The Yamagata Wyverns basketball team will be kicking off the B2 League in about a month. What style will they pursue this season to surpass last season’s best performance? A glimpse of it was shown in the weekend’s preseason game against B1 Sendai.

The Yamagata Wyverns’ first game of the season, held in Nanyo City, took part with all 13 players, including four new additions.
Last season, they advanced to the playoff semi-finals for the first time and finished in 4th place overall in B2, their best result to date.
In order to surpass that result this season, head coach Ishikawa Yuichi will continue to lead the team and aim to “continue and improve.”

In the match on the 31st, Yamagata will take the lead against Sendai, more than half of whose players are new additions.
His three-point shot, which was a symbol of his leap last season, was first in the league in number of successful attempts and third in success rate, and it remains strong this season.

Takaya Kudo, in his second season with Yamagata, had a success rate of over 38% last season. Rui Saito, from Sakata City, is in his third season with Yamagata. And Tatsuhiko Toshino, a 36-year-old point guard who was newly recruited but was made captain, made nine three-point shots for Yamagata in the first half alone.
This season, the team is clearly committed to using outside attacks as a weapon.

On the other hand, one area that remains an issue is playing under the basket.
This season, while the players are not particularly tall overall, Ryusei Abe, a native of Yamagata City and in his second season with Yamagata, was the one who boldly jumped in for rebounds.
How they will compete as a team without relying on foreign players and the aggressive play of Japanese players will likely be one of the key points.

In the third quarter, Sendai showed their usual defensive strength and allowed the opposition to take the lead, but Yamagata also played good defense and did not let the momentum slip away.

Newcomer Leonardo Demetrio, who is 208 cm tall and has experience playing for the Brazilian national team, showed off a blocked shot, while Holyfield, who is making outstanding contributions defensively in his second season with Yamagata, was matched up against a scorer with a proven track record in B1, but he did not allow him any freedom with his tough defense.
Yamagata also showed a high level of defensive awareness among all players. Although they lost by one point, the game was full of promise on both offense and defense.

(PG#33 Tatsuhiko Toshino)
“It was our first real match, and everyone was trying to show our team’s style. Although we lost, we were able to play until the end, so it was a very productive game, both in terms of the experience we gained and in the sense that we were able to show our own style.”

(Head Coach Yuichi Ishikawa)
“We gained a lot from playing against B1 Sendai, and it was a game that clearly showed what we did and didn’t do, so we want to make sure we fix what we need to fix and go into next week’s preseason game.”

On the offensive side, not only were the three-point shots more impressive, but the tempo of the attack was also faster, so it was an exciting game to watch. With one month left, I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out until the opening.
The Yamagata Wyverns will play a preseason game against Niigata in Yamabe Town on the 7th. From the 14th, they will compete in the Tohoku Cup in Aomori City, featuring teams from the six Tohoku prefectures.