ALWAYS READY TO FILL IN
“When somebody’s down, you just have to step up for the team,” said Paolo Hubalde after Petron snared a 96-90 come-from-behind victory over Barako Bull Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
And the 32-year-old point guard proved that he’s up to the challenge as he filled in the shoes of usual starters Alex Cabagnot, Chris Ross, and Chico Lanete, who played limited minutes, as Hubalde made nine of his 15 points in the pivotal fourth quarter, allowing the Boosters to notch the victory.
“I’m happy that I had the opportunity and pinagkakatiwalaan ako nila coach,” said the eight-year veteran from the University of the East.
Coach Gee Abanilla also commended his boys for fighting hard despite the injuries in their team as they registered their fourth win in as many games.
“I’m very happy about this win,” he said. “Coming into this game, we had a lot of injured players. We only had eight players with one rookie, but for us, we told them that the standard of expectations should not be changed.”
Abanilla added, “Everybody pitched in and everybody stepped up. I think it’s a total team effort. We came flat in the first quarter but we managed to keep hanging on, and in the end, with a chance to win, breaks went our way so we’re very happy about that.”
Hubalde said that the added spunk in the team’s game is their chemistry, that even though there are players who are on the injured list, everybody is willing to cover up for their absence.
“Since last conference, we’ve been working on our team chemistry, and everybody’s helping each other. I think malaking bagay sa amin yun eh. We’re playing for each other,” said the 5-foot-11 guard.
Though one might think of the enormous pressure Hubalde bears in stepping up and orchestrating their plays on the floor, he believes that all of his efforts won’t be for naught if everyone will just put the team first.
“You just have to play through the pressure for the team,” he said. “You just have to go hard. Kasi for me, you have to work hard and go hard everytime so I have no regrets. Yun lang ang ginagawa ko.” (RLeongson)
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