Evaluating Ren Kanechika and Kai Sotto in a Japanese B League Basketball Game

May 21st, 2025

This time around, I decided to watch Chiba Jets’ 6-6 draft-eligible swingman, Ren Kanechika play in a December 11th Japanese B-League game against the Koshigaya Alphas, as I was able to see this with thanks to YouTube via B.League International. This was an opportunity to see Kanechika play, whose statistical profile makes him a candidate for a 3 and D role at the NBA level, and he’s been one of the better draft-eligible prospects in his current league. The Koshigaya Alphas also have Kai Sotto, who went undrafted in 2022 and played for the 2023 Orlando Magic’s NBA summer league team, so it was also an opportunity to check his progress to see how far along he’s come since then.

Ren Kanechika is a sharpshooting swingman that is very effective at making spot-up jumpers from the outside. He was able to make a couple of deep threes from well out, and he also managed to knock down a corner three in transition. While he’s not especially quick, his solid outside shot can enable him to be a threat to score off the dribble, as he was able to pull up to make a mid-range jumper in this game.

He also displayed solid playmaking skills in this game. Kanechika is a sound decision maker that can throw lead passes to find teammates on the move, which netted him a pair of assists in this game. He also would set solid on-ball screens to help his teammates get open driving lanes to set up scores for them.

Also, Kanechika was able to get his fair share of boards, as he was able to haul in defensive rebounds to help his team out on the glass. He also played adequate defense in this game. He is an active defender that will pressure opposing ball handlers and jump on loose balls, and he was able to rotate on a drive to contest the shot to force a miss. On the downside, he doesn’t have great lateral quickness, as he seemed to be a step slow when defending out on the perimeter, and he would sometimes take bad angles that would lead his team to give up baskets.

Overall, Ren Kanechika played very well in his team’s close win over the Koshigaya Alphas. He’ll need to improve his mobility, which could help him show that he can make plays against quicker players at higher levels. Still, he is a talented marksman that can shoot from the outside, which could allow him to be a shooting specialist similar to Atlanta Hawks’ guard, Garrison Mathews at the NBA level in the future. If Kanechika doesn’t make it to the NBA, he could likely carve out a long and solid career overseas in international basketball.

Kai Sotto has been more of a featured player on the Koshigaya Alphas, so he was able to receive an ample amount of scoring touches and playing time in this game. He had his ups and downs, but he was able to make some plays in his team’s tough loss to the Chiba Jets.

Sotto is an energetic, mobile big man that would look to score on hustle plays. He was able to score on a couple of tip-ins after grabbing offensive rebounds. Sometimes though, he take tough shots in traffic, which would lead to some misses, as he would sometimes try too hard to try to draw the foul call rather than make the shot.

He also did a good job of making mid-range jumpers. He was able to knock one down after getting the ball on a short roll, and Sotto also was able to score from the left elbow another time. Sotto also managed to score on a quick turnaround jumper over a smaller defender out of the post. However, he struggled to find a consistent shooting touch, as he would sometimes miss make able shots out of the post.

Also, Sotto showcased solid playmaking skills in this game. Sotto is an unselfish player that has solid court vision, and he would throw solid lead passes and touch passes to find open teammates to notch assists. He can ably make passes off the dribble and out of the post, and he also will set on-ball screens to help his teammates get open driving lanes.

Plus, he did a decent job of rebounding the basketball. Sotto was able to haul in multiple boards on both ends of the floor. Defensively, he looked to be about average at best. For the positives, he is an active defender and was able to notch a pair of steals. However, he tended to be slow to rotate or to guard opposing ball handlers, which would often lead him to give up open jump shots. He tended to give up too much space and drop back too far, which would allow opponents to score on three-point shots.

Overall, Sotto had his ups and downs in his team’s tough loss to the Chiba Jets. He’ll need to add a reliable outside shot to his arsenal and will need to continue to improve his defense, but it seems that he has improved as a playmaker on offense, and he’s settled in as a solid player in the Japanese B League. Most likely, he will have a long and solid career overseas in professional basketball. If Sotto does end up playing in the NBA one day, he could be a situational backup center that can provide some utility as a rim runner, rim protector, and as a passing big man off the bench, perhaps similar to former Miami Heat center, Dewayne Dedmon in the NBA.