Roosevelt Adams excited for new beginning in Japan after short PBA stint

Roosevelt Adams (left) with Kagawa Five Arrows in the Japan B.League. –B.LEAGUE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Roosevelt Adams felt he wasn’t able to show his full potential in the PBA, playing out of position at Terrafirma.

That’s why he is eager to prove his worth with the Kagawa Five Arrows in Japan B.League Division 2.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t show my full potential in the PBA. I was playing out of position for the most part which is kind of hard mentally, physically to go in every game playing out of position, but at the same time trying to win games,” said Adams during his introductory press conference on Thursday.

The 28-year-old winger also bared Terrafirma offered him “a standard contract” that led him to a “no-brainer” decision to take his act to Japan. 

“The thing I’m looking forward to in Japan is just the competition. I’ve been hearing from fellow Filipinos that the competition here is really great and different from the PBA,” said former No.1 overall pick in the 2019 PBA Rookie Draft, who played for the Dyip from 2020 until failing to come to terms with the team this year.

“I don’t want to say revamp because I didn’t do too bad in the PBA so I’ll say just a new beginning, the start of something new. I’m just excited for his new adventure,” he added.

The 6-foot-5 winger has a lot to offer for Kagawa, which suffered three straight losses in its first four games of the 2022-23 B2 season without him.

“I’m a great three-point shooter. I also am a great rebounder. I’m a big guard slash forward so I could expose mismatches and also give us extra possessions on offensive boards as well. And defense, they also mentioned, I can guard and the guards and in the post as well,” Adams said.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Kagawa coach Yuichi Ishikawa hopes Adams could live up to the expectations by making an immediate impact once he debuts this weekend.

“Hopefully, he brings us victories. Because this is the first time we got an Asian import, a lot of fans are very excited and have very high expectations for him, so we get a lot of attention,” Ishikawa said. “Everything goes well, so far.”

The Gilas Pilipinas player, who saw action in the fourth window of the Fiba World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers, is raring to join the Five Arrows, too.

“This team is actually a very special team, I can see. Just from day one, the coaching staff, the system they have put in, the players were very versatile where we could throw in anything out there and compete at a high level,” he said.

Expect Adams to give his all for Kagawa as he seeks to take the squad to greater heights this year.

“The championship is the goal. Getting a better record is also another goal, and that promotion will be special,” said Adams. “As far as the challenge, everything is a challenge at the end of the day and refreshing. Just compared to the last team I was at, it is what it is, but that’s about it.”