Last weekend at Yokosuka Arena in Kanagawa Prefecture, The Golden Kings were swiped by the Kawasaki Brave Thunders, leaders of the Central Conference and last seasons’ NBL champs. The defeat eliminated any chance the King’s had at winning a Central Conference title. The Kings gave up the lead early in the 1st quarter and played from behind for the remainder of the game.

According to head coach Tsutomu Isa, the Kings’ failed to control the game and the differences in power between the two teams was obvious. Offensively the Kings missed easy shots and the defense failed to slow the tempo of the Thunders’ high-powered offense. Coach Isa stressed the importance of the Kings’ taking early control of second head-to-head match the following day.

On Sunday, however, Kings failed to improve upon Saturday’s performance, turning out their worst loss of the season. By the end of the 3rd quarter the Kings trailed by 29 points. In the 4th, Kawasaki played primarily with bench players against the Kings starting five. The game ended in an 87-76 Kawasaki victory. Kings head coach Isa said, “We still failed to control the game today. But, on the other hand, we proved we can compete with a top team if we continue to play hard for a full 4 quarters. Competing hard throughout the entire game is something we will continue to focus on in the future.”

The Ryukyu Kings will host the Shibuya (Tokyo) Sun Rockers at Okinawa City Gym on February 18th and 19th.

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