Carl Tamayo eyes to be better, get more playing time with Ryukyu

Ryukyu Golden Kings’ Carl Tamayo in the Japan B.League.–B.LEAGUE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Being able to play more for the Ryukyu Golden Kings will be Carl Tamayo’s personal goal heading into the 2023-24 Japan B.League season.

Tamayo said he aims to have more exposure in his second season with the Golden Kings and help the team go back-to-back title wins.

“My personal goal is to just play better than last season to get more chances to play games. Also, to help the team win games. I think my goal for the team is to win a championship, that’s always the goal,” Tamayo said.

Ryukyu may have won last year at the expense of the Chiba Jets in the B.League Final but Tamayo barely played a factor in the championship season.

In fact, he didn’t get a feel of the court in Game 2, where the Golden Kings clinched the crown with an 88-73 victory.

Carl Tamayo.–PHOTO FROM B.LEAGUE

Still, Tamayo has no regrets cutting his collegiate season short at University of the Philippines with still two years of eligibility left for the B.League.

“It probably helps that I came in early.  I got to learn more about the culture of the team, it helped me a lot.” 

“It’s different from Philippine basketball and they (B.League) have very good imports here so you got to put yourself in the situation where you can help the team.“

In his first year for the Golden Kings, Tamayo averaged only 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per outing.

When asked if he or the team is experiencing pressure as the defending champions of the Japanese league, Tamayo kept his answer simple.

“Of course, being a defending champion gives us a little pressure but we just trust the process, play the game in the right way, play as a team, we don’t think of pressure much because we really prepared for this season.”