UNFINISHED business.
That was the main motivation for Thirdy Ravena when he made the decision to stay put at Japanese B.League side San-En NeoPhoenix by signing a multi-year deal on Monday.
The three-time UAAP Finals MVP said his desire to atone for an uneven league debut marred by injuries and misfortune prompted him to stay on.
"I feel like I haven't shown what I can really do for the team," he told SPIN.ph.
Ravena admitted his first international foray was a learning experience as he had to adjust to his new environment as a professional.
"This year was more about testing my strength mentally and I learned a lot about myself through the year," he said. "This year was pretty much just trying to take one problem at a time and try to get everything together."
His maiden Japan season tested Thirdy's patience from Day One.
Ravena's arrival was delayed by visa issues and he had to deal with a bevy of injuries, from him contacting COVID-19 in November, a fractured right index finger back in January, to a sore left knee late in the season.
"Actually, I feel like haven't played single game na comfortable ako. Although I'm very happy na naipakita ko ang laro ko sa Japan, I feel like I haven't really shown everything I could do," he said.
Ravena played only 18 games this season and averaged 9.1 points on 36-percent shooting, alongside 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 22.8 minutes of action.
Solid as those numbers may seem, it's still far from the kind of performance the 24-year-old former Ateneo star expects from himself.
"Hindi pa nangyayari yung game na talagang I feel like I was doing well. I guess we take it all in stride and take all the lessons in moving forward," he said.
But there were times where he felt he was close to getting back his old deadly form, particularly in that game against the Ryukyu Golden Kings where he had 15 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep, to go with two rebounds.

That was an encouraging performance for the Filipino import, who then was still getting his bearings back from a three-month hiatus due to the injured finger.
"Talagang na-feel ko na konti, naglo-loose yung katawan ko inside the court," he said as he stepped up for Kyle Hunt in that outing. Unfortunately, their upset bid was thwarted and Ryukyu came away with the 85-80 win back in April 14.
"I felt like I could've been in better shape, but coming off of an injury, mahirap pa rin. After that, that's when I thought I had to let the game come to me and not force everything. I had to build on that," he said.
"Kaso hindi pa ready katawan ko after a three-month hiatus na walang exercise at all and I barely practiced, wala pa akong tinrabaho noon. And then pinalaro na ako ng 30 minutes a game, so it was pretty tough and it really took a toll on my body. But that's because I really wanted to help the team so bad."
Those circumstances only led to a bum knee which forced him to miss the final five games of the year.
Nonetheless, this rookie season will always stay with Ravena as he hopes to bounce back and contribute for the NeoPhoenix, who finished with a 12-47 win-loss record, good for ninth in the West District and 19th overall in the league.
"I guess it really helped me more on the mental side, yun ang mas natutunan ko this year," he said. "I'm thinking how to approach the game better.
"Natuto ako na maghanap ng possible ways on how to be better mentally and pagpalit ng mindset to overpower and outspeed everyone na kalaban ko, and how I can make everything easier for me in reading and studying the game."
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