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‘THE NINJA’ ON HIS CHRISTMAS TRIPLE-DOUBLE, NEWFOUND ROLE
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With Air21 Express sitting at the bottom of the standings with a 1-8 card, Joseph Yeo wanted nothing more that Christmas Day than a win over GlobalPort, their opponents that night.
But at the end of the day, he got more.
The Ninja had the first triple-double of his career in the 109-103 overtime win over the Batang Pier with his 19 points, 14 assists, and a career-best 10 rebounds.
“Nagulat ako actually,” Yeo said. “Siguro I had one nung high school pa, but as far as I can remember, never pa (ako nagka-triple-double).”
Lacking a pure point guard in their line-up, coach Franz Pumaren is putting the ex-Green Archer in the one position, a role, Yeo said, that he is still getting familiar with.
“Sa totoo lang, hindi pa ako nakakapag-adjust ng mabuti sa bago kong role, kasi ako, gusto ko yung umaatake talaga,” Yeo said. “Pag point guard ka kasi, kailangan mo intindihin yung teammates mo.”
“Kaya minsan, sina KG (Canaleta), Macmac (Cardona), pag minsan di ko sila napapasahan, naiinis sila. Kaya sinasabi ko pasensya kasi naga-adjust pa din ako eh. Ganun talaga eh, pero eventually napapasahan ko na rin sila. Naintindihan din nila na di rin ako sanay sa role ko.”
Yeo said that their Christmas conquest is just one of those games that he was finally able to get their groove going, but he still said that they still need a player who is used to filling that role.
“Ngayon lang naging maganda yung pag-orchestrate ko sa team, pero pag natatalo kami, nahihirapan ako. At least kung may natural point guard kami, wala kong iisipin kundi umatake talaga. Pero may times sa game na pwede rin ako mag-point guard. Pero malaking bagay din kung may natural point guard kami,” he said.
Cardona butted in, saying, “Di namin kailangan ng natural point guard. Kailangan namin natural passer!”
Though he’s still struggling to get accustomed in his new role, Yeo is willing to take the challenge head-on.
“Hindi lang sa akin eh. Para din kila Vic Manuel, Elmer Espiritu, sinasabi ko sa kanila, at least nabibigyan ng chances ibang players kaya kailangan lang natin mag-step up. Chance natin to. Hihintayin pa ba nating kumuha ng ibang players? Might as well grab the opportunity,” he said.
Also, one of those things being brought about in the win was the idea that Yeo and Cardona, both being known as scorers ever since their college days, cannot co-exist on the floor.
“We play the same position, pero in this game, ginagawa ako ni coach na point guard so we can play together,” Yeo said. “Kasi before, palitan kami eh. Kung maganda yung laro ko, di makakapaglaro si Macmac. Kung maganda naman yung laro nya, ako naman yung magsa-suffer. Kaya si coach, gusto nyang matuto ako mag-point guard para pwede kaming magsabay.”
Cardona added, “Since college yata hindi pa kami nakapaglaro ng sabay ng maganda. First time to. Triple-double sya, at maganda naman yung scoring ko. We’re both happy and memorable pa to sa amin kasi Christmas pa nangyari.”
Captain Hook top-scored for the team in that game, along with Asi Taulava, with 28 points.
Yeo is convinced that though the Express is firmly at the cellar, their standings doesn’t really reflect how good they are as a team.
“I think we’re a better team than sa standings namin. Ang dami naming games na dikit, so I think dapat nasa gitna sana kami eh,” he said. “At the start of the conference, mataas yung expectations namin. Confident naman kami sa individual skills namin kaya malaking bagay na yun. Natatalo lang talaga pero until now, makapasok lang kami, may chance pa kami.”
“Yung chance namin, nasa amin pa rin eh. Wala kaming paki sa iba. Pag natalo yung iba, aangat naman kami at sila naman yung bababa,” Yeo added.
“Kami naman, enjoy lang at walang masyadong pressure. Natatalo nga kami pero yung morale ng team, given na medyo mababa pero hindi tulad sa iba na baka mag-give up na lang. Si coach, nagpe-prepare pa rin ng game plan. At least, may extra motivation kami. Kaya naman namin manalo eh. Mahirap talaga kaya kailangan talaga ng team effort.” (RLeongson)
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