Ravena sibling rivalry highlights star-studded B. League opening weekend

Sibling rivalries are always fun to watch in sports, and right off the bat in their new season, the Japan B. League is offering that kind of tense action for Filipino fans with a back-to-back opening weekend slate pitting Thirdy Ravena against his brother Kiefer.

Thirdy, who is entering his second year with the San-en NeoPhoenix after a trailblazing campaign last season, is set to go up against his kuya Kiefer of the Shiga Lakestars starting this Saturday, October 2, 4:05 pm, Manila time, and again on Sunday, October 3, 1:35 pm.

Aside from viewing live stats at the league’s official website, fans can watch the two brothers go at it live on the cable channel Tap Sports and the TapGo app, where the cheapest subscription offer stands at P199 a month.

After a brutal, injury-riddled debut year last season where he only played in 18 out of a possible 59 games, Thirdy is definitely raring for more opportunities to prove that he really belongs in a big pro league stage.

Last year in those 18 games, Thirdy still averaged 9.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists despite being hobbled by hand and knee injuries on top of a bout with COVID-19.

On the other hand, Kiefer has already proven he is a big-time pro player as he momentarily left the PBA’s NLEX Road Warriors, a playoff contender already built with him as the focal point, for a change of scenery in Japan.

In his last full conference with NLEX, the former second overall pick of the 2017 PBA Draft averaged 19.4 points, 5.5 boards, and 4.6 assists.

In the Ravenas’ first sanctioned head-to-head match, fans will certainly see a clash of styles as Thirdy is more of an all-around glue guy who can still score in bunches if needed, while Kiefer is a natural scorer and facilitator who needs a lot of touches.

Of course, all these fantasy matchups can be heavily altered if the Ravenas’ coaches opt to not to rely on them that much, as was already the case last year with San-en and Thirdy.

Regardless, both brothers will still make history the moment they both see the court to represent their family name, and more importantly, their country and fellowmen.