a team. This is Ryukyu’s greatest strength. Also, “During the champagne fight, I talked about coach Keith and the people I named,” Kishimoto mentions, like Keith Richardson, who has been on the team for a long time. Not a big advantage. Although he doesn’t get much of the spotlight, Richardson is a support staff who makes a big contribution to helping Ryukyu’s foreign players adjust to life in Okinawa and smoothly understand the team culture that Ryukyu values.

With this league victory, it was once again proved that the things that Kishimoto cherished were not wrong. And just as Kishimoto continues to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, the number of basketball boys in Okinawa who want to follow in the footsteps of the homegrown hero Kishimoto must have certainly increased. Of course, winning is a great value for any member. However, in Ryukyu, the fact that Kishimoto is the central player, and now wins, has a special meaning.