looking to make a name for himself as a pro in Japan’s B.League, and perhaps beyond as he continues developing his game.Photo: ©B.LEAGUE
“No one knew who Kaine Roberts was. Luckily, my first game really put me on the map.”
Kaine Roberts was speaking about his evolution as a basketball player at an outdoor terrace café in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, within walking distance from where his grandparents live nearby, his next stop after our interview.
A rookie guard with the Hiroshima Dragonflies in the Japanese B.League, the affable, charismatic and very down-to-earth Roberts was visiting Tokyo on a break between games. The youngest player on his team’s roster at 21 years of age, Roberts is in the midst of embarking on his professional basketball career after playing for two years at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York.
From College To The Pros
Roberts was born in Atsugi, Japan – not far from Tokyo and Yokohama – to an American father and Japanese mother, and is a Japanese citizen, albeit one who grew up going predominantly through the American school system. His journeys through life and basketball in Japan and America have given him extensive experience – both socially and on the basketball court – in each of his parents’ home countries and their respective cultures, and Roberts has his feet comfortably planted in both worlds.
And so when he made the progression from playing college ball in the U.S. to returning to Japan to play as a pro in the topmost division of the B.League, Roberts’ unique background left him well-prepared to navigate the specific dynamics of the Dragonflies, whose head coach Kyle Milling is American.
“My transition in general was pretty smooth,” Roberts explained. “Definitely having an American coach to be able to vocalize in English – I mean, I speak Japanese as well, but English I would say I’m better at speaking – it definitely made my transition easier because I’m able to speak English to the head coach and I’m also able to speak Japanese to the assistant coaches.”
Milling also perceived Roberts’ transition as going well. “Having lived in Japan before, he knew the culture,” Milling explained about early impression of Roberts. “So it wasn’t as big of a culture shock as some young players have when they come into a new country. Many times, it’s difficult in the first year to adapt to a whole new system, a whole new style of play. But he’s doing that.”
Milling added that Roberts “was really ready to work hard and learn. He is good, and he’s shown a lot of improvement from the first day he’s been here.”
Early Professional Experience In The B.League
Although Roberts may technically be considered a rookie, his current season with Hiroshima is not actually his first basketball experience in Japan’s B.League. In fact, the “first game” which “luckily” put him on the map that Roberts refers to above took place over three years ago in his very first game as a professional player.
That situation arose from a turn that was somewhat unprecedented at the time, Roberts explains, although he says others have followed suit since then. “I pretty much kind of started that whole trend of going from the B.League without payment, obviously because it’d make me ineligible to go to Division 1 or playing College in general.”
In that way, before entering college at Stony Brook, Roberts got the opportunity to play for a Division 2 B.League team, the Tokyo Earth Friends Z. And despite having to do so without pay to avoid forfeiting a scholarship to the school he’d soon attend, the chance to get professional experience as an 18-year-old proved to be invaluable.
“It was definitely a really good experience,” Roberts said. “It’s something that allowed me to make a name for myself, because prior to that, not a lot of people knew who I was.”
“No one knew who Kaine Roberts was, and how good he was,” he continued. “But taking that step to play on that B2 team allowed me to play and show my skill set to Japan, because even though it is the second division team, there’s a lot of eyes there, there’s a lot of people watching.”
And in his very first game as a pro, Kaine Roberts made his mark.
“Luckily, my first game really put me on the map,” Roberts said. “I had a putback dunk that game, my very, very first game, being 18.”
Roberts’ big putback slam apparently went somewhat viral on Instagram, gaining him some newfound recognition. But just as importantly, a solid overall performance as an especially young player against bigger, stronger and more experienced veterans was an auspicious start to a beneficial – and early – professional growth experience.
“I only finished with like 7 points, but seven points in a pro league, where guys are 25-, 30-, 28-year-old veteran guards, definitely developed me and it was a good experience for sure,” he said.
Navigating His Rookie Year With Hiroshima
Now with Hiroshima, Roberts is coming off the bench as a first-year player, averaging 2.9 points in about five minutes per game on 47.1% shooting, and 43.5% from three-point range. And although he’s hopeful for the chance to get more playing time going forward (he’s played in 15 of the Dragonflies’ 41 games this season), Roberts, whose depth of understanding of professionalism in sports comes across as sophisticated beyond his years, knows what it means to be a rookie, and the work that remains ahead of him.
“My first year, realistically, I don’t think. I have met my personal goals on how far I want to get,” Roberts said. “But I kind of learned in this league, you definitely need some patience at certain times, being a rookie.”
“I need to be patient, and I need to know when to take full advantage of my opportunities,” Roberts added. “Like I haven’t fully met my personal goals. I’ve reached some of them. But definitely there’s much, much more that I can do and I with want to accomplish.”
for the Hiroshima Dragonflies.Photo: ©B.LEAGUE
In coming to Japan after playing two years at a U.S. university, one challenge that Roberts has navigated in working towards his goals has been the difference in the styles of basketball play between the two countries.
“It’s a learning curve for sure, because the way basketball is played in America is definitely different from the way basketball played is played in Japan, especially at the top division,” Roberts said. “This division the Division 1 level in Japan, the B1 level, it’s a high IQ level basketball league and division.”
Roberts qualified that “it wasn’t really hard” transitioning to the B.League. “It’s more of a learning curve for me because like because I know with my talent, if I just put hard work into it and, with patience, that obviously I’ll get to become a good player in the first division.”
Where it comes to those talents, I asked Roberts which skills he feels are his strongest, and which areas of his game he thinks he might need to work on the most.
“If we’re speaking raw talent and athleticism, I think I have that over a lot of players in the league,” Roberts said. “Not everyone, but a good amount of players, especially being Japanese. If we’re speaking like, guys who are my size, guys who are my height, I might say my athletic ability, my raw talent, being able to put the ball into the rim, score the ball.”
