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NO WASTED OPPORTUNITY FOR CRUZ, JAZUL
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Jervy Cruz and RJ Jazul have paid their dues.
After starting their respective PBA careers languishing on the bench and fighting for limited playing time, the two players finally got their breakout performance in the just concluded Philippine Cup.
Cruz, the former king Tiger of University of Santo Tomas, worked his way to emerge as the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ starting forward after spending his first two seasons playing the reserve role.
In fact, the 6-foot-3 Cruz was the most consistent player among the members of the Elasto Painters with cerebral guard Paul Lee and Jeff Chan struggling with their games from the semifinals to the championship series.
Displaying his true worth, Cruz averaged 11.2 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds, starting in 15 of the team’s 27 Philippine Cup games.
“He’s been in the league for the past three seasons and he’s showing maturity. The good thing about Jervy is he can spread the floor with his outside shot and he never backs down despite the fact that he’s one of the league’s undersized power forwards,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
When Rain or Shine picked him up in the Rookie Draft three seasons ago, team owner Raymond Yu even kidded him, questioning if he’s “the real Jervy Cruz.”
“Biniro ko siya, ikaw ba talaga si Jervy Cruz? Bakit parang lumiit ka kasi noong napapanood ko siya sa UAAP parang ang laki-laki niya. It turned out we made a good pick and it was just a matter of time before he became an asset to this team,” said Yu.
Cruz said that as soon as he jumped to the PBA, he knew he needed to change his usual game.
“Malalaki kasi mga players sa PBA, kaya I developed my outside shot,” he added.
Cruz has reasons to continuously improve his game.
“Ayaw kong may masayang na pagkakataon,” he added.
Jazul, on the other hand, was a journeyman in his first three seasons in the league.
The former Letran and Smart Gilas Pilipinas guard is making his mark by producing solid numbers off the bench for coach Luigi Trillo.
“I’m given the opportunity kaya ayaw kong sayangin,” said Jazul, who spent the first two seasons of his career riding the bench of Rain or Shine and Shopinas.com/Air21.
But a trade that sent him to the Aces in exchange for guard Eric Salamat paved the way for Jazul’s breakout season.
A combo guard, Jazul was able to shine for the Aces and made the most out of the 17.5 minutes per game given by Trillo, relieving either JVee Casio or Cyrus Baguio.
He averaged 6.1 points per game and was among the three-point field goal percentage leaders. He had a steady 26-of-63 shooting (41.3%) from beyond the arc – fourth overall in the league behind Baguio, John Wilson of Air21 and PJ Simon of San Mig Coffee.
“When we got him from Air21, we figured out how we can utilize him in our system and we were right about Jazul being an asset to our team,” said Trillo.
In the semifinals against the Talk N Text Tropang Texters, Jazul was able to provide the spunk needed from the backcourt every time Casio was having an off night and it was hard not to notice his game.
How comfortable Jazul has been playing with Alaska has nothing to do with Louie Alas, his long-time mentor at Letran, being included in the Aces’ coaching staff.
“Si RJ walang ipinagbago sa ugali niya. He’s the same player who I coached several years ago,” said Alas. “There was a time when RJ wasn’t used for a single minute and the next day, he was the earliest in practice. Doon mo makikita yung good attitude niya.”
For Jazul, helping his team scale greater heights in the Philippine Cup is something he wants to build on for the Commissioner’s Cup.
“This will give me the confidence to do better in the coming conference,” he added. (RJ)
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EDITORS' PICK
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