As Roberts’ coach, Milling appears to agree that his greater strengths lie with his athleticism and his skills on the offensive side of the ball. “Kaine has a very high potential because he’s very athletic and he can score the ball,” he said, adding that he “has a good skill set offensively when he’s in the open court on the fast break.
As for Roberts’ pathway to earning more minutes as he continues developing?
“It’s something that’s difficult to teach.” Milling said, “but he does need to improve his strength. And his reads both offensively as well as defensively. But with some time and some hard work, improving his body and improving his skill set on and off the ball, I think he can be a very good player in the league.”
Kaine himself agrees with his coach’s assessment of his reads, and also points to his own defense. “Things that I need to work on definitely are my defense and certain reads,” he explained. “Like being able to defend well, handling pressure, certain reads, and when not to do, and when to do things.”
“Like the way professional basketball is played and not how college basketball is played,” Roberts added. Because sure, I’ve learned a lot on how to play college basketball, but I’m learning how to play professional basketball now.”
According to Milling, Kaine is indeed showing progress on that learning curve, especially on the defensive end of the ball. “Since Kane got here, he’s really improved his defense. It’s something from the first day that we saw that he really needed to work on,” Milling said. “I truly think he’s really gotten better at from day one, but he still has a lot of room to improve, and we keep pushing him in that aspect.”
NBA Influences
Having played both point guard and shooting guard in college, Kaine Roberts sees his most natural position as being a combo guard. “I can play off the ball, but I can also play with the ball in my hand, so I’d say I’m more of a combo guard,” he explained. “A guy who can score the ball for sure, but like being able to facilitate at the same time. Like being aggressive while being able to facilitate, forcing my teammates open.”
As such, it’s not too surprising that eight-time NBA All-Star and ball handler extraordinaire Kyrie Irving was one of Roberts’ most impactful early influences. “Watching Kyrie Irving was one of my biggest inspirations when I was younger,” he said. “Seeing his highlights, seeing the way he could dribble the ball like it’s on a string. And from there I’d just continue to watch his highlights and try to copy his moves and put them into my game.”
Another NBA player who Roberts has enjoyed learning from is Paul George, who he describes as “really crafty with the ball.”
“I like guys who are pretty crafty and have a natural flow with the basketball in their hands,” Roberts said. “So I like to watch certain moves he does, and sometimes I’ll watch a workout video that he does, and just look and hear certain things that he’ll do.”
When it comes to pursuing success specifically as a Japanese basketball player, however, Roberts’ biggest inspiration might be Rui Hachimura, the third Japanese NBA player, and the first of them to be drafted in the first round.
When I asked Roberts if Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe reaching the NBA impacted his aspirations of becoming a professional basketball player, he was quick to affirm. “Yes, for sure, definitely,” he said. “But I’d say more Rui based off of my background with him being half black and Japanese and me myself being black and Japanese as well, so it’s a big inspiration just seeing somebody who lives in the same country that doesn’t really have players who could make it to the next level like the NBA.”
Roberts also pointed out that Hachimura’s rise to NBA stardom has been not only inspirational to him, but to a whole generation of young, burgeoning hoopers. “Just seeing him being able to achieve that goal was big not only to me, but all the kids in Japan, it was definitely a big inspiration seeing Hachimura make it to the big leagues.”
For Roberts, the success of Hachimura and Watanabe provided some extra, feasible grounding to his own goals of succeeding in basketball. “It’s something that was like realistic to me, especially now even more than ever, and something that I personally still feel is attainable with time and getting better.”
Roberts’ Goals For His ‘Bright Future’
When it comes to Roberts’ longer-term goals as his career unfolds, there is another area where he can find some inspiration from Hachimura and Watanabe, in his goal of someday representing his country by playing for Japan’s national men’s basketball team.
Naturally, on his more immediate horizon, as Roberts proceeds with his budding career in the B.League, he is focused on team success and developing into the best player he can become in his current context. “Long story short, making a bigger name for myself is one of my biggest goals,” he said. “Like making a statement to this league that I’m the one of the up-and-coming rising young players.”
And Roberts recognizes that his growth is still a work in progress. “I haven’t fully met that standard yet,” he explained, “but I’ve made steps to get to it. I’ve had games this year and opportunities where I put the league on notice, like I’ve had 19 points against Nagasaki in only 14 minutes, and in another game I played 10 minutes and I had seven points.”
three-point shot for the Hiroshima Dragonflies.Photo: ©B.LEAGUE
But even as these milestones mark the progress Roberts has been making so far in his still-young career, his sights are set higher, with an eye on the possibility of getting a shot in a more prominent, higher-profile league, and, ideally, with the Japanese national team.
“One of my biggest things would be to play for the national team,” Roberts said. “That’s probably one of my biggest goals.”
“Obviously, getting to the NBA, or EuroLeague, NBL, Australia or wherever a really good league is, that I’d say is my biggest goal,” Roberts explained. “But right next to that is being able to represent my country where I was born. I’m a Japanese citizen, so playing for Japan’s national team would be great, and an honor, and something that I’ll really look forward to doing as long as I keep getting better and better throughout the years.”
And perhaps if Roberts keeps up the hard work he’s putting in now, he just might get there.
Coach Milling, for one, sees a lot of potential development in Roberts’ future. “He has a long career ahead of him because he’s young, and I keep telling him to be patient and do what he’s doing, keep working hard, want more.”
“As the time goes by, he’s proving himself, and I know he has a very bright future ahead of him.”
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.
I’ve covered the Nuggets since 2005, writing for Forbes, BSN Denver, Roundball Mining Company, and more. Follow me on Twitter at @JoelRushNBA, where my views are my own.
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